Business Administration, PhD

Program Description

The PhD program in Business Administration is designed to provide advanced education for students of outstanding ability who desire to pursue careers in academic research institutions. The coursework for the PhD in Business Administration includes a rigorous set of intellectually stimulating and challenging scholarly methods, foundation, and advanced courses and seminars. In addition, the program requires successful passage of a comprehensive examination and successful completion of the doctoral dissertation. A variety of learning experiences are incorporated into the curriculum, including the development of conceptual frameworks and theories, qualitative case and empirical studies, field projects, and in-depth research. Before graduating, each student will (1) have presented, or had accepted for presentation, a paper before a professional or scientific society; or (2) have had an article published, or accepted for publication, in a refereed journal. In addition, each student will have classroom teaching experience.

Within the Department of Management, PhD students have tremendous opportunities to conduct cross-disciplinary research between supply chain and operations management and information systems or with high-quality faculty in entrepreneurship and strategic management, as well as organizational behavior and human resources management. The goal is to position graduates for scholarly academic careers at colleges and universities throughout the United States and the world.

The PhD program in Business Administration is designed for full-time students who remain oncampus during the entire duration of their study. Students may enter the program in the fall semester only (starting mid-August). Students with bachelor’s or master’s degrees in a business discipline can typically complete the program in five years (contingent on satisfactory progress in the program), although some students may complete the program in four years. Students with non-business degrees will need to complete background courses that may lengthen the program duration. Students entering the program must have completed undergraduate and/or graduate coursework in calculus and linear algebra.