Business Administration-Strategic Management Concentration, PhD

Program Description

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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 on campus 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 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.

Summary of Degree Requirements

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This degree requires a minimum of 48 credit hours of coursework, and at least 18 credit hours of doctoral dissertation research. The final basis for granting this degree is the student’s demonstrated mastery of the subject matter of the field and competence in planning and conducting research that adds to the body of knowledge in the field of study. Ultimately, only the student’s advisory committee can certify that the student has earned this degree.

Coursework

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YEAR 1 

Fall:

• MGT 9330 - Seminar in Strategic Management: Research Foundations 3 Credits  or MGT 9340 - Seminar in Strategic Management: Contemporary Topics 3 Credits  
• Methods Courses 6 Credits-possible options include
  • DSA 8010 - Statistical Methods I 3 Credits  
  • ECON 6050 - Introduction to Econometrics 4 Credits  
  • PSYC 8100 - Research Design and Quantitative Methods I 3 Credits  

Spring:

• MGT 9350 - Seminar in Entrepreneurship: Research Foundations 3 Credits  or MGT 9360 - Seminar in Entrepreneurship: Contemporary Topics 3 Credits  

• Methods Courses 6 Credits-possible options include
  • ECON 6060 - Advanced Econometrics 3 Credits  
  • ECON 9000 - Selected Topics in Economics 3 Credits  
  • PSYC 8110 - Research Design and Quantitative Methods II 3 Credits  

Summer:

• Elective Methods Course 3 Credits¹
• MGT 8910 - Master’s Thesis Research 1-12 Credits  (3 Credits for summer research paper required)

YEAR 2

Fall:

• MGT 8910 - Master’s Thesis Research 1-12 Credits  (summer research paper)
• MGT 9330 - Seminar in Strategic Management: Research Foundations 3 Credits  or MGT 9340 - Seminar in Strategic Management: Contemporary Topics 3 Credits  (option previously not taken is required)

• Methods Courses 6 Credits-possible options include
  • DSA (MGT) 8640 - Programming for Data Science 3 Credits  
  • ECON (APEC) 8060 - Econometrics I 3 Credits  
  • STAT 8050 - Design and Analysis of Experiments 3 Credits  

Spring:

• MGT 9310 - Seminar in Organizational Behavior: Research Foundations 3 Credits  or MGT 9320 - Seminar in Organizational Behavior: Contemporary Topics 3 Credits  

• Methods Courses 6 Credits-possible options include
  • ECON 8070 - Econometrics II 3 Credits  
  • ECON 9090 - Time-Series Econometrics 3 Credits  
  • MGT 8990 - Selected Topics in Industrial Management 3 Credits  
  • PSYC 8130 - Research Design and Quantitative Methods III 3 Credits  

Summer:

• MGT 8910 - Master’s Thesis Research 1-12 Credits  (3 Credits required)
• MGT 8990 - Selected Topics in Industrial Management 3 Credits  
• Qualifying comprehensive exam  

YEAR 3 THEREAFTER TO DEGREE COMPLETION

• MGT 9910 - Doctoral Dissertation Research 1-12 Credits  (minimum 18 credit hours but continuing full-time enrollment of nine credit hours per semester and six credit hours per summer through dissertation proposal defense and until final oral dissertation defense).
• Elective Methods Courses¹
• Dissertation Proposal Defense: Three Essays
• Final Dissertation Defense: Three Essays

 

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¹Electives: Strategic Management Concentration students may benefit from taking additional electives in entrepreneurship, organizational behavior, and other MIS and SCOM courses. Students are also encouraged to consider taking elective method courses to support their dissertation and specialized methodological interests. Although not listed above, students may also find it beneficial to take other courses on econometrics, machine learning, longitudinal designs, survey design, and experimental design, depending on their chosen topic of interest. These courses are to be taken with the approval of the student’s chair/primary advisor. It is also possible to take specialized, independent studies with individual faculty. Some of these elective courses are listed below. 

Methods courses: EDF 9720 , EDF 9750 , EDF 9790 , HLTH 8210 , HLTH 8220 , MATH 6070 , MGT 9050 , PSYC 8140 , PSYC 8400 , PSYC 8710 , PSYC 8730 , PSYC 8990 , SSCI 8030 , STAT 8170 , or other methods course(s) as approved by the student’s advisor.

Seminar courses: ECON 9000 , ECON 8010 , MGT 9310 , MGT 9320 , MGT 9350 , MGT 9360 , PSYC 8620 , PSYC 8720 , SSCI 8100 .

Select advanced courses: ECON 8080 , ECON 8240 , ECON 9090 , MATH 8840 , MATH 9020 .

 

NOTE: The outlined program may exhibit variability, with the primary/chair advisor’s approval, to accommodate each student’s interest and development in the program, and to address course availability in any given semester. However, a student may not graduate without taking the required strategic management courses.