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Strategic Management Doctoral ProgramGeneral Description The defining features of the Strategic Management Doctoral Program are its coordinated research structure across seminars, the vitality and flexibility of the faculty, and a well-developed culture of supportive and collaborative research and learning. Unlike many strategy programs, research requirements and expectations are built into the entire program and coordinated across seminars. For example, a study outlined and developed under the guidance of a faculty member in the first semester is further developed in the second semester under the guidance of another faculty member. Similar expectations and requirements are coordinated across many of the seminars. This permits building research skills and accomplishments well before the student reaches the dissertation stage. The intent is to increase the student’s potential job opportunities, and to make the dissertation research less daunting and more meaningful. The vitality and flexibility of the program can be seen in the faculty. The faculty, which regularly publishes in quality journals like the Academy of Management Review, Academy of Management Journal, the Strategic Management Journal, Organizational Science, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, and the Journal of Management, among others, is very active in national and international professional organizations. Their research interests and expertise currently span a number of diverse topics like organizational design, effective knowledge management, global strategy, mergers and acquisitions, franchising, entrepreneurship, top management teams, and boards of directors. Thus, regardless of where a student’s research interests evolve, it is likely that one or more faculty will be supportive and knowledgeable. The supportive learning environment is partly reflected in our low attrition rate (near zero) among those few (typically three) students we admit every odd year. We therefore encourage qualified applicants to visit with our faculty and students to get a better feel for the collaborative environment we deliberately manage and maintain. Prerequisites All Strategic Management doctoral students must satisfy the following prerequisites:
OR The Strategic Management doctoral adviser and the associate dean for graduate programs must approve the selection of courses to meet the above requirements. Some flexibility is possible in consultation with the program adviser. Tools for Analysis and Research (TAR) Coursework All Strategic Management Doctoral students must take six Tools for Analysis and Research (TAR) courses. All students must take the following courses:
Primary Area The Strategic Management program includes courses dealing with issues of concern to an organization’s top management in choosing and charting a path toward sustainable competitive advantage. Topics include strategy formulation, implementation and the effective management of strategic change, organization design, competitive dynamics and managerial cognition and decision-making. Doctoral students specializing in this program must complete the following primary area seminars:
Additional Primary Area courses may be selected in consultation with the student's Primary Area advisor. Support Area The Support area for Strategic Management provides an opportunity to concentrate in a field of study complementary to the primary area and to the student’s career objectives. The student’s primary area Adviser will approve the Support area in consultation with the student and appropriate faculty from the chosen Support area. Typically, the Support area will consist of supervised teaching, plus two graduate courses or seminars in one of the following fields: Finance, Management Information Systems, Marketing, Organizational Behavior, Public Administration, Sociology or Statistics. A support area in statistics/research methods is also possible. Courses that may be used to satisfy the support area requirement in statistics/research methods may be chosen from the following list:
For more information on the Strategic Management Ph.D Program, please contact Dr. Jim Combs. |