The primary objective of the Ph.D. program in Business with an emphasis in Management is to prepare candidates for careers in university research and teaching. The
program of study is designed to ensure that students receive an exposure to the broad areas of Management, develop the conceptual skills and methodological tools necessary to design and conduct
independent research, and develop the skills and experience necessary to teaching at all levels of higher education. . We have eleven tenure track faculty who are actively involved in research on diverse areas such as corporate governance, employee stress, strategic human resource management, business ethics and social responsibility, employee pay systems, psychological contracts, knowledge management, organizational politics and the like. Several of our faculty hold leadership positions at the Academy of Management and serve on the editorial boards of several research journals. We work closely with doctoral students and mentor them to become excellent researchers and educators. The College infrastructure provides excellent research and travel support for doctoral students.
Admission Requirements
We welcome candidates who are strongly committed to being part of a full time PhD program and show motivation and commitment towards meeting the requirements for our degree. We take a holistic approach in assessing candidates by taking into account their past scholastic record, letters of recommendation, test scores, prior work experience, and the candidates’ statement of purpose. In addition to the College requirements for admission, applicants must submit a statement of career objectives, be interviewed (to the extent feasible) by members of the Management Faculty, and
provide three letters of recommendation. GMAT OR GRE WILL BE ACCEPTED. We
especially encourage students to establish early contact with the
Management PhD coordinator who will then work with potential applicants to assess their likely fit and work with them through their application process.
Application deadline January 15
Since this is a full time PhD program we try to provide all admitted candidates with significant financial support. Apart from graduate assistantships/fellowships to cover living expenses, we usually provide tuition waivers and partial payment of medical insurance. Strong travel support to academic conferences is usually provided. Subject to satisfactory student performance, financial support is usually provided for four to five years
Duration
The PhD program at the Sam Walton College of Business usually takes four to five years Students work on courses for the first two years, while simultaneously working with faculty on research projects. Subsequently they work on their dissertations. Students are encouraged to work on research leading to publication in scholarly journals and almost all our students have co-authored publications by the time they graduate.
Management Content Core Requirements (12 hours) To view detailed descriptions
of the following Walton College courses, visit the
Course Descriptions page.
MGMT 6113
Seminar in Organizational Behavior
MGMT 6123 Seminar in Organization Theory
MGMT 6133 Seminar in Strategy Research
MGMT 6233 Seminar in Human Resource Management
Supporting Fields
(12 hours)
Courses for the supporting fields requirement must be at the graduate level and/or taken for graduate credit. Statistics and methods classes cannot be used to fulfill the Supporting Fields requirement. A minimum of 6 hours of the Supporting Fields are to be taken in Management. Students may consider selecting graduate courses from the following departments (although, not limited to these departments) in completing their Supporting Fields requirements: • Psychology • Sociology • Public Administration • Political Science • Marketing • Information Systems • Accounting • Finance • Economics
In addition, students should give careful consideration to designing directed reading classes under MGMT
636V - Special Problems. Students will arrange these courses with Management faculty. A directed readings course may focus on any topic the student and faculty member agree on. Course requirements generally include completion of readings and a research paper. Students have one semester to complete directed readings. Any incomplete work will automatically change from an I grade to an F grade after six weeks into the following semester.
On occasion, the Management Department will offer special courses under MGMT 6223 Special Topics in Management. Students will be notified about the nature and availability of these courses which may be used to fulfill the Supporting Fields requirement.
Research Tools
(18 hours)
Courses used to meet the Research Tools requirement should support the student's program of study. The courses should provide the student with a knowledge of advanced descriptive and inferential statistics, research design, and research methods.
Some courses that may be appropriate to fulfill the Research Tools requirements may include (but are not limited to): • Psychology 5133 - Inferential Statistics • Psychology 5143 - Descriptive Statistics • MGMT
6213 - Research Methods • ISYS
6423 - Seminar in Causal Modeling (LISREL) • MKTT
6433 - Marketing Research
On occasion, special courses may be offered under MGMT 6223 or MKTT 6413 that may be appropriate to fulfill the Research Tools requirement. Students will be notified about the nature and availability of these courses.
Research Requirement
Students must complete two semesters (or their half-time equivalents) as a research assistant and a minimum of one
paper of "publishable quality" prior to admission to candidacy.
Comprehensive Examination
Students will be required to take a comprehensive examination as a requirement of the Ph.D. program in the Management Department. The exam will include content (on both a primary and secondary content area) and methods questions and will be offered on or about July 15 of the student’s second year in the program. The exam will be administered over a three day period with the first day focusing on questions concerning the primary and secondary content areas, the second day being a day off to study a research article that will be covered on the research methods exam and the third day covering research methods. Successful completion of both parts of the comprehensive exam are required to continue in the program.
Dissertation (18 hours)
A dissertation will be written under the guidance of the Management Faculty.
Minor departures from the requirements for
the Management Emphasis can be made by the student's Ph.D. Advisory
Committee. Major departures must be approved by the Management Graduate
Faculty based on the recommendation of the Student's Ph.D. Advisory
Committee.
Additional requirements or deviations from the above may be specified by the
University or the Walton College. University or College requirements take
precedence over those indicated for the Management Emphasis program.
For further information about the
Ph.D. in Management, please contact
Dr. Vikas Anand.
