The purpose of the Ph.D. in Business Administration with a Marketing or Logistics Emphasis at the University of Arkansas is to prepare individuals for research, teaching, service, and collegial roles in academic marketing and/or logistics departments. This preparation stresses scholarly development in three related domains: the conceptual, the methodological, and the substantive.

The conceptual domain includes marketing and logistics history, theory, and philosophic issues relating to discovery and justification. The methodological domain includes research design, analysis techniques, and issues relating to evaluative criteria. The substantive domain includes applications to marketing phenomena (e.g., promotion/consumer behavior, strategy/international marketing, and distribution/retailing) and/or events (i.e., situational context) or to logistics, transportation, or supply chain phenomena and/or events. Emphasis is placed on a balanced and interdisciplinary approach to all three domains through courses and other activities.

The program underscores the importance of verbal and written communications skills, quantitative and qualitative methods, and classic and contemporary marketing or logistics thought in teaching, research, and service. These skills are nurtured, developed, and evaluated by having the candidate participate in teaching, publishing with faculty members, presenting research at colloquiums, written and oral comprehensive examinations, and the dissertation project.

Support for Research, Stipends, and Academic Placements
The department provides a broad range of support for Ph.D. student research. Graduate students are funded to attend major conferences for presentation of accepted research papers. In recent years, students have been funded to present papers at numerous key domestic and international conferences. In addition, faculty members are integrally involved with graduate students on research that is targeted for publication in major journals. Recent articles coauthored by Marketing and Logistics faculty and Ph.D. students at the U of A have appeared in the Journal of Retailing, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, Journal of Business Logistics, Transportation Journal, and other nationally prominent journals.

Students in the program are supported financially with tuition waivers and nationally competitive stipends for four full years (ranging up to $30,000 per year for outstanding candidates), assuming satisfactory progress in the program. The normal program size is eight to ten Ph.D. students on campus, which allows for close interaction with the faculty.

The program is designed to prepare individuals for academic careers in university environments. Recent graduates of the Ph.D. program are now faculty members at institutions such as Kansas State University, Louisiana State University, Michigan State University, Ohio State University, Oklahoma State University, University of Tennessee, University of Utah, and Villanova University.

Ph.D. Program Advisory Committee
During the student's first semester of doctoral work the student, in consultation with the departmental Ph.D. Program Advisor, must form a Ph.D. Program Advisory Committee consisting of at least 3 graduate faculty members from the Department of Marketing and Logistics. One committee member must be the department Ph.D. Program Advisor. The committee will advise the student regarding, but not limited to, courses for the supporting fields, matriculation, comprehensive examination, research expectations, assistantship assignments, etc. The committee also will regularly review the progress of the student and provide the necessary feedback to the student, department chairperson, and department faculty.

The members of the Ph.D. Program Advisory Committee may change from year to year and as circumstances warrant. By the time the student enters the dissertation phase of the program the Advisory Committee should have evolved into the Dissertation Committee.

Concentration
The Ph.D. in Business Administration with a Marketing or Logistics emphasis allows students to concentrate within one of three areas: supply chain management (e.g., retail, logistics, transportation, channels), management (e.g., strategy, international), or communication (e.g., consumer behavior, promotion). The student’s concentration will determine the courses taken in fulfilling the supporting field’s requirement.

Generally, the Ph.D. Program in Business Administration with a Marketing or Logistics emphasis is composed of 60 credit hours. Up to 6 credit hours of prior coursework may be applied to the requirements for the emphasis with the recommendation and consent of the student's Ph.D. Program Advisory Committee.

To view detailed descriptions of the following Walton College courses, visit the Course Descriptions page.