PhD in Business with Specializations in Organizational Behavior or Strategy

Research

The PhD in Business with specializations in organizational behavior or strategy, housed in the Department of Management, prepares students to conduct significant research on behavioral or strategic issues facing contemporary organizations starting on day one. Through a series of courses in statistics and research methods, the program provides a strong methodological foundation in management research.

Meet management PhD students

Our students draw on extensive faculty resources within the Department of Management. We take pride in the collaborative relationships between faculty and students. Our students engage in research with our prolific faculty from their first year in the program. Our faculty are active researchers, many of whom serve on the editorial boards of leading management journals such as:

• Academy of Management Journal
• Journal of Applied Psychology
• Journal of Management
• Journal of Organizational Behavior
• Organization Science
• Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
• Personnel Psychology
• Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal

Meet management faculty

Organizational Behavior Faculty Research Areas

• Job Design
• Work Stress
• Organizational Justice
• Cultural Diversity
• Business Ethics
• Organizational Climate and Culture
• Workplace Deviance
• Team Dynamics

Strategy Faculty Research Areas

Our strategy faculty focus on high technology firms, with specific interests in:

• Strategic Human Capital Management
• Knowledge-based View of the Firm
• Start-ups and Corporate Entrepreneurship
• Strategy Process
• Strategic Management of Technology and Innovation

Current management department research

Coursework

Our students pursue a blend of coursework that enables them to understand the interplay between organizational behavior and strategic management. Most of our students focus their dissertation research on either organizational behavior or strategic management, although students may choose to examine topics that combine elements of organizational behavior and strategy.

Required Courses

Students specializing in organization and strategy take the following 10 courses:

• MGMT 906: Foundations of Research in Behavioral Science
• MGMT 907: Research Analysis in Behavioral Science
• MGMT 908: Advanced Research in Behavioral Science
• STAT 932: Statistics for Behavioral Science
• MGMT 910: Readings in Strategic Management
• MGMT 935: Seminar in Organization Theory
• MGMT 940: Seminar in Organizational Behavior
• MGMT 970: Seminar in Leadership Research
• STAT 924: Multivariate Analysis I
• STAT 925: Multivariate Analysis II

Three additional PhD-level courses (with the approval of the adviser), no more than two of which are outside the organization and strategy area.

Elective Courses

The following list of potential electives is not exhaustive:

• MGMT T980: Special Topics in Management
• Independent Study in Organization and Strategy (maximum of two)
• Psychology
• Statistics
• Economics
• Courses in other departments within the college or the university

Additional Requirements and Features

First-Year Examination

After the completion of the first year of the program, students are examined on their competence in the first-year material and their readiness to continue in the program. Students must take and successfully pass the first-year exams. Passing these exams allows PhD students to take their specialization courses in their second year.

Candidacy Examination

At the completion of their coursework, students take written and oral candidacy examinations, also referred to as field exams. These examinations test each student’s preparation for dissertation research. Each student must pass the field exam in the area in which they wish to pursue research. Once the candidacy examinations are passed, the student is recognized as a PhD candidate.

Doctoral Dissertation

The doctoral dissertation is a piece of original research designed to make a theoretical contribution to the student’s chosen discipline. Each candidate selects a dissertation adviser and an advisory committee of additional faculty members is formed. The candidate prepares a detailed dissertation proposal that is defended before the University community. After successfully defending the proposal, the candidate conducts the research and prepares a written dissertation. The completed dissertation is then defended in a final oral examination.

Instructor Training

LeBow and Drexel provide PhD students with training in how to be highly effective teachers in their first and second years. Typically, after the candidacy exam has been passed, doctoral candidates in LeBow assume teaching duties as sole instructors for four courses total before graduating the program.

Assistantships and Financial Aid

LeBow PhD students have access to financial support through teaching and research assistantships, fellowships and other awards.

Learn more about assistantships and aid

Contact Your PhD Coordinator

For any questions about the PhD in Business focusing on organizational behavior, please contact Mary Mawritz, PhD, at meb359@drexel.edu.

For any questions about the PhD in Business focusing on strategy, please contact Jeongsik Lee, PhD at jl3543@drexel.edu.