Doctor of Business Administration in Management at SIUC

Program Overview

The Ph.D. in Business Administration has three concentrations within the Department of Management:

Management Information Systems (MIS)
Production Operations Management (POM)
Organizational Studies (OS)

The objective of the Ph.D. in Business Administration is primarily to develop scholars with an ability to teach and conduct independent research in colleges and universities. The program prepares students for careers as creative teachers and researchers by providing thorough preparation in both the theory and practice of business administration with emphases in MIS, POM, and OS. The curriculum emphasizes and develops the rigorous analytical skills needed to make significant contributions in these fields. Doctoral students can work in many areas of current expertise of the faculty. These include the following: MIS – group support systems, intelligent agents, human/computer interaction, MIS and the legal environment, and electronic commerce; POM – operations strategy, quality management, supply chain management, lean manufacturing, and service operations; OS – organizational behavior, organization theory, strategic management, social networks, leadership, motivation, and organizational change.

Admission Requirements

Students who have not completed a masters degree will be required to complete a number of masters level courses first prior to beginning formal doctoral level coursework. Please refer to http://www.cba.siu.edu/phd/admReq.htm for a complete description of admission requirements. Applications may be submitted at anytime, however admission decisions will generally be made in the spring semester for a starting date in the following fall semester. Admissions in the spring and summer semesters will be minimal, usually only where it is determined that foundation work may be necessary. Information on application forms and related materials may be downloaded from the College’s website at http://www.cba.siu.edu/programs.html. Information related to financial support is located at http://www.cba.siu.edu/phd/finAid.htm.

Ph.D. Program Requirements

Students are required to complete coursework (12 – 18 hours) in one of the three major fields listed above. Students will also select a support field from within the Department of Management, another department in the College of Business and Administration, or from a field outside the College of Business and Administration (6 – 12 hours). The support field is designed to complement and strengthen the major field. A student will also complete coursework in a research field (6 – 12 hours). Each student is also required to complete 24 hours of dissertation credit. In general, students who do not need to complete any foundation work should be able to complete all coursework requirements in three years. Examples of coursework for each of the three concentrations are listed below:

Management Information Systems

Database Design and Applications

Information Systems and Design

Seminar: Advances in Management Information Systems

Seminar: Decision Support and Information Systems

Seminar: Strategic Management of Information

Organizational Studies

Leadership and Managerial Behavior

Seminar: Foundations in Organizational Studies

Seminar: Advances in Organizational Behavior

Seminar: Advances in Organization Theory

Seminar: Advances in Strategic Management

Production Operations Management

Operations Strategy for Global Competition

Advanced Production Planning and Inventory Management

Seminar: Total Quality Management

Seminar: Seminar: Service Operations Management

Seminar: Production/ Operations Management and Information Systems

Advisory Committee

Each student will have an advisory committee consisting of three faculty members, with at least one person from the major field and one person from the support field. In consultation with the student, the Advisory Committee designates one member as the committee chairperson.

The Advisory Committee is responsible for working closely with the student in the development of the student’s program of study, in the guidance of the student throughout the coursework phase of the program, and in the development and administration of the Preliminary Examination.

Preliminary Examination

The Preliminary Examination is a written and oral examination designed to determine the depth of the student’s knowledge within the discipline. It will be administered to the student following the satisfactory completion of all required doctoral program coursework. The oral phase is a continuation of the examination of the student’s mastery of the major and support fields, as well as any other subjects from the student’s program determined pertinent by the student’s Advisory Committee. The student is normally admitted to candidacy following successful completion of the Preliminary Examination.

Dissertation Committee

In consultation with the student, a Dissertation Committee is constituted following admission to candidacy. This Committee will consist of five graduate faculty members, at least one of whom must be from outside the College of Business and Administration. The chairperson of the student’s Dissertation Committee must be from the student’s major field of study. The Dissertation Committee will supervise the preparation of the dissertation proposal by the student and will monitor the student’s progress in completing the dissertation.

Dissertation

The dissertation is designed to demonstrate that the student is capable of independent research in the student’s major field of study. Working with the Dissertation Committee, the student will prepare the dissertation proposal and make an oral presentation of the proposal. The student will proceed with further work on the dissertation following successful completion and presentation of the dissertation proposal. At the appropriate stage in the preparation of the dissertation, the Dissertation Committee and the student will establish a date for the final oral examination/defense of the dissertation.