The Ph.D.
Program in Business Administration offers advanced graduate education for
students contemplating careers in university teaching and research and
professional positions in business, government and other organizations. This
degree reflects scholarship at the highest level. The scope of business
administration is of such breadth that most individuals specialize within a
limited area of business knowledge to assure in-depth understanding and
advancement of the state of knowledge in that area. In the Spears School of
Business, Ph.D. degrees are offered with emphasis in the following
fields:
The OSU Ph.D. in
Business Administration program is enhanced by these conditions:
- Students can
choose from a variety of professional fields to develop a high degree of
competency and specialized knowledge. Almost 90 graduate courses are offered by
the School, providing a broad spectrum of course offerings for designing
individualized programs of study.
- The research
productivity and wide diversity of backgrounds among the faculty provides a
strong foundation for a stable Ph.D. program.
- Excellent research
facilities are available on campus and in the SSB Building. These facilities
include a major computational center, microcomputer labs, and the University
library.
CAREER OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES
WORK AND
LIFESTYLE:
The work and lifestyle of a typical faculty member in a
university differ substantially from the image held by many undergraduate
students or by practicing managers. A university professor's central purpose is
the creation and diffusion of knowledge. Faculty have the opportunity to apply
their expertise and to disseminate knowledge in a variety of scholarly and
applied areas in both campus and off-campus settings. They balance research,
teaching, service, and consulting activities in a manner best suited to their
specific talents.
The demand for
management education still exceeds the new supply of individuals earning
doctoral degrees from business schools. Starting salaries are quite attractive.
This is especially the case when the nine-month base salary is combined with
additional compensation for summer research and teaching activities, consulting
assignments, executive program teaching, textbook writing, and sponsored papers
and speeches.
DIVERSITY IN
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUNDS:
Business school doctoral students come from
business programs as well as seemingly unrelated academic fields such as
economics, psychology, sociology, mathematics, statistics, computer science,
physics, geo-graphy, or political science. This diversity is also evident in the
backgrounds of OSU's graduate faculty, with more than 70 percent of the faculty
having nonbusiness undergraduate degrees and a significant number having
nonbusiness graduate degrees.
The frequency of
students with prior nonbusiness degrees in graduate business programs is
understood more easily when one considers the variety and complexity of issues
typically addressed in business school teaching and research. These topics range
from the vastly complex international monetary system to the pricing of a
computer chip; from the theoretical analysis of financial portfolios to the art
of managing an opera company; from the psychological aspects of consumer demand
to the subtle skills of effectively coordinating interpersonal relationships in
a complex organization. Taken together, these and other issues constitute an
extensive body of knowledge that requires skills and knowledge drawn from many
fields.
THE GOALS OF A DOCTORAL PROGRAM
PRIMARY
OBJECTIVES:
The primary purpose of the OSU doctoral program is to prepare
the candidate to conduct research in business and teach. There are three
dimensions of this preparation.
- KNOWLEDGE - The
candidate is provided the opportunity to develop:
- a broad
understanding of the theory, nature, and activities of business firms;
- awareness of the
impact of environmental forces - social, political, legal, governmental, and
economic - on the firm's operation;
- a comprehensive
knowledge of a selected area of professional concentration within business
administration.
- RESEARCH
COMPETENCY - The candidate is provided the opportunity to develop o an
orientation toward the development and usage of theory in business decision
making; scholarly competency in conducting both basic and applied research.
- TEACHING - The
candidate is provided the opportunity to develop o teaching skills in his or her
area of specialty.
In addition, Ph.D.
candidates are encouraged to develop enduring habits and attitudes for
continuing independent, professional, and scholarly growth.
PROGRAM TAILORED
TO NEEDS:
The Ph.D. program is flexible and individualized in the manner by
which it accomplishes these goals. A candidate's specific studies for the Ph.D.
are determined after an analysis of his or her past educational experiences and
plans for the future. Candidates develop competencies in a variety of ways,
including joint research with faculty and student peers, specific course work in
the program, and independent study. Perhaps the doctoral candidate's more
significant learning occurs outside the classroom. By cooperating with faculty
members and others in discussions, experiments, simulations, and field studies,
candidates actively engage in research and teaching.
DESIGN OF PROGRAM
COMMON
REQUIREMENTS:
A breadth of understanding of business theory and practice is
generally expected from all Ph.D. students. The breadth is typically provided by
an MBA degree. However, the breadth requirement is individually tailored to meet
each student's specific needs, and selected courses can be incorporated into
one's Ph.D. program rather than requiring an MBA. To achieve breadth, Ph.D.
candidates exhibit competency in the following areas as ordinarily attained by
completion of courses carrying graduate credit: accounting, finance,
quantitative methods, marketing, management, and economic theory. Additionally,
each candidate is required to achieve a level of competency in the application
of quantitative analysis and behavioral science appropriate to doctoral work in
his or her primary field in business administration.
FIELD
REQUIREMENTS:
Each candidate is required to advance beyond the common
requirements in a specialized field of business administration. The primary
field is that sphere of scholarship that commands the greatest portion of a
program of study, and dissertation research and major professors are selected in
that particular area. Primary fields can be selected from the following:
Detailed
descriptions of each of these fields are provided in the following sections of
this brochure and should be examined in detail. Applicants to the program must
select a primary field of specialization to complete the admissions process
since faculty committees in each of the fields make the admission decisions. All
potential applicants are encouraged to speak directly to faculty about the
nature and expectations of the program.
SUPPORTING FIELD
REQUIREMENTS:
Supporting field requirements will be determined by and
tailored to the requirements of the primary field department. Supporting fields
of study are selected from business administration and/or from related areas.
These spheres of scholarship complement the candidate's primary field and
provide theory and research skills to enhance academic excellence in the primary
field.
THE
DISSERTATION:
A major requirement of the Ph.D. program in Business
Administration is the doctoral dissertation. Each candidate conceptualizes,
designs, and executes a significant research project as his or her dissertation
and presents the findings in an acceptable written form.
The dissertation
and an oral presentation and defense should demonstrate that the candidate has
developed a high level of research competency, an understanding of his or her
field of study, and advanced knowledge within the field.
PROGRESS IN THE
PROGRAM:
A faculty committee recommends courses to be taken by the candidate
and periodically monitors the student's academic growth. Both written and oral
comprehensive examinations are administered after completion of the prescribed
course work that cover the subject areas of the student's work, i.e., the
primary and supporting field(s). The dissertation must meet the professional
standards of each student's dissertation committee.
ADMISSIONS:
Individuals with either a baccalaureate or master's degree may apply. The
applicant does not need to have a degree in business in order to apply.
Acceptance into the program will be based on evidence of high scholarly
potential in teaching and research and a strong personal goal of intellectual
development. Applicants are evaluated on undergraduate and graduate grade point
averages, letters of recommendation, scores on the Graduate Management
Admissions Test (GMAT) or Graduate Records Examination (GRE), and other
indicators of teaching and research potential. The total candidate is evaluated
such that no one criteria insures acceptance or rejection from the program.
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Ph.D. Programs 
