Research in the field of the general management track targets towards the following overarching objectives:
The main purpose of the PhD program in Management is to develop students to be competent in conducting independent research. The specialisation in general management encompasses (but is not limited to) research areas such as corporate and competitive strategy, international business, family firms, organizational behavior, strategic processes and decision-making, and management of stakeholders and sustainability. It is an interdisciplinary program that draws on concepts and theories from economics, sociology and psychology, and addresses a wide variety of topics that have direct or indirect implications for understanding organizations and organizational effectiveness. The overarching aim of the program is to address through rigorous scientific research questions that have important implications for managerial practice.
Prospective Ph.D. Students with a specialisation in the general management track distinguish themselves ideally with the following profile:
The potential participants of this program have Master degrees from various fields including management, economics, or psychology, and have a strong interest in academic research. Prior work experience is no formal requirement. As the program is carried out in English, the program is well-suited for participants with international backgrounds.
Among others, the following scientific theoretical approaches and practical procedures are relevant in the general management track:
The general management specialization is ontologically pluralistic and methodologically diverse. The different sub areas represented in the general management specialization draw on a wide variety of methodological approaches, such as surveys, interviews, experiments, panel analysis, event studies, discourse analysis, or simulations. In addition to the program-related course-work the research focus, methodological approaches and additional training of PhD students depends much on the research of the supervising professor.
Curriculum:
Out of the two compulsory courses, at least one of the specialization-specific courses must be attended. The second compulsory course may also be selected from the set of compulsory courses of other tracks of the PMA. In addition to some specialization specific method courses, the empirical research method courses of the Global School in Empirical Research Methods (GSERM) are recommended.
References:
to be specified.