Operations Management & Information Systems

  • The Operations Management and Information Systems (OMIS) area of the Schulich School of Business offers PhD students the opportunity to work closely with highly productive faculty at the forefront of research in such diverse fields as supply chain management, health care management, social networks, health and safety, innovation and sustainability, entrepreneurial decision making, and data analytics.

    Due to the multidisciplinary nature of the field, PhD students are provided with grounding in three quantitative areas: statistical methods, microeconomics and game theory, and optimization techniques. These core disciplines establish a rigorous foundation for research in the empirical sciences as applied to the field of operations management and information systems. During their second year of study, students have the opportunity to further specialize according to their research interests by taking courses approved by the OMIS PhD Coordinator.

  • Associate Professor Henry M. Kim, Area Coordinator
    Associate Professor Henry M. Kim, Area Coordinator

Specialization Details by Category

Study Options

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Student admission is restricted to full-time study exclusively for the first four years. It is not recommended to be working outside of the PhD program during your studies. Students must be able to participate in the PhD program in Toronto.

Choose a study option to view its details and requirements

Courses

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There are five main components to the successful completion of a PhD in OMIS:

  • 15 graduate-level courses (45 credits in total spread over two years).
    • 7 courses (out of 15) are (foundational) required courses.
    • Each PhD student should also pass 8 elective courses.
  • A second year research project (which is one of the 7 core courses) culminating in a
    seminar presentation (OMIS 7985).
  • A comprehensive field exam consisting of two components:
    • A closed-book quantitative exam
    • An open-book research design essay
  • Each PhD student is expected to teach an undergraduate course in OMIS.
  • The completion of a dissertation that is likely to result in publications in high-level journals.

A typical program of study will take between four and five years. The course requirements are completed during the first two years, the seminar presentation and comprehensive examination take place in second year, and the remainder of the program is focused on research development and scholarly output (i.e., dissertation and submissions to journals).

Candidates for the Operations Management & Information Systems field PhD degree must fulfil the following minimum requirements:

Courses

Students must successfully complete the following course requirements:

Required Courses

7060 3.0: Introduction to Applied Statistics
7100 3.0: Logics of Social Research
7250 3.0: Research Design
7101 3.0: OMIS Foundations I
7102 3.0: OMIS Foundations II
7103 3.0: OMIS Emerging Topics
7985 3.0: Research Project in Operations Management and Information Systems

Eight Elective Courses

These courses are selected with the assistance of the Operations Management & Information Systems PhD program coordinator from among those offered in other fields in Schulich or from other relevant postgraduate programs at York. The eight elective courses expose students to theoretical and methodological courses relevant to their dissertation research interest.

Comprehensive Examinations

The comprehensive field examination takes place in the summer of the second year. There are two components: a closed-book quantitative exam (approximately four hours in length) and an open-book take home exam (one week). The closed-book exam tests students on skills learned in their core courses. The open-book take home exam is in essay format and tests students on their ability to design a program of research. Students must demonstrate clear and coherent writing ability, methodological mastery and a deep comprehension of the literature relevant to the topic. Their academic writing style should mimic what is expected by top journals in the field (e.g., Management Science, Journal of Operations Management). Students receive a grade of pass or fail on this comprehensive exam. Those who fail will have the opportunity to retake the exams once, within six months of the date of the first comprehensive exam. Those who fail to pass a second time are not allowed to continue in the PhD program.

The program regards the comprehensive examination as a pivotal point for deciding whether students should be allowed to proceed with their studies or be encouraged to withdraw from the program.

Dissertation Proposal and Oral Defence

Candidates must prepare a written proposal to conduct original dissertation research carried out under the supervision of a supervisory committee, and must defend this to the satisfaction of the thesis supervisor and members of the supervisory committee.

Dissertation and Oral Examination

Candidates must prepare a dissertation based on original research carried out under the supervision of a supervisory committee and submit the results in appropriate dissertation form. After the formal submission of the dissertation, an oral examination is held. It is expected that all or part of the dissertation will be published following professional or scientific review.

We recommend further consultation with your area Ph.D. rep concerning any impending changes to the program requirements and guidance on selecting appropriate optional courses.

 

Faculty

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OMIS faculty regularly publish their research within the best journals in their respective fields (such as the Journal of Operations Management, Management Science, and MIS Quarterly) as well as leading journals in other disciplines (i.e. Strategic Management Journal and Environmental Informatics Archives). Research interests within the faculty range from mainstream topics such as supply chain strategy and knowledge management systems to emerging topics such as environmentally sustainable business practices. While the area has a core capability in empirical research methods, OMIS faculty have successfully applied a range of empirical and analytical methods depending on the requirements of specific research programs.

The following faculty are accredited by the Schulich School of Business and the Faculty of Graduate Studies for the supervision of doctoral students:

Selected faculty members

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Career Opportunities

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  • Placement of Recent Graduates

    Ting Cao Assistant Professor of Management, Holzschuh College of Business Administration, Niagara University
    Ortac Onder Senior Data Scientist, PwC Canada
    Evghenii (Eugene) Furman Post-doctural Researcher at University of Toronto – Rotman School of Management
    Anton Shevchenko Assistant Professor, Concordia University
    Hamed Tajedin Postdoctoral Researcher, ESSEC Business School
    Muhammad Usman Ahmed Assistant Professor at Engineering and Management Department at Clarkson University at New York
    Hamdi Driss Assistant Professor, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, NS

Student Research

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  • Selected Publications

    Ting Cao (2022), “Has the technological investment been worth it? Assessing the aggregate efficiency of non-homogenous bank holding companies in the digital age,” Technological Forecasting & Social Change 178: 121576. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2022.121576. (with Cook, W. and Kristal, M.M.)

    Eugene Furman (2021), “Customer Acquisition and Retention: A Fluid Approach for Staffing,” Production and Operations Management, 30.11: 4236-425 (with Diamant, A. and Kristal, M. M.)

    Eugene Furman (2021), “Prediction of Personal Protective Equipment Use in Hospitals During COVID-19,” Health Care Management Science, 24 (2021): 439-453. (with Cressman, A., Shin, S., Kuznetsov, A., Razak, F., Verma, A. and Diamant, A.)

    Ortac Onder (2021), “Does quality help the financial viability of hospitals? A data envelopment analysis approach,” Socio-Economic Planning Sciences 79(C): 101105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seps.2021.101105. (with Cook, W. and Kristal, M.M.)

    Anton Shevchenko (2020), “Preventing Supplier Non-Conformance: Extending the Agency Theory Perspective,” International Journal of Operations and Production Management, 40(3), 315-340. Runner up for the IJOPM’s 2020 Outstanding Paper of the Year (with Pagell, M., Lévesque, M. and D. Johnston)

    Hamdi Driss (2019), “The Effect of Competition Among Rating Agencies on Ratings Quality: Evidence from the Canadian Corporate Bond Market,” Journal of Corporate Finance 58, 605-623 (with Bae, K. and Gordon Roberts)

    Hamdi Driss (2019), “Are credit rating agencies still relevant? Evidence on certification from Moody’s credit watches,” Journal of Corporate Finance (2019), 59, 119-141. (with Massoud, N. and Roberts, G.)

    Hamed Tajedin (2019), “A theory of firm-designed markets: Circumventing knowledge constraints in crowds and marketplaces,” Strategy Science, 4, 323-342. (with Madhok, A. and Keyhani, M.)

    Mohammad Keyhani (2019), “A theory of firm-designed markets: Circumventing knowledge constraints in crowds and marketplaces,” Strategy Science, 4, 323-342. (with Madhok, A. and Tajedin, H.)

    Mohammad Usman Ahmed (2019), “Building high performance supply-chain relationships for dynamic environments,” Business Process Management Journal 26(1): 80–101. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/BPMJ-05-2018-0139. (with Kristal, M.M., Pagell, M. and Gattiker, T.F.)

    Mohammad Usman Ahmed (2019), “Micro-foundations of supply chain integration: An activity-based analysis,” Logistics 3(2): 12. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/logistics3020012. (with Kristal, M.M., Pagell, M. and Gattiker, T.F.)

    Recent Dissertation Topics

    2022: Ting Cao – Digitization of Financial Services and Firm Performance

    2022: Ortac Onder – Hospital Survivability and Government Policies: The 2010 Affordable Care Act

    2021: Evghenii (Eugene) Furman – Models for Capacity Allocation in Anticipation of Time-Varying Demand

    2017: Anton Shevchenko – Re-Thinking Supplier Risk Management With Case Studies and Agent-Based Simulation

    2016: Hamed Tajedin – Three Essays on Crowdsourcing As A New Mode of Organizing

    2015: Muhammad Usman Ahmed – Integrative Practices in Supply Chains: Building Relationships for Competitiveness in Dynamic Environments

    2014: Hamdi Driss – Three Essays on Information Intermediaries in Financial Markets

    Current PhD students in the OMIS Area:

    as of Fall 2023

    • Sonia Bagherirad
    • Pierre Gautreau
    • Huiqing Tian