Policy and Strategic Management

The program is designed to develop the content knowledge and methodological skills necessary for a student to become a successful and productive scholar. Coursework and associated activities help students cultivate the values of research excellence and intellectual curiosity that are essential for their careers. Students are expected to engage actively in research projects throughout their entire graduate program.

In addition, students are required to participate in the departmental research seminar series. By the end of the second year (24 months) students are also expected to have fulfilled the research paper requirement and passed their comprehensive exams.

Coursework

The foundation courses are designed to provide the prerequisite disciplinary knowledge relevant to strategic management and to provide the background for the topical areas emphasized in the strategy elective courses. The strategy elective courses cover either advanced topics in strategy (e.g. cooperative strategies and networks) or specialized sub-fields within the strategic management field (e.g. international strategy or entrepreneurship).

Methods

In addition to the following required courses, students will take two courses in quantitative research methods and selected advanced topics in empirical methods. These specific course selections will be made after consultation with the student’s faculty advisor and the PhD Coordinator.

• DCAD 7100 3.00 LOGICS OF SOCIAL RESEARCH
  This examines the major philosophical debates in the social sciences and explores the rationale of different approaches to social research. Students learn how to select and develop appropriate research strategies and how to critically examine the use of various research strategies.
• DCAD 7250 3.00 RESEARCH DESIGN
  This course introduces students to research design, strengthens their reasoning and theoretical development skills, helps them effectively apply a range of empirical methodologies to their own research and critically review empirical studies done by others. Topics include types of variables, relationships, sampling and measurement, survey and field research designs, experimental designs, and alternative designs, and research design biases and artifacts.
• DCAD 7400 3.00 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS
  This course provides students with detailed exposure to the qualitative research methodologies that have begun to exert a major influence on management research over the last 10 years.

Strategy

• SGMT 7010 3.00 STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT SEMINAR I

  This seminar focuses on the theories and current research in those areas which represent the more accepted and more often researched topics within strategic management. Both "content" and "process" streams are discussed and critiqued. (Offered in alternate years.)

Plus three of the following courses:

• ORGS 7020 3.00 ADVANCED TOPICS IN ORGANIZATION THEORY

  This course introduces students to leading paradigms and current topics in organization theory. Students obtain an intensive overview of "macro" theories in organizational behaviour and develop an ability to assess organization theory and research critically and comprehensively. Class discussions focus on the strengths, weaknesses and contributions of leading-edge theories and topics; and students are encouraged to think creatively about future directions that various topics and theories might take to advance the field's understanding of organizations. By the conclusion of the course, students: (a) are familiar with important sources and references on prevailing issues in organization theory; (b) have a solid grasp of advanced theory and research on a breadth of topics in macro organizational behaviour; (c) have a better understanding of the process of writing theoretical articles; and (d) possess the ability to evaluate critically the contributions of various research streams to the field of organization theory.

+ Two additional PLCY electives will be offered each year. Please check with your faculty advisor.

Research Colloquium

In addition to the above 12 courses, students are expected to actively participate in the departmental research seminar series. Participation goes beyond just being present and carries an expectation of more involved engagement. Students are also expected to present their research paper and their dissertation proposal in this series.

Specialization Elective

The specialization elective is expected to be provide you more solid grounding from a base discipline (e.g. Economics, Sociology, etc) outside the Schulich School of Business. Under rare circumstances, and with the approval of the area coordinator, this course may be substituted by an independent study. An independent study is undertaken under the supervision of an individual faculty member and normally has a term paper requirement that must be evaluated by the PhD area coordinator or an additional faculty member.

Graduate Colloquium in Management

Students are expected to participate in two full-year Graduate Colloquia in Management in the first and second year of the program:

• DCAD 7600 1.50 GRADUATE COLLOQUIUM IN MANAGEMENT
  The rules, norms, and standards that surround the field of academics can seem ambiguous, confusing, and opaque to new Ph.D. students in the management disciplines. The purpose of this two-semester course is to provide a means of articulating central themes in this tacit process, and to provide a means of community-building among management-oriented Ph.D. students. Prerequisite: Open to and required of first- or second-year Ph.D. students in Strategy/Policy and Organization Studies areas.
• DCAD 7610 1.50 GRADUATE COLLOQUIUM IN MANAGEMENT
  The rules, norms, and standards that surround the field of academics can seem ambiguous, confusing, and opaque to new Ph.D. students in the management disciplines. The purpose of this two-semester course is to provide a means of articulating central themes in this tacit process, and to provide a means of community-building among management-oriented Ph.D. students. Pre-requisite: Open to and required of first- or second-year Ph.D. students in Strategy/Policy and Organization Studies areas.

Research Paper Requirement

Students must submit one research paper that synthesizes a particular body of literature and furthers our understanding on a specific topic in strategy. The research paper is a prerequisite to the comprehensive exams and should comprise both a theoretical and an empirical component. Students work closely with a faculty advisor on this paper.

The initial submission of the research paper is due before the end of December of the second year. Students are required to present this paper in the research seminar series, normally during the spring term. Students are expected to submit the final version of the paper by May 15 of the second year. The paper is evaluated and must be approved by the research paper’s faculty advisor, the area PhD Coordinator and an additional faculty member.

Comprehensive Examination

Following the successful completion of all coursework and the research paper, students may schedule their comprehensive exams. Typically, they take place before the middle of September of their third year. The comprehensive exams are designed to test a student’s breadth of knowledge in the field of strategic management as well as depth of knowledge in select areas. In preparation for their exams, students are given a list of classic readings at the beginning of their program; the list consists of books and journal articles that have defined the field. Students are expected to have a thorough comprehension and understanding of the historical development and the fundamental questions that have guided the discourse in the field. Students are also expected to be thoroughly versed in the current literature and research questions that occupy select areas of the field of strategy. It is assumed that these areas will subsequently define the scope of a student’s dissertation.

Dissertation

The dissertation is the culmination of the PhD program and should lead to an original and substantial scholarly contribution to the Strategic Management field. Upon successful completion of the comprehensive exams, students commence the dissertation.

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.