PhD Overview

The Qualification Phase provides students with a general exposure to their area of specialization, the discipline of management, and methodological tools. The doctoral program curriculum is based on a flexible menu system, consisting of two menus of courses – one for research methods and one for theoretical breadth courses. 

Coursework requirements are approved by the faculty from your area of specialization. Before advancing to candidacy, your are also required to complete 4 breadth courses on the school-wide menu and the theoretical menu, outside your major field. During this phase, you acquire the knowledge necessary to conduct original research and scholarship including: 

• Knowledge of research, theory, and key issues in the major subfields in the area of specialization
• The appreciation of critical analytic abilities relevant to the area of specialization
• Research methods relevant to the area, including both knowledge of methods and a demonstration of the capacity to use the methods

To advance beyond the Qualification Phase, you must complete all required coursework, a written preliminary examination, and a formal oral qualifying examination. The maximum duration of this phase is 9 academic quarters or 3 calendar years.

Academic Advisor

As a Phase I PhD student, you will be assigned an academic faculty advisor from your area of specialization to assist you in getting acclimated to the Merage School PhD program. The advisor guides you in planning your PhD coursework and supervises your academic progress for the first two years of the program. 
 
During this phase, you have the opportunity to identify/discover your research interests and find a faculty member who best fits your research needs. The Academic Advisor and the Qualifying Advisor may or may not be the same person.

Qualifying Advisor

At the beginning of the third year, the Qualifying Advisor provides you guidance in pursuing your research interests. The Qualifying Advisor may also be the chair of your thesis committee.

The Dissertation Phase requires the completion of a significant original research project and a dissertation which demonstrates your creativity and ability to launch and sustain a career in research. The type of research project selected is an important determinant of the amount of time you will spend in this phase. Upon approval of the dissertation and final examination (dissertation defense), your doctoral committee recommends the conferral of the degree. The Dissertation Phase is expected to take 24 months after you have advanced to candidacy, which ordinarily occurs three years into the program. The normative time to degree is five years.

Browse all PhD placements by area of study.

Professor Violina Rindova holds the Dean’s Leadership Circle Chair. Prior the joining the Merage School of Business, she was on the faculty of the Marshall School of Business, USC, where she held the Captain Henry W. Simonsen Chair in Strategic Entrepreneurship and served as a Research Director of the Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies; and the faculty of the McCombs School of Business, where she held the Zlotnik Family Chair in Entrepreneurship and Herb Kelleher Chair in Entrepreneurship and served as the Director of the Herb Kelleher Center for Entrepreneurship, Growth and Renewal. She holds a PhD in Management from the Stern School of Business, New York University, an MBA from Madrid Business School, Spain, and a JD from Kliment Ohridski University, Sofia, Bulgaria.

Professor Rindova has published over 70 articles and book chapters in the leading management journals on a variety of strategy and entrepreneurship topics including competitive and growth strategies in dynamic and uncertain technology contexts; the socio-cognitive and cultural approaches to strategic innovation and market creation and transformation; and stakeholder evaluations, media attention, and the development of firm reputation. Her recent work focuses on strategy under uncertainty and how firms imagine and shape the future through design-based strategies. Her work has been frequently in the business media, including the Economist, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. She is the recipient of multiple grants and awards, including the Thought Leadership Award from the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management, the Award for Outstanding Scholarly Contribution from Strategic Organization, the Best Paper Award from the Strategic Management Society, and the Journal of Management Inquiry Distinguished Scholar Award. She has served as an Associate Editor of the Academy of Management Review and is currently a senior editor at Strategy Science.

Professor Rindova has taught in a variety of executive programs around the globe and has worked with clients from the advertising, entrainment, insurance, food, healthcare, and education industries.