The Weatherhead School's PhD in Management: Designing Sustainable Systems program is designed for our DBA students who want to build on their research and produce a doctoral dissertation that meets the academic quality standards of a traditional PhD degree.
Our program (and its stream of independent student study) is devoted to significantly extending your knowledge in salient theories that prepare you to write a doctoral thesis in the field of management. In addition to advancing your research skills with the expectation that you can publish in relevant academic and practitioner-focused journals, the track prepares you for an academic career involving teaching and research.
Candidate Requirements
As a student of the DBA/DM program pursuing the Designing Sustainable Systems track, you’re responsible for reading seminal works throughout your course of study leading to a grounding in one of the following chosen disciplines:
- Marketing
- Accounting
- Economics
- Entrepreneurship
- Finance
- Information systems
- Organizational behavior or strategy
- Healthcare
- Operations
- Design & Innovation
Case Western Reserve University's PhD in Management: Designing Sustainable Systems program includes 18 credit hours of independent academic research defined by the doctoral committee, consisting of a chair and three faculty members. Research conducted within the track incorporates perspectives from thoughts of design, sustainability, and complex systems as they relate to management in a global environment.
Your second year includes a series of five research residency sessions where you'll present and discuss your thesis work encompassing a study of relevant research literature and a formal thesis review as recommended by your dissertation committee.
Sample Curriculum
Note: The year-three curriculum of the DBA/DM program is year one of the Designing Sustainable Systems track.
Year One
Fall Semester
- MGMT 645 – Integration of Qualitative and Quantitative Inquiry
- MGMT 616 – Global Economic Systems and Issues
- MGMT 646 – Advanced Analytical Methods for Generalizing Research
Deliverables:
Quantitative research paper
Identify and organize thesis and committee
Spring Semester
- MGMT 664 – Knowledge Dissemination to Influence Managerial Practice
- MGMT 677 – Designing Sustainable Systems
- MGMT 640 – Social Ethics: Contemporary Issues
Deliverables:
Generate study plan and reading list for comprehensive examination
Write first version/draft of the PhD thesis proposal
Summer Semester
- Two-day residency session
- Comprehensive exam
- Dissertation proposal defense
Year Two
Fall Semester
- Dissertation research (includes participating in two research residency sessions)
Deliverables:
Different parts of the thesis manuscript presented and defended in the research workshop (3rd paper/ introduction)
Spring Semester
- Dissertation research (includes participating in two research residency sessions)
Deliverables:
A summary of the thesis or a specific paper presented and defended in a research residency session
PhD dissertation submitted and defended
Sample Curriculum for DM Alumni
If you’re an EDM/DM/DBA alumni enrolling for the Designing Sustainable Systems track in the PhD in management program, you’ll devote two years to seminars and research to expand your research portfolio and prepare for an academic career.
Although transdisciplinary research is the main focus of this track, you’re also expected to be grounded in a disciplinary field as demonstrated by successfully passing a comprehensive examination in your chosen field. A required comprehensive examination at the end of the first spring semester is based upon the selected research topic and the research approach.
Year One
Fall Semester: 9 credit hours
Deliverable:
Personal study plan: includes classic and new readings in the candidate’s chosen discipline and/or courses recommended by the committee chair and advisors
Spring Semester: 9 credit hours
- MGMT 664 – Knowledge Dissemination to Influence Managerial Practice
- MGMT 677 – Designing Sustainable Systems
- MGMT 602 – Special Topics or other elective course
Summer Session
- Two-day workshop
- Comprehensive exam
- Defense of dissertation proposal
Year Two
Fall Semester: 9 credit hours
- Dissertation research (includes participating in two research workshops)
Deliverable:
A manuscript presented and defended in a research workshop
Spring Semester: 9 credit hours
- Dissertation research (includes participating in two research workshops)
Deliverables:
A summary of the thesis or a specific paper presented and defended in a research workshop
PhD dissertation submitted and defended
Dissertation Research
This integrative course for PhD students focuses on presenting and debating research while offering additional readings on:
- Management theory
- Multilevel research designs
- Mixed design methodology
- Research dissemination and teaching
You have the opportunity to attend five residency sessions throughout the year—one in the summer and two each in the fall and spring semesters—to support and expand your experience in conducting extensive research and writing a dissertation.
Comprehensive Examination
For the comprehensive examination, you'll compile a list of readings covered throughout your studies within the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA/Doctor of Management (DM)) program with a general “'Designing Sustainable Systems” domain reading list to serve as a baseline. This extensive list will also cover additional readings in management research classics, specific selective domains and those pertinent to your discipline-based thesis work.
Once the dissertation committee chair approves your reading list, you’ll need to pass both written and oral examinations before moving to candidacy.
PhD Proposal
The initial requirement for carrying out the PhD dissertation research is to write a proposal based on the knowledge obtained by conducting qualitative and quantitative research studies in the DBA/DM program.
The proposal should:
- Identify the research problem
- Discuss and select appropriate theoretical positions to address the research problem
- Select and justify effective lines of inquiry
- Propose an operational way to conduct a study to address the research problem
- Demonstrate how the study can contribute to theory
The dissertation proposal should also effectively demonstrate how you expand your study beyond contributions made in the prior qualitative and quantitative studies.
PhD Dissertation
The dissertation should advance theory in an area of management as well as provide credible evidence to validate and build it. Your dissertation also needs to be anchored in a salient problem of practice.
Typically, a dissertation consists of three research reports (i.e., a qualitative, a quantitative, a mixed methods research paper), an extensive introduction to the thesis domain, pertinent research within that domain, and a demonstration of contribution to management scholarship.