IX. Graduate Programs

Management

PhD Program

The PhD in Management is offered in three fields: 1) marketing and consumer behaviour; 2) organizational leadership; and 3) services management.

Admission Requirements

There are three means of entry:

  1. An applicant who holds a recognized master’s degree in a management related discipline with an average standing of at least “B+” may be admitted to PhD studies as a regular or provisional student

  2. An applicant who holds a recognized master’s degree with high standing in a field other than management and who wishes to proceed to doctoral study in a management field should consult with the Graduate Program Coordinator about eligibility.

  3. An applicant who has achieved excellent standing at the honours baccalaureate level in a management field and who wishes to proceed to doctoral study may enroll in a related master's degree. If the student achieves a superior academic record and shows a particular aptitude for research, the Board of Graduate Studies, on the recommendation of the Department/School admissions committee, may authorize transfer to the PhD program without requiring the student to complete the master’s degree.

All applicants are required to submit GRE (Graduate Records Exam) or GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test) results when applying.

Program Requirements

The goal of the PhD program in Management is to produce graduates with both a breadth of knowledge about management theories in general, and a depth of knowledge such that they will be competent researchers and/or teachers in their chosen field. Since most courses will be common to the current three fields in this program as well as to any future fields, the key indicator of the student’s area of specialization will be their thesis topic. Students should select all courses in consultation with the Graduate Program Coordinator and their supervisor. Students with an existing Master's degree awarded by the Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics, who have already taken some of the required courses as part of their graduate program, will be exempted from those course requirements.

Students in all fields of the program will take five core courses that will ensure that each student has a breadth of knowledge about management and research. Of the five core courses, one will cover the theories and practice of management, another provides an understanding of the philosophy of research and design, two courses cover quantitative research and the fifth covers qualitative research methodologies. In addition to the five core courses, there are two required field courses in the first year specific to each field. In the second year students select two additional required courses and two elective courses in their field in consultation with the program coordinator. All students must take the University teaching course in the fall of the second year, bringing the total number of 0.5 credit courses to twelve. In addition, all students must write a paper in a non-credit course the summer of the first year and attend every year a non-credit seminar series course that introduces students to the diversity of research projects undertaken by Guelph faculty, graduate students and by visitors to the University. Following their coursework, students will complete a comprehensive exam designed to test their knowledge in the general area of management and in their field of specialization. Students are to present and defend a doctoral research proposal in the semester after completion of the qualifying examination.

Overall, the proposed program consists of five semesters of coursework (five core courses, four required field courses, two electives and the teaching course), followed by the qualifying exam, presentation and defense of a research proposal, and finally, the completion and defense of a full doctoral dissertation.

Students are required to take a total of 6.0 credits (12 courses), the PhD Research Project Seminar course in the third (summer) semester (0.0 credit) and the Marketing & Consumer Studies Seminar course (0.0 credit) each fall and winter semester the student is registered.

Year 1
Semester 1
MGMT*6950 [0.00] Doctoral Research Seminar
MGMT*6820 [0.50] Theory of Management
MGMT*6830 [0.50] Applied Univariate Statistical Analysis for Management

Required field course

Marketing and Consumer Behaviour: one of

MCS*6000 [0.50] Consumption Behaviour Theory I
MCS*6100 [0.50] Marketing Theory

Organizational Leadership

BUS*6830 [0.50] Foundational Theories of Leadership

Services Management

HTM*6710 [0.50] Services Management Theory I
Note

MGMT*6830 can be substituted with PSYC*6060 Research Design and Statistics or with STAT*6950 Statistical Methods for Life Sciences, upon recommendation from the Graduate Program Coordinator.

Semester 2
MGMT*6950 [0.00] Doctoral Research Seminar
MGMT*6840 [0.50] Quantitative Research Methods: Multivariate Techniques
MGMT*6850 [0.50] Qualitative Research Methods

Required field course

Marketing and Consumer Behaviour: one of

MCS*6010 [0.50] Consumption Behaviour Theory II
MCS*6120 [0.50] Marketing Management

Organizational Leadership

BUS*6840 [0.50] Foundational Theories of Management

Services Management

HTM*6720 [0.50] Services Management Theory II
Semester 3
MGMT*6800 [0.50] Philosophy of Social Science Research
MGMT*6900 [0.00] PhD Research Seminar Project
Year 2
Semester 4
MGMT*6950 [0.00] Doctoral Research Seminar
UNIV*6800 [0.50] University Teaching: Theory and Practice

Required field course

Marketing and Consumer Behaviour: one of

ECON*6600 [0.50] Labour Economics
MCS*6070 [0.50] Introduction to Structural Equation Modeling
MCS*6810 [0.50] Experimental Design and Analysis for Behavioural Research in Management Studies
Note

The field course can be replaced by a course in Psychological Methods or Marketing Models upon agreement from program coordinator.

Organizational Leadership: one of

BUS*6800 [0.50] Readings in Leadership I
BUS*6820 [0.50] Readings in Management

Services Management: One of theory or methods courses:

ECON*6000 [0.50] Microeconomic Theory I
ECON*6140 [0.50] Econometrics I
FARE*6380 [0.50] Applied Microeconomics for Agricultural Economists
MCS*6000 [0.50] Consumption Behaviour Theory I
MCS*6070 [0.50] Introduction to Structural Equation Modeling
MCS*6100 [0.50] Marketing Theory

All fields: One elective course [0.50] from Elective Course List below.

Semester 5
MGMT*6950 [0.00] Doctoral Research Seminar

Qualifying Examination

Required field course

Marketing and Consumer Behaviour: one of

ECON*6160 [0.50] Econometrics II
ECON*6610 [0.50] Topics in Labour Economics
One course in Psychology/ Sociology/ Microeconomics/Econometrics/ Economics/Marketing/Consumer Behaviour/ upon agreement with program co-ordinator

Organizational Leadership: one of

BUS*6810 [0.50] Readings in Leadership II

Services Management: One of theory or methods courses:

ANTH*6140 [0.50] Qualitative Research Methods
BUS*6810 [0.50] Readings in Leadership II
ECON*6010 [0.50] Microeconomic Theory II
ECON*6100 [0.50] Experimental Economics
FARE*6970 [0.50] Applied Quantitative Methods for Agricultural Economists
MCS*6010 [0.50] Consumption Behaviour Theory II

All fields: One elective course [0.50] from Elective Course List below.

Semester 6

Thesis Proposal Defence

Year 3
Semester 7, 8 & 9
MGMT*6950 [0.00] Doctoral Research Seminar

Thesis Research

Year 4
Semester 10, 11 & 12
MGMT*6950 [0.00] Doctoral Research Seminar

Doctoral Thesis

Elective Course List

All fields: Two elective courses [1.00]

The elective courses can be one from the required courses list or another course from the list below. Other electives from other University of Guelph academic units can be considered if agreed to by the Graduate Program Coordinator.

HTM*6730 [0.50] Cases in Management
MCS*6800 [0.50] Best Worst Scaling and Discrete Choice Analysis
TRMH*6100 [0.50] Foundations of Tourism and Hospitality
TRMH*6200 [0.50] Contemporary Issues in Tourism
TRMH*6250 [0.50] Tourism and Sustainable Development
TRMH*6310 [0.50] Research Applications in Tourism and Hospitality
BU*842 [0.50] Consumer Behavior, Marketing, Wilfrid Laurier
BU*862 [0.50] Research in Brand and Product Management, Marketing, Wilfrid Laurier
SOC*760 [0.50] Social Networks, Department of Sociology and Legal Studies, University of Waterloo
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