PhD in Management - Designing Sustainable Systems Track for Alumni

In keeping with its history of educational innovation, the Weatherhead School of Management is proud to announce the Designing Sustainable Systems track in the PhD in Management program. Admission to this new and innovative PhD track is open to those who have graduated from Weatherhead's pioneering Executive Doctor of Management (EDM) Program. The new track builds on and advances the essential foundations and goals of that highly-praised doctoral program, launched by the Weatherhead School as the Executive Doctor in Management (EDM) in 1995.

The Designing Sustainable Systems track in the PhD in Management program represents a new model of doctoral education in management. It takes a broader, evidence-based approach to management issues. The research in this track incorporates perspectives from new thinking about design, sustainability, and complex systems as they relate to management in an increasingly global environment. Your EDM/DM research put strong emphasis on integrative knowledge and on methodologies that synthesize concepts, research, and experience. Like the EDM/DM research, this Designing Sustainable Systems track in the PhD in Management program places a premium on:

• The use of multiple theories that stretch the issue beyond the boundaries of a single perspective
• Efforts that synthesize prior work from several disciplines
• Translation of previously-produced academic knowledge into terms that can guide policy and practice
• Proposals that integrate theory and experience
• Research that draws upon multiple methods and knowledge paradigms

This Designing Sustainable Systems track in the PhD in Management program augments the single-discipline focus of most currently available PhD programs, which typically attract students with limited managerial experience. It differs from traditional PhD programs in three respects:

• The research is trans-disciplinary and integrates concepts, theories, and methods from design, sustainability, and systems thinking.
• Combining rigor, relevance, and research in a manner that is useful to practitioners as well as the academy, the program addresses the need for a new kind of practical and experienced academic educator who takes a broad, cross-disciplinary approach to management issues and who addresses research questions that derive from practice. Research methods are applied to complex managerial problems, generating knowledge that makes a contribution to managerial action as well as to scholarly literature.
• It is residency-based, enabling participants to maintain their employment and direct connection to practice while in the program.

The Designing Sustainable Systems track in the PhD in Management program represents the next advance in management education. It offers a unique and exciting educational opportunity for current students and graduates of the EDM/DM Program to enhance their intellectual achievement and to extend and deepen their contributions to managerial knowledge.

Curriculum

The Designing Sustainable Systems track in the PhD in Management program is offered to EDM/DM alumni who want to further their research and seek to become academic researchers in management. With this program, the Weatherhead School of Management is leading innovation in management education by offering the first trans-disciplinary Designing Sustainable Systems track in the PhD in Management program for working professionals. The EDM/DM alumni enrolling for the Designing Sustainable Systems track in the PhD in Management program will devote two years to seminars and research; thereby expanding their research portfolio and preparing them for an academic career.

Year One

Fall Semester: 9 Credit Hours

• Advanced Topics
• 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

• Research Dissemination
• Designing Sustainable Systems Project
• Theories of Organizing

Summer Session

• Two Day Workshop
• Comprehensive Exam
• Defense of Dissertation Proposal

Although trans-disciplinary research is the main focus of this track, students in the in the PhD in Management: Designing Sustainable Systems program are also expected to be grounded in a disciplinary field as demonstrated by successfully passing a comprehensive examination in their 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 Two

Fall Semester: 9 Credit Hours

• Dissertation Research (Includes participating in two research workshops/seminars)
• Deliverable: A manuscript presented and defended in a research workshop

Spring Semester: 9 Credit Hours

• Dissertation Research (Includes participating in two research workshops/seminars)
• Deliverables:
  • A summary of the thesis or a specific paper presented and defended in a research workshop
  • PhD Dissertation submitted and defended

Admission Requirements for EDM Alumni

In order to be eligible for the PhD in Management: Designing Sustainable Systems program, the applicant must have successfully completed all first and second year courses in the DM program OR be an alumni of the DM program.

Required Materials

Applicants should submit a School of Graduate Studies online application which includes the following items:

• Official Transcripts
• Four essay questions
• Two letters of recommendation
• Letter of assessment by subject area advisor
• Application fee: $50
• International students require evidence of financial support for studies

Application Deadline for Fall 2011

• July 15, 2011

Tuition

The current tuition and fees for Weatherhead's Designing Sustainable Systems track in the PhD in Management program is $25,000 per semester. Tuition covers university fees, instruction, and some meals. Candidates are responsible for all other costs such as books, lodging, and transportation to and from the on-campus residencies.

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