INFO PhD Program Information
The objective of the PhD program in Operations and Supply Chain Management is to develop the student’s abilities such that he/she is capable of conducting sufficiently high quality scholarly activities to enable a successful academic career. This is accomplished through course work, in class experiences, hands on training within the academic and industrial settings, conducting supervised and joint research with faculty members, and an extensive mentoring process.
Residence requirements
The student must maintain residency status through admission to candidacy. Admission to candidacy requires the completion of course work, completion of the preliminary examination, and the filing of an acceptable dissertation proposal with the Office of Graduate Studies.
Course work
The PhD program normally consists of two to three years of coursework, plus two years of research work to complete the doctoral dissertation. A minimum of 64 credit hours beyond the master’s degree (96 beyond the baccalaureate) is required by university regulations, including 18-24 hours for dissertation research. For the academic program, the department requires 36 hours of coursework plus 6 hours of directed research study past the prerequisite requirements. The student’s academic committee might require additional coursework beyond these departmental requirements. The departmental requirements are:
- Research Methods (12 hours) - Each student will complete four specified research methods courses. These courses provide the student with a working knowledge of the research methodologies commonly employed in operations and supply chain research. The requirement includes a course in each of the following: deterministic models, stochastic models, economics, and statistics. Specific course selections are based on each incoming student’s academic background.
- Foundation Courses (6 hours) - In order to understand operations and supply chain management within a business context, all students take two business foundation courses. This course sequence focuses on business and supply chain theory including theory of the firm, supply chain theory, strategy, value chain theory, transaction theory, organizational theory, and inter-organizational systems, among other topics.
- Doctoral Seminars (12 hours) - Four research seminars provide the student with exposure to a wide variety of research studies within the operations and supply chain management domain. The seminars are research focused and cover classic papers in the field as well as articles examining current and emerging research topics. Due to the evolutionary nature of research, seminar content will evolve over time. These seminars expose the student to a wide variety of research questions, methodologies, and provide the student with a platform for defining his/her own research program.
- Focused Research Methods (9 hours) - Conducting high quality research requires that the student obtain cutting edge expertise in the applied research methodology. This is accomplished by completing three advanced courses focusing on the dissertation research methodology. The student, in consultation with the academic committee members, will select the specific courses.
- Directed Research (3 hours) - Directed research provides an opportunity for the student to work closely with a faculty member on a research project. The objective of the directed research is to lay the foundation for a research paper that is eventually presented at a national level professional society meeting and published in an academic journal. In addition, the directed research provides a significant opportunity for exploring in depth potential dissertation research topics. The direct research is scheduled during the first two years of the student’s course work.
Progress milestones
Each student’s development is evaluated at five major milestones. These include the qualifying exam, qualifying research paper, preliminary exam, dissertation research proposal, and dissertation research defense.
- Qualifying Examination (summer after first year) - The qualifying examination provides a rigorous assessment of the student’s academic performance during the first year of the program. The exam duration is six to eight hours. The exam content reflects the topics covered in the foundation courses and research methods courses taken during the first year. The PhD committee will assess the student’s performance on the qualifying exam, also considering the student’s performance in the courses taken during the first year and the input from the faculty conducting the PhD seminars and potential committee members.
- Qualifying Research Paper (summer after second year) - Each student is expected to prepare, under the supervision of one or two faculty members, a single-authored publishable quality research paper by the completion of the second year of study. This paper could be an output of the directed research studies, domain seminars, or related to potential dissertation research. The research paper will be presented to the departmental faculty members and evaluated by the student’s academic committee. Successful completion of the Qualifying Research Paper is a prerequisite for taking the Preliminary Examination.
- Preliminary Examination (fall of third year) - The preliminary examination verifies that the student is prepared to
pursue dissertation research in Operations and Supply Chain Management.
The examination consists of two major components. The first is
administered by the department and ascertains whether the student has
mastered the content of the operations and supply chain management
domain. This is judged by performance on an eight-hour written
examination covering the research seminars topics plus supplemental
readings relevant to the student’s intended research topic.
The second component assesses the student’s preparedness to conduct the dissertation research and is administered by the student’s dissertation advisory committee after the student successfully completes the domain examination.
This exam component consists of two parts. Part 1 is a take-home examination written by the advisory committee. The questions typically relate to the student’s dissertation research area including relevant research methodologies. Part 2 is an oral examination during which time the advisory committee attempts to clarify any concerns relating to the domain examination, take-home examination, or other areas related to the student’s preparation for moving forward with the dissertation research.
Upon successful completion of the preliminary examination, the student concentrates on the dissertation research. - Dissertation Proposal Defense (spring of third year) - The student’s academic committee is responsible for administering the dissertation proposal defense. The purpose is to evaluate the potential of the proposed research in satisfying the dissertation research requirements and to provide an opportunity for the assembled advisory committee to provide the student with guidance. Upon completion of the dissertation proposal defense, both the student and advisory committee will clearly understand the definition, objectives, scope, deliverables, and necessary steps for completing the dissertation research.
- Dissertation Defense - During the dissertation defense the advisory committee evaluates the quality of the dissertation research and the preparedness of the student to conduct independent research in supply chain management.
Formation of Academic Committee
While the PhD Committee, through the Program Advisor, is responsible for guiding, evaluating and providing feedback to doctoral students during their first year in the program, the student’s Academic Committee (AC) will assume these responsibilities once the student passes the qualifying examination. Specifically, the AC is responsible for: a) the authorization of the degree plan (selection of focused research and other relevant courses for the student’s dissertation plans), b) the non-departmental section of the preliminary examination, and c) assessing the dissertation proposal and dissertation defense. Given the importance of the AC, students are encouraged during the first year of study to take the initiative to meet the department’s faculty to identify research interests and a potential chair for the academic committee. Appointments of chairs of academic committees will be done in consultation with the Department Head.
Performance standards
The grading standards within the department are significantly more rigid than the university requirements. Any student that receives two C's or two U's while in the program will be recommended to the Office of Graduate Studies for automatic dismissal.
The PhD Committee will review the performance of each PhD student at the end of the first and second years in the program. This process will be based on grades to date and completed questionnaires from faculty conducting PhD seminars and other courses. The purpose of the review is to provide faculty and students additional information on the progress of each student toward completing degree requirements. Students with significant deficiencies will be reviewed after each semester.
Research Seminar Series
Active participation in the research seminar series is an essential component of the doctoral program in operations and supply chain management. The research seminar series provides a forum for visiting scholars, faculty and doctoral students to share and nurture research ideas. Each student's first year paper, and proposal will be presented in a scheduled departmental seminar. All students are expected to actively participate in the research seminar series while they are in residence by asking questions and providing constructive suggestions during each workshop.