Business Administration (Ph.D.)
The Doctor of Philosophy in Business prepares persons interested in careers in research and university teaching. The core goals for the program are the creation of new knowledge through research and excellence in teaching. The Ph.D. program offers specialized tracks in finance, management, and marketing. For detailed information, please visit the Mike Ilitch School of Business.
Admission Requirements
Admission to any graduate program is contingent upon admission to the Graduate School. In addition, applicants to the Ph.D. program must comply with the following:
- hold a bachelor’s degree with a grade point average of at least 3.0, or 3.5 upper division (junior or senior), or a graduate degree g.p.a. of 3.5.;
- score at least a 600 on the Graduate Management Admissions Test (Attainment of satisfactory GMAT score and GPA does not guarantee admission);
- provide at least three letters of recommendation from officials or faculty at the institution(s) most recently attended, or by a recent employer of the applicant;
- submit a brief essay (not to exceed four pages) by the applicant on his or her career objectives.
- Applicants from other countries must demonstrate English proficiency by obtaining at least a 550/213/79 on the Test of English as a Foreign Language.
Program Requirements
Ph.D. students in Business Administration must successfully complete at least ninety credits of graduate study, consisting of at least sixty credits of course work and thirty credits in dissertation research. The program must include at least thirty credits (excluding dissertation direction) in courses numbered 7000 or above, or as approved by the students advisor and the Ph.D. program director. All course work must be completed in accordance with the regulations of the Graduate School and the Mike Ilitch School of Business governing graduate scholarship and degrees.
All Business School Ph.D. students must complete:
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| BA 8777 | Professional Development Seminar for Business Doctoral Students | 1-3 |
| BA 8900 | Development of Effective Research Programs in Business | 3 |
All Finance Track students must complete:
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| BA 8120 | Theory of Finance | 3 |
| BA 8121 | Seminar in Corporate Finance | 3 |
| BA 8122 | Empirical Methods in Finance | 3 |
| BA 8123 | Seminar in Corporate Governance | 3 |
All Management Track students must complete:
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| BA 8220 | Seminar in Organizational Behavior | 3 |
| BA 8221 | Seminar in Strategic Management | 3 |
| BA 8420 | Seminar in Organizational Theory | 3 |
All Marketing Track students must complete:
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| BA 8050 | Seminar in Marketing Theory | 3 |
| BA 8054 | Seminar in Marketing Strategy | 3 |
| BA 8058 | Advanced Topics in Consumer Behavior | 3 |
Upon completion of fifty credits of the course work, students must take written and oral qualifying examinations. The qualifying examinations require of students critical analysis of the state of research and knowledge in their substantive areas. In addition, they must demonstrate the reflective presentation of innovations in perspectives, theory, knowledge, and research design, methods and strategies that will advance practice and create new knowledge in their chosen areas.
Students advance to Ph.D. Candidacy after successful completion of both written and oral qualifying exams. Ph.D. Candidacy begins the dissertation preparation phase of the degree. Four consecutive academic-year semesters of registration as a degree candidate are required during the preparation of the dissertation. The thirty-credit dissertation registration requirement is fulfilled by registering for courses BA 9991, BA 9992, BA 9993, BA 9994 (Doctoral Research and Direction I, II, III, IV, respectively), in consecutive academic year semesters. Students should consult Graduate School regulations governing doctoral study.