Management Science Ph.D. Program

Management Science Ph.D. Program

Course Work

The Doctor of Philosophy degree in Business with a concentration in Management Science prepares students to be competent in the development and application of sophisticated quantitative and analytical models. Such models are motivated by the study of complex systems in areas of business including operations management/research, development of empirical models in behavioral science, and the study of specific business processes via stochastic modeling/data mining/predictive analytics.

Course work requirements for the Ph.D. in Business Administration with a concentration in Management Science consists of major and supporting fields of at least 33 hours and a research core of 12 hours. Each individual student's Program Committee establishes the specific requirements of the major and supporting fields, although nine of the 33 hours, and three of the research core hours, are typically used for the supporting field. The research core, required of all business Ph.D. students, provides a common foundation in research methodology. The final requirements for the Ph.D. consist of 12 hours of dissertation research.

Students entering the Ph.D. program have widely varying analytical backgrounds academically and professionally. A doctoral program committee, using holistic criteria, evaluates students. The following degree program describes typical requirements for the more common academic backgrounds entering the Management Science doctoral program.

Research Requirements

All Ph.D. programs in Business Administration require completion of 15 hours of approved formal course work in research methodology, 6 hours of methodological electives, and 12 hours of the dissertation research study. Management Science Ph.D. students typically satisfy their research requirements with the following courses:

The research core provides the student with competencies in epistemology, logic, philosophy of science, research design, analytic tools, and business research methodology. Consequently, students should take the research core courses early in their program so that they can apply the concepts learned throughout their program.

Dissertation research typically commences after a student has passed his/her qualifying examinations and has been admitted to candidacy. Throughout their program, students work with professors in the development of a dissertation topic, which will be supervised by the student's major professor (Dissertation Committee Chairperson).

Students must consider their research goals and interest very early in their program. In addition to their coursework, students are expected to develop research papers to present at conferences and to submit to journals. Begin your dissertation preparation and research starting the very first day of your Ph.D. program.

General Deficiency Requirements

Successful students typically have a quantitative background with a master's degree that emphasizes the use of analytical tools. Students are advised to strengthen their background in mathematical skills, including Calculus, and in basic statistical analysis before entering the program.

MBA Background

Students that enter the Ph.D. program with an MBA should have had previous course work equivalent to the following DSCI core courses:

• DSCI 5010 Statistical Analysis
• DSCI 5180 Data Analysis

Although the student's Degree Program Committee establishes specific degree program requirements in advance, a typical 33-hour major and supporting field degree program for students having a master's degree consists of some of the following courses:

Management Science Major Courses

• MSCI 6000 Nonparametric Statistics
• MSCI 6750 Management Science Seminar (Mathematical Foundations of Statistics)
• MSCI 6010 Management Science Seminar (Mathematical Statistics & Stochastic Processes)
• MSCI 6900 Special Problems in Management Science/Operation Management
• DSCI 5xxx Any DSCI Core Course Not Satisfied by Previous Work
• Supporting Courses (9+ hours) from a supporting field approved by the Chair of the student's program committee

Recommended optional DSCI courses

• DSCI 5240 Data Mining
• DSCI 5250 Statistical Techniques in Simulation
• DSCI 5330 Enterprise Appl. of Business Intelligence
• DSCI 5350 Big Data Analytics
• DSCI 5320 Quality Control
• DSCI 5210 Model Based Decision Making
• DSCI 5340 Predictive Analytics and Business Forecasting
• DSCI 5360 Data Visualization Analytics