Kelley School of Business

Departmental E-mail: ksbdoc@indiana.edu

Departmental URL: http://www.kelley.iu.edu/doctoral/

(Please note that when conferring University Graduate School degrees, minors, certificates, and sub-plans, The University Graduate School’s staff use those requirements contained only in The University Graduate School Bulletin.)

Curriculum

Curriculum
Faculty

Degrees Offered

Doctor of Philosophy. In addition, the Kelley School of Business (KSB) offers the Master of Business Administration, Master of Science in Information Systems, Master of Science in Accounting, Master of Science in Finance, and other graduate degrees. For details, see the Kelley School of Business Bulletin, Graduate Programs.

Special School Requirements 

(See also general University Graduate School requirements.) 

Kelley School of Business doctoral candidates must defend their final dissertation defense within four years of successfully passing their qualifying exam. 

Admission 

To apply for admission to the doctoral programs in business, the applicant must apply online. For more information about the process and requirements, please visit our webpage, https://kelley.iu.edu/programs/phd/admissions/how-apply/index.html

Candidates for the Ph.D. degree may transfer up to 30 hours of graduate credit from other institutions. Only six credit hours can count toward the major, minor, or methods and analysis. 

Program Requirements 

Completion of the Ph.D. degree requires a minimum of 90 credit hours, including: 

A major field of study consists of a minimum of 18 hours of advanced graduate work.

Completion of an official minor as required by the minor department (typically 9-12 credit hours). Minors can be chosen from a Kelley department that is not your major or a department outside of Kelley. All Kelley Majors and Minors are listed in Appendix A. 

12 credits of methods and analysis (“M&A”) courses, as approved by the student’s major department and the Chair of Doctoral Programs. 

A student may pursue two different areas of concentration within one KSB department. The minimum for each area is 15 credit hours, and combined must equal 36 credit hours. Minor and M&A requirements are waived with this option. 

All students must take the Teaching Development Seminar (X-630) before or during the semester in which the student assumes Associate Instructor duties. This course is currently offered only in the Fall semester.

Major 

The program of study for the student’s major is planned in consultation with the student’s major-field advisor and consists of a minimum of 18 credit hours of advanced graduate work. Major Fields include Accounting, Business Economics and Public Policy, Decision Sciences, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Management Information Systems, Marketing, Operations and Supply Chain Management, Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management, Strategic Management and Organizational Theory. An overall GPA of at least

3.5 in the major courses is required. Students who have not attained this standard must have an additional course to meet the requirement in this area.

Minor 

Each student selects one minor field, which requires a minimum of 9 credit hours from a field outside the student’s major field. Minors are available in each major business field within Kelley, Accounting, Business Economics & Public Policy, Decision Sciences, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Management (Strategic Management and Organizational Theory), Information Systems, International Business, Marketing, Organizational Behavior, and Operations/Supply Chain Management. Minors may also be obtained from other units on campus. The minor requirements for fields outside the Kelley School of Business are determined by the department where the minor is offered. An overall GPA of at least 3.4 in the minor courses is required for a minor concentration in one of the business fields.

Methodology and Analysis (M&A) Requirement 

Students must complete 12 credits of courses covering methods and analysis topics with a 3.3 grade point average or higher, with no grade less than a B-. Students who have not attained this standard must add an additional course to meet the requirement in this area. This requirement is intended to help provide the special proficiency in research design and analysis necessary for the candidate to conduct a research program.

M&A credits cannot be used to fulfill any requirements in the major or minor. 

Teaching Development Program 

The Kelley School of Business has a required teaching development component in the Doctoral Program, X630, a 1.5 credit hour course. This course is required before or during the semester in which the student assumes Associate Instructor duties. Exemptions from this requirement are rare. The Chair of Doctoral Programs may exempt students with substantially identical academic experiences as this course offers. 

Dual Concentration 

As an alternative to completing a major and minor, students may pursue two different areas of concentration within one KSB department. The minimum requirement in each area of concentration is 15 credit hours and combined must equal 36 credit hours. Students must pass the qualifying examination in both concentrations.

The M&A requirement is waived for students with dual concentration. However, a portion of the coursework must demonstrate competency in M&A. A dual concentration must be approved by both departments as well as the Chair of the Doctoral Programs.

Grades 

Course grades below C+ (2.3) are not counted toward degree requirements but will be included in the student’s grade point average computation. An overall GPA of at least 3.5 in the major courses is required. At least a 3.4 grade point average with no grade below B– (2.7) is required in those courses taken as part of the minor field. Students must achieve an overall grade point average of at least 3.3 and earn no less than a B– (2.7) in those courses taken as part of the methodology area.

Qualifying Examination 

Evidence of the student’s competence in all major fields must be demonstrated by examination. This may be a formal exam and/or research paper(s) completion. Students who minor within KSB are not required to take a qualifying exam in the subject, provided that they have achieved a minimum of 3.4 GPA in minor coursework with no grade below a B–. For minors outside of KSB, qualifying exams may be waived at the discretion of the DGS in the minor department, and documentation must be provided to the Doctoral Programs office.

The qualifying exam may be taken at most twice. A student who fails the exam has 60 days to retake the exam. Failure a second time will result in dismissal from the program.

Nomination to Candidacy 

A student may be admitted to candidacy after completing all required coursework and passing the qualifying examination. A student must be admitted to candidacy within four years of entering the program.

Upon being admitted to candidacy, the student is eligible for a master’s in business degree. The student’s declared major will determine the degree's major field.

Dissertation Proposal 

The written proposal serves as a background for the oral proposal defense. It should clearly state the problem to be addressed in the thesis, why it is a significant issue, indicate some knowledge of past scholarship in the area, and provide clear guidelines of how the research will proceed. The proposal is often written when the topic is well defined but before comprehensive findings or results have been completed, although standards vary by department, so it is important to clarify expectations with your dissertation committee and your department’s DPC representative. 

The dissertation proposal must be successfully defended within the first 10 semesters following entry to the doctoral program (that is, by the end of July of the fifth year). Students who do not do so will be required to leave the program. In addition to the dissertation committee, the Chair of the Doctoral Programs will appoint an examination committee to supervise each candidate’s proposal examination. Kelley doctoral students and faculty are invited to attend the formal oral examination of the proposal. 

Dissertation 

The dissertation represents a major research project, and a year or more of full- time work in close cooperation with the candidate’s committee is normally required. We strongly urge candidates in the business doctoral program to remain in residence until all degree requirements have been met.

Final Examination of the Dissertation 

The final dissertation defense or examination is a formal presentation of the dissertation research results. The purpose of the presentation, questioning, and discussion is to enable students to demonstrate that they have successfully completed what they set out to do, as stated at the time of the proposal defense. The dissertation defense gives the research committee a final opportunity to bring the candidate’s research methods, findings, and conclusions under critical review. Candidates are expected to defend all aspects of the inquiry satisfactorily.

Ph.D. in Business major course requirements 

Ph.D. in Business with an emphasis in Accounting (18 cr.) A student must complete the prerequisite E520, and courses A601A, A601B, A602A, A602B, A603A, and A603B.

Ph.D. in Business with an emphasis in Business Economics and Public Policy (18 cr.) A student must complete G750, G751, G752, G651, and G652. Ph.D. in Business with an emphasis in Decision Sciences (18 cr.) A student must complete K602, K603, K604, K605, and K635.

Ph.D. in Business with an emphasis in Entrepreneurship (18 cr.) A student must complete W610, Z798, J601, and J602. The remaining coursework may be selected from D620, W601, Z615, G750, G751, G752, or V669.

Ph.D. in Business with an emphasis in Finance (18 cr.) A student must complete F600, F605, F620, F625, F635, F644.

Ph.D. in Business with an emphasis in Management Information Systems (18 cr.) A student must complete twelve (12) of the required 18 with S6xx and S7xx courses.

Ph.D. in Business with an emphasis in Marketing (18 cr.) A student must complete M798, M650, M651, M653, M652.

Ph.D. in Business with an emphasis in Operations and Supply Chain Management (18 cr.) A student must complete K601, K602, K603, K604, K605, P635, and K635.

Ph.D. in Business with an emphasis in Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management (18 cr.) A student must complete Z601, Z615, and Z798. The remaining coursework may be selected from J601, J602, W601, W610, D620, or other approved electives.

Ph.D. in Business with an emphasis in Strategic Management and Organization Theory (18 cr.) A student must complete J601, J602, W601, and Z798. The remaining coursework may be selected from W610, Z601, Z615, G750, G751, G752, or D620. 

Ph.D. Minors Offered by Kelley School of Business 

Grades and Qualifying Exams 

Qualifying exams are waived for students who achieve a minimum GPA of 3.4 in minor coursework, with no grade below B-. Students who fail to meet the grade requirement are required to include an examination of the minor as the qualifying exam. 

Minor in Accounting (9 cr.) A student must complete 9 credits from this list A601A/A601B, A602A/A602B, A603A/A603B

Minor in Business Economics and Public Policy (9 cr.) A student must complete 9 credits from G651, G652, G750, G751, or G752.

Minor in Decision Science (9 cr.) A student must complete K601, K602, K603, and K604. To reach the required 9 credits for the minor the remaining credits may be fulfilled by taking other P- courses at the doctoral level.

Minor in Entrepreneurship (9cr.) A student must complete W610 and J602. To reach the required 9 credits for the minor the remaining credits may be fulfilled from this list D620, J601, W601, Z601, or Z798.

Minor in Finance (9 cr.) A student must have G651, G504, and M413 or an equivalent background in probability/statistics, microeconomics, and mathematics as prerequisites to the minor. A student must complete F600. To reach the required 9 credits for the minor the remaining credits may be fulfilled from this list F605, F625, F635, F644, or F798.

Minor in International Business (9 cr.) A student must take D620. To reach the required 9 credits for the minor the remaining credits may be fulfilled from this list of courses: J601, J602, D669, W601, W610, Z601, W610, Z601, Z615, or Z798.

Minor in Management Information Systems (9 cr.) A student must have S500 or an equivalent background in MIS as a prerequisite. To reach the required 9 credits for the minor the remaining credits may be fulfilled from this list S601, S602, S605, S606, S635, or S798.

Minor in Marketing (9 cr.) A student must complete M650, M651, and M653. The remaining 3 credit hours may be selected from M652, M798, or X680.

Minor in Operations/Supply Chain Management (9 cr.) A student must complete P601, P602, P603, and P604. To reach the required 9 credits for the minor the remaining credits may be fulfilled from this list any P-courses at the doctoral level.

Minor in Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management (9 cr.) A student must take Z601 and Z615. To reach the required 9 credits for the minor the remaining credits may be fulfilled by taking D620, J601, J602, W601, or Z798

Minor in Strategic Management and Organization Theory (Management) (9 cr.) A student must take J601 and J602. To reach the required nine credits for the minor the remaining credit hours may be fulfilled by taking D620, W601, or W610.