The objective of the Ph.D. Program in the Marketing area of the Krannert Graduate School of Management is to educate cutting-edge future researchers who will contribute to the advancement of marketing and management science. The program is a focused one and the emphasis is on the application of quantitative methods to marketing problems. Depending on interests, a student's research on a marketing problem may use a range of research methods from fields such as statistics, econometrics, optimization, game theory, economic theory, psychology, and decision theory.

PHD REQUIREMENTS

The PhD program requires both coursework and a dissertation. Students must complete requirements in the following five categories:

• Major Area (Marketing)
• Minor Area
• Research Methods
• General Management Skills
• PhD Research

Major Area (Marketing) Requirement

The purpose of the Major Area requirement is to ensure that students are sufficiently knowledgeable to undertake empirical and analytical research in marketing. All PhD students in the Marketing area have to take a minimum of 12 credit hours of PhD seminars offered by the Marketing faculty during their first two years in residence.

Minor Area Requirement

The purpose of the Minor Area requirement is to build on the Major Area coursework and to broaden the student's knowledge base. To satisfy the Minor Area requirement, a student must complete a minimum of 6 credit hours of doctoral level courses in related fields. The minor area is chosen by the student through discussion with the Marketing faculty members; students in the Marketing area often select as their minor area one of the following fields:

• Advanced Statistics/Econometrics
• Economics

Research Methods Requirement

The purpose of the research methods requirement is to prepare students to do research in any area of management. Substantial emphasis is placed on this coursework. Competence in research methods is seen as a defining characteristic of the PhD program in Marketing. The specific research methods requirements are as follows:

1. Students must complete 5 research methods courses/15 credit hours with a minimum of two courses each in at least two research methods topics: Applied Statistics, Advanced Statistics/Econometrics, and Business Economics. In addition, note that all students are required to take at least two of the five research methods courses in the Applied Statistics topic covering at least two of the three categories listed below. The research methods topics and specific courses contained within each topic must be approved by the Marketing Academic Advisor.

Applied Statistics

Category 1

• ECON 670: Probability Theory and Mathematical Statistics
• STAT 511: Statistical Methods
• STAT 517: Statistical Inference
• STAT 528: Introduction to Mathematical Statistics (pre-req. STAT 519)

Category 2

• ECON 671: Econometrics I
• MGMT 672: Quantitative Methods III
• STAT 512: Applied Regression Analysis
• STAT 525: Intermediate Statistical Methodology

Category 3

• ECON 672: Econometrics II
• MGMT 677: Research Methods: Applied Multivariate Analysis
• STAT 524: Applied Multivariate Analysis

In addition to the Applied Statistics research methods topic, typically, PhD students in the Marketing area select research methods courses in the following topic areas:

Advanced Statistics/Econometrics

• ECON 673: Time Series Methods
• ECON 674: Microeconometrics
• ECON 621: Applied Industrial Organization
• MGMT 677: Research Methods: Applied Multivariate Analysis
• STAT 529K: Bayesian Applied Decision Theory

Economics

• ECON 615: Mathematical Economics
• ECON 607: Microeconomic Theory I
• ECON 676: Economics of Information and Uncertainty
• ECON 610: Game Theory
• ECON 620: Industrial Organization

2. Students must demonstrate competence in research writing. To fulfill this requirement, during their first summer in the program students are expected to work on an original research paper that will be of publishable quality. To this end, they are to choose a Marketing faculty member who will serve as their advisor for the paper. They are required to submit a preliminary draft of the paper to their advisor by August 31 and submit a final draft to their advisor by December 31. Finally, they are required to present their paper to the faculty and PhD students in the following spring semester. The first year summer research paper is an integral and important part of the decision at the end of the second year on whether to advance the student to candidacy for the PhD degree.

General Management Skills Requirement

The purpose of the General Managerial Skills requirement is to expose students to various functional areas of Management. This coursework also provides an exposure to the case method of teaching and to a professional masters' education. To satisfy the requirements in the general managerial skills (core) area, the student must take (or receive a waiver based on equivalent master's level courses) MGMT 620 (Marketing Management) plus any three of the following five courses:

• MGMT 600: Financial Accounting
• MGMT 610: Financial Management I
• MGMT 650: Strategic Management
• MGMT 660: Operations Management
• OBHR 681: Behavior in Organizations

If the student has an MBA degree, the General Management Skills requirement may be waived for him/her.

Other Coursework

Students are expected to take more graduate courses related to their research topic, beyond the formal requirements as stated here.

Plan of Study

Students are required to submit a formal plan of study to the Graduate School by the end of the Spring Semester of their second year in the doctoral program, and prior to taking the preliminary examination as specified by the Management PhD Program Requirements

Preliminary Examination

Students are required to pass the preliminary examination after completing the research methods course requirements and the approved courses in the Major and Minor Areas. Typically, the students take the preliminary examination in May following the completion of the second year in the program. The exam tests the student’s mastery of the broad literature in his or her Major field and knowledge of past and current research activities. If a student fails the exam, the student must retake the exam at the end of the following academic semester (i.e., in January (May) if the student failed the preliminary examination in May (January)). If the student fails the exam a second time, the student will be dropped from the program. The marketing faculty announces the exact dates and has the right to change the date of the preliminary examinations.

Dissertation Research

Marketing area PhD students are evaluated annually by the Marketing faculty. Naturally, the focus of the student evaluation shifts from coursework to dissertation research as the student progresses through the program. Prior to pursuing their PhD research, students are required to pass a preliminary examination in their Major Area (Marketing). Within 12 months after passing the preliminary examination, a student must formally present, and defend, a dissertation research proposal to his or her formal dissertation committee of at least 4 members. The chairperson or at least one of the co-chairs must be from the student’s Major Area. At least 3 members must be from the Krannert graduate faculty. Other requirements and necessary procedures for dissertation proposal defense are as listed in the Management Ph.D. Requirements. For the dissertation, the students are expected to demonstrate competence and ability to conduct research as independent scholars. Also, the dissertation is expected to be a research effort that makes a contribution to the body of knowledge it addresses. A solid first summer research paper can usually be a good springboard for a timely and successful dissertation research proposal.

During the conduct of the dissertation, students are encouraged to consult their doctoral dissertation committee frequently. It is the student's responsibility to keep the committee informed at all stages. A student’s public defense of his or her dissertation is required. The required procedures for holding a dissertation defense are listed in the Management Ph.D. Requirements. It is expected that students not only have completed all course work, but be ready to enter the job market with a set of completed research papers by the start of their fourth year in residence. Students are expected to have successfully defended their dissertation by the end of their fourth year.

Research and Teaching Appointments

Graduate assistant appointments – as a research assistant (RA) or a teaching assistant (TA) – provide mentoring relationships in research and teaching. Marketing area PhD students typically participate as a graduate assistant during each semester of their four years in the program.