Introduction

Coursework in the Operations Management (OM) "major" is focused on small-enrollment seminars that:   (1) examine the fundamental paradigms in operations management; (2) analyze the current literature; and (3) explore topics of special interest to the faculty. After passing their preliminary examinations, students are encouraged to design "independent study" courses, under the guidance of a faculty member.

All Ph.D. students are also actively involved in faculty research projects, in the OM Research Workshop - which brings distinguished operations-management scholars from other universities to campus - and in teaching undergraduate courses.

Each student admitted to the program is assigned a "Faculty Mentor" to oversee her/his unique development.

In addition to courses in their "Major" of operations management, all OM Ph.D. students take courses in research-methods, in a related "Minor," and in general management. In order to provide evidence of adequate progress, students must also demonstrate skill in both operations-management modeling and research writing.

All OM Ph.D. students must take a minimum of 12 credit-hours of doctoral-level coursework in Operations Management, including a minimum of four Ph.D. seminars. In addition, every Ph.D. student is required to register for MGMT 690, Operations Management Research Workshop, every semester he/she is in residence.

OM Ph.D. students are required to complete: (1) a minimum of two courses (6 credit hours) in Applied Statistics; and (2) a minimum of five courses (15 credit hours) in Mathematics, Optimization, or Stochastic Processes, as listed below. Students are expected to earn a minimum grade-point average of 3.5 (out of 4.0) in these courses.

* Minimum of 2 courses in Applied Statistics

** Minimum of 5 courses in Mathematics, Optimization or Stochastic Processes combined

These courses must be regarded as a minimum requirement. Additional coursework in the above topics, plus coursework in economics, probability, statistics, and econometrics are strongly recommended. Students may petition to use other coursework to complete this requirement. Such a petition requires the approval of the OM Area Academic Advisor, in consultation with OM faculty.

All OM Ph.D. students are expected to complete a "summer paper" during the summer between their first and second years of study, to submit the paper for faculty review and comment, and to present a talk describing this work during the early fall of their second year. This paper is intended to demonstrate the student's knowledge of operations management, her/his modeling ability, and her/his skill in research writing.

Students are expected to provide a one-page research plan for their summer paper to the OM Area Academic Advisor during the late spring of their first year. Students are welcome to ask various OM faculty members for help and advice in planning their summer research and in carrying it out. However, the modeling and the writing are to be (only) those of the student.

The "summer paper" is primarily a diagnostic tool for the faculty to determine whether or not the student is making adequate progress in the program, and to determine if extra help is required.

The purpose of the "minor" is to build on the student's knowledge in her/his major, and to broaden the student's base of knowledge with respect to theory, methodology, and/or practice in a related area.

To satisfy the Minor Area requirement, each student must complete a minimum of 6 credit hours of doctoral-level courses in related fields, chosen from accounting, finance, management information systems, management science (applied optimization or applied statistics), marketing, quantitative methods, strategic management, organizational behavior and human resource management, or an area of economics. A Minor outside the Management School must be approved by the OM Area Academic Advisor. No course waivers will be considered and no course taken to fulfill the Research-methods Requirement or the Major Area requirement can be counted in fulfilling the Minor Area requirement.

Students must take (or receive a waiver based on equivalent master's level courses) MGMT 660 (Introduction to Operations Management I) and MGMT 664 (Introduction to Operations Management II) plus any three of the following five Masters-level courses:

MGMT 600 Financial Accounting

MGMT 610 Financial Management I

MGMT 620 Marketing Management

MGMT 650 Strategic Management

OBHR 681 Behavior in Organizations

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.

Students are required to pass the preliminary examination in Operations Management held in the month of May following completion of the second year in the program. If a student fails the exam, the student must retake the examination the following January. If the student fails the exam a second time, the student will be dropped from the program.

Within twelve months after passing the preliminary examination, each student must formally present and defend a dissertation research proposal to his/her dissertation committee. To be accepted, the proposal must represent substantial progress towards completion of a doctoral thesis along with a statement of further work to be performed. Once accepted by the dissertation committee, the proposal is considered a "contract" that will guide the student towards completion of the dissertation.

Financial support is contingent on satisfactory progress. A student may be dropped from the program if there is a significant delay in achieving an acceptable proposal.

Defense of Dissertation