Skip to main content

Specializations

PhD in International Business

This specialization provides a broad overview of the international management field, including key theories, trends, phenomena and the methods used to study them. Students have the opportunity to choose one of four concentrations in which to focus their course work.

Program Structure and Content

Each student is required to complete the following courses as well as a research project of publishable quality, present at our annual Smith Grad Student Consortium, comprehensive exams, and present at a research seminar in year 3.

Course offerings change from year to year. This sample stream is not reflective of a guaranteed curriculum but is instead an example of what a curriculum could look like in a given year. Please note the minimum requirement to complete a degree is 27 credits. Many of our area groups will exceed the minimum courses to satisfy job market needs in academia.

With supervisor approval, students can select MGMT specialization courses from other area groups. Electives can be any other MGMT course or a course from another department at the supervisor’s discretion.

Course descriptions are available on the School of Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs website. Any non-MGMT courses are linked below.

Sample International Business PhD Curriculum

Course Credits
Core
MGMT 901 Research Foundations Pass/Fail
MGMT 993 Teaching and Learning in Management and Business Pass/Fail
MGMT 989 Major Research Project Pass/Fail
MGMT 994 Upper Year Research Presentation Pass/Fail
MGMT 999 PhD Thesis Pass/Fail
Specialization – MGMT
MGMT 905 Contemporary Organization Theory & Nonmarket Strategy 3
MGMT 906 Strategy Process 3
MGMT 907 Entrepreneurship and Innovation 3
MGMT 908 Corporate Strategy Dynamics 3
Electives – Supervisor Approved MGMT or Other Department
SOCY 917 Quantitative Methodology (or other elective) 3
PSYC 940 Structural Equation Modelling (or other elective) 3
Methods/Related Field
MGMT 800 Statistics I 3
MGMT 900 Statistics II 3
MGMT 902 Qualitative Research Method Design 1.5
MGMT 903 Experimental Research Method Design 1.5
MGMT 904 Survey Research Method Design 1.5
Total Credits 28.5

Examples of possible electives from other departments for the International Business specialization include: