PhD in Supply Chain Management

The doctoral program in Supply Chain Management is designed to produce outstanding scholars in the fields of logistics, transportation, and supply chain management. Graduates of the program are well-qualified to take academic positions in colleges and universities in the United States and abroad. Recent graduates have accepted full time positions at the following academic institutions: University of Texas at San Antonio, Arizona State University, Ohio State University, Lehigh University, University of Houston, Michigan State University, National Taiwan University and the University of Arkansas. Students in the PhD program achieve excellence through: (1) extensive preparation in the major, a related minor, and associated research tools (primarily statistics or operations research); (2) joint research with faculty; (3) independent research culminating in a doctoral dissertation; and (4) the teaching of courses for undergraduate majors in logistics, transportation, and supply chain management.

Each student develops a detailed Program Plan in consultation with the Supply Chain Management PhD Advisor and the Director of the PhD Program. The process of program planning can begin at the time of application and continue at orientation/registration. A complete Program Plan should be in force for each student by the end of the first semester, and subsequent modifications require explicit approval.

Formal transfer credit is not granted; however, course work successfully completed at other institutions may be accepted as fulfilling some part of the Program Plan, with the approval of the PhD Director and the Supply Chain Management PhD Advisor. As the Graduate School Handbook emphasizes, a doctoral degree is "earned by competence" (as demonstrated in exams and research), not by the completion of course requirements alone.

The Supply Chain Management Doctoral Program consists of the following four elements:

1. Major field – Logistics & Transportation (18 credits)

2. Minor field (12 credits)

3. Research tools (12 credits)

4. Additional course requirements which vary depending on the educational background of the student but may include a graduate course in economics, two MBA core courses, and a research methods course. A student wishing to pursue a double major would need to take 18 credits in a second major field (instead of 12 credits for a minor field) increasing total requirements by 6 credits.

Both major and minor field courses are typically satisfied by taking doctoral seminars. Although the title and content of the Supply Chain Management doctoral seminar are subject to change, the six major field seminars may be as follows:

1. Logistics Research

2. Supply Chain Research

3. Supply Chain and Information Technology

4. Logistics Modeling

5. Industrial Organization

6. Transportation and Supply Chain Economics

In each of the seminars, students read relevant research papers and are tested on their knowledge of these papers. As well, students are required to write research papers for each of the seminars.

Students are encouraged to choose a minor field that fits well with their academic interests. Minor fields that work well with Supply Chain Management majors include Marketing, Management Science, Information Systems, and Strategic Management.

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