Your complete guide to a PhD in Management Studies

Everything you need to know about studying a PhD in Management Studies

part of Business & Management

What are Management Studies?

Management, at its essence, is the art and science of planning, organising, directing, and controlling resources - be they human, financial, material, or informational - to achieve specific goals within an organisation. A degree in this discipline equips students with the tools to handle complex organisational challenges and lead teams effectively.

Management Specialisations

There's a diverse range of branches in Management to dive into:

  • Human Resource Management: Overseeing and improving company personnel strategies.
  • Project Management: Organising teams, resources, and tasks to complete specific projects.
  • Strategic Management: Plotting long-term directions and objectives for businesses.
  • Operations Management: Ensuring optimal day-to-day functions in a firm.
  • Financial Management: Directing an entity's monetary strategies and decisions.

The most common specialisation in Management is Business Administration, and a good example for this is the globally renowned MBA degree.

What will you learn during a Management programme?

When you embark on a Management degree journey:

  • You'll learn to think strategically, making decisions that steer a company towards its long-term objectives.
  • Understand organisational behaviour and what motivates employees to perform at their best.
  • Delve into financial analytics, understanding how every penny is spent and earned.
  • Analyse case studies, simulating real-world management challenges and strategies.

Key courses you might encounter include:

  • Organisational Behaviour: The study of human behaviour in organisational settings.
  • Business Ethics: Navigating moral dilemmas in the business world.
  • Marketing Management: Strategies behind promoting products and services.
  • Operations Research: Applying mathematical methods to decision-making.
  • Leadership Studies: Techniques and theories behind effective leadership.

For those unsure if Management is a good degree to follow, the wide-ranging skills applicable across various industries, from tech startups to global conglomerates, should be proof to its value.

Skills required for a degree in Management

Effective communication, leadership, critical thinking, and decision-making abilities are essential. Add to this a knack for problem-solving, adaptability, and an analytical mind, and you meet the Management degree requirements.

What can you do with a Management degree?

This field boasts a large number of rewarding career paths:

  • Business Consultant: Advising firms on how to optimise operations and increase profits.
  • Manager (at various levels): Overseeing departmental or organisational operations.
  • Entrepreneur: Founding and running your own business venture.
  • Risk Manager: Identifying and mitigating potential disruptions.
  • Supply Chain Manager: Ensuring smooth flow of products from producers to consumers.

From startups to multinational corporations, the demand for management professionals is constant. A Management degree is worth it, given the degree's universal applicability and the leadership roles it can lead to.

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View all PhDs in Management Studies. Keep in mind you can also study an online PhDs in Management Studies.

Interesting programmes for you

Best Universities for Management Studies on PhDPortal

Universities Location Shanghai Jiao Tong University Ranking (2017)
Harvard University Cambridge, United States 1
University of Michigan Ann Arbor, United States 2
University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, United States 3
Pennsylvania State University State College, United States 4
University of Minnesota Twin Cities Minneapolis, United States 5
National University of Singapore Singapore, Singapore 6
University of Maryland College Park, United States 7
Erasmus University Rotterdam Rotterdam, Netherlands 8
Arizona State University Tempe, United States 9
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Cambridge, United States 10
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hong Kong, Hong Kong (SAR) 11
University of Toronto Pickering, Canada 12
Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, United States 13
INSEAD - The Business School for the World Fontainebleau, France 14
Michigan State University East Lansing, United States 15
City University of Hong Kong Kowloon, Hong Kong (SAR) 16
Stanford University Stanford, United States 17
New York University New York City, United States 18
University of Texas at Austin Austin, United States 19
Texas A&M University College Station, United States 20
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Hong Kong, Hong Kong (SAR) 21
Columbia University New York City, United States 22
University of Montreal Montréal, Canada 22
Northwestern University Evanston, United States 24
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign Urbana, United States 25
Cornell University Ithaca, United States 26
University of Southern California Los Angeles, United States 27
University of Warwick Coventry, United Kingdom 28
Tilburg University Tilburg, Netherlands 29
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, United States 30
University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, United States 31
University of Texas at Dallas Richardson, United States 32
University of Washington Seattle, United States 32
Indiana University Bloomington Bloomington, United States 34
Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, United States 35
Copenhagen Business School (CBS) Copenhagen, Denmark 36
Purdue University West Lafayette, United States 36
London Business School Camden Town, United Kingdom 38
Duke University Durham, United States 39
The Ohio State University Upper Arlington, United States 39
Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi Milano, Italy 41
SDA Bocconi School of Management Milano, Italy 41
University of Cambridge Cambridge, United Kingdom 42
University of Georgia Athens, United States 43
University of Florida Gainesville, United States 44
Georgia State University Atlanta, United States 45
The University of Arizona Tucson, United States 46
Temple University Philadelphia, United States 47
Shanghai Jiao Tong University Shanghai, China 48
Aalto University Helsinki, Finland 49
University of Groningen Groningen, Netherlands 50
Aarhus University Aarhus, Denmark 101
Aston University Birmingham, United Kingdom 101
Brigham Young University Provo, United States 101
Cardiff University Cardiff, United Kingdom 101
Dartmouth College Hanover, United States 101
Drexel University Philadelphia, United States 101
Emory University Atlanta, United States 101
Florida State University Tallahassee, United States 101
Fudan University Shanghai, China 101
George Mason University Fairfax, United States 101
Georgetown University Washington, D. C., United States 101
Huazhong University of Science and Technology Wuhan, China 101
Korea University Seoul, South Korea 101
Lund University Lund, Sweden 101
Monash University Clayton, Australia 101
National Cheng Kung University Tainan, Taiwan 101
North Carolina State University Raleigh, United States 101
Northeastern University Boston, United States 101
Oklahoma State University Stillwater, United States 101
Portland State University Portland, United States 101
Seoul National University Anyang, South Korea 101
Simon Fraser University Burnaby, Canada 101
Sun Yat-sen University Guangzhou, China 101
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne Lausanne, Switzerland 101
Technion - Israel Institute of Technology Haifa, Israel 101
Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv Yaffo, Israel 101
Texas Christian University Fort Worth, United States 101
Australian National University Canberra, Australia 101
The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, United States 101
University of Auckland Auckland, New Zealand 101
The University of Western Australia Perth, Australia 101
University at Buffalo Buffalo, United States 101
University of Bath Bath, United Kingdom 101
University of Bologna Bologna, Italy 101
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Los Angeles, United States 101
University of Central Florida Orlando East Mobile Home Park, United States 101
University of Chicago Chicago, United States 101
University of Colorado at Boulder Boulder, United States 101
University of Illinois at Chicago Chicago, United States 101
University of Notre Dame South Bend, United States 101
University of Nottingham Nottingham, United Kingdom 101
University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, United States 101
University of Southampton Southampton, United Kingdom 101
University of Technology Sydney Sydney, Australia 101
University of Tennessee Knoxville Knoxville, United States 101
University of Waterloo Waterloo, Canada 101
University of Zurich Zürich, Switzerland 101
Vanderbilt University Nashville, United States 101
Yale University New Haven, United States 101
Yonsei University Seoul, South Korea 101
Auburn University Auburn, United States 151
Ball State University Muncie, United States 151
BI Norwegian Business School Oslo, Norway 151
Universidad Carlos III de Madrid Madrid, Spain 151
Concordia University Montréal Montreal West, Canada 151
Durham University Durham, United Kingdom 151
Esade Sant Cugat, Spain 151
ESSEC Business School Cergy, France 151
Florida International University Miami, United States 151
Griffith University Nathan, Australia 151
IE University Segovia, Spain 151
Iowa State University Ames, United States 151
Islamic Azad University Of Dezful Shushtar, Iran 151
Loughborough University Loughborough, United Kingdom 151
Louisiana State University Baton Rouge, United States 151
McMaster University Hamilton, Canada 151
Mississippi State University Starkville, United States 151
National Taiwan University Taipei, Taiwan 151
National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (Taiwan Tech) Taipei, Taiwan 151
Northeastern University China Shenyang, China 151
Old Dominion University Norfolk, United States 151
Politecnico di Milano Milano, Italy 151
Queensland University of Technology Brisbane, Australia 151
Renmin University of China Beijing, China 151
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, United States 151
Syracuse University Syracuse, United States 151
Technical University of Munich München, Germany 151
University of Calgary Calgary, Canada 151
University of Sheffield Sheffield, United Kingdom 151
Tongji University Shanghai, China 151
Blanquerna - Universitat Ramon Llull Barcelona, Spain 151
University of California, Davis Davis, United States 151
University of Cologne Köln, Germany 151
University of Kansas Lawrence, United States 151
University of Mannheim Mannheim, Germany 151
University of Massachusetts Amherst Amherst, United States 151
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Lincoln, United States 151
University of Oklahoma Norman, United States 151
University of South Florida Tampa, United States 151
University of Southern Denmark Neder Holluf, Denmark 151
University of Valencia Valencia, Spain 151
University of Vienna Vienna, Austria 151
University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Milwaukee, United States 151
Utrecht University Utrecht, Netherlands 151
WU (Vienna University of Economics and Business) Vienna, Austria 151
Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, United States 151
Wayne State University Detroit, United States 151
Xi'an Jiaotong University Xi'an, China 151
Zhejiang University Hangzhou, China 151
Aalborg University Aalborg, Denmark 201
Bar Ilan University Ramat Gan, Israel 201
Baylor University Waco, United States 201
Beihang University Beijing, China 201
Beijing Jiaotong University Beijing, China 201
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Beersheba, Israel 201
Brock University Thorold, Canada 201
Brunel University London Uxbridge, United Kingdom 201
Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, United States 201
China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) Shanghai, China 201
CUNY Baruch College New York City, United States 201
College of William & Mary Williamsburg, United States 201
Colorado State University Fort Collins, United States 201
Cranfield University Cranfield, United Kingdom 201
Cranfield School of Management Bedford, United Kingdom 201
Curtin University Perth, Australia 201
Dalian University of Technology Dalian, China 201
Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) Delft, Netherlands 201
DePaul University Chicago, United States 201
Fordham University Manhattan, United States 201
Grenoble School of Management Grenoble, France 201
Harbin Institute of Technology Harbin, China 201
Hong Kong Baptist University Kowloon, Hong Kong (SAR) 201
IMD Business School Lausanne, Switzerland 201
Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, United States 201
Koc University Istanbul, Turkey 201
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) Daejeon, South Korea 201
Lehigh University Bethlehem, United States 201
Leuphana University of Lüneburg Lüneburg, Germany 201
Lingnan University Tuen Mun, Hong Kong (SAR) 201
Miami University Oxford, United States 201
Nanjing University Nanjing, China 201
Nankai University Tianjin, China 201
National Chengchi University Taipei, Taiwan 201
National Sun Yat Sen University Kaohsiung City, Taiwan 201
Universidade Nova de Lisboa Lisbon, Portugal 201
Newcastle University Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom 201
NHH Norwegian School of Economics Bergen, Norway 201
Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) Trondheim, Norway 201
Oregon State University Corvallis, United States 201
Polytechnic University of Valencia Valencia, Spain 201
Pompeu Fabra University Barcelona, Spain 201
Queen's University Kingston, Canada 201
Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands 201
RWTH Aachen University Aachen, Germany 201
Toronto Metropolitan University Toronto, Canada 201
Sabanci University Tuzla, Turkey 201
Shanghai University of Finance and Economics Shanghai, China 201
Southern Methodist University Dallas, United States 201
Stockholm School of Economics Stockholm, Sweden 201
Sungkyunkwan University Seoul, South Korea 201
TU Berlin Berlin, Germany 201
Technical University of Denmark (DTU) Copenhagen, Denmark 201
Texas Tech University Lubbock, United States 201
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Jerusalem, Israel 201
The University of Akron Akron, United States 201
The University of Edinburgh Edinburgh, United Kingdom 201
University of Memphis Memphis, United States 201
University of Newcastle Newcastle, Australia 201
University of Reading Reading, United Kingdom 201
The University of Texas at Arlington Arlington, United States 201
The University of Texas at San Antonio Helotes, United States 201
Université Catholique de Lille Lille, France 201
Université Grenoble Alpes Grenoble, France 201
University at Albany Albany, United States 201
University of Antwerp Antwerpen, Belgium 201
University of California, San Diego San Diego, United States 201
University of Chile Lo Prado, Chile 201
University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, United States 201
University of Delaware Newark, United States 201
The University of Exeter Exeter, United Kingdom 201
Goethe University Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main, Germany 201
University of Gothenburg Göteborg, Sweden 201
University of Granada Granada, Spain 201
University of Haifa Haifa, Israel 201
University of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu, United States 201
University of Innsbruck Innsbruck, Austria 201
Università della Svizzera italiana (USI) Lugano, Switzerland 201
University of Kentucky Lexington, United States 201
University of Lausanne Lausanne, Switzerland 201
University of Leeds Leeds, United Kingdom 201
University of Lisbon Lisbon, Portugal 201
University of Liverpool Liverpool, United Kingdom 201
University of Manitoba Winnipeg, Canada 201
University of Miami Coral Gables, United States 201
University of Missouri - Columbia Columbia, United States 201
University of Münster Münster, Germany 201
University of Nevada, Las Vegas Las Vegas, United States 201
The University of North Carolina at Charlotte Charlotte, United States 201
University of Oregon Eugene, United States 201
University of Padua Padua, Italy 201
University of Quebec in Montreal Montréal, Canada 201
University of Seville Sevilla, Spain 201
University of South Australia Adelaide, Australia 201
University of Strathclyde Glasgow, United Kingdom 201
University of Sussex Brighton, United Kingdom 201
University of Tehran, Kish International Campus Kish, Iran 201
University of Twente (UT) Enschede, Netherlands 201
Wake Forest University Winston-Salem, United States 201
Washington State University Pullman, United States 201
Wilfrid Laurier University Waterloo, Canada 201
American University Washington DC Washington, D. C., United States 301
Amirkabir University of Technology Tehran, Iran 301
Autonomous University of Barcelona Barcelona, Spain 301
Bilkent University Çankaya, Turkey 301
Binghamton University Johnson City, United States 301
Bowling Green State University Bowling Green, United States 301
Ca' Foscari University of Venice Venice, Italy 301
Pontifical Catholic University of Chile Villa Presidente Frei, Ñuñoa, Santiago, Chile, Chile 301
UCLouvain Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium 301
Chongqing University Chongqing, China 301
Complutense University of Madrid Madrid, Spain 301
East China University of Science and Technology Shangyu, China 301
École Polytechnique Palaiseau, France 301
Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, United States 301
Freie Universität Berlin Berlin Steglitz, Germany 301
Hanyang University Seoul, South Korea 301
Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, United States 301
Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore Bangalore, India 301
Iran University of Science and Technology Tehran, Iran 301
Jönköping University Jönköping, Sweden 301
Kansas State University Manhattan, United States 301
KEDGE Business School Bordeaux, France 301
King Abdulaziz University Jeddah, Saudi Arabia 301
Rey Juan Carlos University Coslada, Spain 301
KTH Royal Institute of Technology Stockholm, Sweden 301
Kyung Hee Cyber University Seoul, South Korea 301
Laval University Québec, Canada 301
Leiden University Leiden, Netherlands 301
Linköping University Linköping, Sweden 301
LUISS University Roma, Italy 301
Luleå University of Technology Luleå, Sweden 301
Memorial University of Newfoundland St. John's, Canada 301
Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education Monterrey, Mexico 301
National Central University Taoyuan City, Taiwan 301
National Chiao Tung University Hsinchu, Taiwan 301
National Tsing Hua University Hsinchu, Taiwan 301
NEOMA Business School Mont-Saint-Aignan, France 301
Northern Illinois University DeKalb, United States 301
University Paris Dauphine Paris, France 301
Polytechnic University of Catalonia Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain 301
École Polytechnique de Montréal Montréal, Canada 301
Queen's University Belfast Belfast, United Kingdom 301
RMIT University Melbourne, Australia 301
Royal Holloway University of London London, United Kingdom 301
Saint Louis University Saint Louis, United States 301
San Diego State University La Mesa, United States 301
Santa Clara University Santa Clara, United States 301
Sapienza University of Rome Roma, Italy 301
Shanghai University Shanghai, China 301
Sharif University of Technology Tehran, Iran 301
Sichuan University Chengdu, China 301
SKEMA Business School Suresnes, France 301
Sogang University Seoul, South Korea 301
Southeast University Nanjing, China 301
Southwestern University of Finance & Economics Chengdu, China 301
Stevens Institute of Technology Hoboken, United States 301
The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, United States 301
Tianjin University Tianjin, China 301
Institute for European Studies - Universite Libre de Bruxelles Brussels, Belgium 301
University College Dublin Dublin, Ireland 301
University of Birmingham Birmingham, United Kingdom 301
University of California, Riverside Riverside, United States 301
University of California, Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, United States 301
University of Catania Catania, Italy 301
University of Coimbra Coimbra, Portugal 301
University of Colorado Denver Denver, United States 301
University of East Anglia Norwich, United Kingdom 301
University of Electronic Science and Technology of China Chengdu, China 301
Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) Nuremberg, Germany 301
University of Hamburg Hamburg, Germany 301
University of Jyväskylä Jyväskylä, Finland 301
University of Kent Canterbury, United Kingdom 301
University of Ljubljana Ljubljana, Slovenia 301
University of Louisville Louisville, United States 301
University of Massachusetts Boston Boston, United States 301
University of Massachusetts Lowell Lowell, United States 301
University of Mississippi Oxford, United States 301
University of Missouri - Kansas City Kansas City, United States 301
University of Montpellier Montpellier, France 301
University of North Carolina Greensboro Greensboro, United States 301
University of North Texas Denton, United States 301
University of Oslo Oslo, Norway 301
University of Ottawa Ottawa, Canada 301
University of Pisa Pisa, Italy 301
University of Porto Porto, Portugal 301
University of Rochester Rochester, United States 301
University of Sao Paulo São Paulo, Brazil 301
University of Science and Technology of China Hefei, China 301
University of Stavanger Stavanger, Norway 301
University of Victoria Victoria, Canada 301
Western Sydney University Paramatta, Australia 301
University of Wollongong Wollongong, Australia 301
University of Zaragoza Delicias, Spain 301
Uppsala University Uppsala, Sweden 301
Victoria University of Wellington Wellington, New Zealand 301
Villanova University Plymouth Meeting, United States 301
Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester, United States 301
Xiamen University Xiamen, China 301
Boston University Boston, United States 51
City, University of London London, United Kingdom 51
Ghent University Ledeberg, Belgium 51
KU Leuven Brussels, Belgium 51
McGill University Montréal, Canada 51
Nanyang Technological University Singapore, Singapore 51
Peking University Beijing, China 51
Singapore Management University Singapore, Singapore 51
George Washington University Washington, D. C., United States 51
Imperial College London London, United Kingdom 51
Melbourne Business School Melbourne, Australia 51
University of New South Wales Sydney, Australia 51
Tsinghua University Beijing, China 51
University of Alberta Edmonton, Canada 51
University of Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands 51
University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada 51
University of Connecticut Storrs, United States 51
University of Houston Houston, United States 51
The University of Iowa Iowa City, United States 51
Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) Munich München, Germany 51
University of South Carolina Columbia, United States 51
University of Virginia Charlottesville, United States 51
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands 51
Washington University in St. Louis Saint Louis, United States 51
University of Western Ontario London, Canada 51
Boston College Newton, United States 76
Clemson University Clemson, United States 76
Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) Eindhoven, Netherlands 76
HEC Paris Jouy-en-Josas, France 76
Lancaster University Lancaster, United Kingdom 76
London School of Economics and Political Science London, United Kingdom 76
Maastricht University Maastricht, Netherlands 76
Rice University Houston, United States 76
Rutgers University New Brunswick, United States 76
ETH Zurich - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich, Switzerland 76
The Chinese University of Hong Kong Shatin, Hong Kong (SAR) 76
The University of Hong Kong Hong Kong, Hong Kong (SAR) 76
The University of Manchester Manchester, United Kingdom 76
University of Queensland Saint Lucia, Australia 76
UCL London, United Kingdom 76
University of Arkansas Fayetteville, United States 76
University of California, Irvine (UCI) Irvine, United States 76
University of Navarra Pamplona, Spain 76
University of Oxford Oxford, United Kingdom 76
University of St. Gallen (HSG) St. Gallen, Switzerland 76
University of Sydney Sydney, Australia 76
University of Utah Salt Lake City, United States 76
University of Wisconsin Madison Madison, United States 76
Virginia Tech Blacksburg, United States 76
York University Toronto, Canada 76
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