Program details
The PhD program in management is designed to produce graduates who have competitive research and teaching skills and the abilities necessary for placement in teaching positions in Canada and the world.
Management (PhD)
Expected duration: 4 years
Tuition and fees: Tuition fees are charged for terms one and two and terms four and five. A continuing fee is paid for term three, term six and each subsequent term. (Refer to Graduate tuition and fees.)
Throughout their doctoral studies, students are engaged in research apprenticeships with the faculty. Students are assured of working with faculty members on several projects during their program and are required to spend a specific number of hours per week working for a faculty member during the term and in the summer. In this way, students are assured of receiving hands-on experience with the research process.
Students are expected to publish conference papers or journal articles during their program. Travelling to conferences and presenting research is a great way to meet other researchers in your field and gain exposure for your work.
Because the PhD program is designed for individuals who wish to pursue an academic career, a teaching practicum is required to help students develop teaching skills.
Areas of specialization
Four areas of specialization are offered:
Marketing
The PhD program in Marketing is designed to develop scholars who conduct innovative research and make a significant impact in academia, particularly through teaching at leading universities. Our program emphasizes research areas that explore methods for analyzing and improving marketing decisions, managerial and strategic issues, and a deeper understanding of buyer and consumer behavior.
In the PhD program, students take a variety of courses, including marketing theory, consumer behavior, and research methods, as well as courses from non-business disciplines such as economics, statistics, and psychology. Through marketing seminars, students explore recent scholarly work and develop their own research ideas and methodologies. From early in the program, students collaborate with faculty members on joint research projects and eventually develop their own original research, culminating in a dissertation. Additionally, students gain valuable teaching experience by leading marketing courses.
Finance
The PhD in Finance is a rigorous, research-intensive program aimed at preparing students for careers in academia. The program provides in-depth training in asset pricing, corporate finance, and empirical methods. Our students engage in independent research from an early stage, working closely with faculty who do research across all areas of finance, including asset pricing, investments, corporate finance, corporate governance, and behavioral finance. Graduates from our PhD program have secured positions at Western University, Ryerson University, Carlton University, University of Regina, Canada Life, and more.
PhD students receive comprehensive training in both theoretical and empirical finance through advanced courses in microeconomics, macroeconomics, econometrics, asset pricing, and corporate finance, with the option to take additional courses aligned with their research interests. They gain practical experience as research assistants and may co-author papers with faculty on cutting-edge finance topics. Students often present their work at conferences and publish research before entering the job market. The program, which also includes teaching apprenticeships, equips students to pursue careers as academics in finance.
Business Administration
The department of Business Administration offers both doctoral and research masters’ (MSc) programs in management. Our faculty are highly engaged scholars, working on a wide range of topics spanning disciplines (from Strategy and Organizational Behaviour to Entrepreneurship and Global Management) and research methodologies. Students and faculty use a wide variety of methods, ranging from ethnographies to lab experiments, and from the creative use of archival data to longitudinal surveys and experience-sampling methods.
Our faculty have published in the most widely-recognized journals, including Academy of Management Review, Journal of International Business Studies, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Human Relations, Administrative Science Quarterly, Organization Studies, Organization Science, Journal of Applied Psychology, and Journal of Management Studies, among other top management outlets.
The MSc program can prepare students for doctoral studies at Asper or other institutions, or prepare students for research-oriented roles in industry. Students can craft their program to reflect their focus on a subfield, or work at the intersection of two or more subfields, including:
Organizational Behaviour
OB is the study of individuals and groups in organizations. Drawing on insights from psychology and other fields, OB researchers explore how individuals and groups behave and interact in organizations. Our faculty study topics like customer service interactions (Irene Kim), justice, and ideas of self-help and self-improvement (Jae Yun Kim), mistreatment and microaggressions (Raymond Lee), conflict (Lukas Neville), leadership and ethics (Wei Wang), equity, diversity and inclusion (Suzanne Gagnon), and cross-cultural interactions at work (Jieying Chen).
Spotlight: Read about OB professor Jae Yun Kim’s research on the exploitation of passionate employees in the New York Times.
Strategy
Strategy researchers focus on how firms formulate and execute their market and non-market strategies, and the influence of firms’ environments and processes on those strategies and strategic decisions. Many of our faculty members study these dynamics in international contexts, and we welcome students with an interest in international business. Here at Asper, our faculty study how ‘ambidextrous’ firms balance multiple strategies (Parshotam Dass), how they navigate firm-government relations (Cheng Li), and how they manage cross-border mergers and acquisitions (Ratchel Zeng).
Spotlight: Read more about Ratchel Zeng’s work, published in the Journal of International Business Studies, on how multinational firms manage to control and coordinate action in their global subsidiaries.
Organizational Theory
Organizational theory scholars conduct research on organizations and their environment, considering how organizations are formed and change, and how organizing happens in the context of markets and institutional fields. At Asper, we have a very strong group of researchers conducting qualitative and quantitative research in organization theory, including how firms respond to contentious social issues (Sean Buchanan), social and ecological thought (Bruno Dyck), and the categorization processes that shape product market competition (Jie Yang).
Spotlight: Read about OT professor Sean Buchanan’s work on markets for voyeurism, from reality TV to slum tourism.
Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship is a multi-disciplinary domain of study, drawing from strategy, finance, economics, sociology, psychology and other areas to better understand how new ventures and new organizations are formed to create both economic and social value. Entrepreneurship researchers study both market contexts (entrepreneurship and new ventures) and corporate contexts (intrapreneurship and innovation).
Topics explored by Asper researchers include ‘intrapreneurship’ and corporate entrepreneurship (Wenlong Yuan), strategic leadership and family business management (Zhenyu Wu), social ventures and microfinance (Junyon Im), cultural entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial framing (Xiumei Li), and exploring entrepreneurship’s intersection with sustainability and well-being (Nathan Greidanus).
Spotlight: Read about entrepreneurship professor Nathan Greidanus’ collaboration with Chi Liao (finance) on how ADHD influences entrepreneurship.
Supply Chain Management
The PhD in Supply Chain Management at Asper is designed to cultivate the next generation of thought leaders and researchers. Students benefit from personalized mentorship by renowned faculty members who are experts in critical areas such as supply chain resilience, logistics innovation, and sustainability practices. The program emphasizes advanced theories and methodologies, providing students with a robust foundation in quantitative and qualitative research techniques. Through a rigorous curriculum, students engage in comprehensive studies that challenge conventional thinking and explore emerging trends in supply chain management. They have the opportunity to collaborate on groundbreaking research projects, contributing valuable insights that address real-world challenges faced by industries today. The program also encourages interdisciplinary approaches, allowing students to integrate knowledge from related fields and expand their research horizons. Graduates emerge well-equipped to excel in academia, industry research roles, and consulting, ready to drive strategic innovations and sustainable practices that shape the future of supply chain management. With a focus on producing influential research and fostering impactful professional connections, the PhD program positions students to significantly contribute to the global supply chain landscape.
The PhD program in Supply Chain Management provides in-depth training in advanced research methodologies, including logistics modelling, demand forecasting, sustainability and optimization. With a rigorous curriculum that combines theoretical knowledge and practical application, students engage in intensive coursework and hands-on projects to tackle real-world supply chain challenges. Collaboration with faculty enhances their research capabilities and exposure to current practices. Graduates emerge well-prepared for leadership roles in academia and industry, equipped to drive innovation and develop strategic solutions that influence the future of supply chain management globally.
Program requirements
The PhD program consists of 30-39 credit hours of courses plus a thesis.
- All PhD students must complete both core and other course requirements.
- The core course are comprised of 12 credit hours (four courses) and are based on the student's departmental concentration area in the list outlined below.
- The core course requirements must be completed regardless of previous professional and/or academic background. (some of the other course requirements may be waived based on previous courses completed in a Masters program).
- All students must complete PHDM 7140 Management Research Project 1 (a theoretical paper) and PHDM 7150 Management Research Project 2 (an empirical paper), both of which are zero credit, pass/fail courses.
Marketing
- MKT 7110 Doctoral Seminar in Marketing
- MKT 7120 Doctoral Seminar in Buyer Behaviour
- MKT 7080 Research Design and Methods
- MKT 7100 Selected Topics in Marketing
For full course descriptions, please visit the Academic Calendar.
Business Administration
One (1) three (3) credit hour course from:
- GMGT 7410 Organizational Behaviour;
- GMGT 7440 Organizational Theory; or,
- GMGT 7530 Strategy.
Three (3) additional three (3) credit hour courses from:
- GMGT 7440 Organizational Theory;
- GMGT 7410 Organizational Behaviour;
- GMGT 7530 Strategy; or
Topics courses in the area of organizational behaviour, organization theory, strategy, entrepreneurship, international business, industrial relations and human resource management.
For full course descriptions, please visit the Academic Calendar.
Finance
FIN 7700 Financial Economics
FIN 7710 Empirical Asset Pricing
FIN 7712 Seminar in Corporate Finance; and
FIN 7714 Advanced Financial Theory
For full course descriptions, please visit the Academic Calendar.
Supply Chain Management
Four of following courses are required:
- SCM 7016 Simulation Models for Operations Management
- SCM 7018 Seminar in Production and Operations Management
- SCM 7020 Seminar in Supply Chain Management
- SCM 7030 Doctoral Seminar in Supply Chain Sustainability
- MSCI 7550 Readings in Management Science
- MSCI 7560 Doctoral Seminar in Management Science
- MSCI 7680 Mathematical Optimization Models
- SCM 7302 Topics Course
For full course descriptions, please visit the Academic Calendar.
Other course requirements
Other course requirements (for all streams) may be required and could include:
- 1 Philosophy of Science in Management course PHDM 7110 (Note: Finance students are exempt from this requirement) (3 credit hours);
- 3 Methods or Statistics courses (9 credit hours; or up to 6 courses [18 credit hours] for Finance);
- 2 minor/cognate courses (at least one of which is outside the Asper School of Business; 6 credit hours or up to 3 courses [9 credit hours] for Finance students)
Since students completing an Asper School of Business Ph.D. will be conducting research and teaching in topics related to management, they will be required to have a basic breadth of knowledge in management. Students with a previous business degree will not be required to complete this requirement, but students without a business degree will be required to audit at least one (1) and up to three (3) courses, preferably at the 7000 level, outside their core area in business.
Admission requirements
The following are minimum requirements to be considered for entry into the PhD in management program. Meeting these requirements does not guarantee acceptance into the program.
Those applying to the Asper PhD in management program should possess:
- Either:
- an earned Master's degree, or
- an earned Bachelor's degree with Honours (or its identifiable equivalent) from a recognized institution in a management, business, or a cognate or foundational disciplinary area (i.e.: psychology, sociology, economics, or mathematics);
- A minimum 600 GMAT score (or GRE equivalent);
- English Language Test score, where applicable
- Three letters of reference
- Appropriate research interest and capability as evidenced by a statement of purpose; and,
- In addition to the Faculty of Graduate Studies minimum requirements, the following may be submitted:
- A thesis from a recognized institution;
- A major research paper from a recognized institution;
- An independently completed research article published in a refereed journal;
- An independently completed research working paper presented at a conference; and/or
- Other evidence of an appropriate nature, such as written class research projects and term papers.
In addition to the admission requirements described here, all applicants must meet the minimum admission and English language proficiency requirements of the Faculty of Graduate Studies.
How to apply
Applications for the PhD program are accepted once a year for Fall entry. Applications must be completed online and include several parts:
- Application fee (non-refundable)
- Unofficial copies of transcripts
- CV or resume
- Statement of intent
- GMAT or GRE, with a minimum score of 600
- 3 letters of recommendation from academic references
- Proof of English language proficiency, if required
Please read the Faculty of Graduate Studies online application instructions before beginning your application.
GMAT and GRE resources
The Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) and Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) are standardized tests used to demonstrate academic qualification for graduate programs. Applicants to the Asper (PhD) must provide one of these test scores as part of the admissions process.
Application deadline
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Contact us
Admission and application inquiries
Faculty of Graduate Studies
Room 500 UMSU University Centre
65 Chancellors Circle
University of Manitoba (Fort Garry campus)
Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2 Canada
graduate.admissions@umanitoba.ca
Phone: 204-474-9377
Monday to Friday
8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Program inquiries
Stu Clark Graduate School
Asper School of Business
Room 501, Drake Centre
181 Freedman Crescent
University of Manitoba (Fort Garry campus)
Winnipeg, MB R3T 5V4 Canada
Phone: 431-336-0650
Email: phdmscasper@umanitoba.ca
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