Management & Organizations & Sociology

Faculty from MORS and Sociology actively participate in the joint program, ensuring that this program functions collaboratively and that students have easy access to faculty mentors and dissertation advisors from both departments.

The MORS faculty includes scholars whose research expertise draws from management and organizational behavior, strategy, industrial and organizational psychology, social psychology, sociology and physics. Our research covers a broad range of areas that include negotiations, computational social science, conflict resolution, individual and organizational decision-making, social networks, and power. We have published scholarly articles in, and serve on the editorial boards of the leading journals, such as Journal of Applied Psychology, American Journal of Sociology, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Administrative Science Quarterly, Organizational Science, Science, Management Science, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Nature, and the Annual Review of Psychology.

The Sociology faculty study the relationships among people, such as organizations, groups and countries, with an emphasis on how those relationships cause inequalities within legal/economics systems, social movements, and organizations. Our department provides comprehensive training in methodology and has faculty who cover a wide range of social science research methods. We take pride in our methodological pluralism, and we celebrate both mixed-methods approaches and research that is firmly and rigorously grounded in a single method. We have published scholarly articles in, and serve on the editorial boards of the leading journals, such as American Journal of Sociology, American Political Science Review, Journal of Conflict Resolution and Social Science & Medicine.

Our doctoral students come from a variety of backgrounds, including some with work and professional experience, recent MBA graduates, and others enter directly from undergraduate programs in the social sciences, business, engineering, and allied fields. Though not required, successful applicants often possess one or several of the following characteristics:

• Experience in the social sciences, e.g. through undergraduate or graduate coursework in anthropology, economics, political science, psychology, sociology or related fields.
• Research experience, e.g. in the form of an honors or master’s thesis, or research assistant work.
• Post baccalaureate work experience.
• Evidence of quantitative or statistical skills e.g., high quantitative test scores or advanced courses in mathematics, statistics, engineering or econometrics.
• Relevant master’s degree.

Coursework

In the first two years of the program students are expected to complete the required coursework of the program. Students take required courses in sociology, management and organizations, and related fields. Students must maintain a 3.0 (“B”) average in coursework.

Preliminary Exam

Students will take their preliminary (“field”) exam in the summer between their first and second years. The prelim exam covers material in the four substantive Management and Organizations PhD core courses. Prelims also require full competence in the material covered in the two core methods classes.

Paper Requirement and Candidacy

Students must successfully complete a MORS candidacy paper by the end of winter quarter of their third year. Students also complete the Sociology department's special field paper. Upon successful passing of both papers, passing of the MORS prelim exam and maintaining a 3.0 GPA in coursework, the student is admitted to candidacy.

Research, Proposal & Dissertation

The main activity in the third year and afterward is research toward a thesis, under the direction of one or more faculty advisors from MORS  and Sociology. A thesis proposal must be presented by the end of the spring quarter of their fourth year. In their final year in the program, each candidate must complete a dissertation demonstrating original and significant research and pass a final oral examination on the dissertation.

Teaching Requirement

To promote engagement with faculty and integration with the intellectual life of the department, students serve as research and teaching assistants during years two, three, and four, including summers. Research assistantships (RAs) are an excellent lead-in to research; teaching assistantships (TAs) prepares students for teaching after obtaining the PhD.