Program Objectives

The primary aim of the doctoral program is to train you to become an academic researcher capable of contributing on the cutting edge of research in Management, particularly within your area of expertise. We will provide you with the learning experiences, readings, and methodological training needed to do academic work at the highest level. Our program is distinctive in that it has a cross-disciplinary curriculum and cohort of students who have interests that span multiple areas within Management – Ethics, Entrepreneurship and Leadership in Organizations.

We expect that you will hit the ground running and see yourselves as researchers from day one. Your aim should be to try to conduct original research that contributes to the literature from the start of the program, even though it may take you a year or more to create a paper that merits submitting to a journal. We expect you to cultivate a research portfolio beyond your dissertation while you are here and to strive to have multiple publications (or at least papers accepted at journals) before you complete the program in the four years you are with us. To effectively compete for the available jobs you will need to demonstrate both promise and a track record of accomplishment before you leave us. We will do everything we can to help you, particularly to provide an environment where you can excel and cultivate your skills as a researcher. To make it the best possible experience, we need everyone committed to excellence, to hard work, and to collegiality from day one. The results, based on past experience, should make for a memorable four years and the start of a rewarding career in the academic community. It is our pleasure to welcome you to that community.

The Darden School offers an intellectually demanding doctoral program for a small, select group of high-potential applicants: men and women who already have a breadth of knowledge in the functional areas of business and who have a strong interest in academic research.

Program Administration

The administration of the Doctoral Program has been assigned by the Darden School faculty to the Doctoral Program Operating Committee, a standing committee of the faculty. Each established major field has a major field advisor who is a member of the Doctoral Committee. The general administration of the Doctoral Program is the responsibility of the Director of the Doctoral Program.