final phd brochure

45INSEAD PhD in Management44 INSEAD PhD in Management

PhD in Management 2014 - 2015

A life of intellectual leadershipand influential scholarship.

Europe Campus PhD Office Boulevard de Constance 77305 Fontainebleau Cedex, France Tel: +33 (0)1 60 72 42 93 Fax: +33 (0)1 60 74 55 93 / 00 E-mail: [email protected]

Asia Campus PhD Office 1 Ayer Rajah Avenue 138676 Singapore Tel: +65 6799 5139 Fax: +65 6799 5365 E-mail: [email protected]

Abu Dhabi Campus Muroor Road Street N4 P.O. Box 48049 Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Tel: +971 2 651 5200 Fax: +971 2 443 9461

www.insead.edu

46 INSEAD PhD in Management 01INSEAD PhD in Management

Your passport to a prestigious academic careerImagine a highly respected, international career – a life of intellectual stimulation, creativity and freedom. It involves working with the leading business thinkers, the best practitioners and the brightest high-potentials. Combining academic research and teaching with real-world business impact, it truly is a dream job that represents the best of both worlds.

Next, imagine that the doctoral degree you need to launch this career is available in a unique two-continent format. Take a group of incredibly intelligent and motivated students from all over the world, bring them to Europe and Asia – then, get the leading experts in their fields to mentor them. Add a full scholarship for tuition fees, a generous living allowance, a formidable placement record… and it really does sound too good to be true.

Now, stop imagining. The INSEAD PhD in Management is a reality. It is proven to be one of the most effective ways to launch a career as a management professor.

Dr. David F. Drake (USA), Assistant Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School, USAPhD in Technology and Operations Management, INSEAD (2011)Background: BS Psychology and Human & Organizational Development, and MBA, Vanderbilt University, USA


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Message from the Deputy Deans

Message from the Academic Director

A career in business academia

The INSEAD PhD advantage

INSEAD The Business School for the World

Structured for success

Who should apply?

ContentsOverview

Practical Information

Alumni network

Diversity and excellence

Areas of specialisation

Programme structure

Campus exchanges

Research support

Admissions

Financial information

Donors and corporate sponsors

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With campuses in Fontainebleau, Singapore and Abu Dhabi, as well as strategic alliances in the USA and China, INSEAD offers a unique, truly global management education to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow. Our faculty and students are exceptionally diverse. Our commitment to transcultural insights, entrepreneurship, and creative problem solving differentiates INSEAD in the marketplace. Indeed, these strengths enable our extraordinary global community to manage complexity, reduce uncertainty, and lead innovation anywhere in the world.

In our doctoral programme, we are preparing the next generation of exemplary educators — people who will transform the possibilities of

what management can and should be in a world with fewer borders but greater challenges. At INSEAD, you will learn alongside the world’s best business minds. Even more, you will gain a profound appreciation for how to put that knowledge to work in ways that matter most.Each year, over 1,000 degree candidates (MBA, Executive MBA, and PhD) and nearly 10,000 executives from top companies trust INSEAD to provide them with the education to thrive in today’s challenging global environment.

We invite you to join them and our 43,000+ alumni in 160+ countries, to see for yourself why INSEAD is truly “The Business School for the World.”

Academic excellence is at the heart of what makes INSEAD great. For more than 50 years, knowledge creation and dissemination have remained integral to our mission as a premier global management school.

Even more important, our faculty and graduates have put these ideas into action. INSEAD scholarship is alive out in the world, making a difference every day for countless people, organisations, and communities.

Across all business disciplines, INSEAD is dramatically shaping both theoretical discourse and practical application in ways that generate innovation and solve important challenges to make life better.

Creating knowledge for a better world

Ilian Mihov Deputy Dean, Faculty and ResearchProfessor of EconomicsThe Novartis Chaired Professor of Management and Environment

Peter ZemskyDeputy Dean, Degree Programmes and Curriculum Professor of StrategyThe Eli Lilly Chaired Professor of Strategy and Innovation


The INSEAD PhD in Management has a clear strategy: recruit the brightest, most creative minds; train them to be innovative researchers; then, place them in faculty positions at the best business schools in the world. We have been remarkably successful, given our formidable placement record, and we are on a strong upward trajectory.

INSEAD’s unusual 50-year history is distinguished by its entrepreneurial nature and its international diversity. It was founded by faculty from different parts of the world who wanted to do something different - they took a US style academic model and infused it with international faculty and students, giving all programmes a uniquely global focus not connected to one particular nationality or perspective. An innovative institution that began as a European business school has now become The Business School for the World, largely due to its entrepreneurial DNA. There is no other business school quite like it.

So today INSEAD trains many of tomorrow’s leading entrepreneurs, and this includes our PhD candidates who go on to academic careers. Being a professor in a research institution is an exceptionally entrepreneurial activity. You get an office and other resources and are told to create knowledge that will be interesting and have impact—whatever you like. Every now and then, your colleagues and other peers check in to ask: “So, what interesting and innovative things have you done?” The answer to this will determine your success (or failure!) in the profession.

The life of a professor is remarkably social as well. As a PhD student, you will spend some solitary time struggling (or making brilliant progress) in your office or at your kitchen table alone, as in the stereotype of the doctoral student. However, few papers are written without co-authors and the sharing of ideas—whether in joint projects, in seminars at universities, in the exchanges that arise in teaching, in conferences at far-flung places, or in lunch and corridor conversations with colleagues—these are a critical and day-to-day part of the process for creating knowledge.

At INSEAD, you benefit from our entrepreneurial intellectualism and from the interaction with a culturally diverse and academically distinguished set of faculty, who do not merely come from different countries but who have chosen to live their lives as citizens of the world. The students and professors at INSEAD that you meet and learn from and share ideas with will form the core of the intellectual network you will develop, and that will develop you in your professional life.

I hope to welcome you to our programme, as the start of a lifetime academic career.

Thought leadership Influential scholarship

Timothy Van ZandtAcademic Director, PhD ProgrammeProfessor of Economics Shell Fellow of Economic Transformation


A career in business academia

The academic lifeOur professors talk above all about the variety of their work: the fascination of research; the thrill of orchestrating bright minds in the classroom; the creative stimulation of top international conferences and visits to other institutions…the challenge of juggling the complementary, but very different activities of research and teaching.

They also talk about the freedom and flexibility. Of course, there is hard work and high pressure, too. But when you are pursuing your own interests and passion, it is even more worthwhile. Salaries are also highly competitive with top industry professions.

So far, so typical of an academic career at a world-class institution, perhaps. But specialising in a business discipline brings added benefits.

All the benefits of businessBusiness school research and teaching are rooted in the real world, so their impact is significant. As well as developing bright young minds, management professors attract top executives into the classroom to expand the frontiers of business practice. Business

faculty are often able to participate directly in business, too, as consultants, board members or even entrepreneurs.

Yet, over the years, it has become apparent that there is a long-term shortage of true talent of men and women capable of applying academic rigour to real-world management issues.

What is more, the continued globalisation of business, coupled with the search for alternatives to the traditional American model of management, has created an even greater demand for newly trained business academics with an international mindset.

In other words, if you have a strong undergraduate record in virtually any discipline, an enquiring and creative mind, and a fascination with business, all you need is the right training to start your international career in business academia. We firmly believe that the best training of all is the INSEAD PhD in Management.

This is how faculty members at INSEAD and other business schools describe their work.

“The best job in the world.”


The INSEAD PhD advantage

...in a stimulating interdisciplinary environment. INSEAD is also unusual in taking an interdisciplinary approach. Professors and PhD students do not simply work across two continents. They also collaborate across academic areas, offering an even greater breadth of research opportunities and different perspectives.

Close relationships with world experts… Perhaps most important of all, the relationships with our faculty are close too. INSEAD professors are the world experts in their fields, yet their strong ethos of support, collaboration and mentorship is distinctive.

Whether in the first two years of classes, or the following period of independent research, the insights and guidance of the world’s best teachers and researchers are always available to our PhD students.

All this and full financial support…As well as moral and intellectual support, INSEAD offers generous funding. Almost all PhD students benefit from our scholarships and living allowances, which come with very few strings attached – except our high expectations of our students.

…followed by outstanding career potential.

Given all these INSEAD differences, it is hardly surprising that our graduates go on to obtain academic positions at the best business schools and universities worldwide. Our placement record is truly excellent.

The only two-continent programme…The INSEAD PhD in Management is the only such programme to run across two equal-status campuses on two continents in France and Singapore, and the school’s exchange programme with The Wharton School in America adds the option of a third.

…the most culturally diverse in the world…Sometimes it feels more like studying on five continents, as the student body is the most international in the world. A typical intake has as many nationalities as it has participants, each bringing a different perspective to the debating table. The faculty is also one of the most international at a top business school.

…and yet the most intimate.INSEAD may be one of the largest and most prestigious postgraduate business schools in the world, but the PhD Programme remains small and intimate. With a maximum of eighteen or so places a year, shared across our two campuses, the student body is close and supportive.

Everyone knows everyone else, regardless of their specialist subject. With partners and children encouraged on campus, there is a definite family feel.

As globalisation accelerates and old paradigms fall, business looks to great minds with the courage, detachment and rigour, yet close understanding of the issues to think differently.

And nothing encourages difference like diversity. Hence, the philosophy of excellence through diversity on which the INSEAD PhD in Management is founded.

Business needs leadership. This much is well known. But it also needs thought leadership...


When you join the INSEAD PhD in Management, you become part of an extraordinary worldwide community. As one of the world’s leading and largest graduate business schools, INSEAD brings together people, cultures and ideas from around the world to change lives and transform organisations. INSEAD’s diversity is unparalleled, as demonstrated in its campus locations, faculty, participants, and strategic alliances with top programmes and business schools. As PhD students, you will significantly benefit from this.

INSEAD The Business School for the World

FacultyAs a PhD student, you will come into daily contact with participants who come from all continents to study alongside you at INSEAD. But most important of all, you will form close relationships with outstanding faculty: over 145 permanent resident professors from 35 nationalities. As PhD graduates from the world’s top business schools, they are not only one of the most diverse business-school faculty in the world – they are also among the very best in their respective fields.

Participants and locationsThe unique global perspective and multicultural diversity of INSEAD are reflected in all aspects of its research and teaching. The PhD Programme is located in two comprehensive and fully integrated campuses – in Asia (Singapore) and in Europe (Fontainebleau). Together with the Abu Dhabi campus, all three are attended by over 1,000 degree participants and nearly 10,000 Executive Education participants annually comprised of business leaders worldwide.

A broad-based alliance with The Wharton School in America and a dual-degree Executive MBA with Tsinghua University in China expand INSEAD’s horizons, yet further. But in reality, the INSEAD community extends to the entire world, with 43,000+ alumni working in more than 160 countries, many of them with active national alumni associations.

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CountriesAlumni

Degree Participants

43,000+ 160+

Executive Education Participants

10,000

Simone Marinesi (Italy), PhD Candidate in Technology and Operations ManagementBackground: BS and MS Industrial Engineering, Università di Bologna, Italy


Structured for success

First two years to lay the foundationAs a successful applicant, you are not only offered a broad choice of specialist areas in the four to five years full-time programme (Accounting, Decision Sciences, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Marketing, Organisational Behaviour, Strategy, and Technology and Operations Management). You can also choose whether to begin the programme in France or in Singapore. Both campuses offer almost identical opportunities. These are the first of many choices to come.

The first two years teach the fundamentals of business in interdisciplinary classes, with the addition of specialist courses in your subject and further specialisation, again according to choice. You will also receive intensive training in research methodologies, culminating in the production of a formal research paper.

During the early years, you are encouraged to spend one eight-week period on the other INSEAD campus. You can also decide to switch campuses permanently. If you decide to stay put, you will certainly attend some video-conferenced classes, held simultaneously and seamlessly on two continents.

Next, two (or three) years to become one of the leading experts in your fieldUpon admission to candidacy, you now work with your faculty advisor to define your dissertation topic and pursue truly independent research. By the end of your third year at INSEAD, you should have your proposal approved and be well on course to complete your dissertation in the next year or two, if needed.

Added inspiration comes from regular seminars led by resident and visiting faculty and attended exclusively by professors, research staff and PhD students. There is a strong interdisciplinary tradition at INSEAD, which stimulates an extra level of research creativity.

By the time you attend the graduation ceremony in June, you should already have made your final INSEAD choice, that is, which other leading institution anywhere in the world is going to be best for the next phase of your academic career.

The INSEAD PhD in Management has been carefully designed to nurture high achievement.

Once you make it through the rigorous selection process, there are exciting challenges ahead. After only four to five years at INSEAD, you can look forward to launching an exciting career in academia.

Dr. Moqi Xu (Germany)Lecturer (Assistant Professor) of FinanceLondon School of Economics, UKBackground: Diploma in Finance, Leipzig Graduate School of Management, Germany; MBA in Finance, Tulane University, USA; Two years in Strategy Consulting; PhD in Finance, INSEAD (2011)

Our research should result in a better understanding of how to do business.

Academia versus “the real world”? There is no “versus”. Our research should result in a better understanding of how to do business. I am looking forward to achieving this through teaching and research. There is no greater satisfaction than seeing students successfully apply the ideas that you taught them, though I am also hoping that my research on investment behaviour in CEO election cycles will result in better governance. In this way, my current work is not much different from my previous job as a strategy consultant – only that my results apply in general rather than to the particular firm that hired me.

Of course, my methods of working changed along with my career. My research projects are much more detailed and take years rather than weeks. My advisor, Theo Vermaelen, invested

an enormous amount of time and effort in my academic development, much more than my previous mentors could afford. Nevertheless, I was the one responsible for my progress – there is no direct, day-to-day supervisor, as you would find in a more conventional business career.

At INSEAD, we are well connected to the finance community. Paris, Singapore, London, Frankfurt, and Zurich host a vast pool of financial professionals to discuss ideas and recent deals. The INSEAD PhD in Management provides financial support for conferences and other educational pursuits. Many of us visit other universities – I spent a summer at the University of Chicago with some challenges to my own view of market efficiency.


Our standards are high, but extremely broad. Diversity is what INSEAD is about, after all. But there is one thing that all successful applicants have in common - and that is the desire to pursue a successful career in academia.

Apart from that essential requirement, we are, first of all, seeking people with a proven academic record, whatever their subject background. Second, we are looking for the creativity and independent thought necessary to become a great researcher. Third, the ability to work in the English language is a necessity. Fourth, we require evidence of motivation and drive, which are prerequisites for successful independent research.

If it helps to know what we are not looking for - we do not ask for a degree in business, a master’s, an MBA or work experience (although, many successful applicants come with an MBA, an MSc or a successful business career behind them), nor do we have a preference for any particular undergraduate area of study.

What does that mean in practice? You might be a fresh graduate in a business-related discipline, or you might have developed an interest in business research through a master’s or a few years’ of work experience. However, some of our best students have come straight from degrees in mathematics, IT, science or even the arts, but with a strong interest in business as a future field of academic study.

If this sounds like a good fit for you, read on to get more details about the choices on offer, to find out how to apply for them … and, most importantly, to hear from the people who have already benefited from this unique INSEAD PhD in Management.

Who should apply?

Research potential. Intellectual capacity. Commitment to academia. Creativity. Motivation. Drive.

I have over 70 smart people from all over the world and all backgrounds to talk to about my research, my thoughts, and my life. I could not ask for a better support network.

During my master’s, I realised how attractive the academic lifestyle was. It was not just the freedom to organise my own time that appealed, but also the freedom to think. It is so much more rewarding to research ideas that you have developed yourself.

Although I loved maths, I was also fascinated by people. Technology and Operations Management seemed the perfect way of combining both interests – and INSEAD clearly had one of the best departments in the world. It turned out to be even better than I would imagined once I got here.

I admit it was a challenge to change direction. That first year was crazy! I learnt a huge amount, but sometimes it is an advantage to be new to a field and to have no preconceptions. It also helped to have the mentorship of senior students who had already been through it all.

There is a real interdisciplinary PhD community at INSEAD. I could have over 70 smart people from all over the world and all backgrounds to talk to about my research, my thoughts and my life. I could not ask for a better support network.

Dr. Elena Belavina (Russia)Assistant Professor of Operations Management The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, USA Background: BSc and MSc in Applied Mathematics and Physics, specialising in Systems Programming and IT Management, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Russia; PhD in Technology and Operations Management, INSEAD (2012)


Find out more about our impressive placement record at http://phd.insead.edu/alumni_and_placements/

Alumni networkAn outstanding placement record. Unparalleled career trajectory. From its very beginning, the INSEAD PhD in Management has achieved a very impressive placement record. Today, its graduates can be found throughout the world, teaching and researching at the best business schools and universities worldwide, and have tremendous success advancing their academic career. Over the years, PhD graduates have been ambassadors for INSEAD and have positively played a key role in ensuring its reputation as one of the world’s best graduate business schools.

Americas Harvard, Wharton, MIT Sloan, Stanford, Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University, University of Chicago Booth, Carnegie Mellon, NYU Stern, Yale University, Boston University, Georgia Tech, University of California Berkeley, UCLA, Richard Ivey School of Business, McGill University, University of Western Ontario

Oleg Chuprinin (Ukraine)FinanceAssistant Professor of FinanceUniversity of New South Wales, Australia

Konstantin Korotov (Russia)Organisational BehaviourAssociate ProfessorDirector of the Centre for Leadership Development Research (CLDR), ESMT, Germany

Donal Crilly (United Kingdom)StrategyAssistant Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship London Business School, United Kingdom

Europe London Business School, London School of Economics, SAID Business School at University of Oxford, ESSEC (France), HEC Paris, IE in Madrid, IESE, ESMT Berlin, IMD, Koç University in Istanbul, Tilburg University, University of Amsterdam, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Rotterdam University

Asia CEIBS, ESSEC (Singapore), HKUST, International University of Japan, Keio University, Kobe University, Nanyang Technological University, National University of Singapore, Seoul National University, Singapore Management University, University of Technology Sydney, University of New South Wales, Yonsei University

Bart Bronnenberg (The Netherlands)MarketingProfessor of MarketingTilburg University, The Netherlands

Tang Wenjie (China)Decision Sciences Assistant Professor of Quantitative Methods IE Business School, Spain

Zhang Man, Cyndi (China) StrategyAssistant Professor of Strategic ManagementLee Kong Chian School of BusinessSingapore Management University, Singapore

Merih Sevilir (Turkey) FinanceAssociate Professor of FinanceKelley School of Business, Indiana University, USA

Christian Terwiesch (Germany) Production and Operations ManagementAndrew M. Heller Professor, Operations and Information ManagementThe Wharton School, USA

Yang Haiyang (Japan) Marketing Assistant Professor of MarketingJohns Hopkins University, USA

PhD alumni150+

Dr. Hakan Ener (Turkey)Assistant Professor of EntrepreneurshipIESE Business School, University of Navarra, Spain Background: BA in Economics and MBA, Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey; Worked as a Research Associate; PhD in Strategy, INSEAD (2009)

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I heard about how Asia was the world’s rising economic power, but I saw it for myself at the HarbourFront area in Singapore.

I had never really been anywhere east of my home country, Turkey, so the time I spent in Singapore as part of my INSEAD PhD was an eye-opening experience. I heard about how Asia was the world’s rising economic power, but I saw it for myself at the HarbourFront area in Singapore, which is a key cargo transit point for trade between the whole continent and the rest of the world. The volume of cargo waiting to be shipped to Europe, America and Africa was simply mind-boggling.

Half of our world lives in Asia, and I became familiar with this continent only after INSEAD

made it possible to do part of my doctoral research there. As I graduate from the PhD Programme and move on to work as an Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship, I know I have received the best doctoral education for developing a global vision as a scholar.

I would encourage all PhD applicants to consider stepping outside their comfort zone and to do part of their doctoral work in a different country: it is very stimulating for the mind. And, of course, if you choose to study at INSEAD it is also very easy to achieve!

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Dr. Julie Battilana (France)Associate Professor of Business Administration, Marvin Bower Fellow Harvard Business School, USABackground: BA in Sociology and Economics, MA in Political Sociology, and MSc in Organisational Sociology and Public Policy, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan, France; MSc in Management and Economics, HEC Paris, France; Joint PhD in Organisational Behaviour from INSEAD (2006) and in Management and Economics from Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan (2006)

I am a big believer that the most innovative people are those who have been embedded in different cultures.

Before INSEAD, my trajectory was very French. I was destined to spend my career in the French university system, but INSEAD opened the door to a new world for me. It felt like a wonderful international bubble – but in my own country – and my dissertation was on the British National Health Service. Quite simply, there is no other school that is as diverse.

Why is that so important? Well, it is a source of richness, particularly in the classroom. You get exposed to so many different approaches, ideas and perspectives from professors and colleagues alike. It helps in research, too. I am a

big believer that the most innovative people are those who have been embedded in different cultures. That is why I am here in the U.S. today. You have to practise some of the theories you teach!

There is no doubt that INSEAD has an amazing track record in placing its PhD graduates, and I am collaborating on research with several of them. If there is one thing that I have recently come to appreciate about INSEAD, it is the strong intellectual and social network that the school has given me.


The moment you step on the campus of your choice, as a student, you are integrated in a multicultural and academically diverse global PhD community. The close-knit but growing PhD community at INSEAD currently numbers around 78 members, plus, in many cases, their families. Although it is INSEAD’s smallest and most selective programme, it is still exceptionally diverse.

Our students come from all academic backgrounds, not just business. Entrants range from young graduates fresh out of university to professionals with a few years of work experience behind them.

Diversity & excellence

Nationality Chart

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Key Figures 2012-2013

741 Average GMAT Score

Gender

36%64%

Accounting Decision Sciences Finance Marketing Organisational Behaviour Entrepreneurship Strategy Technology & Operations Management

Launching in 2014 8% 26% 14% 15% 4% 18% 15%

Decision Sciences

Finance

Marketing

Technology & Operation Management

Strategy

Organisational Behaviour

Entrepreneurship

Accounting

Total PhD Students

25 Average Age

163 Average GRE Score

31 Nationalities

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The Accounting (AC) area at INSEAD is highly distinguished for its excellence in research and is one of the few groups outside North America to consistently produce articles in top accounting, finance, and management journals, such as The Accounting Review, The Journal of Accounting and Economics, Journal of Accounting Research, Journal of Finance, The Journal of Financial Economics, and Management Science, among others. Faculty have strong connections with the academic accounting community, serving as associate editors and editorial board members of major journals, and routinely present their research in workshops and conferences held by leading academic institutions and premier academic journals.

The PhD in AC aims to provide cutting-edge comprehensive training in accounting research, with research topics typically categorised into

two – financial accounting and managerial accounting. The area equips students with innovative tools to identify and understand the market and institutional forces that affect the production and use of information by organisations.

As the programme is interdisciplinary, AC students will receive intensive training in economics and behavioral science to acquire fundamental tools necessary to conduct intensive research in accounting, and will work alongside faculty who are at the forefront of research in a variety of areas, including economics, finance, etc.

Like all other areas, the AC area aims to produce highly trained individuals who will conduct first-class research at top-tiered business schools. Ideal candidates have strong academic backgrounds in economics, mathematics, statistics, or related fields. Prior work experience in accounting, consulting, banking, or related areas is helpful but not required. Although a good understanding of accounting rules is expected by the end of the programme, prior exposure is not required for a successful application.

Accounting

Decision Sciences

Entrepreneurship

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Marketing


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Decision Sciences (DS) is an interdisciplinary field that draws on economics, forecasting, statistical decision theory and cognitive psychology. Broadly speaking, DS addresses three fundamental and inter-related questions:

First, how should a “rational” person make decisions? This ‘normative’ question is at the heart of economics, and often serves as a baseline for evaluating human decision-making.

Second, how do people really make decisions? Recent research has explored the ways in which people are “boundedly rational”, and utilise rules of thumb and shortcuts to formulate judgments and to choose among alternatives.

Finally, given what the faculty know about rational decision making and actual behaviour, ‘how can we help people, especially managers, improve their decision-making?’ Researchers employ a variety of techniques to improve decision-making, ranging from sharpening statistical intuition to quantitative decision analysis.

The DS area at INSEAD includes an intellectually diverse faculty that tackles the above questions from many perspectives, bringing together traditions

in mathematics, statistics, economics and psychology. Research interests and expertise include risk management, decision-making under uncertainty, statistics and forecasting, operations research, revenue management, negotiation and auction analysis, and behavioural decision theory.

The faculty regularly publishes in top academic journals in various fields. PhD graduates from the DS area have been placed in top programmes such as Carnegie Mellon, Kellogg Graduate School of Management, IESE Business School, IE in Madrid, HKUST, etc.

Entrepreneurship (EFE) research at INSEAD seeks to understand creation and growth of new organisations and markets, renewal of existing companies, creation of new businesses within existing firms, innovation, and family business in a global world. Such research is conducted from the lens of management fields such as organisation theory and

strategy and social science disciplines such as sociology, economics and psychology. It addresses the challenges and opportunities of building and developing new business as a mechanism for value creation. The faculty in the area of Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprise are widely recognised for their excellence in research, as reflected by their prolific publications in top academic journals and their leadership positions in the academic community. Our world-renowned faculty serve as senior, associate, and guest editors of top journals in the management fields such as Administrative Science Quarterly, Organization Science, Academy of Management Journal, and Strategic Management Journal. Some of the expertise and research interests of our faculty include: nascent, serial, and social entrepreneurship; innovation and entrepreneurship in large firms; business model innovation; private equity, venture capital, and corporate venture capital; and family business, among others.

1 Accounting

Decision Sciences2

3 Entrepreneurship


Areas of specialisationEntrepreneurship has previously been a sub-field of Organisational Behaviour and Strategy areas. Given EFE area’s approach to research, students will receive training in the foundation of organisation theory and strategy, core knowledge of entrepreneurship and research methodology, so that they have the essential tools to conduct rigorous research. Candidates can come from a wide range of academic background in science and management, and prior research experience is helpful.

In addition to receiving classroom instruction and discussion, students will work closely with faculty members who engage in the frontier of research in diverse areas. This will allow students to lay a solid foundation for their research and to identify and build promising research agendas.

Like all other areas, the EFE area aims to develop first-class academics at top-tiered universities and business schools.

The Finance (FIN) group at INSEAD has a strong reputation as a world leader in its field. A diverse group of faculty members offers expertise in a wide variety

of areas, together with close supervision.

INSEAD provides an outstanding environment for finance scholarship given the school’s traditionally strong position in management disciplines and its exceptional commitment to intellectual diversity.

Research interests of applicants could be either theoretical or empirical, and include (but are not limited to) asset pricing, international finance, asset management, corporate finance, household finance, behavioural finance and corporate governance.

The FIN area has successfully placed PhD graduates in a variety of excellent, research-oriented schools, including: London School of Economics, ESSEC (France), HEC Paris, Tilburg University, the University of Amsterdam in Europe; MIT Sloan, University of Chicago, Yale University, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of

North Carolina, University of Southern California, and Purdue University in the US; McGill University in Canada; and ESSEC (Singapore) and Nanyang Business School in Asia. This confirms the reputation of an innovative research group with a strong track record of developing promising young scholars.

The Marketing (MKT) group has an exceptional reputation. With 22 resident faculty members, the group is among the most diverse and dynamic in the world. Looking at publications in the top marketing journals (Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research, Marketing Science, Journal of Marketing and Management Science) over the last 10 years, INSEAD is #11 in the world.

INSEAD provides an outstanding environment for marketing scholarship and intellectual diversity. The highly diverse and research-active faculty, and the behavioural lab in Paris provide the intellectual environment, support and synergy, as well as the infrastructure, necessary to obtain a PhD and become a distinguished scholar in the field.

Potential research interests of applicants include (but are not limited to) marketing strategy, marketing in virtual worlds, marketing and health, consumer behavior, consumer learning, and consumer decision-making. The group as a whole is interested in exploring important questions using a range of theoretical lenses, such as economics, psychology and behavioural decision theory.

Over the years, PhD graduates from the MKT area have moved to leading schools all around the world. Alumni moved to top schools in North America (e.g. Harvard; Boston University; Carnegie Mellon; Johns Hopkins; University of Carlifornia, Berkely; UCLA; Emory; University of Texas at Austin), in Europe (e.g. LBS, Erasmus University, Tilburg University, HEC, IE Business School) and in Asia (e.g. HKUST, Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business). This diaspora confirms our globally strong and leading reputation in the MKT area.

The Organisational Behaviour (OB) area is at the forefront of research in the field of Organisational Behaviour. The OB area has world-class faculty and a commitment to excellence in research and teaching.

Potential areas of research study includes topics that span the study of individuals, groups and organisations, including: leadership, group and team dynamics, personal and professional identity, gender and group diversity, negotiations, power and influence, virtual communication, decision-making, cross-cultural management, creativity, networks, organisational ecology, institutions and organisations, and careers. PhD graduates from the OB area have been successfully placed in leading academic institutions around the world including Harvard, Kellogg Graduate School of Management, LBS, Brown University, McGill University, Rice University, ESSEC, ESMT,

Singapore Management University, and Seoul National University, among others.

The Strategy (STR) group at INSEAD has an unparalleled reputation as one of the best in the field. With 28 resident faculty, the group is highly diverse and has correspondingly eclectic interests and influences.

Potential research interests of applicants could include (but are not limited to) competitive strategy, mergers and acquisitions, alliances, international management, innovation and knowledge management, organisational structure, strategy formulation and execution, and corporate governance.

The group is open to research in both strategy content and strategy process, using a wide range of theoretical lenses, including economics, sociology, psychology and organisation theory.

Finance4

Marketing5


6

Strategy7

29INSEAD PhD in Management28

Over the years, top research-oriented schools worldwide have welcomed PhD graduates from STR area, namely: Wharton, NYU Stern, LBS, HEC Paris, and IESE Business School, among others.

The Technology and Operations Management (TOM) group at INSEAD has a very strong reputation worldwide, and its PhD Programme boasts 100% academic placement over its entire history. With 20 resident faculty across France and Singapore, the group is at the forefront in innovation, supply chain management, healthcare and socially responsible operations management. The group includes editors at leading academic journals including Management Science, Operations Research, M&SOM and POMS, and it is consistently at the top of the research productivity rankings.

Potential research interests of applicants include (but are not limited to) supply chain management, innovation, behavioural operations, disaster and humanitarian logistics, health care operations, product take-back and sustainable production, and service operations.

Interdisciplinary research is also encouraged and there are frequent joint research projects with other areas, including Marketing, Decision Sciences, Strategy, Finance, and Organisational Behaviour. The group is strong in multiple research methods, including mathematical modeling, econometrics and surveys, multiple case studies, and experiments with human subjects.

The TOM area has a formidable record over the years in placing PhD graduates at a variety of top schools, including Wharton, University of Chicago Booth, Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Carnegie Mellon, UCLA, Georgia Institute of Technology, Purdue University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Vanderbilt University, HEC Paris, HKUST, International University of Japan, National University of Singapore, and Singapore Management University, among others.

INSEAD PhD in Management


Technology and Operations Management

8


Programme structure

The first two years consist primarily of course work, distinguished by an inter-disciplinary approach and an early emphasis on in-depth training in the basic disciplines underlying management (such as economics, behavioural sciences, research methodology,etc.).

Many classes are video-conferenced between campuses for a unique two-continent educational experience. Some courses assign projects or assignments to be completed during the course, others conclude with an examination or project work.

The year is divided into five teaching periods of eight weeks (7.5 weeks of course work followed by an examination period), allowing ample time for reading and reflection. The summer period

is largely devoted to research and study. All instruction is in English.

The core curriculum is composed of a set of four required core courses that are common to all fields of specialisation. In addition to the core course requirements, each field of specialisation lists a set of requirements, which must be met by students to qualify in that field. Refer to the PhD website for the complete list: http://phd.insead.edu/programme/programme_structure/

In very exceptional circumstances, candidates may be exempt from certain courses in which they can demonstrate extensive knowledge. Alternative work is usually proposed in such cases.

Coursework

We will not deny that it is very hard work indeed, but the INSEAD PhD in Management could represent four or five of the most fulfilling years of your life.

Years 1 and 2

Years 3 and 4 (sometimes 5)

Area exploration Becoming an expert

• Coursework • Field comprehensive examination• Research paper

Dissertation and research Award of PhD degree

• PhD candidacy • Research and dissertation proposal • Submission and defense of dissertation• Job market review and search • Graduation

Years 1 and 2

• Teaching practicum • Teaching and soft skills trainings• Participation in conferences • Annual performance reviews

Throughout the programme

Field comprehensive examinationThe comprehensive exam tests breadth and depth of knowledge acquired through the first two years of coursework. The exact format of the examination varies according to the area of specialisation, but will generally involve both written and oral elements.

Research PaperThe second year entails a transition to original research, and a key component is the second-year research paper. This should be a single-authored piece of work with the potential for publication. In the beginning of the year, the student should settle on a topic and faculty to work with; by the end of the year, the student should have a draft, to be completed over the summer. Close guidance is provided by a faculty advisor.

Each student must also give a presentation of the research paper to faculty members. The final paper is read by two INSEAD professors, who give it a pass or fail grade.


Research and dissertation proposalDissertation research begins immediately on admission to PhD candidacy. Each student works towards defining a topic, in consultation with faculty members, and forms a Dissertation Committee. This consists of at least four faculty members, three of whom must be INSEAD resident faculty.

Under the close supervision of a faculty advisor, each student prepares a dissertation proposal for submission to their Dissertation Committee. The proposal defines both the precise topic and the methodology of research. Approval of the proposal is a requirement for entry to the fourth year, by the end of which some students will complete their dissertations.

In line with many other international institutions, INSEAD now offers discretionary fifth-year funding for selected students who have not been able to complete their dissertations in four years.

PhD candidacyThe PhD Committee, consisting of INSEAD faculty (from all areas of specialisation), ultimately determines whether students who have met all the requirements for the first two years (coursework, field comprehensive examination, and research paper) as well as ascertaining the student’s potential to conduct scholarly research and complete a dissertation, can advance to full PhD candidacy.


Whenever I get stuck in my research, I go to the forest in Fontainebleau to climb, and then I get unstuck.Dr. Tomasz Obloj (Poland)Assistant Professor of Strategy HEC Paris, France Background: MS Management Studies, Warsaw School of Economics, Poland PhD in Strategy, INSEAD (2011)


Programme structure

Award of the PhD degreeFollowing the recommendation of the PhD Committee, the Academic Director grants the degree on behalf of the entire INSEAD faculty. The degree is awarded by INSEAD, under its own name and responsibility, at an end-of year ceremony. It is an occasion for successful graduates to celebrate with friends, family, faculty and colleagues, before moving on to an exciting new career.


Submission and defense of the dissertationThe dissertation is the culmination of doctoral study. It is intended to represent independent and original research work of a publishable standard. Students are expected to complete and submit it during their fourth or fifth year.

Permission to defend the dissertation must first be granted by the Dissertation Committee. Following the oral defense, which is open to all INSEAD faculty and PhD students, the Dissertation Committee will meet again to determine whether any revisions are required. Once these have been implemented, the Dissertation Committee will grant their full approval via a written report to the PhD

Throughout the programme

Performance reviewsPerformance reviews are carried out by the PhD Committee, consisting of INSEAD faculty, at the end of each year. The purpose is to determine whether sufficient progress is being made and to give constructive feedback.

Teaching and soft skills trainingPhD students may be offered workshops in skills such as writing, presenting and applying for academic jobs. There is also a teaching practicum requirement, along with other training sessions, in addition to possible opportunities to assist on the course or another pedagogical exercise with INSEAD degree and executive education programmes, and external institutions, as well.

Teaching practicumWhile research training will be central to your education at INSEAD, teaching as a scholarly activity is an important component to your overall education and preparation for your future career as a professor. You will have the opportunity to learn effective tools and skills for disseminating the knowledge you will be creating during the programme through a formal teaching practicum conducted during your doctoral study.

Committee. If the quality of the dissertation is deemed acceptable, the PhD Committee makes a final recommendation to the Academic Director to award the degree. It is a necessarily rigorous and demanding process in keeping with the reputation of the INSEAD PhD in Management.


Campus exchangesTransferring between INSEAD locations Dual Campuses: Fontainebleau and SingaporeAs students progress through the programme, campus choice is generally guided by the location of faculty members or research projects. Both campuses offer exactly the same opportunities and the programme is fully integrated across the two sites. It really is one school, one programme - but with two campuses. Indeed, most faculty and PhD students tend to spend time in both places, but at the beginning, choosing a base is usually a matter of personal preference.

During the first two years of the programme, most students will spend some time on the INSEAD campus that is not their original base. Although there are set times and restrictions to campus exchanges, INSEAD feels that exposure to both campuses is an important component of learning and training. Once the dissertation phase is reached, approach to campus choice is quite flexible. Many students choose to spend longer or shorter periods of time on the other campus, depending on the location of key faculty members or their own personal interests and commitments. Permanent exchanges are also possible, subject to the approval by the Academic Director.

PhD students also have the opportunity to spend time at Abu Dhabi campus, if there is a benefit to their research.

The INSEAD-Wharton AllianceINSEAD’s alliance with The Wharton School is part of a major strategic partnership between the two schools. Exchanges and visits of doctoral students are major pillars of this long-standing relationship. Each school offers complementary centres of expertise and campus locations for a compelling global network that no other school can offer, whereby PhD students registered largely benefit from the collaborative relationship and exchange across two schools. Some financial aid may be available through the Alliance Centre for Global Research and Development.

Exchanges with and visits to other institutionsINSEAD may enter exchange programmes with other academic institutions, allowing students to attend certain courses there or to carry out research. This is subject to the approval of the Academic Director. In such cases, tuition fees and living expenses are generally covered by the home institution.

Visits to other institutions may also be approved for specific periods to enable students to undergo specific training in topics for where there are relevant experts outside INSEAD.


I am grateful for the campus exchanges and the INSEAD-Wharton Alliance, which have already enabled me to spend over six months each in Fontainebleau, Singapore and Philadelphia.

I wanted to get a PhD at a top school and I wanted to see the world, so coming to INSEAD looked like a way to hit two birds with one stone. I decided to apply right after undergraduate because I wanted to learn how to conduct research and become a professor. I approached the PhD Programme like it was my first full-time job, although it is more like an intense and rigorous apprenticeship.

INSEAD has exceeded my expectations. It has given me the opportunity to do research I am passionate about with brilliant, supportive and renowned faculty mentors. I have colleagues in the PhD Programme from dozens of different countries who continuously inspire me with their intelligence, generosity and earnestness. I also travelled regularly to countries for the

weekend or during breaks, which otherwise would have been once in a lifetime destinations.

I am particularly grateful for the campus exchanges and the INSEAD-Wharton Alliance, which have already enabled me to spend over six months each in Fontainebleau, Singapore and Philadelphia. It has also been easy to take elective classes across departments. If a class does not exist, which fits our research interests, it is easy to create a reading and discussion class with a faculty member for credit. The school also provides funding to conduct research and fly around the world to attend conferences. The programme provides a lot of flexibility and support to help us achieve our goals.

Andrew Hafenbrack (USA)PhD Candidate in Organisational Behaviour BS Decision Science, Phi Beta Kappa, Carnegie Mellon University, USA

Students are expected to spend a minimum of three years in residence. Learning how to divide time between coursework and research is an essential part of the training. This also means engaging in full-time study, research, and participation in conferences.


Seminars and workshopsFaculty seminars and workshop series are an integral part of the INSEAD research culture. These are conducted all throughout a typical academic year and doctoral students are expected to take an active part in these activities at the earliest opportunity.

The INSEAD Social Science Research Centre in Paris Behavioural research in management is heavily empirical, which means conducting studies in a highly controlled laboratory setting. The INSEAD Social Science Research Centre in Paris (ISSRC) offers the ideal environment for this kind of research.

The state-of-the-art facility in the Latin Quarters in Paris has received over 65,000 research participants since its opening in 2002. The centre welcomes all behavioural researchers at INSEAD – faculty and PhD students – across all academic areas. It has the facilities to run different kinds of studies, ranging from survey questionnaires to computer-controlled behavioural experiments.

The ISSRC provides the infrastructure to do world-class behavioural research in organisational behaviour, consumer behaviour, decision sciences, experimental economics, and behavioural finance. It is a tremendous resource, which has set a benchmark for other business schools.

TechnologyThe programme continuously strives to integrate students in both campuses, including the way classes are conducted. Both campuses provide state of the art video conferencing facilities for a unique two-continent educational experience, be it classes or research meetings. Two sites provide extensive computing facilitiesand user support, and are networked seamlessly together.

Libraries and information serviceBoth INSEAD campuses have extensive library facilities. In Fontainebleau, the Georges and Edna Doriot Library has long been at the heart of the campus, while the new, high-tech Tanoto Library in Singapore is rapidly attaining the same status. As well as comprehensive collections of books, the two libraries provide access to over 10,000 printed and electronic periodicals and 50 database resources – on and off campus, including access to nearby libraries of major universities and it is supplemented by a comprehensive inter-library loan service.

Both libraries are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (though with limited services outside normal office hours). All PhD students receive library training on arrival at INSEAD, with additional individual sessions available on request throughout the year. See http://www.insead.edu/library/services/PhD_support.cfm for more details.

Research support AdmissionsINSEAD’s policy is to admit the most promising candidates, irrespective of nationality, race, religion, sex or background. Candidates must hold a university degree from an accredited academic institution and have a working oral and written knowledge of English.

Above all, candidates need to possess both the ability to engage in high-quality research and the commitment to an academic career at an international level. Candidates are assessed on the basis of outstanding intellectual ability, motivation, faculty recommendations and personal characteristics required of an international academic career. Fewer than 5% of the application pool are admitted each year.

There is no particular requirement concerning fields of study at the undergraduate level, but standard postgraduate entry tests are used to assess general ability and, if necessary, the level of English. Candidates with a weak mathematical background will be encouraged to undertake remedial studies before entering the programme.

Test requirementsAll applicants are required to take either the Graduate Record Examination General Test (GRE), administered by the Educational Testing Service (ETS); or the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), administered by Pearson VUE. Both tests may be taken at various locations around the world. Applicants are strongly encouraged to take one of these tests in the fall, at the latest. It is best to allow ample time for ETS or Pearson VUE to send test scores to INSEAD. Applications cannot be considered without a valid test score.

The INSEAD PhD in Management is taught exclusively in English and is highly participatory, requiring well-developed written and verbal skills. Applicants whose native language is not English are required to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), unless their university degree is from an institution where the curriculum was exclusively taught in English. The TOEFL is administered by ETS and is offered at specified locations around the world.

Tests Required Centre Codes of INSEAD PhD Validity of scores Can be waived?

GMAT

Or

GRE

For GMAT, use DL3-S8-08

Or

For GRE, use 3244 if applying for Europe Campus (France) OR use 7324 for Asia Campus (Singapore)

5 years Cannot be waived under any circumstances

TOEFL 3244 2 years Can be waived if degrees were taught exclusively in English; transcripts and diploma are required to be submitted as proof to waive the TOEFL requirement

For further information about the required tests, visit the respective test administrators’ websites.


Admissions

A complete application includes:

• Online application form (including a statement of purpose and photograph) available at http://phd.insead.edu/online_application/• Certified true copies of all university diplomas • Official transcripts of grades• GMAT or GRE score report• TOEFL score report • Three letters of recommendation from faculty or scholars on applicant’s academic ability, and potential for research and teaching• Application fee (currently, €50)

The application process is fully electronic. During application, all supporting documents are submitted in electronic format (PDFs, etc). Only upon acceptance that original and official documents are required for submission prior to the start of the programme.

Key dates to remember for every intake:• Early Fall – online application will open• Early December – deadline of submission of application and requirements• Late March to early April– final admissions decisions will be communicated For updates on admissions details and deadlines, visit http://phd.insead.edu/admissions/.

Application procedureApplications are fully electronic and will open in early Fall, a year preceding the intake; and the deadline for submission of applications and documents is in early December.

The PhD Committee evaluates each application, and conducts an interview as part of the selection. Candidates are advised of admissions decisions by late March or early April of the following year, and the programme commences in September. Overall, the admissions process takes about three to four months, from submission deadline to final decision, and it is highly recommended to prepare well in advance.

Complete file & application documents all submitted on time

Submission DeadlineEarly December

Start of AdmissionsEarly Fall

Approximately

3 - 4 Months from submission deadline to final

decision

Admissions DecisionsLate March / Early Aprilof the following year

1

Initial Selection

2

Shortlist3

Interviews4

Admissions Committee

5

Final Decision

6

Admissions

For updates on admissions details and deadlines, visit http://phd.insead.edu/admissions/.


Financial informationIn practice, it is rare for students to fund tuition from their own resources. All successful applicants are eligible for INSEAD tuition scholarship, including a generous living allowance for five years. This means that students do not have to bear the financial burdens typically associated with postgraduate study. INSEAD fellowships are available during the first five years of studies (for a full twelve months), renewed annually dependent on satisfactory progress. Candidates are encouraged to seek external financial support where available, and will receive complementary INSEAD fellowship funding. For details, please visit our website: http://phd.insead.edu/financing/

INSEAD gratefully acknowledges the support of corporate sponsors, individual donors and external institutions, which have provided fellowships and endowments for doctoral study at INSEAD over the past 20 years. Information about giving to INSEAD is available on the school’s website - http://giving.insead.edu/index.cfm

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