Semester 1 | 3 hours 

Leadership is critical for creating and sustaining value in organizations. The academic investigation of leadership focuses on: 1) What is leadership? 2) What are human values? 3) What is the relation between leadership and human values? The course examines these questions to help students untangle concepts of leadership, authority, and status; understand the competing human values in leadership theories; identify the boundary conditions that pertain to leadership theories; and, strike an appropriate balance between learning about leadership and learning to lead. The course favors the practical over the theoretical and focuses on theories supported by evidence, including adaptive leadership, transformational leadership, transactional leadership, and competing values leadership.

Semester 1 | 3 hours

This course explores the different forms of engaged scholarship. It focuses on the research process that can enable students to generate both scholarly contributions and practical knowledge, which is at the core of Robinson’s Executive Doctorate program. The course is designed to enable students to develop a research focus and understand the research process. It examines the roles of theory and models in the research process and the differences between variance and process models. Students learn how to formulate a problem, motivate a research question, synthesize relevant literatures, draw on relevant theoretical perspectives, and develop variance and process models.

Semester 1 | 3 hours 

This course introduces the student to qualitative research approaches, including action research, case study research, ethnographic research, and grounded theory. Relative strengths and weaknesses are discussed along with examples of how each approach has been used in practice. The course introduces several data collection techniques that are widely used in qualitative research, namely interviews, participant observation, fieldwork, and using documents. Research design issues associated with qualitative or small sample studies are discussed. Issues such as reliability and validity are explored. The differences between positivist, interpretivist, and critical perspectives are discussed. In addition, students are introduced to the Institutional Review Board (IRB) Process.

Semester 2 | 3 hours 

This course provides concepts and tools for qualitative data analysis. The course exposes students to a variety of approaches, including hermeneutics, semiotics, narrative analysis, and content analysis, with particular emphasis on grounded theory and case study research. Students are introduced to grounded theory coding, memo writing, theoretical sampling, saturation, sorting, and use of qualitative data analysis software. Various techniques for analyzing case study evidence are explored including pattern matching, explanation building, and within-case and cross-case analysis. Perspectives on what it means to draw conclusions and build theory from qualitative data are explored. The course concludes with guidance on how to write and publish qualitative research.

Semester 2 | 3 hours 

This course provides students with a command of the core concepts and tools needed to design quantitative studies and to collect, evaluate and analyze quantitative data. The course covers empirical data collection methods, such as surveys. It also covers sampling techniques, various types of data and appropriate analytical techniques. These include an introduction to univariate and bivariate statistics (i.e., chi-square, t- and z- tests, the ANOVA family, correlation, and regression). In addition, the course helps students gain proficiency in using SPSS software to analyze and interpret empirical results.

Semester 2 | 3 hours 

This course is a workshop-oriented forum in which students will meet with their peers and the faculty to discuss obstacles encountered in their research as well as solutions for how to overcome them.

Semester 3 | 3 hours 

This course examines the theory and practice of managing organizations. The focus is on achieving coordination and cooperation among autonomous and self-interested, yet interdependent parties in constantly changing environments. Dominant management and organization theories are examined and applied to real-world issues within different industrial contexts. The course introduces the students to a select variety of theoretical frameworks, it investigates the possible roles of such frameworks in designing engaged scholarship research, and it engages all students in exploring specific management and organization theories that are relevant for their research interests.

Semester 3 | 3 hours 

This course introduces students to quantitative methods such as experiments, field studies, and use of secondary data. It strengthens student’s ability to design and execute quantitative research with an emphasis on construct measurement (i.e., development of measurement scales associated with key variables of interest) and topics such as theoretical modeling, framing research questions, developing hypotheses, model refinement, reliability, scientific validity, and statistical conclusion validity. The course reinforces the knowledge base first developed in Quantitative Research I (EDB 9080) with focus on univariate, bivariate and multivariate statistics (t-test, the ANOVA family, correlations, factor analysis, and OLS regression), nonparametric statistics, and structural equation modeling.

Semester 4 | 3 hours 

This course examines how globalization impacts market intelligence analysis, organization design, and business operation with a focus on differences in business models and practices around the globe. The course is designed to help students appreciate and analyze how cultural, political, and economic systems in emerging markets impact international business activities. The course examines key players in emerging markets, makes comparisons to developed markets, and assesses the informational and institutional voids that exist. It explores how managers can develop strategic alliances that may be employed to create competitive advantage. Emerging markets in regions such as the Americas, Eastern and Central Europe, Asia, and Middle East-North Africa will be examined in more detail.

Semester 4 | 3 hours 

This course teaches students 1) how to identify a business topic in the academic literature as basis for engaged scholarship research into a contemporary, practical business problem and 2) how to apply systematic methods to sample and review relevant literature about that business topic as basis for positioning the engaged scholarship research for contribution to the literature. The course builds on state-of-the-art methods for designing and presenting literature reviews and it provides exemplar literature review publications from different business disciplines. The course is organized through joint seminars and individual projects in which students develop a review of a select business topic and related theory as basis for their dissertation research.

Semesters 4,5 & 6 | 3 hours 

During the last three semesters students will register for a total of 12 hours of independent dissertation work aimed at addressing a contemporary business problem. During this period, students will be expected to develop and defend a proposal, organize an independent research project, and write and defend a coherent dissertation. This course may be taken multiple times for credit.

Semester 5 | 3 hours 

Although executives make decisions continually, many are unaware of the cognitive and organizational processes that influence the outcome. This course examines human factors that guide executive decision making. It also explores organizational influences on executive decisions, including structural, social and political forces. It investigates the actions executives can take to address their shortcomings as well as organizational limitations that affect executive performance.

Semester 6 | 3 hours 

This course develops the student’s knowledge and skills related to the role of scientific and organizational evidence in management thinking and decision making. Students will learn to recognize management practices based on habit, fads, convention and unrealistic levels of confidence and how to improve these practices with principles based on relevant scientific findings and unbiased organizational facts. Students will learn how to: identify, access, and use an organization’s data challenges; create decision-making information from organizational facts; and find, appraise, interpret and apply scientific evidence as managers.

Semester 6 | 3 hours 

This course develops an understanding of the role of executive doctorates in the creation and dissemination of new knowledge. Among the topics to be covered are how to develop a program of research to create knowledge within particular domains of theory and practice; approaches to present, discuss, and defend the results of rigorous engaged scholarship; methods of knowledge dissemination including publication in internal (e.g. white papers) and external (e.g. practitioner or academic publications) outlets; and the process of crafting engaged scholarship research for dissemination through these various outlets.