DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN BUSINESS (PHDBUS)

 

COURSE INFORMATION

The Doctor of Philosophy in Business (PHDBUS) Program is intended for those seeking careers in teaching andresearch in business. It aims to develop in students mastery of the behavioural and quantitative aspects of the various business disciplines to enable them to formulate new ways of exploring, analysing and solving complex problems facing firms, industries, public institutions and society.

Validation Exams/Preparatory/Pre-PhD Courses /Exemptions

 

The applicants are expected to present their research portfolio (thesis or equivalent scholarly outputs) during the interview with the Graduate Studies Coordinator.

As a measure to better prepare the PhD students for the coursework requirement, applicants will be assessed through validation exams in Business Mathematical Analysis (Algebra & Calculus), Statistics, Business Economics and Business Organizations. Those who will not pass the validation exam or opt not to take validation exams will enroll in pre-PhD or preparatory classes in Business Mathematical Analysis (Algebra & Calculus), Statistics, Business Economics and Business Organizations (Master’s level).

Exemptions may be granted to applicants who have master’s degrees in line with the Pre-PhD Courses as evaluated by the Graduate Studies Coordinator based on the exemption policies of the program.

Basic Courses

PhD students take a total of 12 units basic courses of research methods, statistics and economics which shall focus on Econometrics, Data Analysis and Research Methods. Lasallian Business Leadership with CSR, Ethics and Sustainability will become a basic course to introduce the students into the Lasallian values, business philosophy and principles. These subjects are in preparation for coursework. All subjects will require research outputs in the form of publishable journal articles. The students will be required to keep a research portfolio of all research outputs to be presented to the Qualitative and Quantitative Research subject faculty as well as to the prospective faculty adviser/mentor as concept papers to fulfill requirement for application for dissertation writing.

Core Courses

The students are required to enroll in 12 subjects (3 units each) from the various course offerings per functional area/ business process. Mode of delivery is seminar type to accommodate discussion and inclusion of classic, current and evolving topics in business. Students interested to take additional specialized subjects may enroll these as audit subjects in other colleges in the University.

The students will be required to keep a research portfolio of all research outputs to be presented to the Qualitative and Quantitative Research subject faculty as well as to the prospective faculty adviser/mentor as concept papers to fulfill requirement for application for dissertation writing.

Electives

The students are required to enroll in 6 units of electives which should include subjects relevant to dissertation topic. Students may opt to take up electives through:

  • The students have the option to be exchange students abroad to take up electives; or
  • The department shall invite exchange faculty/visiting professors to conduct elective classes here

Written Comprehensive Examination or Journal Publication

After finishing their coursework, the students appear for a qualifying examination, usually at the end of the second year. A qualifying examination is a comprehensive test of the student’s knowledge of the field and can be administered in one of two ways: 1) written comprehensive examination; or 2) research paper(s) set by the department on any 5 basic and core courses. The research papers could be part of the research portfolio to be examined by a panel for certain criteria.

Research & Assistantship Work

To build up research skills beyond classroom learning, the students may opt to render a maximum of six (6) hours per week of research assistantship depending on availability of projects and the student competencies.

Part of research and assistantship work is presentation of research outputs in conferences here and abroad co-authoring with mentors or sole authorship.

Research Courses

After clearing the qualifying examination, the students should enroll in Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methods with dissertation proposal as required outputs for both subjects using the URCO Research Proposal Guidelines.

Dissertation Writing, Proposal and Final Defense

After the exchange program, the students will continue to write their dissertation proposal, undergo panel defense for both the proposal and final dissertation papers.