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Structured for Success Around Courses and Research.
Designed to Nurture High Achievement.
Academics
We will not deny that it entails hard work, but the INSEAD PhD in Management could represent five of the most fulfilling years of your life.
The INSEAD PhD is a five-year doctoral degree, with the first two years corresponding to the Master in Management Sciences diploma (accredited by the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research), followed by three years of dissertation research. PhD students can also opt to have the last three years validated through a dual degree option with Sorbonne University. This option has additional requirements from Sorbonne and vice versa, and students must discuss this with their area representatives and the PhD Programme Office upon admission to the programme. Moreover, the dissertation phase accreditation in progress takes us closer to the European doctoral degree structure M1 and M2 + 3 years of doctoral research.
The INSEAD PhD is widely recognised by leading business schools and universities worldwide. In addition, hiring business schools recognise our students’ calibre and competitiveness as management professors and academic researchers, as shown in our formidable placement history for over 30 years. To view where our students’ placements, please click here.
Area exploration
Becoming an expert
• Coursework
• Research practicum
• Summer Paper
• Field comprehensive examination
• Research paper
Dissertation and research
Award of PhD degree
• PhD candidacy
• Research and dissertation proposal
• Job market review and search
• Submission and defence of dissertation
• Graduation
• PhD teaching preparation programme
• Teaching practicum
• Soft skills training
• Participation in conferences
• Annual performance reviews
Our eight choices of specialisation cover the whole breadth of business – and the entire business school curriculum. During the programme's first two years, core courses are common to all areas, giving you insights from other disciplines and confidence for your future career. As a PhD student, along with these core courses, you will take a set of advanced course requirements applicable to your chosen field of specialisation, and these must be met to qualify in the field.
Accounting
Accounting research seeks to identify and understand the market and institutional forces that affect the production and use of information by organisations broadly defined to include people, firms, not-for-profit entities, government agencies, etc. Research topics typically fall into one of two categories: (1) financial accounting and (2) managerial accounting.
Decision Sciences
Decision Sciences is an interdisciplinary field that draws on economics, forecasting, statistical decision theory, and cognitive psychology. Broadly speaking, Decision Sciences addresses three fundamental and inter-related questions. First, how should a "rational" person make decisions? This question is at the heart of economics, and often serves as a baseline for evaluating human decision making.
Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship 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.
Finance
Finance studies the workings of the financial system in an economy, and its role in channelling financial resources from suppliers of capital to its final users, and in allocating risk among investors. More specifically, finance examines the determinants of investment, portfolio, and financing choices of firms and individuals, and their mutual interactions. These issues are examined both from a theoretical and an empirical perspective, employing a variety of tools ranging from game theory and stochastic calculus to econometrics and statistics.
Marketing
Marketing is one of the broadest and most encompassing areas in a business school. It involves a deep understanding of how consumers and firms interact on a number of dimensions in the market. Marketing involves developing a deep understanding of the buyer or consumer, and covers the decision domains of designing and delivering products and services, pricing, distributing, and promoting (both personal--sales force management--and impersonal--mass communications, such as advertising or marketing through the internet), based on this understanding.
Organisational Behaviour
Organisational Behaviour is a core field of study in INSEAD. Drawing upon psychology, anthropology, sociology and economics, this field examines how the organizational, social, and economic context influences behaviour and how, in turn, behaviour influences context.
Strategy
Faculty members of the Strategy area are concerned with the foundations of sustainable superior firm performance. Research in the field of strategic management stems primarily from two intellectual traditions: One stream of thought is rooted in economics and uses insights about firms and industries gleaned from neoclassical, evolutionary, and institutional economics as a basis for understanding business strategy; while the other tradition in strategic management combines strategy and organisational theory and focuses on the study of the leadership and the management of organizational processes that generate superior enterprise strategies.
Technology and Operations Management
Technology and Operations Management encompasses all activities that an organisation carries out to transform inputs into value for the customer. In general terms, operations management is the design, management, and improvement of all value adding processes in an organisation that lead to some form of output, whether it be a product or a service. These processes span a broad range of activities surrounding the issues of design, procurement, manufacturing and delivery of products and services.
Doctoral students are bringing the academic community closer to esteemed scholars who have contributed a significant foundational body of work at the intersection of strategy, knowledge and innovation through an interview series that usually occur in conjunction with the Annual Strategy Management Society (or SMS) Conferences. The Strategy Foundations Interview Series is part of their requirement in the “Foundations in Strategy and Organisation” class with faculty members Gabriel Szulanski and Guoli Chen.
Courses
The first two years of the programme teaches the fundamentals of business in interdisciplinary classes, with the addition of specialist courses in your chosen area of specialisation. These core and advanced courses form your foundation of your knowledge in your area, along with intensive training in research methodologies, culminating in the production of a formal research paper during your dissertation phase.
Core Courses
A set of core courses in the first year provides the basic theory and methodology for management research, irrespective of the eventual field of specialisation. It forms the basis for the second year's more advanced, specialised studies.
Advanced Courses
During the second year (some may start as early as the end of the first year), students focus on training in their chosen field of expertise. Advanced courses are typically offered on a two-year cycle and may be complemented by reading courses or independent studies in areas of interest to the student and faculty members.
As part of our ten-member Sorbonne Université Alliance membership, INSEAD PhD candidates can benefit from a dual doctorate with Sorbonne Université. INSEAD is proud to be part of the Alliance Sorbonne Université, which provides members with access to numerous shared programmes and projects in a cross-disciplinary and global approach to education and research.
For more information: Doctoral Schools: INSEAD PhD - Pôle Management (Management Track)
Campus exchange is an integral experience of the students' doctoral journey. PhD students will have the unique opportunity to spend time in Europe and Asia and benefit from a collaborative relationship with Wharton through the INSEAD-Wharton Alliance. In addition, they also go for exchanges or visits with other academic institutions to undergo specific training in topics where there are relevant experts outside of INSEAD.
Read more about campus exchange possibilities.
The INSEAD-Wharton Alliance
INSEAD's alliance with The Wharton School is a major strategic partnership between the two schools. Each school offers complimentary centres of expertise and campus locations for a compelling global network that no other school can offer. Exchanges and visits of doctoral students are significant pillars of this long-standing relationship. PhD students primarily benefit from this collaborative relationship between the two schools. Some financial aid may be available through the Alliance Centre for Global Research and Development for exchanges and other research-related activities, all subject to prior approval by both schools. About the INSEAD-Wharton Alliance.
Do you have other PhD programmes apart from Management?
INSEAD only offers a PhD in Management. However, in the programme, you can pursue research that is of interest to you given our eight areas of specialisation - Accounting, Decision Sciences, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Marketing, Organisational Behaviour, Strategy, and Technology and Operations Management.
You need to indicate your area of specialisation on your application form when applying for the INSEAD PhD.
My background is non-management. Can I apply to the PhD programme?
We accept applicants whose backgrounds are non-management, for example, engineering, technology, computer sciences, economics, psychology, sociology, neurosciences, mathematics, statistics, etc.
We welcome prospects with a strong undergraduate or graduate record in any discipline, an enquiring and creative mind, and a fascination with business research. We are keen to know how they leverage their background combined with management discipline to develop relevant, timely and significant research rooted in the real world.
Is it possible to apply for a PhD in Abu Dhabi?
We do not offer the PhD Programme on the Middle East Campus. If you are interested in pursuing the PhD Programme, you must relocate to the Singapore or Fontainebleau campuses for five years of study. Part-time or distance learning is not possible either.
Is it possible for me to do research with faculty from Wharton?
The Alliance Centre for Global Research and Education has extended its reach to INSEAD and Wharton PhDs by making them eligible to join a faculty member from the partner school to constitute an Alliance Centre research project. For further details, visit Alliance Teaching Innovations https://www.insead.edu/about/alliance-partnerships/insead-wharton-alliance
Is there a difference in the PhD programme offered in France and Singapore?
There is no difference in the PhD programme offered in France and Singapore, in the following aspects - the quality of education, curriculum, faculty and research resources, admissions process, funding and placement opportunities. Thus, no matter where you study, you will have access to the same top-notch programme because the teaching, research and prestige of the degree are the same no matter which campus you choose.
