Organizational Behavior

Questions about these requirements? See the contact information at the bottom of the page. 

Program of Study

The PhD degree in organizational behavior is jointly administered by the faculty of Harvard Business School (HBS) and the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (Harvard Griffin GSAS). The program consists of two tracks: micro organizational behavior and sociology (macro organizational behavior). 

Students will collaborate with faculty from both the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and the Harvard Business School (HBS), and take courses offered by each.   

Each candidate’s program of study will be developed in consultation with the faculty chair of the program and individual advisors. The normal program is outlined below. 

The First Two Years

Advising

Regular interaction with faculty advisors is an essential component of doctoral education. Students should maintain close contact with their official advisor(s) throughout their enrollment in the program. Students are encouraged to develop informal advising relationships with several faculty members in addition to their official advisor. Students in the Organizational Behavior program often pursue interdisciplinary research that spans multiple fields within and beyond business. To support this work, students will collaborate with tenure-track faculty in faculty units across HBS, such as the Organizational Behavior Unit and the Negotiation, Organizations & Markets Unit, as well as faculty in psychology and sociology in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences,

Students are matched with initial advisors based on their research interests. As students familiarize themselves with faculty during coursework, research, seminars, and other activities, they may change their advisor(s) as their academic and research interests develop. During the early years of study, students should become acquainted with many program faculty members to identify advisors who share their research interests. 

Coursework

Each term, students will consult with their advisor to receive course selection approval. In addition to Harvard Business School (HBS) courses, students often take courses at other Harvard schools and MIT. Full course descriptions are available in the course catalog.

Micro-Organizational Behavior Track

• two courses in foundations of psychology
• two additional graduate-level courses in psychology
• one graduate-level elective course in the social sciences (“workshop” courses do not fulfill this requirement)
• two term organizational behavior courses (HBS 4882 and 4880)
• two courses in quantitative research methods (sequential courses)
• one course in qualitative research methods
• one course in research design
• two one-term MBA elective curriculum courses.

Sociology Track

• two courses on sociological theory
• two additional graduate-level sociology electives (“workshop” courses do not fulfill this requirement)
• one graduate-level elective course in the social sciences
• two organizational behavior courses (HBS 4882 and 4880)
• two courses in quantitative research methods (FAS sequential courses)
• one course in qualitative research methods
• one course in research design
• two one-term MBA elective curriculum courses.

All courses should be completed with a grade of B or better.

Research Requirements

Micro-Organizational Behavior Track

Research Apprenticeship Requirement  

By the end of the second year of study, students must complete a research apprenticeship with a Harvard faculty member. This experience typically involves about 100 hours of work (paid or unpaid) and should include meaningful participation in the design and execution of a research project. While some tasks may be routine, the apprenticeship should go beyond standard research assistant work and should involve the student in the formulation, design, and conduct of a research project in a substantial professional capacity. 

Qualifying Paper Requirement

Students must write a qualifying paper that makes a novel contribution to organizational behavior. The paper may build on earlier work—such as a course paper or apprenticeship project—but must be the student’s original work. The paper should offer a new interpretation of existing evidence, introduce new evidence, or both, and be of publishable quality in length and substance. In preparing to write this paper, students should consult with their advisor before the end of the third term. The qualifying paper must be approved by a committee of three faculty members by April of the third year.  

Sociology Track

Qualifying Paper Requirement

Students must write a qualifying paper that makes a novel contribution to organizational behavior. The paper may build on earlier work—such as a course paper or apprenticeship project—but must be the student’s original work. The paper should offer a new interpretation of existing evidence, introduce new evidence, or both, and be of publishable quality in length and substance. In preparing to write this paper, students should consult with their advisor before the end of the third term. The qualifying paper must be approved by a committee of three faculty members by April of the third year. The committee must consist of two faculty members from sociology and one from HBS. 

Examinations and Reviews

Micro-Organizational Behavior Track

Organizational Behavior (OB) Examination

Students take a written examination in August of their second year. Its purpose is to ensure a working knowledge of organizational behavior. Students need to be prepared for a broad range of questions; they are given a reading list and sample questions from previous years.  The grade of conditional pass is used when just one of the three answers is found not acceptable; the student is allowed to rewrite that particular answer under faculty guidance within the next month. A student who fails the examination will be permitted to take it a second time at a later date. If the student fails the examination a second time, they will be considered to be making unsatisfactory academic progress and will be withdrawn from the program. The organizational behavior examination requires students to demonstrate conceptual skill and knowledge of existing empirical findings and the ability to move back and forth between theory and practice.  

Dossier review

Soon after completion of the qualifying paper, and no later than the end of the fourth year of study, students undergo a dossier review by a committee consisting of the student’s advisor and two other faculty members.  

Students submit a dossier consisting of their CV, qualifying paper, at least two other research papers prepared during their graduate studies at Harvard, and a brief (four-page maximum) statement indicating their plans for future research, including thoughts about their dissertation topic. The additional papers in the dossier may be term papers prepared in connection with coursework, or papers based on independent research (e.g., prepared in conjunction with the research apprenticeship requirement or other work with faculty). Papers submitted for the dossier review may be coauthored, but the student should be the sole or first author of at least two of the papers submitted for the review. 

The committee then meets with the student to discuss the papers submitted, the student’s future academic plans, plans for the dissertation, or any other matters pertinent to the student’s professional development. The review is intended as a constructive stocktaking of the work the student has conducted in the program to that point, and an occasion to discuss their progress toward meeting the program’s aspirations, as well as plans for proceeding through its final phases. 

Sociology Track

Written Examination

Students take the written examination in August of their second year. Its purpose is to ensure a working knowledge of sociology and organizational behavior. Students need to be prepared for a broad range of questions; they are given a reading list and sample questions from previous years. The grade of conditional pass is used when just one of the four answers is found not acceptable; the student is allowed to rewrite that particular answer under faculty guidance within the next month. A student who fails the examination will be permitted to take it a second time at a later date. The organizational behavior examination requires students to demonstrate conceptual skill and knowledge of existing empirical findings and the ability to move back and forth between theory and practice. If a student fails the exam for a second time, they will be withdrawn from the program.   

Field Research Requirement

The Field Research Requirement is specific to students at Harvard Business School. Its purpose is to give students the opportunity to engage directly with practitioners — in business, public policy, or nonprofit organizations — as part of their research. Asking students to consider their research interests and to learn how to study those interests in the real world, through organizations and markets grappling with real challenges aligned with a student's individual research agenda, is a valuable skill and a comparative advantage of doctoral education at Harvard Business School.

Students may satisfy the requirement in one of three ways:

• as a qualitative research component of a dissertation chapter
• as a separate research project, such as a case or field research paper
• a product as agreed upon between the student and the chair/coordinator of the program.

Where travel is needed to carry out the research, the Doctoral Office offers support of up to $3,500.

By the end of the fourth year, students must submit a Field Research Proposal describing the scope of the project, including the practitioners or field site they intend to engage and their planned activities. Experiences may range from a site visit of two to three days to a longer-term internship or embedded research experience, depending on what is most beneficial to the student's research (see the Outside Activities Policy). International students should also consult with the Harvard International Office (HIO), as applicable.

Faculty advisors are responsible for approving the proposed plan to ensure it aligns with the student's research agenda and represents a meaningful scholarly experience. Students should obtain faculty advisor approval before submitting the proposal to the Doctoral Office. The Doctoral Office will review and approve the plan and, where travel is involved, confirm budget parameters and travel guidelines based on the proposed project.

Students are responsible for carrying out the approved plan, providing their advisor and the Doctoral Office with a summary of the outcomes of the engagement, and submitting any required travel reimbursement materials to the Doctoral Office after completion of the engagement. 

Research Seminar and Presentation

Starting in the second year, organizational behavior students are required to attend a weekly research seminar where students present their ideas, such as the Work, Organizations and Markets (WOM) seminar or the OB Lab.

Teaching

Students must teach or assist with teaching in a formally offered course for one full academic term. This engagement should include, at least, 8 hours of front-of-class teaching and 16 hours of teaching preparation time. The requirement may be fulfilled by acting as a teaching fellow or instructor assignment at a Harvard University school, including but not limited to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard Kennedy School, or the Extension School. Students may also serve as a teaching fellow in a Harvard Business School MBA course. The eight hours of front-of-class teaching do not apply when fulfilling the requirement in the MBA program. Co-teaching a course with others, including other doctoral students, will meet this requirement.  

Dissertation Prospectus and Dissertation Committee 

The dissertation committee consists of a minimum of three faculty members.  

Micro-organizational behavior track committees are ordinarily chaired by a member of the HBS faculty.  

Sociology track committees must include at least one member from the HBS faculty and at least one from the FAS faculty.  Committees must include at least two Harvard faculty with ladder appointments.  

By the end of their fourth year, all students are required to obtain approval of their dissertation prospectus by a three-member committee. The prospectus should state clearly the objectives of the study and the specific set of problems to be explored; review the relevant literature; and indicate the ways in which the student hopes to make a contribution to existing ideas on the subject. The data to be employed, the research methods and design, and a plan of study should be given in as much detail as is necessary. The student will present the prospectus to the committee to ensure that the dissertation project is viable. Ordinarily, the prospectus should be approved before the end of the spring term of the student’s fourth year. 

The Dissertation Defense

Students are required to write a dissertation, which typically takes the form of three publishable papers, to the satisfaction of their dissertation committee. The dissertation defense is oral. 

The defense must demonstrate effective analysis and evaluation of relevant data contributing significantly to the understanding and resolution of management problems. A level of professional scholarly competence should be evident during the collection, analysis, and reporting of data, and in the presentation of findings. 

The construction of the dissertation should be clear, concise, and orderly. It is necessary to include sufficient evidence to support the reasoning and conclusions. The length of the thesis will vary, depending on the nature of the research topic and the evidence required. 

Since the principal purpose of the dissertation is to demonstrate a candidate's ability to make good use of the research methods appropriate to their problem, and to develop and handle evidence satisfactorily, the thesis should contain a statement of the research procedures employed and concerning the nature, reliability, and suitability of the evidence gathered. 

Master of Arts (AM)

Upon completion of the requirements below, students in the organizational behavior PhD program may apply for the AM degree. A thesis is not required. The requirements for this degree are as follows:

Residence

A minimum of one year of full-time study is required.

Course Requirements

The student must pass eight advanced four-credit courses with a B average. All eight courses must be requirements of either the Micro-Organizational Behavior Track or the Sociology Track. See requirements.

Approval of the application for the AM degree is contingent upon the satisfactory completion of the required eight four-credit courses.

Contact  

Organizational Behavior Website

Harvard Business School
Doctoral Programs Office
doctoralprograms@hbs.edu
617-495-6101