Organizational Behavior
Questions about these requirements? See the contact info at the bottom of the page.
Program of Study
The PhD degree in organizational behavior is a jointly offered program between the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and Harvard Business School.
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 guidance through contact 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.
First-year advisors provide assistance during the initial stages of the program but do not necessarily advise the student throughout their studies. 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 official 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
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.
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 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.
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 are required to complete a teaching engagement of one full academic term that includes in front-of-class teaching experience and teaching preparation time.
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 having 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 (a) of the research procedures employed and (b) concerning the nature, reliability, and suitability of the evidence gathered.
Contact Info
Organizational Behavior Website
Harvard Business School
Doctoral Programs Office
doctoralprograms@hbs.edu
617-495-6101