Management and Human Resources
About the Program
The Wisconsin PhD in management and human resources develops scholars in the domain of management.
The program prepares individuals for careers in research and teaching at leading research universities. Our students achieve placements as assistant professors at top research universities.
Core Areas of Research
Student research is supported by faculty in five core areas:
Organizational behavior
Human resources
Organization theory
Entrepreneurship
Strategy
Academic Requirements
The admissions process is highly competitive. All students must meet the general PhD requirements of both the UW–Madison Graduate School and the Wisconsin School of Business.
Ideal candidates for our program possess a strong academic background at the undergraduate or graduate level and come from a variety of educational backgrounds. A degree in business is not a prerequisite for doctoral-level study, although such a background may be helpful.
Program Coursework
New students in our PhD program start by taking two years of coursework (a course is typically three credits, and a total of thirty-two credits is required). Courses are selected in consultation with the PhD coordinator and your advisor.
A substantial share of coursework may be undertaken outside of the business school. Students take a diverse array of seminars in the economics, sociology, psychology, statistics, and computer science departments, depending on their specific research interests. These may be theory or methods courses. Required coursework in research methods and statistics includes a minimum of 18 credits.
During the period of coursework, students will work closely with faculty on research projects. These interactions often lead to research collaborations in which the student becomes a co-author on published research.
Seminars
The Management and Human Resources Department offers a slate of foundational PhD seminars across the group’s core areas of research: strategy, human resource management, organizational behavior, organization theory, and entrepreneurship. The department also offers two research methods seminars. These seminar offerings vary from year to year, although most are offered every second year.
Doctoral students are expected to take all PhD seminars offered by the department. From these courses you will declare primary and secondary concentrations (e.g., strategy is primary and human resources is secondary).
Preliminary exams
Preliminary exams are written at the end of the second year (usually in early summer). The exam takes place over two days and consists of four questions: two regarding your primary concentration, one on your secondary concentration, and one concerning research methods.
Upon passing the preliminary exam, students focus on their own research, developing and defending a dissertation. Throughout the PhD program, students participate as full and active members of our research community. The department runs vibrant internal and external speaker series, with both UW and visiting faculty presenting research. Our PhD students actively participate as speakers, presenting their ongoing research.
Faculty Research Interests
Stav Atir
Research interests:
- Knowledge
- Learning
- Confidence
- Judgment and decision making
- Gender bias
Russell Coff
Research interests:
- Competitive advantage
- Human capital
- Strategic management
- Innovation and creativity
Jonathan Eckhardt
Research interests:
- Student entrepreneurship and technology transfer
- Technology entrepreneurship
- Venture finance
- Entrepreneurship theory
Martin Ganco
Research interests:
- Entrepreneurship
- Employee mobility
- Innovation and technology
- Business strategy
- Complexity theory
Barry Gerhart
Research interests:
- Compensation
- Human resource management
- Incentives
- Staffing
Florence Honoré
Research interests:
- Entrepreneurship
- Human capital
- Employee mobility
- Strategic alliances
- Matching models
Anyi Ma
Research interests:
- Agency and community
- Gender and leadership
- Choice, control and freedom
Jirs Meuris
Research interests:
- Employee well-being and organizational performance
- Compensation and benefits
- Personal finances and financial decision-making
- Applications of behavioral science to public policy
Alexander Stajkovic
Research interests:
Leadership and organizational behavior
Reinforcement theory
Social cognitive theory and self-efficacy
Interaction between primed subconscious goals and conscious goals
Core confidence
Ann Terlaak
Research interests:
- Business sustainability
- Corporate social responsibility
- Organizational learning
- Behavioral theory of the firm
Charlie Trevor
Research interests:
- Compensation
- Human resource management
- Consequences of employee turnover
Chia-Jung Tsay
Research interests:
- Decision-making
- Implicit biases
- Performance
- Expertise
- Policy
Victoria Zhang
Research interests:
- Social networks
- Norm-violations
- Behavioral change
- Computational social science
Connect With Current Students
We encourage you to contact our doctoral students in management and human resources to hear their perspectives on the Wisconsin PhD Program.
See Our Placement Results
Graduates of our PhD specialization in management and human resources have accepted tenure-track positions at top research universities.
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