Online MBA Degree

Joseph L. Rotman School of Management at University of Toronto

Overview
The University of Toronto offers a collaborative PhD in Management and Economics that is an extension of the programs offered by the Department of Economics and the Rotman School.

Applicants must have completed, or be in the process of completing a Master’s degree in Economics, with an average of at least B+ . (As not all Master’s degrees are equivalent to a Master’s degree from the University of Toronto, applicants should refer to the equivalent qualifications chart for guidance.) These minimum requirements, however, do not imply automatic acceptance into the program. Each application must be supported by letters of reference from three instructors, including at least two from the applicant’s instructors in the M.A. program.

Applicants without a degree from a Canadian university are required to write the General GRE, and in some cases may be required to write the TOEFL.

The Ph.D. is a full-time program with only one admission date - September. Candidates are required to remain in full-time attendance for the first three years of the program.

A Ph.D. student is required to achieve at least B- standing in each course taken and must maintain an average of at least B+ throughout the Ph.D. program. If a required course is failed it must be repeated. Failure of one course is allowed but the failure of the same course twice or of two courses will result in the student withdrawing from the program. Students who do not maintain a B+ average will be subject to an automatic review and may be asked to leave the program.

If a theory comprehensive examination is failed in June, it must be re-taken in August of the same year. Students who fail a theory comprehensive examination twice must withdraw from the program. If a field comprehensive examination is failed in May, it must be re-taken in August of the same year. Students who fail a field comprehensive examination twice must choose another major field.

Students enrolled in this program have two major fields of study: economics and one of the Rotman School’s specializations. Any student applying to the Ph.D. program is eligible to apply to this program. They must, however, satisfy the admission requirements stated above. Once an applicant has been accepted to the Ph.D. in Economics, their application will be forwarded to the Coordinator of the Collaborative Program. The program of study will be managed by the home department. Any financial support will be awarded by the home department.

Joseph L. Rotman School of Management at University of Toronto

Major Field Requirements
Mastery of at least four of the following courses (taken for credit, audited, or exempted depending on the student’s background and preparation) is generally required:

MGT 1301 Fundamental of Strategic Management
MGT 2001 Entrepreneurship and Management of SMEs
MGT 2005 Advanced Concepts in Strategic Management
MGT 2011 International Business
MGT 2127 Economic Environment of International Business
MGT 2205 International Accounting
MGT 2305 International Financial Management
MGT 2015 Technology Strategy
MGT 2500 Marketing Strategy
MGT 2501 Global Marketing
MGT 2601 Organization Design
MGT 2605 International Organizational Behaviour
MGT 2606 Designing New Work Organizations
MGT 3063 Advanced Topics in Organization Theory

Joseph L. Rotman School of Management at University of Toronto

Qualifying Requirements
Strategic Management doctoral students qualify with a focus in economics and/or behavioural science (political science, sociology or psychology) by taking at least three courses that provide an understanding of relevant theory (minimum 2 courses) and quantitative methods (minimum 1 course) in each of these areas suitable to their program focus.

Major Field core Requirements
Mastery of the content of the following courses is required:

MGT 3001 Methods and Research in Strategy and Organization
MGT 3002 Advanced Topics in Strategy and Organization
MGT 3003 Advanced Topics in Strategy and Economics
MGT 3004* Advanced Topics in International Strategy
MGT 3005 Strategic Management Workshop
MGT 3006 Summer Research Project (CR/NCR)

* The Strategic Management Program is currently awaiting approval to remove MGT 3004 as a required course (and instead offer the course as an elective) and include a seminar on Models and Methods as a core requirement.

Joseph L. Rotman School of Management at University of Toronto

MGT 3090 Models & Methods in Strategic Management
The seminar has the major aim of building the skill and self-confidence of participants as (a) developers and creators, (b) users and (c) critics of models in the social and organizational sciences. Accordingly, the seminar is divided up into two parts. Part I (Conceptual Models and Methods) builds on the classic text of Lave and March (Introduction to Models for the Social Sciences) to develop basic intuitions about how to put together mathematical and meta-mathematical models of decisions, exchange, adaptation and diffusion. The second part (Statistical Models and Methods) introduces the method of moments and the method of maximum likelihood as the foundation for statistical models frequently used by researchers in strategic management.

Joseph L. Rotman School of Management at University of Toronto

MGT 3005 Strategic Management Workshop
This workshop is the centerpiece of the Strategic Management doctoral program. Its purpose is to expose students to a stream of diverse, state-of-the-art research in Strategic Management through an ongoing series of bi-weekly seminars and discussions led by program faculty, invited faculty of cognate disciplines, invited researchers from other universities as well as current doctoral students. Students are expected to audit the course in the first year of the program. By the end of the second year, students are required to present their summer research project in the Strategic Management Workshop. Only after they conduct their presentation in the workshop is credit for the course given.

Joseph L. Rotman School of Management at University of Toronto

MGT 3004 Advanced Topics in International Strategy
This focus of this course is the field of international business and international management, with a specific focus on multinational enterprises (MNEs). A multi-disciplinary approach is followed, using lenses of economics, political science, sociology, and psychology to examine the strategy and structure of the MNE. Areas of study include: Industry Level: Regionalism, Multilateralism and International Trade; Interfirm Level: Business Groups and Strategic Clusters; Firm Level: Transactional Cost Economics, Evolutionary Economics, and the Resource-based View of the Firm applied to MNEs, Foreign Market Entry.

Joseph L. Rotman School of Management at University of Toronto

MGT 3003 Advanced Topics in Strategy & Economics
The focus of this course is on contributions of economics to strategic management. Areas of study include: Industry Level: IO economics and Strategic Groups, Institutional Economics; Interfirm Level: Alliances and Cooperative Strategy, Game Theory; Firm Level: Resource-Based View of the Firm, Governance, Diversification and M&A, Transaction Cost Economics, Evolutionary Economics. The course emphasizes both influential theory and research and recent developments in the economics of strategy.

Joseph L. Rotman School of Management at University of Toronto

MGT 3002 Advanced Topics in Strategy & Organization
The focus of this course is on contributions of sociology, psychology, and political economy to strategic management. Areas of study include: Industry Level: Networks and Markets, Industry Evolution and Demography, Cognitive Groups; Interfirm Level: Alliances and Cooperative Strategy, Interorganizational Learning, Competitive Dynamics; Firm Level: Top Management Teams, Governance, Organizational Learning, Managerial Cognition, Diversification and M&A. The course emphasizes both influential theory and research and recent developments in strategic organization.

Joseph L. Rotman School of Management at University of Toronto

MGT 3001 Research Methods in Strategic Management
The focus of this course is on skills needed to perform exemplary research in Strategic Management. Topics include: Issues in philosophy of science, causation, relationship of theory and research, problem selection and definition, research design, hypothesis formulation and testing, sampling, alternative measurement techniques (e.g., survey, interview, archival), collection and analysis of data. Emphasis is on applied quantitative research methods - cross-sectional and longitudinal. Design and implementation of a course-based research project including data collection, analysis, and presentation of results.

Joseph L. Rotman School of Management at University of Toronto
Overview

In a world characterized by political instability, growing globalization, escalating competition, and rapid social and technological change, strategic management of organizations is becoming increasingly vital to their success. The PhD program in Strategic Management is designed to prepare students for research-oriented careers in universities, although the program is also suitable for research careers in business or government.

The philosophy underlying the PhD program is that effective research in Strategic Management requires a thorough grounding in the strategic management, as well as in the main disciplinary perspectives from which this literature is derived: economics, political science, sociology, and psychology. Consequently, PhD students in Strategic Management are required to develop a strong grounding in theory and methodology in strategic management and at least one cognate discipline. The Strategic Management PhD program is closely related to other doctoral programs within the School of Management and the University of Toronto. Students frequently take courses and conduct research with students and faculty from related fields.

The structure of the program reflects this philosophy. Qualifying courses and minors provide the needed basic disciplinary grounding. Core courses focus on understanding Strategic Management literature and research problems and techniques.

A major advantage of the program is its flexibility: Students can develop a specialized program of study that meets their individual objectives. Around the core courses, students can select major fields and additional course work (within the School of Management or in other cognate graduate departments) to develop concentrations in one of two areas: Strategy and Economics or Strategy and Organization.