Strategic management is unique within the field of business administration. Other functional areas, such as finance and marketing, focus on the question: "Are we doing things right?" Strategy asks the question: "Are we doing the right things?" Strategy therefore concerns itself with the overall goals of organizations, including how organizations decide what their goals should be, whether such goals make sense, how they take actions to reach these goals, and how they evaluate their performance towards achieving these goals.
There are many topics studied within strategic management, including but not limited to: strategic leadership of CEOs and boards of directors, strategic decision-making, strategies for dealing with stakeholders and engaging in corporate social responsibility, international strategy, diversification strategy, etc.
Generally speaking, you will begin your program with about two years of coursework. During this time, you may be assigned as a research assistant to work with a faculty member so that you can learn about how research is done and (hopefully) produce journal publications and conference papers.
Once your coursework is complete, you will take your comprehensive exams. These vary widely across programs, but typically you will be tested in written and oral exams on what you have learned through your coursework. You are expected to exhibit a broad knowledge of the field of strategic management. Once you have successfully passed your comprehensive exams, you officially transition from being a Ph.D. student to being a Ph.D. candidate.
After you pass your comprehensive exams, next comes dissertation work. Candidates usually select a dissertation committee of 3-5 faculty members to oversee their work. The candidate is responsible for developing a plan of research and proposing it to the committee. Usually, some progress on the work is required to make it to the proposal. After successfully proposing, you can be considered "all but dissertation" or ABD, meaning you need only complete your dissertation work in order to receive your degree.
It is at this point that you would usually start looking for a faculty job to begin the next academic year, with the understanding that you will finish your dissertation and graduate before beginning the job. The dissertation phase typically lasts for about two to four years. All told, a typical Ph.D. in strategic management will therefore require four to six years, though four or five is most common.
A Ph.D. is unlike previous degrees you may have completed, such as a bachelor's or masters. These typically require only coursework and perhaps a small independent project or internship. As a Ph.D. student, success depends very highly on the motivation of the individual. Simply taking and passing courses is not sufficient, as you must think independently of your professors in order to come up with your own novel research ideas that can form the basis of a dissertation. Although your dissertation committee will provide guidance, you must perform the intellectual and physical work of research yourself. Hence excellent planning skills and the ability to work independently are key.
Additionally, you must be able to think critically and express your thoughts carefully. To be meaningful, your research must identify and fill crucial gaps in existing knowledge and provide insights to practitioners. Simply analyzing data without being to explain clearly how your research contributes to a larger body of knowledge is insufficient. Therefore, being able to think outside the box and excellent communication skills (both written and oral) are needed to do well.
Given the unique nature of doing a Ph.D., traditional rankings of universities are essentially meaningless. First, tuition will likely not be a significant issue, as most Ph.D. students receive waivers as well as a small stipend in exchange for their work as research assistants and classroom instructors. Second, whereas many ranking systems look at graduate placements in top companies, you will likely seek very different kinds of jobs after getting your Ph.D. Finally, because your success in a Ph.D. program ultimately depends on the work you put into it and not whether you can complete coursework, the most important considerations should revolve around finding an environment in which you can thrive.
In order to ensure your eventual employment as a faculty member after graduation, as a baseline minimum it is best to stick with programs accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), which is the main accrediting body of business schools in the United States.
Beyond that, you will need to consider how you will likely fit in with faculty at a school, as they will be the ones guiding you on your Ph.D. journey. Here are a few questions you should ask yourself:
- Are there faculty members who do research in areas you are interested in? You want to make sure your interests mesh with those of faculty.
- Do faculty actively support and work with Ph.D. students? Faculty members are very busy people, so you want to make sure they are willing and able to take time to meet and work with you on research.
- Do Ph.D. students publish and find jobs? By looking at the accomplishments of past Ph.D. students, you can get a sense of the program's track record.
- What are the requirements and expectations of the program? Some programs require publications in top journals in order to receive your degree. Given that this is a hard thing to accomplish even for most faculty members, you should be aware of high-pressure environments and whether you can succeed in them.
Finally, in a time of ever-shrinking government support for higher education, many business schools these days seek job candidates who are flexible in terms of what they can teach. Most job postings in strategic management prefer candidates who can teach not only strategy, but also a related area of management, such as international business, entrepreneurship, organization theory, or human resource management. Considering whether a program offers secondary concentration areas could therefore help you in your eventual job hunt.
Most Ph.D. graduates go on to become full-time faculty members at four-year universities. Typically, these are tenure-track positions, meaning your job is somewhat protected and you can go up for tenure in five or six years to receive additional job security. Decisions about tenure are made primarily based on your scholarly contributions, teaching effectiveness, and service to the department and school.
Universities vary greatly in their expectations of professors. So-called "research schools" are typically large public or private institutions with a high level of research activity. They usually emphasize a high level of research productivity and typically require that you teach two courses a semester (called a "2/2 load"), with the majority of the rest of your time devoted to producing high-impact research and publishing it in top journals. Research schools often require numerous publications in top journals in order for you to be awarded tenure. However, quality teaching is also important.
On the other end of the spectrum, so-called "teaching schools" typically require you to teach a 4/4 load. Teaching quality is greatly emphasized, while expectations for research are very low. Many teaching schools are unaccredited by the AACSB.
In between are "balanced schools." These typically require you to teach a 3/3 load. Quality teaching is still emphasized, but there are usually expectations for quality research as well, just not as stringent as those in research schools. Such schools are usually accredited by the AACSB.
The range of salaries can vary greatly depending on the type of school, location, etc., but the average salary for assistant professors of management in 2016-2017 was $119,000 in AACSB-accredited schools. Salaries represent pay for the academic school year (fall and spring semesters), with additional payments if summer classes are taught. Salaries are usually higher for jobs at research schools, and lower for jobs at teaching schools.
In short, no. Teaching is an integral part of being a professor, and if you do not enjoy teaching, then you will likely not enjoy being a professor. However, the primary purpose of a Ph.D. program is not to prepare you to be a teacher, but rather to prepare you to be a scholar. Being a scholar does entail teaching, but it also entails making scholarly contributions, such as journal articles, books, etc. A Ph.D. program trains you so that you can be a complete scholar who is effective as a teacher and a thought leader.
In practice, though, few Ph.D. programs provide extensive instruction in pedagogy. At most, you may take one or two classes as part of your program. As a professor, universities often rely on your scholarly expertise to inform your teaching rather than formal pedagogical training. Thus, if you are not interested in doing research, then you will probably not enjoy doing a Ph.D., as it will emphasize research training much more than teaching.