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Management

Management

  • Program Requirements
Students in Management focus on research creating management theory and knowledge that is relevant to business practice. Perhaps the most distinctive feature of the Management program is its focus on real organizational phenomena from a multidisciplinary perspective.
Please note we will not be accepting applications for the Management area of study for this academic year in order to complete a review of the program. Management is a dynamic field that overlaps with many other business areas and so we strongly encourage applicants interested in Management to also explore Strategy, Technology and Operations Management and the PhD in Organizational Behavior to see if those fields would be an appropriate fit for their research interests.

Curriculum & Coursework

Our programs are full-time degree programs which officially begin in August. Students are expected to complete their program in five years. Typically, the first two years are spent on coursework, at the end of which students take a field exam, and then another three years on dissertation research and writing.

The program requires a minimum of 13 semester-long doctoral courses. Students in the Management program are required to complete a year-long discipline sequence typically in microeconomics, psychology, or sociology. Students also complete courses in the areas of business management theory, research methods, academic field seminars, and two MBA elective curriculum courses. In addition to HBS courses, students may take courses at other Harvard Schools and MIT.

Research & Dissertation

Students in Management begin research in their first year typically by working with a faculty member. By their third and fourth years, most students are launched on a solid research and publication stream. The dissertation may take the form of three publishable papers or one longer dissertation.

Recent examples of doctoral thesis research include: the role of social networks in promoting coordination and innovation within large, complex firms; the process through which professionals manage the boundaries between their work and non-work lives; and how a firm can be systematic in achieving a sustainable competitive advantage by leveraging its employees.

Program Requirements

Profiles

Michele Rigolizzo

Management

Patricia Satterstrom

Management

Hila Lifshitz-Assaf

Management
“As a result, our graduates are all working on a topic that is relevant to managers, and typically have looked at it from different angles and using different types of data.”
Matthew Lee
“As a result, our graduates are all working on a topic that is relevant to managers, and typically have looked at it from different angles and using different types of data.”
Matthew Lee

Current HBS Faculty

  • Julie Battilana
  • Ethan S. Bernstein
  • Alison Wood Brooks
  • Edward H. Chang
  • Amy C. Edmondson
  • Amit Goldenberg
  • Ranjay Gulati
  • Jonas Heese
  • Linda A. Hill
  • Jillian J. Jordan
  • Christian Kaps
  • Nancy F. Koehn
  • Karim R. Lakhani
  • Jacqueline Ng Lane
  • Dutch Leonard
  • Joshua D. Margolis
  • Kathleen L. McGinn
  • Nitin Nohria
  • Joseph Pacelli
  • Leslie A. Perlow
  • Jeffrey T. Polzer
  • Ryan L. Raffaelli
  • Lakshmi Ramarajan
  • Raffaella Sadun
  • Sara M. Torti
  • Emily Truelove
  • Michael L. Tushman
  • Eric J. Van den Steen
  • Ashley V. Whillans
  • Ting Zhang
  • Julian J. Zlatev
Current HBS Faculty
  • Julie Battilana
  • Ethan S. Bernstein
  • Alison Wood Brooks
  • Edward H. Chang
  • Amy C. Edmondson
  • Amit Goldenberg
  • Ranjay Gulati
  • Jonas Heese
  • Linda A. Hill
  • Jillian J. Jordan
  • Christian Kaps
  • Nancy F. Koehn
  • Karim R. Lakhani
  • Jacqueline Ng Lane
  • Dutch Leonard
  • Joshua D. Margolis
  • Kathleen L. McGinn
  • Nitin Nohria
  • Joseph Pacelli
  • Leslie A. Perlow
  • Jeffrey T. Polzer
  • Ryan L. Raffaelli
  • Lakshmi Ramarajan
  • Raffaella Sadun
  • Sara M. Torti
  • Emily Truelove
  • Michael L. Tushman
  • Eric J. Van den Steen
  • Ashley V. Whillans
  • Ting Zhang
  • Julian J. Zlatev
Close

Current Management Students

  • Jonathan Palmer
      Current Management Students
      • Jonathan Palmer
      Close

      Current HBS Faculty & Students by Interest

      Conflict management
      • Amit Goldenberg
      • Kathleen L. McGinn
      • Lakshmi Ramarajan
      Corporate culture
      • Jonas Heese
      • Joseph Pacelli
      • Leslie A. Perlow
      • Ashley V. Whillans
      Human resource management
      • Ethan S. Bernstein
      • Raffaella Sadun
      Leadership
      • Ranjay Gulati
      • Linda A. Hill
      • Nancy F. Koehn
      • Dutch Leonard
      • Joshua D. Margolis
      • Nitin Nohria
      • Ryan L. Raffaelli
      • Emily Truelove
      • Michael L. Tushman
      • Eric J. Van den Steen
      Leading change
      • Julie Battilana
      • Amy C. Edmondson
      • Leslie A. Perlow
      • Sara M. Torti
      • Michael L. Tushman
      Teams
      • Amy C. Edmondson
      • Jeffrey T. Polzer
      Technological innovation
      • Christian Kaps
      • Karim R. Lakhani
      • Jacqueline Ng Lane
      Current HBS Faculty & Students by Interest
      Conflict management
      • Amit Goldenberg
      • Kathleen L. McGinn
      • Lakshmi Ramarajan
      Corporate culture
      • Jonas Heese
      • Joseph Pacelli
      • Leslie A. Perlow
      • Ashley V. Whillans
      Human resource management
      • Ethan S. Bernstein
      • Raffaella Sadun
      Leadership
      • Ranjay Gulati
      • Linda A. Hill
      • Nancy F. Koehn
      • Dutch Leonard
      • Joshua D. Margolis
      • Nitin Nohria
      • Ryan L. Raffaelli
      • Emily Truelove
      • Michael L. Tushman
      • Eric J. Van den Steen
      Leading change
      • Julie Battilana
      • Amy C. Edmondson
      • Leslie A. Perlow
      • Sara M. Torti
      • Michael L. Tushman
      Teams
      • Amy C. Edmondson
      • Jeffrey T. Polzer
      Technological innovation
      • Christian Kaps
      • Karim R. Lakhani
      • Jacqueline Ng Lane
      Close

      Recent Placement

      Laura Weimer, 2023

      United States Military Academy, West Point

      Michael Y. Lee, 2019

      INSEAD, Organizational Behavior Area

      Yusaku Takeda, 2022

      University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Gies College of Business

      Johnathan Cromwell, 2018

      University of San Francisco

      Michael Christensen, 2021

      University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business, Lecturer

      Paul Green, 2018

      University of Texas at Austin, McCombs School of Business

      Laura Weimer, 2023

      United States Military Academy, West Point

      Yusaku Takeda, 2022

      University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Gies College of Business

      Michael Christensen, 2021

      University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business, Lecturer

      Michael Y. Lee, 2019

      INSEAD, Organizational Behavior Area

      Johnathan Cromwell, 2018

      University of San Francisco

      Paul Green, 2018

      University of Texas at Austin, McCombs School of Business
      See All Placement
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