ESSEC’s PhD program in Management applies social science disciplines and research methods to management problems. It prepares students for an academic career of research and teaching by providing solid training in research skills and deep knowledge in major developments and debates in the field. The program encourages students to gain research experience by working closely with faculty on a variety of projects. Over time students are ready to design, collect data, and write a dissertation that will reflect their curiosity and skills, and that will represent a significant contribution to management knowledge.
In this concentration, students can specialize in one of the following subfields:
- Organizational Behavior
- Entrepreneurship
- Strategy
- Management Control
- Digitalization and Information Systems
Strategy / Organizational Behavior / Entrepreneurship
Students pursuing one of the three sub-fields will be working under the supervision of the faculty from the Management Department.
The department’s faculty has a broad range of interests ranging from the behavior of individuals and groups to organizational strategy and to the articulation of business and society.
Our faculty enjoys worldwide recognition for the excellence of its research.
They serve as editors in major journals and publish regularly in these outlets: Administrative Science Quarterly, Strategic Management Journal, Organization Science, American Sociological Review, Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Journal of Organizational Behavior, and Organization Studies.
The department holds a regular research seminar series in which world-renowned scholars present their work.
They serve as editors in major journals and publish regularly in these outlets:
- Administrative Science Quarterly,
- Strategic Management Journal,
- Organization Science,
- American Sociological Review,
- Academy of Management Journal,
- Academy of Management Review,
- Journal of International Business Studies,
- Journal of Business Ethics,
- Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
- Journal of Organizational Behavior,
- Organization Studies
Further information on the subfields and the Management department
Management Control
Students in Management Control will be supervised by faculty from the Management Control (MC) group, which is part of the Accounting and Management Control (A&MC) department.
Management control tools such as budgets, key performance indicators and timesheets, practices such as performance assessment, promotion, and remuneration, and culture represent key organizational control mechanisms.
Our group is committed to the creation of knowledge through original, high-quality and interdisciplinary research, which tackles many of today’s societal challenges. Our team conducts interdisciplinary research, publishing in prestigious journals in Accounting as well as Management: Academy of Management Journal, Organization Science, Organization Studies, Human Relations, Journal of Management, Journal of Business Ethics, Critical Perspectives on Accounting, Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal etc.
In today’s world where phenomena are very complex, being able to draw on interdisciplinary perspectives to build a research project and to publish it, it is a strong asset. Thus, our team has also been successful in attracting external funding for its projects from the European Union (Marie-Curie IEF Fellowship, Eutopia); Eutopia CY, as well the French Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR).
Because we care about research with impact, our research is published or featured in practitioner-oriented or wider public outlets such as: Harvard Business Review, The Economist, Psychology Today, Le Monde.
More information on the MC group and its faculty members
Digitalization and Information Systems
Students focusing on Digitalization and Information Systems will be supervised by faculty from ESSEC's Information Systems (IS) group, which is part of the Information Systems, Decision Sciences and Statistics (IDS) department. Faculty in the IS group conduct research on timely phenomena that are of high relevance for organizations, individuals, and societies, such as artificial intelligence, digital platforms and ecosystems, and blockchain.
Our faculty members publish in or serve on the editorial boards of the most renowned journals in the field, including MIS Quarterly, and Information Systems research.
The IS group holds a regular research seminar where renowned IS researchers present their work.
More information on the IS group and its faculty members
Common courses across subfields:
- Disciplinary foundations of management 1: Classics of the Social Sciences
- Disciplinary foundations of management 2: Classics of Administration and Management Theory
- Corporate and Business Strategy
- Organizational Behaviour
- Research Design
- Epistemology and Philosophy of Sciences
- Qualitative Research Methods in Management
- Quantitative Research Methods in Management 1: SEM/Survey
- Quantitative Research Methods in Management 2: Archival
- Introduction to Econometrics
Elective courses and seminars:
- Identity Processes in Individuals, Groups and Organizations
- International Business
- Business History, Ethics and Organizational Governance
- Creativity and Innovation Management
- Network Analysis
- Entrepreneurship
- Human Resources Strategies and Organizational Performance
- Decision Theory
- Industrial Organization and Economics
- Evaluation of IS Applications
- Data Warehousing and Decision Support
- Modeling and Designing IT Applications
- Elective Course in Management Control
- Social and Psychological Approaches in Management Accounting Research
Students in the Management concentrations can also take electives in any other concentration of the PhD Program after consultation with their PhD mentor.
London School of Economics, Copenhagen Business School, ESADE, NOVA University, NEOMA Business School
Last placements in the Organizational Behavior/Strategy/Entrepreneurship field:
2024
Dong Nghi Pham - Assistant Professor of Strategy at ESADE Business School (Spain)
Si (Coco) Cheng - Assistant Professor in the Department of Strategy and Innovation at Copenhagen Business School (Denmark)
2023
Lidiia Pletneva - Assistant Professor of Management with a focus on Organisational Behaviour at the London School of Economics (United Kingdom)
Marco Antonio Rocha Galo - Assistant Professor, NOVA School of Business and Economics (NOVA SBE) (Portugal)
Francesca Nannetti - Assistant Professor in the People & Organizations Department at NEOMA Business School (France)
