Ph.D. Program in Business Administration

Information Systems Track

Objectives

The Ph.D. program prepares graduates for careers in research, teaching, and consulting in various functional areas of business. Graduates of the program are expected to make significant contributions to the advancement of knowledge of business practices through research and consulting and to disseminate such knowledge through their teaching.

The curriculum is designed to provide graduates with in-depth exposure to a specific business content area, sophisticated analytical methods, and education techniques. This last feature is unique to the program and is structured around different aspects of exposure to university-level teaching.

For more details on the following aspects, please visit the webpage: http://catalog.morgan.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=4&poid=552&returnto=213

Information Systems Courses

INSS 841 Information Systems Strategy
INSS 842 Information Systems Seminar I
INSS 843 Information Systems Seminar II
INSS 850 Dynamics of Information Systems in Organizations
INSS 851 Knowledge-Based Information Systems
INSS 852 Enterprise-Wide Infrastructure
INSS 853 Management Databases \
INSS 854 Information Systems Security
INSS 855 Information Systems for Supply Chain Management

Minor Field (12 Credits)

The purpose of the minor field is to prepare students to be effective researchers and teachers at the university level. It is also designed to give them skills in empirical and case research, writing and presentation. Recognizing the importance of teaching skills in career development, the courses are designed to guide students in understanding relevant issues associated with teaching college students. Emphasis is therefore placed on developing pedagogical skills and knowledge of psychological and other bases of learning. Three courses (9 credits) must be completed in a minor designed to support the work in the major. In addition, students are expected to have successfully completed Quality Matters training or its equivalent in online training. The first part of the Minor Field Exam has three components: (a) a case study; (b) the teaching requirement; and (c) Quality Matters (Teaching Online Training). All parts of the Minor Field exam must be completed before a student will be permitted to sit for his/her Major Comprehensive exam.

The three courses that must be completed are:

BUAD 711 Seminar in Instructional Methods

BUAD 712 Seminar in Case Methods

BUAD 713 Teaching Practicum

Dissertation (12 Credits)

To complete his or her doctoral degree, the candidate must pursue an original investigation under faculty direction and present the results in a dissertation. A dissertation must address a major research issue. It is expected to result in a significant contribution to the received body of knowledge in the field of study. Students work under the guidance of a dissertation committee and, as part of their preparation, enroll in 12 credits of dissertation seminars. These seminars are designed to guide students in their development of a proposal, proposal defense, and dissertation defense. After completing six credits of dissertation seminars, a student presents a dissertation proposal to their dissertation committee. The committee consists of four members, one of whom maybe an outside faculty member. The external faculty member must come from outside the area of specialization. All members of the Committee are selected by the student and must meet the following requirements:

• The Chairperson must be from the major area and must hold the rank of no less than Associate Professor with Tenure.
• One additional member must be from the major area.
• At least one other member must be from the foundation area but not the area of specialization. The outside member may come either from the major or minor areas and must be academically qualified.

Within one year of passing the qualifying examination, the candidate must submit a written proposal that presents the projected content of the dissertation. The proposal is the vehicle for communicating the candidate's project to the faculty. It should provide sufficient detail to allow faculty knowledgeable in the subject area to determine the validity and acceptability of the research, both in terms of quality and quantity. The dissertation proposal should be prepared and defended in public before the candidate's Dissertation Committee as soon as the candidate and the adviser have agreed on preliminary guidelines for the dissertation. The chairperson of the Dissertation Committee, the dissertation adviser, determines the format of the proposal defense and conducts it. The outside member should be consulted about the written proposal and should be present for the proposal defense.

After the proposal defense, the Dissertation Chair submits a copy of the proposal to the Program Office, together with suggestions for revising the proposal. The student then revises the proposal and prepares a document that shows how the issues raised have been addressed in the revised proposal. Once the Dissertation Committee approves this document, a student may continue with the dissertation process.

After the student completes the dissertation, the Chairperson certifies to the Doctoral Program Office that no major revisions or problems are anticipated and requests that the defense be scheduled. Upon receiving this notification and a copy of the completed dissertation, the Program Office will circulate an announcement of the defense to all members of the faculty and students who may have an interest in the topic of the dissertation. The format of the defense, which is set by the dissertation adviser, must include an opportunity for any member of the faculty or student attending the defense to question the candidate on the research. At this examination, the candidate must defend the dissertation and otherwise satisfy the committee and other faculty members in attendance that he or she is qualified to receive the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

Course Offerings for the Dissertation:

BUAD 997 Dissertation Guidance

BUAD 998 Dissertation Defense

Supply Chain and Logistics Concentration

Objectives

The Ph.D. program prepares graduates for careers in research, teaching, and consulting in various functional areas of business. Graduates of the program are expected to make significant contributions to the advancement of knowledge of business practices through research and consulting and to disseminate such knowledge through their teaching.

The curriculum is designed to provide graduates with in-depth exposure to a specific business content area, sophisticated analytical methods, and education techniques. This last feature is unique to the program and is structured around different aspects of exposure to university-level teaching.

For more details on the following aspects, please visit the webpage: http://catalog.morgan.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=4&poid=552&returnto=213

Concentration in Supply Chain and Logistics 

Supply Chain and Logistics Management Concentration Description

The concentration in Supply Chain and Logistics Management is interdisciplinary, integrating topics from manufacturing and service operations, transportation engineering, industrial engineering, marketing, and information systems to provide students a comprehensive understanding of all aspects of supply chain and logistics management theory and practice. This concentration focuses on advancing scientific and operational knowledge in managing supply chain networks for manufacturing and services organizations.

Educational Objectives of the Concentration in the Program

The curriculum is designed to provide graduates with (a) in-depth exposure to supply chain and logistics content area; (b) expose students to sophisticated analytical methods; (c) interdisciplinary knowledge in manufacturing and services operations, logistics, procurement, information systems, and marketing topics; and (d) the tools to excel in classroom teaching of comprehensive and well-rounded programs, offering high-quality education that balances theory and practice. This last feature is unique to the program and is structured around a two-course sequence covering different aspects of university-level teaching.

Expected Student Learning Outcomes

The primary learning goals for the doctoral candidates in the program are: 

• Acquisition of advanced knowledge in Supply Chain and Logistics Management.
• Development of theoretical and practical research skills in the area of Supply Chain and Logistics Management.
• Explicit attention to the role of the specialization areas in managerial and organizational contexts.
• The secondary learning goal for candidates in the program is: Preparation for teaching responsibilities in higher education.

Curriculum Sequence and Course Descriptions

The concentration of Supply Chain and Logistics Management for a Ph.D. degree in Business Administration at the Graves School of Business and Management at Morgan State University will require each student to obtain 18 credits of foundation courses, 6 other foundation courses, 18 credits of courses in the area of specialization, 6 credits of courses from minor field, and a minimum of 12 credits of dissertation.

For the Supply Chain and Logistics Management concentration, the following courses are proposed to provide students a comprehensive understanding of all aspects of supply chain and logistics management theory and practice. Proposed Courses include:

• INSS 855: Information Systems for Supply Chain Management (3 credits)
• SSCM 856: Seminar in Operations Management (3 Credits)
• SSCM 857: Supply Chain Modeling and Algorithm (3 Credits)
• SSCM 858: Seminar in Logistics and Procurement (3 Credits)
• SSCM 859: Special Topics in Supply Chain and Logistics Management (3 Credits)
• MKTG 881: Seminar in Strategy and Global Marketing (3 Credits)

Course Description

INSS 855: Information Systems for Supply Chain Management (3 credits)

This course examines issues related to the strategic use of information systems in supply chain and logistics management. Topics include information sharing, bull-whip effect, supply chain integration, supply chain analytics, industrial IoT, machine learning, enterprise systems in supply chain management, and inter-organizational information systems.

SSCM 856: Seminar in Operations Management (3 Credits)

This seminar provides an overview of current and emerging research in core areas of operations management, including manufacturing and operations strategy, supply chain management, quality management, lean and time-based competition, technology management, service operations, and sustainability.

SSCM 857: Supply Chain Modeling and Algorithm (3 Credits)

This course serves as the technical foundations of supply chain and logistics management (SCLM). It introduces classical and new techniques in the model-based analysis of SCLM to provide Ph.D. students the skills to develop models and algorithms to effectively solve emerging SCLM problems.  

SSCM 858: Seminar in Logistics and Procurement (3 Credits)

This course provides the technical foundation for effective procurement and logistics management. Students will learn how to use advanced empirical and other analytical methods to study real-world procurement and logistics issues. Students will also get hands-on experience on empirical/analytical research and develop a research proposal related to one or more of the topics covered in this course.

SSCM 859: Special Topics in Supply Chain and Logistics Management (3 Credits)

This course provides insight into advanced topics in supply chain management. Students will learn how to use advanced empirical and other analytical methods to study real-world supply chain issues. Students will also get hands-on experience on empirical/analytical research and develop a research proposal related to one or more of the topics covered in this course.

MKTG 881: Seminar in Strategy and Global Marketing (3 Credits)

This course examines current literature and cutting-edge issues in a variety of marketing areas. The approach is based on student exposure to an intensive series of modules as indicated below by the following examples: Marketing Strategy: This module presents an overview of issues relating to planning, innovation, competitive strategy, and marketing program development. Global Marketing: This module focuses on the strategic issues associated with marketing in diverse international environments.

Pre-requisites 

Students should have completed the following graduate level courses prior to joining the Ph.D. program in Supply Chain and Logistics Management: 

• Operations Management
• Simulation
• Operations Research

If students do not have these pre-requisites, they can take INSS 540 (Operations Management), IEGR 530 (Advance Simulation), and TRSP 604 (Operations Research Applications in Transportation), or the approved equivalent courses. These are pre-foundation courses.

Minor Field (12 Credits)

The purpose of the minor field is to prepare students to be effective researchers and teachers at the university level. It is also designed to give them skills in empirical and case research, writing and presentation. Recognizing the importance of teaching skills in career development, the courses are designed to guide students in understanding relevant issues associated with teaching college students. Emphasis is therefore placed on developing pedagogical skills and knowledge of psychological and other bases of learning. Three courses (9 credits) must be completed in a minor designed to support the work in the major. In addition, students are expected to have successfully completed Quality Matters training or its equivalent in online training. The first part of the Minor Field Exam has three components: (a) a case study; (b) the teaching requirement; and (c) Quality Matters (Teaching Online Training). All parts of the Minor Field exam must be completed before a student will be permitted to sit for his/her Major Comprehensive exam.

The three courses that must be completed are:

BUAD 711 Seminar in Instructional Methods

BUAD 712 Seminar in Case Methods

BUAD 713 Teaching Practicum

Dissertation (12 Credits)

To complete his or her doctoral degree, the candidate must pursue an original investigation under faculty direction and present the results in a dissertation. A dissertation must address a major research issue. It is expected to result in a significant contribution to the received body of knowledge in the field of study. Students work under the guidance of a dissertation committee and, as part of their preparation, enroll in 12 credits of dissertation seminars. These seminars are designed to guide students in their development of a proposal, proposal defense, and dissertation defense. After completing six credits of dissertation seminars, a student presents a dissertation proposal to their dissertation committee. The committee consists of four members, one of whom maybe an outside faculty member. The external faculty member must come from outside the area of specialization. All members of the Committee are selected by the student and must meet the following requirements:

• The Chairperson must be from the major area and must hold the rank of no less than Associate Professor with Tenure.
• One additional member must be from the major area.
• At least one other member must be from the foundation area but not the area of specialization. The outside member may come either from the major or minor areas and must be academically qualified.

Within one year of passing the qualifying examination, the candidate must submit a written proposal that presents the projected content of the dissertation. The proposal is the vehicle for communicating the candidate's project to the faculty. It should provide sufficient detail to allow faculty knowledgeable in the subject area to determine the validity and acceptability of the research, both in terms of quality and quantity. The dissertation proposal should be prepared and defended in public before the candidate's Dissertation Committee as soon as the candidate and the adviser have agreed on preliminary guidelines for the dissertation. The chairperson of the Dissertation Committee, the dissertation adviser, determines the format of the proposal defense and conducts it. The outside member should be consulted about the written proposal and should be present for the proposal defense.

After the proposal defense, the Dissertation Chair submits a copy of the proposal to the Program Office, together with suggestions for revising the proposal. The student then revises the proposal and prepares a document that shows how the issues raised have been addressed in the revised proposal. Once the Dissertation Committee approves this document, a student may continue with the dissertation process.

After the student completes the dissertation, the Chairperson certifies to the Doctoral Program Office that no major revisions or problems are anticipated and requests that the defense be scheduled. Upon receiving this notification and a copy of the completed dissertation, the Program Office will circulate an announcement of the defense to all members of the faculty and students who may have an interest in the topic of the dissertation. The format of the defense, which is set by the dissertation adviser, must include an opportunity for any member of the faculty or student attending the defense to question the candidate on the research. At this examination, the candidate must defend the dissertation and otherwise satisfy the committee and other faculty members in attendance that he or she is qualified to receive the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

Course Offerings for the Dissertation:

BUAD 997 Dissertation Guidance

BUAD 998 Dissertation Defense