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Course syllabus - Introduction to PhD-studies in Business Administration, 7.5 credits

Information about the course

  • Course code: FOES027
  • Third-cycle subject: Business Administration
  • Responsible department: Department of Business and Mathematics
  • Valid from: 2025-01-01
  • Established by: The Dean of the School (until 2025-12-31 after that Head of department).
  • Decision date: 2024-09-11
  • Level of education: Third cycle level
  • Language: English

Course objective

The course aims to provide participants with an understanding of Business Administration (BA) (in Swedish: Företagsekonomi) as an academic subject compared to other, related academic subjects. Additionally, the course seeks to enhance the understanding of PhD programmes in Business Administration in Sweden (and potentially Scandinavia, contingent upon participants) and prepare the PhD-students for a career in academia by bringing up aspects such as the structure of Higher Education locally and nationally, the academic practices of writing and publishing, and how to give and take feedback on academic work.

Course content

Business Administration as a research field.

Practices for writing, publishing, and peer review in Business Administration.

Intented learning outcomes

After completion of this course, PhD-students should be able to:

  1. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of how research in Business Administration is conducted.
  2. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of how Business Administration relates to other, similar academic subjects.
  3. Show skills and abilities to describe and discuss the purpose, structure, and formal requirements of a PhD education at the university where the PhD student is accepted.
  4. Show skills and abilities to describe and discuss the academic system locally and nationally.
  5. Formulate a researchable research question within the field of Business Administration.
  6. Critically review, value, and constructively comment on an academic text within the field of Business Administration, in writing and orally.

The intended qualitative targets in relation to the Higher Education Ordinance, appendix 2.

Knowledge and understanding

For the Degree of Doctor, the doctoral student shall demonstrate:

  • A1: broad knowledge and systematic understanding of the research field as well as advanced and up-to-date specialised knowledge in a limited area of this field, and
  • A2: familiarity with research methodology in general and the methods of the specific field of research in particular.

Competence and skills

For the Degree of Doctor, the doctoral student shall demonstrate

  • B1: the capacity for scholarly analysis and synthesis as well as to review and assess new and complex phenomena, issues, and situations autonomously and critically,
  • B2: the ability to identify and formulate issues with scholarly precision critically, autonomously, and creatively, and to plan and use appropriate methods to undertake research and other qualified tasks within predetermined time frames and to review and evaluate such work, and
  • B4: the ability in both national and international contexts to present and discuss research and research findings authoritatively in speech and writing and

Judgement and approach

For a Degree of Doctor the doctoral student shall demonstrate

  • C1: intellectual autonomy and disciplinary rectitude as well as the ability to make assessments of research ethics.

Teaching formats

Seminars, independent self-study, and group work.

Examination

INL1, written assignment, 2 credits, relates to learning objectives 1–2, graded as Fail (U) or Pass (G).

INL2, written assignment, 2 credits, relates to learning objectives 3–4, graded as Fail (U) or Pass (G).

INL3, written assignment, 2 credits, relates to learning objective 5, graded as Fail (U) or Pass (G).

OVN1, poster session, 1.5 credits, relates to learning objective 6, graded as Fail (U) or Pass (G).

Grade

Examinations included in the course are assessed according to a two-grade scale, Fail (U) or Pass (G).

Requirements

To participate in the course and the examinations included in the course, the applicant must be admitted to doctoral studies.

The course is also open, free of charge, to students who are members of the SNABS and ScAIEM networks, as well as the Swedish Research School of Management and IT.

Specific entry requirements

Participants must be admitted as doctoral students in Business Administration or Industrial Economics and Organization, or related academic field of study.

Selection criteria

Selection of applicants will be made in accordance with the ranking below.

  1. Admitted doctoral students in Business Administration or Industrial Economics and Organization.
  2. Admitted doctoral students at Mälardalen University.
  3. Admitted doctoral students at other universities.