FPM curriculum and programme structure

FPM curriculum is designed in collaboration with experts from leading international business schools with a high focus on contemporary methods and enhancing domain knowledge. The coursework in the FPM programme is in line with the top schools offering Ph.D. in Management in India and internationally. The programme’s rigorous curriculum provides ample training for an academic career and enables participants to make exemplary intellectual contributions in their respective fields of research.

Programme structure

The programme structure is designed to develop academic researchers and thought leaders of the highest global standards who are keen to address real-life business problems through their research. The overall length of the programme is ideally between four and five years.

The programme phases include:

  • Years 1 and 2: Essential coursework for the qualifying exam
  • Years 2 and 3: Teaching immersion or case study writing
  • Years 2, 3 and 4: Guide allocation process and doctoral thesis that includes proposal submission, defence and registration. Progress review, pre-synopsis, synopsis and thesis submission.

  • Years 1 and 2

    Coursework phase

    The coursework at SPJIMR, critically reviewed by international scholars, is aligned with the highest global standards and recognised for its methodological depth and rigour. In the first year, the participants complete the following three courses:

    Foundation courses aimed at providing cross-functional exposure to management.

    Seminar-style specialisation courses provide subject knowledge of dominant theories and frameworks. Here, the faculty aggregates a select set of classic and contemporary research papers to be critiqued and analysed by scholars and faculty.

    Methodology courses to enhance rigour in research.

    At the end of these courses, the participants submit term paper(s) on their topic/area of interest for evaluation. Almost all doctoral-level seminars during the coursework phase lead to the creation of research proposals that scholars can publish in renowned international journals. The coursework phase comprises a total of 39 credits. The coursework phase culminates with a qualifying exam to test the candidate’s understanding of the literature in their field of interest. This evaluation may combine both methodological and substantive areas.

  • Years 2 and 3

    FPM scholars can either opt for teaching immersion or case study writing. They are eligible to take the teaching immersion/case study writing after successfully completing the CQE and before submitting the doctoral thesis proposal defense.

    Teaching immersion

    Teaching immersion is a platform for scholars to enhance their teaching capability. It makes them highly employable, good researchers and educators.

    Case study writing

    A case study is an appropriate research design when a scholar wants to gain concrete, contextual, in-depth knowledge about a specific real-world subject. It allows a scholar to explore the key characteristics, meanings, and implications of the case.

  • Years 2, 3 and 4

    Doctoral thesis

    FPM scholars should demonstrate professional competence in developing a model or a set of hypotheses, collecting and interpreting data, reaching conclusions, and drawing research and managerial practice implications. The thesis should contribute to the knowledge pertinent to understanding and resolving management problems.

    Guide selection

    Every FPM scholar selects the Guide for Dissertation in consultation with the FPM office. They can approach the advisors whom they would like to work with on their thesis.

    Doctoral thesis advisory committee

    The Thesis Advisory Committee (TAC) advises the scholar on all aspects of the thesis experience. The scholar and advisor are expected to regularly hold periodic progress reviews with the entire Thesis Advisory Committee. Apart from the guide, there should be an additional two faculty members who will be part of the committee. The process for thesis advising will be as per AICTE guidelines.

    Doctoral thesis proposal

    Each FPM scholar prepares the thesis proposal and a synopsis and submits the hard and soft copies to the FPM office. The soft copy will be circulated to all the institute faculty and doctoral participants. An open seminar will be held where the FPM scholar will present the proposal. The Thesis Advisory Committee (TAC) shall indicate whether the candidate has successfully defended the proposal. Scholars must incorporate all the valid suggestions in the subsequent work.

Areas of research

Finance and Economics

SPJIMR’s finance and economics faculty features a distinctive blend of academic scholars and practitioners with real-world expertise. This facilitates conducting research that advances both scholarly pursuits and delves deeply into issues of industry relevance. In addition, SPJIMR’s location in Mumbai offers its fellows the opportunity to interact with and benefit from the most significant presence of financial markets and industry specialists. Visit the finance and economics faculty page to learn more about their profiles, research expertise and interests.

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Marketing

The FPM marketing curriculum imparts advanced research methodology knowledge and skills such as econometrics, experiments, and multivariate statistics, as well as in-depth domain knowledge of marketing theory and contemporary issues, consumer behaviour, pricing theory, and other courses based on the scholars’ research interests. Our scholars use qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods to investigate intriguing questions. Faculty members’ extensive professional experience and solid academic credentials assist the young researcher in balancing rigour and relevance. The marketing faculty and FPM scholars’ scholarly works have been published in top international peer-reviewed journals (ABDC – A*, A). Senior faculty from the top US business schools also contribute to the development and delivery of the FPM curriculum. Visit the faculty page to learn more about their profiles, research interests and expertise.

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Organisation Behaviour and Human Resources

The Organisation and Leadership specialisation aims to foster a strong research attitude. It provides the students with modern resources and techniques to develop academic rigour in their scholarly endeavours. The faculty’s areas of interest include leadership, organisational citizenship behaviour, managing diversity, personality, organisational development and transformation, and the shadow side of organisations. Visit the faculty page to learn more about their profiles, research expertise and interests.

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Strategy

Strategy Management has an advantage in the quality of its curriculum, which delves deeply into classical as well as contemporary business strategy research and advanced method courses. The process prepares scholars to contribute to the development and dissemination of high-quality strategy research in areas such as competitive strategy, hyper-competition, corporate strategy, intra-firm and inter-firm cooperative strategy, business diversification, internationalisation, global strategy, platform strategy, the effect of technological changes, behavioural strategy, and sustainability strategy, among others. The emphasis is on pushing the boundaries of knowledge and, as a result, providing potential solutions to contemporary business and management problems. Our strategy management faculty members have a wide range of research interests. Visit the faculty page to learn more about their profiles, research expertise and interests.

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Information Management

The Information Management department at SPJIMR has a unique mix of academic and practice-oriented researchers as faculty. Such a broad scope of research helps the FPM scholars to develop their research in their interest areas – with active support from the faculty. With a specific interest in innovation, technology, artificial intelligence, business analytics, and other domains, our faculty is continuously pushing the knowledge frontiers and solving industry-related problems. Visit the faculty page to learn more about their profiles, research interests and expertise.

 

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Operations and Supply Chain

The Operations, Supply Chain Management, and Quantitative Methods (OSCQM) concentration allows participants to investigate real-world business issues using rigorous research techniques. The specialisation encourages scholars to pursue research in a variety of fields, including but not limited to service operations, e-commerce and digital supply chains, sustainable operations and humanitarian supply chains, healthcare operations, sharing economy and platform operations, agricultural supply chains, behavioural, organisational management, and supply chain risk, among others. To explore new and fascinating research issues in their fields of interest, the programme introduces fellows to research approaches like empirical modelling, operations research, game theory, multicriteria decision-making, analytics, and simulation modelling. Our accomplished faculty members in the OSCQM area have a wide range of research interests. Visit the OSCQM faculty page to learn more about their profiles, research expertise and interests.

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