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 PhD in Management in India and internationally. The programme provides experiential research training opportunities through the Master’s Level Thesis (MRes) phase. 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.

Programme structure

The doctoral programme at SPJIMR aims to develop academic researchers and thought leaders of the highest global standards. The programme structure is designed to fulfil these objectives. The overall length of the programme is ideally be between four and five years.

The programme phases include:

  • Years 1 & 2: Essential coursework for the qualifying exam
  • Years 2 & 3: Master-level thesis includes advisor allocation, submission and selection process
  • Years 2, 3 & 4: Doctoral thesis includes proposal submission, defence and registration. Progress review, pre-synopsis, synopsis and thesis submission. Teaching assistantship and faculty development programmes (FDPs)

 

  • Years 1 & 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:

    1. Foundation courses aimed at providing cross-functional exposure to management
    2. 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.
    3. 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 30 credits and 600 classroom hours. The coursework phase culminates with a qualifying exam to test the candidates understanding of the literature in their field of interest. This evaluation may combine both methodological and substantive areas.

  • Years 2 & 3

    Master’s level thesis

    The Master’s Research (MRes) phase starts during the coursework phase and can extend up to 9 months to a year. The exercise is also an opportunity to explore and refine one’s research interest in a time-bound and structured manner. This stage is a training phase for the upcoming doctoral thesis phase. It allows the scholar to build expertise in implementing a specific methodology, followed by an analysis of findings, writing and defending the thesis.

  • Years 2, 3 & 4

    The proposal and dissertation phase

    Thesis Proposal

    The MRes scholars develop a dissertation proposal for their thesis which includes

    The research questions/gaps that have been identified
    The expected impact of the research
    A complete literature review
    Proposed methodology and data collection sources
    Preliminary investigation findings
    The research proposal needs to be defended in an open seminar.

    Dissertation

    The candidate is expected to complete the research and submit the dissertation within four years of the start of the programme and the stipend shall be available till the end of four years. In exceptional circumstances, an extension of two years (with stipend) can be provided on recommendation of the Dissertation Committee Chair.

Areas of Research

Finance & Economics

SPJIMR’s Finance & 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. Our Center for Financial Services (CFS) assists academics and researchers and serves as a conduit for shaping industry-relevant research. Visit the Finance & Economics faculty page to learn more about their profiles, research expertise and interests.

Operations, Supply Chain Management & Quantitative Methods

The Operations, Supply Chain Management, and Quantitative Methods (OSCQM) concentration offer participants a chance 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.

Organisation & Leadership Studies

The Organisation & 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 Organisation & Leadership Studies faculty page to learn more about their profiles, research expertise and interests.

Strategy & Innovation

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.

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 our Marketing faculty page to learn more about their profiles, research interests and expertise.

Information Management & Analytics

The Information Management department in 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 are continuously pushing the knowledge frontiers and solving industry-related problems. Visit our Information Management faculty page to learn more about their profiles, research interests and expertise.

 

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