Theory and Practice of Management (IDPM) PhD

Program Overview

This part-time PhD program in management combines academic rigor with accessibility, focusing on research impact and business engagement. It offers a strong methodological foundation and support for producing high-quality research. Participants complete a series of compulsory modules and tailored research training, resulting in a PhD upon successful completion of a thesis and practitioner paper.

Program Outline

Degree Overview:

The part-time PhD in the Theory and Practice of Management (TPM) combines the academic rigour of a traditional PhD with the accessibility of a structured, part-time research programme. It responds to the need for universities to update their provision to reflect the societies they serve, with its increased focus on research impact and business engagement. The programme recognises the value doctoral researchers bring to the research community. Through a combination of online resources, facilitated activities, face-to-face workshops, and collaborative supervision, the programme will be accessible to part-time researchers from the public, private and third sectors. The programme is designed to offer a strong methodological understanding/skillset and a ‘light touch’ grounding in the management discipline, and to support participants in producing a quality piece of independent research. The International Doctorate in the Practice of Management (IDPM) route delivers the same qualification but is founded upon the existing IMPM programme and is only open to graduates of this programme. Following completion of the IMPM Major Paper, students will undertake tailored research training designed to enable them to produce a quality piece of research. There is significant overlap between the two training programmes, and between our part-time and full-time training programmes, to offer the richest possible experience to participants on all routes.

Outline:

Course structure:

The IMPM follow-on IDPM route consists of the following modules, all of which are compulsory:

• Philosophy of the Social Sciences
• Research Skills in Action Research
• Delivering Impactful Research
• Communicating with Different Research Audiences
Participants will also need to undertake 15-30 hours of tailored research training in relation to data collection and data analysis, in alignment with their research.

Modules:

• Philosophy of the Social Sciences: This module provides a solid introduction to the various research paradigms utilized in management research and supports students in locating their own beliefs about reality and knowledge within a structured framework.
This, in turn, will enable them to develop a more robust, coherent research proposal, which will be delivered as the IMPM506 Major Paper. The module thus forms an important bridging point between IMPM students undertaking the Master's qualification and those wishing to progress to the full PhD.
• Research Skills in Action Research: This module aims to provide training in Action Research as the most likely methodology to be adopted by students on the IDPM pathway, given that their research projects usually relate to their own working environment and are aimed at producing practical outcomes for the organization as well as academic outputs for the student.
The module will provide theoretical input and practical experience of the core techniques/methods relating to Action Research as a research methodology. This will include the main approaches to data collection and analysis, plus ethical and practical issues associated with action research as follows:
• The action research cycle
• Quality and rigour in action research
• Managing ethics and organizational politics in action research
• Benefits and pitfalls of researching your own organization
• Designing and implementing an action research project
• Theoretical frameworks for studying organizations in action (e.g.
systems thinking)
• Generating evidence to test knowledge claims in action research
• Writing up action research
• Delivering Impactful Research: The aim of this module is to support you in building impact into your current and future research, rather than seeing it as an add-on.
Topics covered will include:
• Understanding the significance of impact
• Routes to impact - considering the different ways in which impact can be achieved
• Building impact into the research design
• Engagement with project stakeholders as a route to impact
• Aligning with the agendas of policy-makers and funding bodies as routes to impact
• Being an impactful researcher
• Communicating with Different Research Audiences: This module will support you in developing your ability to communicate effectively with a wide range of stakeholders to your research.
Topics covered will include:
• Understanding the different agendas of different research stakeholders - including funders, end-users, policymakers and research participants, and hence the form, content and frequency of communication they might desire
• Considering the similarities and differences between academic and practitioner audiences in this regard, and the implications for modes of communication
• Developing the ability to utilise a range of communication channels, including digital and social media, effectively, including having an awareness of some of the pitfalls
• Understanding the ethical issues relating to the dissemination of research outcomes

Other:

Participants will be awarded a PhD on successful completion of the below modules, plus a 45,000-word thesis and a practitioner paper of publishable quality.

Location Full Time (per year) Part Time (per year) Home n/a £6,000 International n/a £6,000