Second Year Research Paper
The purpose of the second year paper is to prepare students to become not only discerning consumers of strategy research but, also, sophisticated producers of such work.
To that end, the second year paper enables students to accomplish the following:
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develop capabilities to conceive and to execute an independent research project
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establish an independent research stream
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prepare for the dissertation
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produce research that is clearly on a trajectory to be presented at a top strategy conference (e.g., Academy of Management or Strategic Management Society) and published in a top strategy journal
Prior to advancing to the dissertation stage, students are required to conduct an empirical research project with the aspiration of publishing a paper from the project in a top strategy journal. The project will be completed under the supervision of two faculty members, one of whom serves as a primary reader (typically the student's adviser), and the other as a secondary reader. The student is expected to undertake wholly individual and autonomous research for this project. The project will typically have an empirical and/or modeling component (exceptions require the approval of the Faculty Ph.D. Co-coordinators).
The student must get approval from two faculty readers by August 31 after their first year on a 3-5 page proposal. The actual paper must be approved by two faculty readers by the end of August just prior to the start of the student's third year in the Doctoral Program. Also, the paper from the project is expected to be presented to students and faculty in the brown bag seminar series by the end of October of the student's third year in the Doctoral Program. Extensions to the above deadlines can only be obtained with approval of both the Strategy department chairperson and the Strategy doctoral program coordinator(s). While publication in a top journal is an aspiration of the project, publication is not required for successful completion of the project.
