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Business | Beedie School of Business Simon Fraser University Calendar | Summer 2024

Business Administration

Doctor of Philosophy

The Beedie School of Business offers a doctor of philosophy (PhD) program that helps students create a path to careers in and beyond academia. The program combines course work in methodology and areas of specialization (including accounting, entrepreneurship, finance, international business, management and organization studies, management information systems, marketing, sustainability, strategy, and technology and operations management) with faculty mentoring and substantive original research.

Admission Requirements

Applicants must satisfy the university admission requirements as stated in Graduate General Regulations 1.3 in the SFU Calendar. Students are admitted in the fall term only.

In general, a minimum GMAT score of at least 650 or a GRE score of at least 320 and a master's degree CGPA of at least 3.50/4.33 or a bachelor's degree CGPA of at least 3.67/4.33 are required. However, all exceptional applicants will be considered.

Applicants' capability to undertake substantial original research will be judged from statement of research intent, reference letters, and interviews.

Those who have already done graduate study in business, or a related field may request to be exempt or to substitute some of the course work in consultation with the director of the PhD program.

Students who lack a business degree may, at the discretion of the PhD Program Director, be required to complete up to four additional graduate courses beyond the program requirements.

See the Beedie School of Business website for details, beedie.sfu.ca/phd.

Program Requirements

This program consists of course work, research seminars, comprehensive exam, a thesis proposal, and a thesis for a minimum of 56 units.

Students must complete

all research seminar sections scheduled during year 1 to 4 of their study

BUS 963 - Research Seminar in Selected Topics (2)

This is a research seminar in the PhD program on a selected topic. Students in their second through fourth years of studies are required to enroll in a research seminar course each year. Students will contribute to the seminar series by inviting guest speakers and presenting their own work. Students may repeat this course for further credit under a different topic. Graded on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis.

and a comprehensive exam

BUS 991 - PhD Comprehensive Exam (0)

Students will be required to pass a comprehensive exam by the end of summer term of the second year of the program. This will include written examinations in research methods and theories. Graded on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis. Prerequisite: Enrollment in PhD program.

Section Instructor Day/Time Location
G100 TBD

and a thesis proposal

BUS 993 - Thesis Proposal (0)

Thesis Proposal. Graded on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis.

Section Instructor Day/Time Location
G100 TBD

and a thesis

BUS 992 - PhD Thesis (18)

Graded on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis. Prerequisite: Enrollment in PhD program.

Section Instructor Day/Time Location
G100 TBD

Course Requirements

All students must also complete two research methods courses chosen from

BUS 890 - Business Econometrics I (3)

Econometrics and statistics provide the tools of choice to carry out quantitative research. With a focus on laying the groundwork for industry as well as academic applications, much stress is placed on fostering a good understanding of the uses, limitations and potential pitfalls of the most commonly employed methods. Prerequisite: Students need permission from academic unit.

Section Instructor Day/Time Location
G100 TBD
BUS 965 - Business Econometrics II (4)

Econometrics provides the tools required to conduct advanced quantitative research in business. The course focuses on advanced techniques tailored to address complex research problems in asset pricing, corporate finance, and financial accounting. These techniques build on generalized least squares, maximum likelihood, and generalized methods of moments estimation to provide the state-of-art tools needed to analyze increasingly challenging business data. Prerequisite: BUS 890 or equivalent.

BUS 970 - Quantitative Methods and Analysis (4)

The focus is on how to design, evaluate and conduct quantitative research as used in academic business publications. Major topics in this course include the notion of constructs, reliability and validity in measurement, scale development processes, data sources and sampling considerations, types of associations among variables (linear, curvilinear, mediation, and moderation), levels of analysis, and experimental and quasi-experimental design. Corequisite: BUS 971.

BUS 971 - Qualitative Methods and Analysis (4)

Students will become familiar with the nature of qualitative research, and learn many of the methods that fall under the rubric of qualitative inquiry. The course will also provide students with the opportunity to start to develop the skills required for the collection, analysis, theorizing, and writing up of qualitative data. Corequisite: BUS 970.

and three theory courses chosen from

BUS 891 - Theory of Financial Markets (3)

Continuous time is used for the celebrated Black-Scholes Model for pricing derivatives and is also often the most intuitive way to tackle asset pricing, term structure theory and portfolio selection. Through first laying the foundations in discrete time to illustrate the basic mechanisms, continuous time is gently introduced by working out its analogs that form a cornerstone of much of modern finance. Prerequisite: Students need permission from the program before entering the research stream.

BUS 967 - Asset Pricing (4)

Students are exposed to recent developments in the asset pricing literature. The focus is on continuous time theoretical models and their empirical tests. Students develop the skills required to understand, replicate and extend academic papers in this area. The topics covered may include the capital asset pricing model (CAPM) and the arbitrage pricing model (APT), consumption and production based dynamic general equilibrium, dynamic models of the term structure of interest rates, and other selected topics. Prerequisite: BUS 891 or equivalent.

BUS 968 - Corporate Finance Theories and Methods (4)

Students are exposed to advanced analysis of decision making at the corporate level. We discuss academic research in corporate finance and cover both theoretical models and empirical tests. The course is methodology oriented in that students are required to master necessary methodological tools for each topic. The topics covered may include capital structure, distribution policy, financial intermediation, market for corporate control, product market and corporate finance interactions, and other selected topics. Prerequisite: BUS 891 or equivalent.

Section Instructor Day/Time Location
G100 TBD
BUS 972 - Macro Theories in Management Research (4)

Covers key theoretical perspectives used by researchers in business management disciplines. The course is focused on theories relevant to entities at the 'macro' level - firms, industries and societies. These theories typically explain the behaviour of these entities, interactions among them, and the outcomes of such behaviour at the firm, industrial and societal level, and to some extent, their impacts on 'micro'-level entitles such as individuals and groups.

BUS 973 - Micro Theories in Management Research (4)

Covers key theoretical perspectives used by researchers in business and management disciplines. The focus is on theories relevant to entities at the "micro"-level (i.e., individuals and groups) most of which are grounded in different branches of psychology. Naturally, the emphasis is on their applications for business. We will also address these theories' implications for teams and organization, and, where applicable, to entities at higher levels of analysis.

ECON 802 - Microeconomic Theory I (4)

An examination of the economic theory of market prices with reference to behavior of individual households, firms, and markets. Special emphasis will be placed on the implications of individual behavior for the allocation of resources. Prerequisite: ECON 331. Offered once a year.

or students can take graduate level theory courses from other academic units with program approval

and two development and/or specialization courses chosen from

BUS 980 - Theory Development in Business Administration (3)

The effective use of empiricism, positivism, and interpretive explanations in generating, defending and clarifying logically rigorous arguments is explored. Participants from diverse fields (marketing, international business, management studies, accounting, policy analysis, finance, etc.) within the administrative sciences will look at the processes which have guided theory development and theory testing within their field of inquiry. Attention will focus on what criteria are used to assess the adequacy of explanations and useful theories. The seminar seeks to advance the participants' interest in putting theory into practice. Prerequisite: Enrollment in PhD program.

BUS 982 - Dissertation Development Workshop (3)

This seminar is intended to support doctoral students in the early stages of the development of their dissertations. Practical and conceptual issues with respect to the integration of theory, research design, and methodology will be explored. The seminar will provide a forum for students to share their dissertation work in progress, and learn from each other with respect to theoretical, analytical, and methodological problems, successes and trade-offs. Prerequisite: Enrollment in the PhD program or consent of the instructor.

BUS 990 - Academic Writing and Research Development (3)

Students will be exposed to the broad world of academia, from presenting and providing constructive feedback on papers, to conferences and journal publishing and refereeing, while being exposed to an introduction to a range of research techniques and data analysis. Graded on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis. Prerequisite: Enrollment in PhD program.

Section Instructor Day/Time Location
G100 TBD
ECON 804 - Advanced Topics in Microeconomic Theory (4)

The course following ECON 802 and 803 which covers such topics as equilibrium theory, axiomatic analysis, stability analysis, income distribution, dynamic micro models, and models of non-market economics. Prerequisite: ECON 802 and 803 or equivalent.

ECON 807 - Macroeconomic Theory and Policy (4)

An examination of basic macroeconomic theory, empirical macroeconomic data and models, macroeconomic analysis, and application to economic developments and policy issues. Prerequisite: ECON 798 or equivalent. Offered once a year.

or students can take graduate level courses from other academic units with program approval.

Program Length

Students are expected to complete the program requirements within four to five years.

Academic Requirements within the Graduate General Regulations

All graduate students must satisfy the academic requirements that are specified in the Graduate General Regulations, as well as the specific requirements for the program in which they are enrolled.