Research - PhD in Management

Research is a fundamental component of the PhD Programme at INSEAD.  Our doctoral degree is designed to teach you many cutting edge research methodologies to enable you to contribute to a global body of knowledge that informs how business is and should be conducted.  Our programme will train you to create and even publish your own original body of research, which will become the foundation for your career as a professor in business.

Because of the international, cultural and geographical diversity at INSEAD, we also offer a unique interdisciplinary approach when it comes to research.  Professors and PhD students do not simply work together across our campuses, they also collaborate across academic areas, offering an even greater breadth of research opportunities and a myriad of inspiring perspectives.

Furthermore, INSEAD is affiliated with nine research centres and initiatives addressing a broad range of issues and industries. In Paris, INSEAD has a behavioural research centre, INSEAD-Sorbonne Behavioural Lab, where over 40,000 people have participated in studies. INSEAD also launched an eLab initiative which represents INSEAD's commitment to management excellence in the digital economy. These research centres, among many others, bring together faculty members who have agreed to support a common research agenda. In many cases, they may provide unique opportunities for INSEAD PhDs to work alongside INSEAD faculty from different academic areas.

What does doctoral research actually look like? The PhD research series puts you in the room with PhD candidates as they unpack their work: their questions, their findings, and the ideas shaping the future of management research.

Our PhD students arrive with a wide range of backgrounds and experiences, and a shared ambition: to create new knowledge that makes a genuine difference to business and society. The programme gives them the research training, experience and guidance to pursue that ambition well, to secure academic placements at leading institutions worldwide, and to build a successful career in business academia.

This series follows that work as it happens. First up: AI and its role in decision-making. More topics will follow as students take their research further.

The dissertation is the culmination of doctoral study. It is intended to represent independent and original research work of a publishable standard. Dissertation work starts once the students move to PhD Candidacy, which is in the third year of the programme. Once the PhD Candidate has identified his / her dissertation advisor, a mutually agreed decision between the candidate and the faculty member, the PhD Candidate starts to work on his/her dissertation proposal. PhD Candidates are expected to complete and submit the dissertation during the fifth year.

In this page, you will find details about the Dissertation Proposals that have been defended and are now moving toward completion, along with a comprehensive listing of the INSEAD Doctoral Dissertations that have been produced since the start of the PhD Programme at INSEAD.

Doctoral students are bringing the academic community closer to esteemed scholars who have contributed a significant foundational body of work at the intersection of strategy, knowledge and innovation through an interview series that usually occur in conjunction with the Annual Strategy Management Society (or SMS) Conferences. The Strategy Foundations Interview Series is part of their requirement in the “Foundations in Strategy and Organisation” class with faculty members Gabriel Szulanski and Guoli Chen.

View All

INSEAD is affiliated with research centres and initiatives addressing a broad range of issues and industries. In Paris, INSEAD has a behavioural research centre, INSEAD-Sorbonne Behavioural Lab, where thousands of people have participated in studies. INSEAD also launched an eLab initiative, which represents INSEAD's commitment to management excellence in the digital economy. These research centres, among many others, bring together faculty members who have agreed to support a common research agenda. In many cases, they may provide unique opportunities for INSEAD PhDs to work alongside INSEAD faculty from different academic areas.