Accounting and Management

Description

The doctoral program in Accounting and Management focuses on understanding the role of information and measurement systems for:

• Allocating resources among firms in the economy and between departments or divisions of individual firms
• Rewarding and monitoring the performance of managers
• Formulating, executing and evaluating strategy by firm managers
• Understanding the profitability of suppliers, products, customers, distribution channels, and business units
• Managing franchise risk

More detailed questions that have recently been examined by doctoral students include:

• The ways in which managers use retail-level marketing actions to influence the timing of consumer purchases in relation to their firms’ fiscal calendars and financial performance as well as those of their competitors.
• The role of accounting information in strategic human resource decisions.
• The evolution, consequences and institutional determinants of unregulated financial reporting practices.
• The effects of adopting rolling forecasts on forecast quality

Contents

Our programs are full-time degree programs which officially begin in September. Students are expected to complete their program in five years. Students typically spend their first two years on course work, at the end of which they take a field exam, and then another two years on dissertation research and writing.

COURSEWORK

Each of the five DBA programs require a minimum of 13 semester long doctoral courses. Students in the Accounting and Management program complete courses in the areas of business management theory, economic theory, quantitative research methods, academic field seminars, and the Business Education for Scholars and Teachers (BEST) Series. In addition to HBS courses, students may take courses at other Harvard Schools and MIT.

Requirements

REQUIRED APPLICATION MATERIALS

• Completed online application form
• Resume
• Statement of Purpose
• Transcripts for all college/university degrees and courses:

Self-reported transcripts are accepted for both DBA programsand PhD programs. Applicants must upload copies of his/her transcripts to the online application system. Hard copy transcripts will only be required if admitted to a program, prior to enrollment. GSAS no longer requires hard copy transcripts to be submitted for PhD Programs (Business Economics, Health Policy Management, and Organizational Behavior) at the application stage. Similarly, DBA programs only require electronic copies at the application stage.

• Current GMAT or GRE scores (see details below)
• TOEFL scores (non-native English speakers see details below)
• Three letters of recommendation (at least one from an academic source). Recommendation letters must be submitted online through the online application system. Hard copy recommendation letters will not be accepted.
• $105 application fee via credit card

English Language Requirements

TOEFL iBT® test: 80

Funding

All incoming students, regardless of need and background, are awarded a fellowship which includes tuition, single-person health fees, and a living stipend ($39,600 for 2014-2015).

Although there is no formal commitment, it is expected that a similar level of financial aid will be awarded for up to five years. All financial aid awards are contingent upon a student's satisfactory academic progress.