Department of Management Science (Doctoral Course)

Department of Management Science (doctoral course)

* Lectures given in Japanese only

This department accepts individuals who possess a master's or professional degree and have accumulated advanced practical experience in companies and other organizations, through which they have developed knowledge and awareness of management issues. Based on this awareness, they are expected to complete a doctoral thesis within a three-year enrollment period. Through this program, we will cultivate global business leaders who can play an active role in this field by demonstrating the insights and other abilities they have cultivated through their research, which will culminate in the completion of their theses. Further, we will maintain flexibility and work with students to enable them to take courses while employed and maintaining a job elsewhere.

Three specialized areas

In this doctoral degree program, candidates receive instruction in one of three research areas to enhance their expertise and develop a comprehensive profile that will be useful in practice.

Financial Practice Field

<Specific attributes to cultivate>

  • Human resources who can thoroughly understand the current state of overseas markets in the finance field, analyze them from a practical perspective and based on best practices in financial securities markets, and independently design and implement finance strategies.
  • Human resources who can logically explain their strategies in English to foreign experts and possess expert negotiation and resolution skills.
Service innovation and design

<Specific attributes to cultivate>

  • Specialized human resources who can observe, analyze, and evaluate service activities from a global perspective in response to the challenges entailed in increasing the added value of various services, which companies and public organizations currently confront given the development of the service economy, and who can build and verify their own frameworks used to create service value.
  • Human resources who can explain and persuade foreign service management specialists. Furthermore, specialist human resources who can lead in a business context and innovate from a design perspective in various areas of business development.
Project management

<Specific attributes to cultivate>

  • Human resources with the ability to conduct theoretical and empirical analyses of management technologies used in the financing, bidding, contract management, dispute resolution, operation, and maintenance of large-scale projects in Japan and other countries.
  • Human resources who can analyze the risk and governance structures of large-scale projects and implement and manage the analysis results.
  • Human resources who can understand laws, customs, and socioeconomics in the target country across disciplines and to analyze the institutional infrastructure that supports project contracts from an international perspective.

Composition of subjects in the doctoral degree program

Doctoral degree students enroll in basic doctoral subjects, doctoral specialized subjects, Management Science Research Practicum, and Special Management Science Exercise as coursework.

  • Basic doctoral subjects are indispensable subjects common to each research area and are taken in the first year.
  • Specialized doctoral subjects are offered to ensure that students acquire knowledge of a sophisticated theoretical system related to each field and are taken in the first and second years.
  • A total of eight credits must be acquired for basic doctoral subjects and specialized doctoral subjects.
  • The Management Science Research Practicum involves analyzing business models and creating business case teaching materials through case study research. Students must take classes focused on this subject in their first and second years and acquire a total of four credits.
  • Special Management Science Exercise is research guidance provided by supervisors and requires the acquisition of credits for I to VI (a total of 12 credits) each semester during a student’s first, second, and third years in the program.
  • To advance to the subsequent year of study, students must pass a "preliminary review," in which their academic ability to prepare their doctoral thesis is assessed at the end of the first year, and a "qualification review," which is the actual preparation of their doctoral thesis, at the end of the second year.
  • In this doctoral degree program, research guidance is provided by several teachers, who form research advisory and professional area guidance teams.
  • The degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Management Science will be awarded to students who are enrolled for three years or more, who have acquired a total of 24 or more credits, and who have passed their doctoral thesis review.

In addition, given our expectation that this program will attract students with diverse backgrounds, those who are deemed as lacking sufficient basic academic abilities related to management science shall be obliged to enroll in basic academic ability achievement subjects in management science (Graduate School of Management basic subjects: MBA basic subjects) and shall confirm their achievements, knowledge, and abilities. No credits may be earned for these courses.

Message from the Dean

Dean, Graduate School of Management, Kyoto Dr. Norio SAWABE

Dean, Graduate School of Management, Kyoto University
Prof. Norio SAWABE

The Graduate School of Management (GSM), Kyoto University was established in April, 2006 in Kyoto. Based on the Kyoto University’s historical commitment to academic freedom, GSM aims at contributing to the diverse and harmonious development of global society by conducting management research with high ethical standards and by developing an educational system that bridges cutting-edge research and specialized practice and educates highly distinctive professionals who take leadership in a wide range of fields.

In order to fulfill above mentioned mission, GSM provides PhD course for individuals with advanced practical experience in companies and other organizations. Our PhD course aims to cultivate global leaders who actively bridges practice and academic research.

Our faculty members have a wide variety of academic disciplinary backgrounds such as economics, engineering, management science, accounting, informatics, and so on. About 150 faculty members, of which about 40 are full-time, collaborate together to advance research and education to cope with challenges that our society faces now. Activities of the Center for Research in Business Administration, endowed chairs, endowed lectures, collaborative research chairs, visiting lectures, executive education program, and introductory program illustrates our latest research and education in collaboration with business enterprises and NPO/NGOs.

Our name the Graduate School of MANAGEMENT manifests our ambition to nurture management leaders, and to conduct management research, beyond business sphere. The role of management leaders is to make decisions in uncertain world and take responsibility to make the decision right in the end. A management guru, who considers himself as a social ecologist, after examining the origin of totalitarianism, stated that freedom is a responsible choice. In this turbulent era, management leaders who bears responsibility to make “right” decisions are needed in every corner of the world. We welcome, regardless of race, gender, and nationality, students who are committed to make a better world by educating themselves and improving our knowledge through scientific endeavor.

Message from a graduate

Mr. Keiji Murakami

Mr. Keiji Murakami, Project Management Area, Doctoral Degree Program, completed March 2019

I entered the Graduate School of Management (GSM) to enhance my logical thinking and practical skills and also to become a management specialist in an academic context and a business management resource in the real-world business context. Consequently, I feel that I fully obtained my desired results through my research and the writing of my thesis.
The lecturers at GSM were highly skilled and I gained significant knowledge from them; the level of excellence and inspiration of the students already in the workforce alongside whom I learned was higher than expected. I am also grateful that my advisor was a leading expert in the academic world and was also supportive in the instruction he provided to me. I was able to participate in academic conferences and study groups owing to his guidance, and the exchanges of opinions with high-level experts that I enjoyed through research presentations and discussions were extremely significant.
Regarding research activities, the first semester of the first year focuses on fundamental subjects, but from the second semester of the first year onward, we shifted to specialized subjects, deepened our knowledge of theory in our specialized areas, and proceeded with preparations for writing our doctoral theses. To pass the interim review, we had to submit one or more papers, but I submitted two peer-reviewed papers to the Global Business Journal, given the composition of my doctoral thesis. Receiving the advice of the reviewers was very helpful and allowed me to effectively polish my thesis at this stage.
The biggest challenge I confronted in my doctoral thesis was determining approaches through which I could enhance its creativity. Focusing on issues raised by previous studies, finding novelty in the core propositions, and increasing the value of the evidence required the most time. In this regard, I received guidance from advisors, assistant advisors, and other relevant parties, and was able to bring the thesis closer to perfection.
As a working professional, I struggled with time management because I conducted my research activities while also maintaining a busy life. Nevertheless, I believe that the main factor driving my successful completion of the doctoral degree program was my conviction that its completion was of great academic value and also my desire to finish the program with a paper that could be put into practice. Earning a doctoral degree and being able to attend the commencement ceremony as salutatorian was the moment at which my efforts from the preceding three years were rewarded and I experienced true joy.
I intend to contribute to the development of GSM as a graduate student and strive to play an active role in business as a management human resource.
Finally, I encourage those who are considering enrolling in this doctoral degree program to take on the challenge with eagerness. Although obtaining a doctoral degree is by no means an easy path, I believe that such efforts will lead to confidence and produce significant results, in addition to improving one’s standing among one’s peers and society at-large.