NYU Wagner

Doctoral Program

Fields of Study

• Research Methods (Required)
• Finance *
• Policy *
• Management *
• Health Policy
• Urban
• Customized (with permission)

Management

Download detailed Field Description (pdf)

This field is concerned with the understanding of organizations and their management. It encompasses several domains of study, including organizational theory, organizational behavior and the various subfields of what traditionally constitutes the management, decision –making and administrative sciences for public and non-profit organizations. The field is concerned with knowledge about people, systems, processes, structures and cultures within organizations, the interconnections between organizations and their environments, as well as their management. In this context the field encompasses the intellectual framework underlying traditional and innovative trends in public service management, including public administration, public management and new public management perspectives.

The activities and requirements for this field will offer Ph.D. students preparation to do research and teach in the broad area of organizations and management. Because the nature of this concentration is both interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary, students should become familiar with relevant social science contributions to the field provided by psychology, sociology, institutional economics and political science, as well as by disciplines such as public administration, law, history, philosophy of science and literature. It is legitimate for a student to choose to concentrate on a particular social science perspective or on a narrower set of disciplines to fit his or her specific interest, as long as the preparation provides sufficient breath and depth to satisfy the expectations outlined in the Field Description (pdf).

Scope and purpose of the field

Given the vastness and diversity of perspective in the understanding of organization and management, we encourage each student to consider three broad categories of study when preparing for this field: a) theory; b) significant themes and problems; and c) appropriate methods of inquiry.

By actively engaging in the strategies, activities and courses described below, we expect that a concentration in this field will provide the graduating doctoral student with the ability to:

• Discuss the role and importance of theory, both in the context of public service management and in the context of social science in general;
• Identify, describe and assess the soundness of a variety of theoretical perspectives that shape the main themes and problems in the organization and management field, and place them within some coherent classification scheme that provides a conceptual map of the terrain;
• Apply the existing theoretical perspectives to the identification, analysis and understanding of critical themes and problems in the field, as well as of several existing typologies of organizations in the literature;
• Create or extend a theory about organizational or managerial phenomena when engaging in research and teaching in the area;
• Make theories operational by identifying variables, constructs and relationships as well as inquiry strategies and methods that help develop empirical research to study organizational and managerial phenomena
• In the Comprehensive Examination in management students must demonstrate their knowledge and comprehension of the literature, their capacity to analyze and to assess critically the major concepts, theories and research in the field, and their capacity to present these perspectives in a well-documented, cogent, clear and logical manner. Students are strongly encouraged to discuss with the management faculty their program of study for the exam, and to review samples of exams from previous years to become familiar with the approaches and questions included.