Shaping leaders, driving results.

BREADTH COURSES

The breadth courses consist of the three categories.   Prerequisite skill courses, OTIM seminar courses, and OTIM foundation courses.  The breadth courses will serve as the basis of the doctoral comprehensive examination.  Students are expected to perform well in these courses. Students should aspire to earn an H, but no less than a P in each of these courses.  Poor performance in any one of these courses will be immediately brought to the attention of the area faculty for their advice and possible remedial action.

Prerequisite skill classes:  Depending on the academic background of a student, he/she may need basic prerequisite courses in economics, deterministic modeling, or mathematical statistics.    The following courses have been identified as prerequisite courses.

ECON 700:    (QM “Bootcamp”)   is recommended for students who have been out of an academic environment for several years, international students in the U.S. for the first time or students whose analytical skills are “rusty.”  While this is a 3 credit hour course offered in August, the course covers quantitative skills at an undergraduate level.  Consequently, the 3 credit hours DO NOT count toward the 45 hours of doctoral course credit.

STOR 612 (Models in Operations Research) and STOR 555 (Mathematical Statistics) are necessary prerequisite courses for students to take higher level courses in operations research and statistics.  Students who have already taken the equivalents of STOR 612 and 555 in a recent previous degree program may not need to retake these courses.  This will be determined on a case-by-case basis between the student and the Ph.D. faculty advisor.  Credit from these courses will count toward the 45 hour course requirement.

OTIM Seminar Courses:  The following doctoral seminar core courses are required of all OTIM doctoral students.  While the actual course offerings may vary depending on staff availability in a given year, each student will be required to take Busi 830, 831, 837 and 838 (if offered) during their studies.   The faculty reserves the right to modify these requirements to reflect current offerings by the area.

Busi 830  Theory of Operations Management 1

Busi 831  Theory of Operations Management II

Busi 837  Advanced Topics in Operations Management

Busi 838  Special Topics in Operations Management *

Busi 899  Seminar*

* These courses may be taken multiple times.

OTIM Foundation Courses:  The following graduate courses are required so that students develop appropriate skills to conduct rigorous research in OTIM and supply chain management.  These courses cover deterministic modeling, stochastic modeling, statistical analysis (including the general linear model) and economic analysis/game theory.  Students who present an equivalent course at the graduate level to any one of these courses will be required to substitute a higher- level course offered at the doctoral level in a relevant academic department.

Stor  614  Linear Programming

Stor  641   Stochastic Processes I

Stor  642  Stochastic Processes II

Stor  664  Applied Statistics 1

Econ 710  Advanced Microeconomics 1

Econ 711   Advanced Microeconomics II

The faculty will assume that students have taken the breadth courses (or approved substitutes) at the time of the PhD Comprehensive examination.   These courses collectively constitute the basic foundation of knowledge needed to conduct scholarly research in Operations Management.  The faculty will expect students to have mastered this material at the time of the comprehensive examination, and accordingly, the comprehensive examination questions will be based on this set of material. Even if a student takes a higher-level course or an approved substitute in place of one of the listed courses, he/she will be expected to maintain a current working knowledge of the material covered in that listed course.  He/she will be responsible for the material in the listed course in the comprehensive examination.

DEPTH COURSES

Each student must choose at least one research depth track and take at least two advanced courses (beyond the breadth courses) in that track.  Appropriate courses may be taken as doctoral seminars from other areas in the Kenan-Flagler Business School, doctoral-level courses for other departments, and doctoral-level courses from sister institutions. The courses chosen in the depth track must be approved by the Ph.D. advisor with the advice of area faculty.   

Track 1:   Optimal Design of Operations Systems and Supply Chain Networks; Inventory  Management

This track will require the student to take advanced courses in optimization.

Track 2:   Stochastic Analysis of Operations Systems and Supply Chain

Networks;  Dynamic Pricing and Revenue Management

This track will require the student to take advanced courses in stochastic

optimization.

Track 3:  Empirical Research in Operations and Supply Chain Management

This track will require the student to take advanced courses in econometrics, applied statistics, and/or empirical analysis in order to analyze primary or secondary data related to operations and supply chain management.  In addition, this track includes research on behavioral issues in operations/supply chain management.

Track 4:  Competition and Coordination in Supply Chain Management

This track will require the student to take advanced courses in economic analysis, including game theory.

ELECTIVE COURSES

Depending on their program of study, students may complete the balance of the curriculum (usually 1-3 courses) by taking elective courses to help develop competence in both content and methodology in preparation for doctoral research.  Elective courses may consist of additional  courses in the selected depth track, courses from another depth track, courses from other areas in the Kenan-Flagler Business School and/or approved courses from other departments in the university or at a sister institution.  Courses must be taken at the graduate level and require pre-approval from the PhD Program Representative.

OTHER COMPONENTS

Other components of the curriculum are not course-related, but they provide opportunities for students to truly  develop into academic scholars. Mentoring begins early, when a student first enters the doctoral program, and  continues until the student has successfully defended a dissertation. Students are presented with opportunities to  work with the faculty in collaborative research projects. Many students eventually present their research at  international academic conferences. The OTIM area has also regularly sponsored an outside speaker series and has featured presentations by well-known researchers.

IMPLEMENTATION

The revised doctoral curriculum will apply to all students who have taken fewer than 30 hours in the doctoral program prior to August 1, 2008.  Each semester the area faculty will review the progress of each student in meeting his/her curricular requirements.  At any time, but particularly when the doctoral comprehensive examination is given, the area faculty may require an individual student to take or re-take specific courses that may or may not be listed in this curriculum.  The advice of the faculty is binding and pre-empts any student discretion in course selection that may be implied within the curriculum.