Programmes Structure

What is unique about the research degree education at the College of Business? "We want to give students a broader base of graduate business education through a set of tailor-made courses, which should help expand their horizons. The fact that some courses are shared by MPhil and PhD programmes provides invaluable opportunities for students to mingle with and learn from one another. Through these initiatives, the quality of research degree programmes would be enhanced and a stronger research culture should emerge,"said Prof Y V Hui, former Associate Dean (Research) of the College.

MPhil Programme

Candidates enrolled in the MPhil programme are required to take four courses and complete other relevant coursework, if any, as prescribed by the Qualifying Panels, and write a thesis in Year 2. These four courses are College and University core courses, which are also taken by PhD candidates.

The above schedule of courses is catered for full-time candidates. For those pursuing parttime studies and admitted in mid-year, the schedule will need to be adjusted in consultation with their Qualifying Panels. In exceptional circumstances where candidates can demonstrate their scholarly attributes to the satisfaction of their Qualifying Panels, they can be exempted from part or all of the courses subject to approval by the College Graduate Studies Committee.

Business Research Methods provides a broad overview of business research methods, enables students to understand the fundamental principles of knowledge creation in business research and builds basic research competence.

During the summer preceding Year 2, candidates are required to do a Project which helps them gather momentum in writing the thesis.

The Multi-Disciplinary Research Workshop in Year 2 is designed for students to understand, appreciate and resolve research issues in conducting contemporary business research. It aims to expose students to a broad range of research across different business disciplines.

Each candidate is required to submit a Qualifying Report within a specified period. Subject to satisfactory performance of the candidate in coursework and in Qualifying Report as assessed by the Qualifying Panel established for the candidate, the candidature will be confirmed. Once having been confirmed the MPhil candidature, the candidate will proceed to write the thesis.
 

PhD Programme

PhD candidates will take the same College and University core courses as MPhil candidates.

In addition, they have to take an extra course listed below:

Year 3 FB8914 Doctoral Seminar (3 CU, Semester B)

Similarly, the above course schedule is catered for full-time candidates. For those pursuing part-time studies and admitted in mid-year, the schedule will need to be adjusted in consultation with their Qualifying Panels. In addition to the five core courses, PhD candidates also need to complete other relevant coursework, if any, as prescribed by the Qualifying Panels. In exceptional circumstances where candidates can demonstrate their scholarly attributes to the satisfaction of their Qualifying Panels, they can be exempted from part or all of the courses, subject to approval by the College Graduate Studies Committee.

Doctoral Seminar is concerned with general and cross-disciplinary business research and is a research seminar for all doctoral students particularly in their 3rd year of study. Students joining this seminar are presumed to have completed significant amount of research at the doctoral level since in each week they will need to present their research to the class for indepth discussion. A primary objective is to broaden students’ perspectives in contemporary business research. It also provides opportunities for students to develop research critique and communication skills in presenting and defending their research in a rigorous and constructive manner to a multi-disciplinary audience.

Full-time students have to sit for a Comprehensive Examination normally in the summer of Year 2, while part-timers have it later. Its objective is to test students’ knowledge of major subject areas of their research disciplines and their ability to integrate the theories and concepts learned from the taught courses, as well as in analysing cases and solving problems. The minimum duration of the Examination is 6 hours, which takes the form of two 3-hour lots. One of them must be written examination while the other can either be a take-home or oral examination.

Courses Offered

General Requirements

Report Submission

1. Qualifying Report
Students are required to submit a qualifying report (in English) within the specified qualifying periods as follows:
Full-time students: within 6 - 12 months from commencement of study
Part-time students: within 9 - 18 months from commencement of study
The qualifying report should include a survey of the relevant literature, an identification of a specific research topic, the research methodology and a discussion on the possible outcomes.

2. Annual Report
Students who have been permitted to continue their studies or transfer to PhD (for MPhil students) after the qualifying period are required to submit a progress report (in English) on an annual basis until they have submitted their theses for assessment.

Medium of Instruction and Thesis Presentation
The normal medium of instruction and assessment at the University is English. For thesis presentation, the normal medium is also English.
Research students are required to write their theses in English, unless they provide very strong reasons for justifying their use of another language.

MPhil / PhD Awards
To earn the MPhil or PhD award, candidates should successfully complete the prescribed coursework and for PhD candidates, they must pass the Comprehensive Examination. The results of research will need to be presented in a thesis which gives evidence of a sound understanding of the area of study, its content and applicability. The MPhil thesis should make a contribution to knowledge while a substantial original contribution to knowledge in the subject area concerned is required of PhD thesis.
Both MPhil and PhD candidates must satisfy the examiners in respect of the thesis submitted, in an oral examination on the thesis and area of study concerned.
Those who have satisfied all requirements for the degree for which they are registered shall be recommended by the Panel of Examiners for the award of the degree.

Research Output
The College strongly encourages research degree students to provide evidence of scholarly work through publications which have been accepted or published by good quality journals during their candidature.