The Accounting field in Laurier’s PhD in Management program prepares you for an academic career. You will be encouraged to focus your learning and research in empirical financial accounting or behavioural accounting.

Our program provides students with a breadth of knowledge of accounting theory and research methodologies. Through teaching and research assistantships, coursework, seminars, and independent research, students develop analytical and interpretive skills as well as intellectual independence. We welcome applications from students in accounting or related fields, such as finance or economics.

We have one of the largest Accounting programs in Canada with 34 faculty and lecturers. Over the past 21 years, we have had 10 gold medallists on the Uniform Final Evaluation (now the Common Final Examination, administered by CPA Canada); this is more than any other university in Canada.

A Rigorous Research Environment

You will work independently and ethically in an advanced research program and will receive training in conducting original research, preparing scholarly publications, and communicating knowledge.

As a student in the Accounting field you will have access to:

• A small student-to-faculty ratio.
• Excellent research facilities through the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics and the CPA/Laurier Centre for the Advancement of Accounting Research and Education.
• Research funding and external grants.
• Cutting-edge research.

Course Offerings

Accounting students can focus their learning and research in empirical financial accounting or behavioural management accounting. Below are the course offerings for each respective focus.

Empirical Financial Accounting courses:

• BU801: Management Foundations
• BU802: Research Methodology
• BU817: Survey of Accounting Research
• BU827: Seminar in Financial Accounting
• BU837: Seminar in Management Accounting
• BU843: Seminar in Advanced Financial Econometrics
• BU847: Seminar in Archival Research in Accounting
• EC620: Microeconomics I
• EC640: Macroeconomics I
• EC655: Econometrics
• MF703: Seminar in Corporate Finance

Behavioural Management Accounting courses:

• BU800: Fundamentals of Behavioural Research
• BU801: Management Foundations
• BU802: Research Methodology
• BU804: Organizational Behaviour
• BU817: Survey of Accounting Research
• BU827: Seminar in Financial Accounting
• BU837: Seminar in Management Accounting
• BU842: Consumer Behaviour
• BU857: Seminar in Behavioural Research in Accounting
• MS700: Univariate and Multivariate Statistics
• PS800: Advanced Multivariate Methods

Note: The Finance area is not accepting new applications for the fall 2022 intake. They will accept new students for the fall 2023 intake. The application portal for next year's cycle will open in October 2022.

The Finance field in Laurier’s PhD in Management program is designed for the brightest and hardest-working individuals who are seeking academic and research positions. We welcome applications from students in business and related fields, such as economics, accounting, statistics and mathematics.

Our invigorating research environment is supported by highly productive and internationally recognized scholars who publish in top journals. As well, many of our graduate students have won best paper awards at conferences and have published their work in high-ranked journals.

Building on finance theory, our PhD students undertake research in four key areas of financial management: financial markets, corporate finance and governance, options and futures, and market microstructure.

We create a nurturing environment where you have access to:

• Funding and help to apply for external grants to attend and present at premier conferences.
• Widely used databases, such as WRDS, Bloomberg, Datastream, Markit, OptionMetrics.
• A weekly finance seminar series.
• A personalized approach and a small student-to-supervisor ratio.
• Excellent research facilities through the Financial Services Research Centre.
• Research funding and external grants.
• Cutting-edge research.

Course Offerings

• BU753: Empirical Studies in Fixed Income
• BU802: Research Methodology
• BU803: Theory of Asset Pricing
• BU823: Seminar in Financial Economics
• BU833: Empirical Asset Pricing
• BU843: Seminar in Advanced Financial Econometrics
• BU853: Market Microstructure, Trading and Investment Strategies
• BU863: Empirical Corporate Finance
• EC655: Econometrics

The Marketing field in Laurier’s PhD in Management program offers you the opportunity to conduct research on contemporary topics of theoretical and managerial significance. Our areas of specialization include consumer behaviour, innovation, marketing strategy, brand management, and services marketing. We welcome applications from those with education and/or experience in business and marketing or a relevant field such as psychology and economics.

Our program centres on theory development, empirical analysis, and developing managerially relevant knowledge. It builds on core theories from marketing and other disciplines (including psychology, economics, and decision sciences). You will have the opportunity to acquire a broad range of methodological skills including experimental design, surveys, qualitative research, and quantitative modelling. Our focus is to hone your research skills both through course work and by actively collaborating with you in new or ongoing research projects.

Consumer Research Lab

The state-of-the-art Consumer Research Lab is equipped with 20 computer terminals, a projector, and software for controlled experimental studies and survey-based, online data collection. The lab also includes a small break-out room with a one-way mirror for focus groups, interviews, and other tasks relevant to research studies.

Course Offerings

• BU800: Fundamentals of Behavioural Research
• BU801: Management Foundations
• BU802: Research Methodology
• BU812: Marketing Philosophy and Theory
• BU818: Qualitative Research Process
• BU822: Marketing Strategy
• BU842: Consumer Behaviour
• BU852: Service and Relationship Marketing
• BU862: Research in Brand and Product
• BU872: Special Topics in Marketing
• MS700: Univariate and Multivariate Statistics
• PS800: Advanced Multivariate Methods

Our PhD in Management degree program with a concentration in Organizational Behaviour (OB) and Human Resource Management (HRM) is a four-year program. In the first two years, you will complete courses and your comprehensive exams. In years three and four, you will focus on research with your supervisor and other faculty members. Opportunities for teaching are also available. If you complete your MSc in Management with us, you will receive credit for those courses you have already completed, which can decrease the length of the time it takes to complete this degree. This program is designed for students who wish to become academics and researchers.

Why choose OB/HRM at Laurier?

You will have the opportunity to work closely with leading scholars in the field of OB/HRM and be involved with cutting-edge research throughout your studies. Building a strong research foundation (including exposure to different theories and methodologies) is important for success in your future career.

We only admit a small number of students each year to ensure that our students can receive the mentoring that they need to succeed in an academic career. You will receive personalized guidance and individualized attention as you develop your own research and prepare for your career.

Our faculty members devote an extensive amount of time and energy into developing our students’ research capabilities and skillsets. You will be encouraged to join projects that can build this foundation and provide you with opportunities to start building your résumé with conference presentations and publications.

Required Courses

• MS700: Univariate and Multivariate Statistics
• BU800: Fundamentals of Behavioural Research
• BU802: Research Methodology
• BU804: Organizational Behaviour
• BU814: Human Resource Management
• PS800: Advanced Multivariate Methods
• BU899: Doctoral Dissertation
• Five electives chosen in consultation with the OB/HRM field coordinator

Note: Students admitted into the PhD program from the Laurier MSc in Management will be exempt from some courses already completed at the master’s level.

Learning Outcomes

You can expect coursework that is designed to provide a solid theoretical foundation in OB/HRM combined with exceptional statistical and methodological training, including research methods, research design, and quantitative analyses. You will also have the opportunity to delve deeper into topics with special topic courses, electives, and directed studies.

You will conduct your own research under the guidance of our faculty supervisors. You are expected to engage in research throughout the program, culminating in the completion of your dissertation.

You will have exposure to cutting-edge research from our faculty supervisors and guest speakers, as well as networking opportunities within the academic community.

The disciplines of Supply Chain, Operations and Technology Management seek answers to fundamental questions about the design, production, and delivery of goods and services. We welcome applications from students with backgrounds in business, mathematics, engineering, economics and related fields. Graduates of our PhD are prepared for a career in academia or research.

We create a nurturing environment where you have access to:

• A personalized approach with a small student-to-faculty ratio.
• Cutting-edge research training by active leading researchers.
• Our Centre for Supply Chain Management whose mission is to create close ties between industry and academia.
• Our "Distinguished Speaker Series," which brings in world class presenters from around the globe.

Our Faculty and Students

Our 13 faculty are leading researchers in fields such as sustainable and closed-loop supply chain management, logistics and transportation, operations management, management of innovation and technology, and stochastic modelling.

Over the past five years, faculty in Supply Chain, Operations and Technology Management have received more than $1 million in research grants from funding agencies, including the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), as well as grants from industry, including $500,000 from CN Rail. Our faculty members have published their research in top-tiered academic journals, including Management Science, Production and Operations Management, Manufacturing & Services Operations Management, JOM, JORS, Annals of OR, EJOR, Financial Management and IIE Transactions, to name just a few.

Selected Faculty/PhD Student Research Topics

• Customer acquisition, retention, and service quality for a call center: Optimal promotions, priorities, and staffing.
• Socially optimal location of facilities with fixed servers, stochastic demand and congestion.
• Flow control in capacity-constrained queueing systems with non-stationary arrivals.
• The effect of demand-supply mismatches on firm risk.
• Cost Analysis of an (S-1,S) Inventory system with two demand classes and rationing.
• Towards more innovative, eco-efficient sustainable product designs: Proposing a new DEA-based methodology.
• Corporate payout policy, cash savings, and the cost of consistency: Evidence from a structural estimation.
• An analysis of a widely used version of the CUSUM tracking signal.
• Inventory competition for news vendors with profit targets.
• Transshipment between competitive retailers.
• Three essays in product development: Competition, sustainability and channel structure.
• Modeling and analysis of value-based healthcare delivery.
• Exploring hopes and fears from supply chain innovations: An analysis of antecedents and consequences of supply chain knowledge exchanges.
• The transient collaboration model: Theory building, structural formation, and network operationalization.
• The benefit of advanced load information for truckload.

Course Offerings

• BU802: Research Methodology
• BU805: Deterministic Quantitative Analysis
• BU815: Stochastic Analysis and Simulation
• BU825: Foundations of Supply Chain Management
• BU845: Seminar in Supply Chain Management I
• BU855: Seminar in Supply Chain Management II
• BU859: Foundations of Operations Management
• EC620: Microeconomics I
• EC655: Econometrics

• Huzaifa Faizan
• Nicholle Kovach
• Kelsey Matthews
• Harjot Mehmi
• Oluwasegun Popoola
• Kainan (Paul) Xiong

• Olaleye Morohunfolu
• Paulan van Nes
• Thi Minh Hien Nguyen
• Zhe (Judy) Peng
• Seyed-Erfan Sadeghi
• Manisha Thapa

• Ali Anwar
• Sara Harcourt
• Sakshi Korde
• Jeeshan Mirza
• Andrea Reaume
• Mohammad Simjour
• Jee Hyuk Wi

• Samantha Hancock
• Sabah Rasheed

• Atousa Akhlaghy
• Tina Arabian
• Shervin Esbahbod
• Mohammad Mehdi Jourabchi
• Parang Zadtootaghaj

Academic Placements

Academic Placements

Non-Academic Placements

Academic Placements

Non-Academic Placements

Academic Placements

Non-Academic Placements

Academic Placements

Non-Academic Placements

• A master’s degree in business or related field with a minimum B+ standing.
• A GMAT score of at least 650 or a GRE score of at least 305. Please note that the GMAT/GRE requirement is mandatory for the application and cannot be waived.
• Proficiency in English.
• Applications are reviewed by the graduate program committee, which considers all prior university grades, a statement of research interests, an academic writing sample, and letters of reference.

Applications will be considered until the program is full.

After you have submitted your OUAC application, paid the non-refundable application fee, and Laurier has received your application, you'll receive an email from gradadmissions@wlu.ca advising you to upload the additional required documentation to Laurier’s Online Registration and Information System (LORIS).

Please note, the application process and the uploading of supplemental documentation, which includes references, typically takes two weeks. To avoid disappointment, apply early.

An application for admission to our PhD program in Management must include:

• The OUAC Application Summary, which is generated after you complete your OUAC application (log back in to OUAC to retrieve it).
• Transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate work.
• A completed statement of intent.
• A resume of your academic and work experience. Include a history of your publication and scholarly paper activity and any other information you feel will interest the admissions committee.
• A sample of your scholarly writing (10-20 pages in length). This may be a chapter of your master's thesis or a paper written for a graduate course.
• Completed reference forms. Two academic references are required. Note: Reference forms are electronically submitted to Laurier by the referee and do not need to be uploaded.
• Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) test scores. GMAT test scores of at least 85 percentile are standard. Where appropriate, corresponding Graduate Records Examinations (GRE) scores will be accepted.

Visit our Graduate Admissions Toolkit for more information about applying.

Proficiency in written and spoken English is essential to graduate studies at Laurier. Applicants whose language of instruction during their previous postsecondary education was not in English must submit evidence of proficiency in English. If applicable, results from accepted testing services must be uploaded to LORIS.