Ph.D. in Management or FPM from India

There are enough authentic articles on the web that speaks about what PhD is, what PhD is not, how to choose advisor etc. On a lighter vein this link https://www.phdcomics.com/comics.php is interesting. Prof. Pankaj (IIT Kanpur) has a good write-up on doing PhD (https://www.iiitd.edu.in/~jalote/docs/PhDin4Yrs.pdf). Though the focus is on computer science, it is applicable for other subjects like management. The write-up by Prof. Sarangi (IIT Delhi) is also good: (http://www.cse.iitd.ernet.in/~srsarangi/articles.html#all_about_phd). Another good webpage is by Prof. Matt Might (http://matt.might.net/articles/phd-school-in-pictures/).

The purpose of this page is to introduce the variety of options available for pursuing PhD in Management in India to prospective researchers. Many others would have excellent information regarding the programmes. I am providing a perspective based on my experience. The intention is only to disseminate whatever little knowledge I have, regarding Management PhD from India.

Note: A few years ago, many IIMs have begun to grant PhD degree and each IIM have begun to adopt different structures for their doctoral programmes. In this page, I continue to use the term "FPM" for ease of understanding. I initially compiled this content during 2011-2017. Many changes have happened after this time period. These can be best understood by visiting the website of your target institution. The content on this page could be considered as a lens to view the different paths.

Once you have decided to pursue a Management PhD from India, what are your options? Broady speaking you can choose a B-School or a non B-School.

Non B-Schools

a) Department of Management Studies of state, central, deemed universities and affiliated colleges offer PhD programmes. Some examples are Anna University Chennai, Pondicherry University, Madras University, Kerala University, PSG College Coimbatore, Madras Scool of Economics, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University, BITS Pilani, etc.

b) Students interested to pursue PhD in Industrial Management related subjects can explore the Industrial Engineering/ Production Engineering Departments of various universities and colleges including NITs, IITs.

c) NITs and IITs also have a Department of Management Studies or School of Management studies, Industrial Engineering and Production Engineering Departments. For example, NIT Trichy has a Department of Management Studies and a Production Engineering Department. IISc has a Department of Management Studies (many are not aware of this). Some IITs have Humanities and Social Sciences Department where students pursue PhD programmes in Religion, Economics, Sociology, etc. Please search for such programs in respective IIT websites.

d) Students interested to pursue a management PhD with a legal angle, for example securities market, waste management, financial crimes etc., can also explore National Law Schools in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kolkata.SS The specific names of these schools varies. NLSIU in Bangalore, NALSAR in Hyderabad, NUJS in Kolkata, and so on. Please search in their respective websites.

e) There are also institutes like CDS Trivandrum, ISEC Bangalore, NIAS Bangalore and many more reputed niche institutes researching on specific areas like population, education etc.

B-Schools

B-Schools like IIMs, ISB Hyderabad, XLRI, IRMA, MICA, NITIE etc. offer a Fellow in Management which is equivalent to a PhD. As said in the beginning of this page, some of these institutes have begun to award PhD degrees based on the UGC Act.

What is the difference among these institutes?

Universities follow one system (semester system, 4-6 courses and then research).

B-Scools like IIMs, ISB etc. follow another system (trimester system, 24-36 courses and then research).

1) Non B-Schools that offer a PhD have <= 1 year course work. State and Central Universities, IITs, NITs, IISc, NIAS (National Institue of Advaced Studies) etc. have 4-6 courses to be taken. National Law School Bangalore has course work spanning three months or less. You can start your research after completing the course work ( provided you clear the comprehensive exams! ).

2) B-Schools like IIMs, ISB Hyderabad, XLRI, IRMA, etc. have a 2 year course work. You would have to take 24-36 courses (depending on which B-School you are in) before attempting the comprehensive exams. B-Schools claim that this intensive course work would

- enable students to have a sufficient breadth in management discipline

- ground students in a variety of tools required for management research

- enable students to find answers to interesting questions in the future, after their PhD

3) Most B-Schools do not offer part-time or external programmes (XLRI, MDI are exceptions). State, Central Universities, IITs, NITs, IISc etc. have part-time/ external programmes. If you do not want to quit your job, these are good options. For example, IIM Indore has an FPM (Industry) programme for professionals with more than 10 years experience (I do not know the details of this programme).

4) Generally, B-Schools offer an attractive stipend for doctoral students. Most B-Schools do not require a post-graduation if you have a professional bachelor degree. But NITs, IITs, IISc and other universities usually insist on post-graduation qualification even if you have a professional bachelor degree. (There are cases where exceptionally bright students have done PhD in IITs, IISc, NITs after the under-graduation.)

5) If you have a professional bachelor degree only, B-Schools are a good option for pursuing a PhD as you do not have to do a masters.

6) B-Schools give a Fellow title, while non B-Schools like University Departments, IITs, NITs, NLS, IISc give a PhD title. The title does not matter in the long run. It is your ability to do good research that matters. Hence, you need not have any qualms about the Fellow or PhD title.

7) The course work offered in B-Schools is intensive and will expose you to a variety of courses. You would get all the stuff under one roof. You may not use all these courses immediately for your dissertation, but it will equip you with enough armoury to do management research after completing the PhD.

How do I choose an institute?

A few thumb rules are:

a) If you have a professional bachelor degree and you have no idea of management or the topic of interest, you can go for B-Schools as they teach you from scratch.

b) If you have a masters degree, can't leave your job and want to work on a topic that is related to your job, apply to IISc, IITs or National Law Schools for part-time/ external PhD. If you have good quality work experience, this is a good option.

For example, if you have a masters degree in statistics and you are working for an analytics company, you can register for a part-time or external PhD at IISc or IITs.

c) If you have a master degree and you are attracted to a particular topic and you find a prof. who works in the same topic and has earned a name for himself, join the institute where the prof. works after speaking with him. Please do remember that PhD is all about you, your topic and your prof. Your path to fame would be solely based on your research output and not based on the institute you study. But a branded institute would help you to get the right connections and data for your research.

d) The issue of stipends, family accomodation etc. is a personal choice and best left to the doctoral aspirant to decide.

FPM from IIMs versus PhD from IITs

Funding: IIMs offer fellowships i.e. you do not have to pay any fee during the course of your study. IITs do not offer fellowships i.e. you receive the stipend (set by UGC) and have to pay tuition fee per semester. Also, most IIMs offer better stipend than IITs. Most IIMs give computer reimbursement, conference grants, reimbursement of costs incurred in fieldwork etc.

Coursework & Research: If you want to do theoretical research in Statistics, Mathematics, then IIMs are not for you. But, I have seen many of them joining IIMs and cribbing about the fact that IIMs do not do theoretical research in Statistics, Mathematics (there are few profs who does theoretical research..but very few). Coursework is quite lengthy at IIMs. Some research focussed students are too tired of this lengthy coursework. Many courses will not help us in our research. These courses will give a breadth of understanding..thats it. This is because IIMs give a Fellow in 'Management'. For example; a student researching on Public Policy area will be doing courses in Marketing, OB, Finance, Operations, Mathematics, etc. in IIMs. But, this same student will not do such courses in IITs, NIAS, ISEC, IISc, etc.

Fellow versus PhD: Any business school or departments of management studies of NITs/IITs/other similar ones will consider Fellow and PhD for faculty positions. I have seen cases where some State/Central Universities do not consider FPM titles for faculty positions. Another case - Fellow in Quantitative Methods will not be considered for faculty recruitment into a Statistics department of State/Central Universities/IITs/NITs (there would be some exceptions).