PhD Marketing Management

Purpose

The purpose of this qualification is to develop applied and highly specialized competencies and practical skills in the acquisition, interpretation, comprehension and application of marketing management principles. The qualification also intends to make original contributions to the field.

Outcomes (Thesis based) Students should be able to:
• Research writing and creative thinking skills in Marketing Management,
• Display competence in the application of related research methodology,
• Take strategic decisions in the context of Marketing Management,
• Reflect on managerial decisions and applications to assess the effect thereof in the holistic context of Marketing Management.

Outcomes (article based) Students should be able to:
• Reflect on managerial decisions and applications to assess the effect thereof in the holistic context of Marketing Management;
• Provide an introduction that would introduce the overall theme of the thesis and the research questions to be investigated in the articles, thus also setting out the structure of the dissertation or thesis. In addition, the introduction should also contain cross-cutting issues that relate to all the articles;
• Provide a conclusion that summarizes the key findings of articles, thereby highlighting the contribution to the body of knowledge in the field. It draws the different articles together under their unified theme in order to present a coherent integrated body of work;
• Produce a collection of normally four or a minimum of three articles accepted for publication but not necessarily published:
• Each containing its own literature review, that is scientifically founded on a rigorous theoretical argument;
• That must be accepted for publication in journals ranked in the top quartile as defined in a subject field as defined by SCImago Journal & Country Rank and listed in the Scopus database, although not necessarily published at the time of submission to CBE for external examination;
• Indicating that permission from the journal(s) was obtained to publish them as a bundle in the theses and journal editors would need to be made aware and a disclaimer included in the articles that these are for the thesis; and
• Produce a minimum of two research units from a minimum of two articles accepted for publication.

Admission Requirements

Rules of access (Thesis based):
A student who is in possession of a university based Master’s qualification in Marketing Management with a minimum of 65% or higher on NQF LEVEL: 9 may apply for admission to this qualification. The student must have completed an honours module of Research Methodology (NQF LEVEL 8 or 9) undertaken as part of a postgraduate degree with an average of 60% or higher. Successful candidates are required to do preparatory work such as pre-reading, literature reviews, concept development and the successful completion of short courses and/or knowledge developments as part of their proposal writing requirements. In addition, candidates will also be required to defend their research proposals at a special School/departmental session. Student number constraints may limit the number of intake for the next year and necessitate a selection process consisting of selection interviews and a research proposal exercise. The Dean of the College of Business and Economics may refuse a student admission to the Doctoral qualification if of the opinion that the student’s academic background is insufficient for the proposed studies.

Rules of access (article based):
A student who is in possession of a Master’s qualification in Marketing Management (on NQF level 9) with a minimum of 75% or higher may apply for admission to this format. In addition, the student must have completed a module of Research Methodology (on NQF level 8 or 9) as part of a postgraduate qualification with an average of 60% or higher. Student number constraints may limit the number of intake for the next year and necessitates a selection process consisting of selection interviews and a research proposal exercise. Finalisation of registration for the programme (and /or continued registration) is subject to the applicants complying with School/departmental specific requirements. Such requirements usually include preparatory work leading up to a research proposal that is approved by the School/department. Possible examples or preparatory work are pre-reading, literature reviews, concept development and successful completion of short courses aimed and and/or knowledge developments. Candidates are required to successfully defend their research proposals at a special School/departmental session. The Dean of the College of Business and Economics may refuse a student admission to the Doctoral qualification if of the opinion that the students’ academic background is insufficient for the proposed studies.

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