Organizational Behavior (Management)

[Socio]

I am in the process of getting into a master's program in Sociology and my background is in economics and math. Is a master's degree in Sociology a good preparation for a PhD in Organizational Behavior (or generally Management)? What is an ideal preparation for such a program?

[Socio]

Anybody?

[Kee]

Hi Socio,
I'm not 100% sure about sociology, but I think it might be good. I have a master's degree in Industrial/Organizational psychology, and I've been accepted into a few OB PhD programs. I've been told that programs like the I/O background. Psych and soc. are pretty close...

[gheffo]

Hey Socio, it depends on what approach you want to take in your research. Generally, folks in OB will take a psychological, sociological, or economic perspective. Math/Statistics will also help in your research as it will in most doctoral programs.

[desimba]

If you are interested in OB, then a Masters degree in Sociology is probably the best preparation that you can have. Looking at your background, you have the necessary math background for an OB program and either psychology/ sociology would serve as excellent backgrounds.
The answer for management depends very much on the area which you are interested in. For somebody interested in a heavily quantitative discipline, such as Finance or Economics, a Masters in Math is optimal. For somebody interested in Strategy, an MBA might be the best preparation. And if somebody is interested in Operations, a background in Engineering can be very useful.

[grkevin]

i'd recommend asking the PhD coordinator in that department at your school for his or her opinion. i would also probably email a bunch of the PhD coordinators of other school's organizational behavior departments and ask their opinions. they could probably tell you better than we could what they are looking for in applicants...

[Socio]

Thank you all for the input. I will, of course, dig more into the subject as to what would ultimately be the best preparation for a PhD in OB. I have applied to a couple of sociology departments and I am thinking that that route will be the best for me. I have taken two semesters of graduate econometrics in addition to a minor in math, so I am hoping that it will be enough to signal my preparation for the emperical aspect of PhD work.

[tkkoh]

Sociology is relevant for marco OB, while psychology is relevant for micro OB. Then there is also meso.

So if you are interested in doing org-level analysis, social network, etc., a Master in Sociology is going to be helpful.