Ashcroft International Business School offers doctorate programmes in a range of areas based on the expertise of our academic staff. The research we deliver is highly relevant and has a high impact through a two-way process that both develops and improves organisations' value adding activities in a fast-changing international context and advances academic knowledge.

Ashcroft International Business School brings together researchers, research students and practitioners from across the management disciplines and different sectors to explore real-world challenges. This means we develop programmes that are, international, integrative, responsive and connected. Our relevance derives from the fact that our research programme is closely aligned to the needs of business. Our research and research programmes have developed strong:

• relationships with regional, national and international governmental and non-governmental bodies
• relationships with regional enterprises to create a knowledge transfer system
• relationships between the practitioner and academic communities
• linkages between research and pedagogical activities
• awareness of current strategic and organisational challenges to corporate and governmental policy makers

These linkages and the underlying expertise provide the foundation on which we develop our doctorate programmes.

Supervision and support

Academic supervision is available in most areas of Business and Management. However, we have particular expertise in the areas of:

• Economic Paradigms, Models and Methodologies
• International Trade and Foreign Direct Investment
• Entrepreneurship and SME Internationalisation
• Innovation, Knowledge and Information Economies
• Global People Management
• Organisational Change Management
• Public service change management
• Leadership
• Sustainable Tourism

You will normally be provided with two supervisors, and will have access to the wider research community through our faculty research training programme.

Facilities

Our research students have access to our excellent library resources. This includes on-line research training packages, a virtual learning environment and online databases that include all the leading Business and Management journals. There is a dedicated research student facility on our Chelmsford campus and facilities are also available on our Cambridge campus.

Funding

Aside from self-funding or funding by your employer, charities and trusts (competitively sought after, as are Research Council Awards), career, graduate, and professional study loans may be available. Visit www.family-action.org.uk for information on educational trusts, or www.gov.direct.uk for bank loans at competitive rates. Alternatively, visit your local high-street bank.

Career development and training

We are committed to providing training and career development for all our research students. A number of our doctorate students teach on our programmes and this provides them with a holistic skills set if they intend to stay in academia.

In addition, we run workshops and training sessions based around career development, such as:

• writing for publication
• writing research bids
• presenting research findings
• research management
• networking and team working
• personal effectiveness
• research skills and techniques in business and management.

• Professor Lester Lloyd-Reason - entrepreneurship and SME development
• Professor Terry Mughan - innovation, knowledge and open innovation systems
• Dr, Andrew Armitage and Dr. Diane Keeble-Ramsay - high performance team Wwrking and pedagogical developments
• Mr Simon Evans - sustainable and eco-tourism developments
• Dr. Robert Willis - public services management and change
• Mr. Andrew Brady - developments in social enterprise organisations
• Dr. Bronwen Rees - cross-cultural communication and working with diversity
• Dr. Ioana Negru - economic paradigms, models and methodologies
• Dr. Jonathan Wilson - UK-Chinese ventures and brand development by Chinese firms
• Dr. Katalin Illes - developing organisational trust
• Dr. Jonathan Smith and John Rayment - leadership and spirituality in the workplace
• Dr. Beatriz Acevedo - public policy and the relationship between arts and management
• Dr. Helen Benton: Supply chain management.
• Dr. John Webb - public policy and public accounting systems
• Professor Paul Turner - global human resources and business strategy

MPhil/PhD: A first or upper second class honours degree relevant work experience.

Direct entry to PhD: A Masters degree awarded by a UK University or an overseas degree or equivalent standard, provided that it is in an appropriate cognate area and that the Masters degree included training in research and execution of a research project.