The 2015 edition of the TBRP PhD course took place in Halmstad, being hosted by the School of Business, Engineering and Science of Halmstad University.
This year the course grew substantially. There were more than 35 applications submitted, of which only 21 were selected.
The number of PhD candidates applying for the course is not the only grwoth indicator. Diversity and multi-disciplinarity of PhD research areas were other growth indicators. Here are some examples of research enquiries PhD candidates had:
- career transitions in sport
- product diversifications
- internationalization of education
- pupils´ perception of assessment
- evolution and ontology of TQM field
- building innovation capabilities
- CSR innovation
- sustainability awareness
- social entrepreneurship
- legitimation of change in organizations
- military educational wargaming
- organizational learning capabilities
- emotional interaction between nurses and adult patients
- wearable activity tracking
- business model innovation
- project management
- clinical decision making
- stakeholder communication gap
- performance of innovations
- parent-preschool interaction
Keeping up the traditions, half a day of the course was open to the public. This year the public debate was between Dr Andy Lowe of Grounded Theory Institutute in California and Prof Michael Saren of the Leicester University in UK, and moderated by Romeo V. Turcan of Aalborg University. The theme of the debate was which was more appropriate for PhD research in management: theory before data or data before theory. The full debate could be viewed here.
We express our gratutude to Dr. Barney Glaser for his time and invaluable insights he offered to the PhD candidates during a 60 min Q&A session.
On behalf of the course co-organizers, we would like to thank Michal Lysek, PhD candidate at Halmstad University, for his highly efficient and highly professional support in preparing, coordinating and organizing the course. Last but not least, our thanks go to the course host, Prof Svante Andersson for his warm welcome, hospitality and organizational and administrative support for the course all the way through.
To learn more about the 2015 edition, please visit PhD candidates' testimonials and take a look at several pictures from the course.