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Indiana University Bloomington

Operations & Decision Technologies

1960 Notable

From 1960-2000, we prepared nearly 1,000 men and women
for rewarding academic careers — that’s more than any other university.

Doctoral Program

Degree Requirements

Decision Sciences

Decision sciences doctoral students are expected to enter the program with an acceptable background in mathematics. Students who lack this knowledge must take the appropriate course(s) in mathematics and statistics. Depending on their backgrounds, students may also be required to take one of the doctoral statistics sequences within the Kelley School of Business. Students without prior teaching experience will take one short course (X630) on teaching prior to teaching their first course.

Decision sciences majors complete 18 credit hours of course work within their major area. Because PhD students in this area are part of the Decision Sciences/Operations Management Doctoral Consortium, this course work consists of both decision sciences and operations management courses. Specifically, students take the basic operations research sequence and the basic operations management sequence in the first year. In addition to the basic courses, decision sciences majors generally take the computer simulation course and a topics course. As with other business majors, students supplement the program with minor courses (9 credit hours), and methodology and analysis courses (9 credit hours).

Required Courses
Information Systems

This program consists of six three-hour major courses:

  • A fundamental research seminar (S600 IS Research Seminar)
  • Four topics-based seminars
  • One elective course

In addition to the major, information systems doctoral students are required to choose a minor field (normally three to four courses, or 9 to 12 hours). Most students in this area choose minors such as organizational behavior, cognitive psychology, social psychology, and management. Students without prior teaching experience also take one short course (X630) on teaching, prior to teaching their first course, which may be before or after the comprehensive exam.

All information systems doctoral students are required to take S600 in the first semester of the program. S600 is a prerequisite for the topics-based courses and provides the fundamental background in information systems. The topics-based courses are organized around major research topic areas in information systems research. The elective course could be another information systems major course, an independent study course, an IS-related course in another discipline, or a research methods course.

Required Courses
Operations Management

This major requires 18 credits in the operations management area, with 12 credits defined as the operations management core common to all students.

Because doctoral students in this area are part of the Decision Sciences/Operations Management Doctoral Consortium, this course work consists of both decision sciences and operations management courses. Specifically, students take the basic operations research sequence and the basic operations management sequence in the first year. The remaining six credits are selected from a broad set of courses, which allows students to tailor their programs. Most doctoral students in this area take the computer simulation course and a topics course. As with other business majors, students supplement the program with minor courses (9 credit hours), and methodology and analysis courses (9 credit hours).

Required Courses