Cranfield School of Management

Doctoral Opportunities

When you are drafting your proposal you should position your research topic within the School's core areas of expertise (please go to our description of Research Strengths).

We are also interested in recruiting students to undertake the following research projects.

If you apply for one of these projects, please indicate this clearly in your application. You should enclose a document which sets out your background and previous experience of research; how these relate to the advertised topic; what reading you have done around the topic, and any further information that supports your application to carry out this particular project.

If you wish to contact faculty direct regarding your research interests, please note that you must provide a research proposal which identifies:

• your proposed area of interest
• the potential contribution to theory (PhD) or practice (Executive Doctorate)
• evidence of some background reading that supports this contribution
• the programme you are interested in

Full-time PhD applicants may be eligible for one of our PhD studentships which are awarded on a competitive basis.

Bettany Centre for Entrepreneurial Performance and Economics

• Entrepreneurial Performance and Economics

Centre for Business Performance

• The roles of performance measurement in the public sector
• The Power of Performance Management Reviews on Organisational Learning
• The Measurement of Organizational Performance and its Linkages to Reward Mechanisms
• Measuring the Value Created by Intangible Assets
• Designing Performance Measurement and Management Systems
• Managing Through Measurement
• Refreshing Performance Measurement and Management Systems

Centre for Innovative Products and Services

• "Hidden Needs" and "Empathic Design"
• Innovation Management: The Leadership Role of the CEO
• Management of innovation
• Prioritizing the Innovation Project Portfolio
• Project-to-Project Learning and Innovation Networking in R&D
• The successful management of process innovation, supplier relationship management by European manufacturing companies, transfer of manufacturing best practice across multi-site, multi-national companies

Centre for Research in Economics and Finance

• Finance & Accounting
• Investment and finance projects

Centre for Strategic Marketing and Sales

• Business-to-Business Selling and Key Account Management
• Customer Interaction and Co-Creation
• Collaborative Business-to-Business Relationships
• Creating customer value in use
• Customer Relationship Management
• Marketing Measurement and Accountability
• Multi-Channel Marketing
• Risk and return in marketing
• Strategic Branding
• Strategic marketing, lobbying and political marketing
• The Practice of Market Segmentation
• Valuing market assets - brand and customer

Doughty Centre for Corporate Responsibility

• Responsible Regulation
• Corporate Responsibility
• Corporate responsibility and ethical organisational learning - How does the corporate responsibility agenda develop over time?
• Responsible management education - a holistic evaluation
• Responsible change agents
• The influence of indigenous values and institutions on corporate social responsibility in developing economies
• Non-financial reporting, investment decisions and the financial markets
• The emergence and diffusion of sustainability accounting standards and frameworks

General Management Development Programmes

• The comparative contribution of leadership to organisational success - luck, legacy or leadership?

Information Systems Research Centre

• Enterprise-Wide Business Intelligence and Corporate Performance Management
• Innovating through Information Technology
• Micro Stategy and Strategizing for Information Systems
• Other Areas of Interest
• The co-evolution of business and information technology strategies
• The Future IS Organisation

International Centre for Women Leaders

• Developing women business leaders

Organisation Studies

• Age discrimination at work/Attracting and retaining an age-diverse workforce
• Comparative human resource management
• Exploring careers - individual and organizational perspectives
• Flexible work practices
• International Human Resource Management
• Management Technology and Human Resource Examining the implementation and impact of technology in HRM 
• Networks in the Not-For-Profit Sector
• Technology and Human Resource Management
• The use of the Internet for recruitment and selection
• The management and organisation of resilience and high reliability

Strategy

• A Team Based View of The Strategy Process
• Firm Performance in Regional Clusters
• The impact of regional development policy on the development and sustainability of regional clusters

Supply Chain Research Centre

• Approaches to mass customisation
• Collaboration in the Supply Chain
• Collaborative Business-to-Business Relationships
• Competitive Supply Chain Resilience
• Demand Chain Management
• Developing supply chain strategy
• Distribution Centre Design and Operations
• Supply Chain Design Co-ordinated with Product Development
• The logistics and supply chain implications of global sourcing