PhD Courses in Denmark

Course coordinator: Signe Vikkelsø, Department of Organization (IOA)

Faculty

Professor Signe Vikkelsø
Department of Organization, CBS

Professor Anne Reff Pedersen
Department of Organization, CBS

Prerequisites

To participate, the PhD student must be working on a PhD project within the field of organization and management studies. Priority is given to MOST PhD students in the final year of their project. Each student must submit a presentation of up to three pages that include the following core elements of their dissertation framework: a) Overall thesis narrative: What is the story in a nutshell? b) State-of-the-art and overarching research question; c) Overall theoretical approach and research design; d) The role of each paper in the narrative. 

Aim

A core challenge in the paper-based dissertation is ensuring that the individual papers are connected by relating to an overarching research question, systematically supplementing  each other, and collectively enabling a solid onclusion – without being too repetitive. This course focuses on establishing robust linkages between the papers in a PhD dissertation by composing and writing an effective framework (”kappe”). This process is creative and experimental, involving movement back and forth between the whole and its parts to identify a clear and engaging narrative within the disicplinary domain of the project. Participants will learn what different types of readers in the field of organization and management studies expect from a dissertation, and how to craft a framework that meets these expectations.

Course content

The course adopts a pragmatist approach to composing a coherent paper-based dissertation within a given research domain. It centers on the question: How can a framework be written to engage readers and withstand “assaults from a hostile environment” (Latour, 1987)?

Four tools are introduced: “framing” (what is the domain and approach of the dissertation?), “storyline” (what is the relationship, logic structure, or golden thread across the papers?), “enrolment” (how can readers be engaged and objections minimized?), and “narration” (what the type of story should be told, and how should it be told in terms of time and space?). The participants will employ the tools to each others’ framework outlines to help make them as effective as possible. 

Teaching style

The course runs as a mixture of lectures and facilitated breakout sessions where participants give and receive feedback on the composition of their PhD frameworks.

Lecture plan

Day 1 - March 5

09.00-09.30:        Welcome and introduction lecture Signe Vikkelsø

09.30-10.30:        Lecture: The core constituents and role of the frame in a paper-based dissertation Signe Vikkelsø

10.30-10.45:        Coffee break

10.45-12.00:        Break-out sessions: Discussion of participants’ outlines
Faculty present in each session

12.00-12.30:        Lunch break

12.30-14.00:        Lecture: Constructing coherence among parts (what’s the story?) Anne Reff Pedersen

14.00-14.15:        Coffee break

14.15-15.45:        Break-out sessions: Discussion of participants’ outlines
Faculty present in each session

15.45-16.00:        Wrap up

Day 2 - March 6

09.00-10.30:        Lecture: Who are you writing for? Selecting and understanding  your readers Signe Vikkelsø

10.30-10.45:        Coffee break

10.45-12.00:        Break-out sessions: Discussion of participants’ outlines
Faculty present in each session

12.00-12.30:        Lunch break

12.30-14.00:        Lecture: How to tell the story? Genres and temporality
Anne Reff Pedersen

14.00-14.15:        Coffee break

14.15-15.45:        Break-out sessions: Discussion of participants’ outlines
Faculty present in each session

15.45-16.00:        Wrap up and goodbye

Learning objectives

• To understand the core elements of a paper-based dissertation and the characteristics of an effective “framework” in organization and management studies.

• To identify the overarching narrative of the participant’s PhD dissertation and craft a framework that makes this narrative clear and compelling.

Course Literature (incomplete)

• Howard Becker (1986) Writing for Social Scientists: How to start and finish your thesis, book, or article. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press,  Chapter 3: One Right Way, pp. 43–67.

• Murray S. Davis (1971) That's Interesting!: Towards a Phenomenology of Sociology and a Sociology of Phenomenology. Philosophy of the Social Sciences, 1(2), pp. 309–344. 

• Bruno Latour (1987) Science in Action, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, Chapter 1: Literature, pp. 21–63.

• Richardson, L. (2000). Writing: A Method of Inquiry. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of Qualitative Research, 2nd edition. Sage, pp. 923–948.

• Reading the text of the participants