Framing the PhD project: How to connect parts to a whole in a paper-based dissertation within organization and management studies?
CBS PhD School
Course coordinator: Susana Borrás, Department of Organization (IOA)
Faculty
Professor Susana Borrás
Department of Organization, CBS
Professor Jesper Strandgaard
Department of Organization, CBS
Aim
A core challenge in paper-based PhD dissertations is ensuring that the individual papers are connected by relating to an overarching research question, so that the papers systematically supplement each other, and collectively enable a solid overall conclusion. This course focuses on establishing robust linkages between the papers in a paper-based 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, in order to identify a clear and engaging narrative within the disicplinary domain of the PhD dissertation. Participants will learn what different types of readers in qualitative social sciences expect from a paper-based PhD 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 PhD 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, logical structure, or golden thread across the papers?), “enrolment” (how can readers be engaged and objections minimized?), and “narration” (what 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.
Prerequisites
To participate, the PhD student must be working on a PhD dissertation within qualitative Social Sciences. Priority is given to PhD students in the final year, but other PhD students are also welcome.
Each student must submit a presentation of up to three pages that includes the following core elements of their dissertation framework: a) The thesis’ overall narrative 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. At the end of the document, please, mention briefly What specific aspects would you like to receive feedback on? and What are you struggling with? Submit your three page overview before 15th October 2026.
The student must then prepare a 10 minutes presentation in one of the break out sessions, and act as discussant to a peer participant.
It is expected that all students engage actively in those sessions, discussing each other’s dissertations with constructive feedback.
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
Thursday 22nd October 2026
09.00-09.30: Welcome and introduction lecture Susana Borrás
09.30-10.30: Lecture: The core constituents and role of the frame in a paper-based dissertation Susana Borrás
10.30-10.45: Coffee break
10.45-12.00: Break-out sessions: Discussion of participants’ outlines
The teachers will chair and moderate each session
12.00-12.30: Lunch break
12.30-14.00: Lecture: Constructing coherence among parts (what’s the story?) Jesper Strandgaard
14.00-14.15: Coffee break
14.15-15.45: Break-out sessions: Discussion of participants’ outlines
The teachers will chair and moderate each session
15.45-16.00: Wrap up
Friday 23rd October 2026
09.00-10.30: Lecture: Who are you writing for? Selecting and understanding your readers Susana Borrás
10.30-10.45: Coffee break
10.45-12.00: Break-out sessions: Discussion of participants’ outlines
The teachers will chair and moderate each session
12.00-12.30: Lunch break
12.30-14.00: Lecture: How to tell the story? Genres and temporality
Jesper Strandgaard
14.00-14.15: Coffee break
14.15-15.45: Break-out sessions: Discussion of participants’ outlines
The teachers will chair and moderate 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.
Exam
N/A
Course Workload
Development: 9 hours
Lecturers 4 x 1,5 time x 3,5: 21 hours
Presence: 18 hours
Preparation: 1 hour per student: max. 12 hours
Total: max. 60 hours
Course Literature
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
Adam M. Grant and Timothy G. Pollock, 2011: Publishing in AMJ—Part 3: Setting the Hook. AMJ, 54, 873–879, https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2011.400
Zilber, Tammar B., and Renate E. Meyer. "Positioning and fit in designing and executing qualitative research." The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science 58.3 (2022): 377-392.
Reading the text of the other participants