A. R. Sanchez, Jr. School of Business

The Doctor of Philosophy in International Business Administration program supports the mission of the A.R. Sanchez, Jr. School of Business by delivering high quality education to doctoral students. The main goals of the program are to:

• Provide a doctoral-level learning experience that increases the knowledge, skills, and professional ethics of a new generation of business educators and researchers who will function in a diverse, globally competitive environment.
• Train students to advance the body of knowledge as future college faculty and researchers.
• Expand the frontiers of knowledge through research, in a global environment.
• Prepare students for the responsibilities, obligations and opportunities of academic careers.

The mission of the A.R. Sanchez, Jr. School of Business is to provide accessible superior academic programs and research from a multicultural and international perspective that enables our students to become successful professionals. In carrying out its mission, the Ph.D. program seeks highly intelligent, knowledgeable and creative students who demonstrate a strong interest in international business administration and global issues.

The Ph.D. program is committed to providing a nurturing and challenging intellectual environment for its faculty and doctoral students. The program emphasizes preparing the candidates to understand the complexities of business and its social and international contexts, while developing a specialized expertise and the research skills necessary to continue to expand the body of knowledge concerning international business administration.

Students receive rigorous training in the discovery, acquisition, creation, extension, application and dissemination of knowledge of international business administration. This training provides the tools for enhancing global productivity and understanding the critical role cross-cultural factors play in shaping international business activity.

Full-Time Enrollment Requirement

The rigorous training requires, among others, that students must be registered on a full-time basis and take all classes on site. On exceptional cases, part-time students will be considered for admission into the program. However, part-time students will not receive financial aid and they must complete the program following the same conditions required of full-time students.

A) Ph.D. Program Director

The Ph.D. Program Director will be responsible for the daily administration of the Ph.D. in International Business Administration program. The Dean of the A.R. Sanchez Jr. School of Business appoints and supervises the Director of the program.

Main Activities of the Director:

• Help school advisors recruit talented students
• Inform students about administrative and academic procedures
• Advise students about classes and examinations
• Organize comprehensive examinations
• Approve the chair and dissertation committee and any subsequent changes
• Participate and vote in oral examinations, dissertation proposals, pre-defense and dissertation defenses
• Help in the supervision of students working as graduate or teaching assistants
• Maintain student files and records
• Teach doctoral classes
• Organize the research presentation series
• Chair the Ph.D. Curriculum and Assessment Committee
• Assess the program according to AACSB and SACS regulations
• Participate in the revision of the program curriculum
• Conduct any other administrative and academic tasks required

B) Dissertation Chair

It is the dissertation chair's responsibility to advise and review the work of his or her Ph.D. students on all aspects in connection with their Ph.D. dissertations. The main responsibility of the dissertation chair is to ensure that the student's dissertation meets the standards of originality, contribution to knowledge, and ethics for the student to receive the Ph.D. degree.

The dissertation chair must hold a Ph.D. or equivalent degree and be a full-time, doctoral qualified faculty member of the A.R. Sanchez, Jr. School of Business. It is recommended that the degree of the dissertation chair be in the same area as the student working on the dissertation.

It is the student's responsibility to obtain his or her dissertation chair and to form the dissertation committee by developing a dissertation topic of sufficient interest and merit to their prospective chair and committee members.

C) Ph.D. Dissertation Committee

Once the student has passed the comprehensive examinations, the student is responsible for forming the dissertation committee. This committee consists of:

• The dissertation chair
• A minimum of three other faculty members, all of whom should hold a Ph.D. or equivalent degrees

If sufficient faculty is not available in the student's main area of interest, faculty in related fields may be included in their place with the approval of the Ph.D. Director.

• Two of the Ph.D. Dissertation Committee members could be from outside the student's main areas of interest
• Up to two members of the Ph.D. Dissertation Committee may be from outside the A.R. Sanchez, Jr. School of Business

The Ph.D. Program Director must approve the Ph.D. Dissertation Committee and any subsequent changes in its membership.

D) Faculty

The faculty teaching and participating in the doctoral program must be qualified according to the rules established by the Graduate School and the A.R. Sanchez, Jr. School of Business at TAMIU. The faculty teaching classes in the program should follow the university policy requiring the inclusion of a final comprehensive test in their classes.

E) Students

The students accepted to the program must follow the requirements mentioned in this Manual.

All applicants considering admission to the Ph.D. program in International Business Administration must meet the requirements for admission to graduate studies in the A.R. Sanchez, Jr. School of Business and Texas A&M International University, as defined in the current catalog and the Graduate School Manual.

Required Application Materials

Student applicants must submit:

• An Application for Admission into a Graduate Degree Program
• Statement of purpose
• Official copies of all College and University transcripts
• A current resume
• Three letters of recommendation from persons who are able to evaluate the applicant's intellectual capacity for advanced studies
• Recent (within the past five years) official scores on the Graduate Management Aptitude Test (GMAT) of the Educational Testing Service

As part of the review of an applicant's file, an interview or other additional information may be required.

International Applicants

An international applicant whose native language is not English must submit official scores from the Educational Testing Service on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).

Review Process

After a student completes the application process, the faculty at the A.R. Sanchez, Jr. School of Business will review their dossiers:

• Faculty in the Division of Banking and International Finance Studies will review applicants in Finance, Accounting and Marketing
• Faculty in the Division of International Business and Technology Studies will review applicants in Management Information Systems and Management
• The faculty members of each division make their recommendations and send the selected dossiers to the Ph.D. committee
• The members of the Ph.D. Committee present their recommendations to the Ph.D. Director
• The Director presents recommendations to the Dean
• The Dean makes the final admission decision

Application Period

The doctoral program requires that the student demonstrate mastery of a large and complex body of knowledge and a high degree of proficiency in the techniques of instruction and business research. Students must complete course work with a grade of B or better, pass comprehensive qualifying examinations and finish a dissertation.

Given the substantial effort, commitment and time required to achieve these competencies, Ph.D. students should enroll on a full-time, on-site, continuing basis until the end of the program. Nine (9) semester credit hours are considered full-time enrollment.

Exceptions to Full-Time Enrollment

• In order to finish the program on time, students could be required to take 12 credit hours per semester.
• Doctoral students who teach a class during the summer session and have completed the class work could register for only 1 credit hour.
• International students should always register for 9 credit hours to fulfill immigration requirements.
• With the approval of the Graduate School, students may register for 3 credit hours during the final semester of their dissertation defense.
• Students with federal loans outstanding should register at least for 6 credit hours per semester.

Important Note on Full-Time Enrollment

The expression "Full-time, on site, continuing basis" means that students enrolled in the program cannot work outside of the program until they pass their comprehensive examination and they are considered ABD (All But Dissertation). Furthermore, students enrolled in the program are not allowed to work at TAMIU to avoid any conflict of interest. All the classes will be on-site and the program will not offer online classes.

On exceptional cases, part-time students will be considered for admission into the program. However, part-time students will not receive financial aid and they must complete the program following the same conditions required of full-time students.

Students must successfully complete:

• Seven Graduate Business Foundation courses (21 Student Credit Hours)
• Five Quantitative and Research Methods courses (15 Student Credit Hours)
• Six courses in International Business Administration (18 Student Credit Hours)
• Five courses in the concentration area (15 Student Credit Hours)
• 6 Student Credit Hours in Dissertation Research

Required Graduate Business Foundation (21 SCH)

Quantitative and Research Methods (15 SCH)

For students in Management, MIS and Data Analytics, and Marketing:

For students in Accounting and Finance:

Select two courses based on concentration from the following:

Accounting:

Finance:

Management and Marketing:

Management Information Systems and Data Analytics:

International Business Administration (18 SCH)

Functional Area Concentration (15 SCH)

Select five courses with the consent of the doctoral advisor and approval of the Ph.D. Program Director:

Accounting

Finance

Management

Management Information Systems and Data Analytics

Marketing

Dissertation Research (6 SCH)

Students must remain enrolled by taking a minimum of 3 hours until dissertation is complete.

Total Semester Credit Hours: 75

Waiver Policy for Graduate Business Foundation Courses

Students may be waived from the Graduate Business Foundation courses by either:

• Successfully graduating with a master of business degree from a university in which the business program is accredited by the Association for the Advancement of Collegiate Schools of Business International (AACSB International), or
• Providing evidence of successful completion of equivalent course work at an institution recognized or accredited by its country of origin.

Applications for course waivers must be completed prior to enrollment in the doctoral program. Students requesting a waiver must get approval from the Director of the doctoral program. The Director of the program has the responsibility for ensuring that the student has the appropriate prior course work and knowledge as set forth in this policy before approving the waiver.

Scholastic Deficiency Policy

On February 13, 2014, the members of the Ph.D. committee adopted the following Scholastic Deficiency Policy:

• All doctoral students at the A.R. Sanchez, Jr. School of Business receiving a Grade of "C" in any of the Ph.D. classes must seek immediate guidance of the director of the program.
• All doctoral students at the A.R. Sanchez, Jr. School of Business receiving a Grade of "F," "D" or a second "C" will be dismissed from the program. Student's appeals of faculty decisions should follow the procedure indicated in the TAMIU Student Handbook (2020), Section 4.02 Disputes over Academic Matters, pages 22 and 23.

Each student must have a degree plan at the beginning of his or her Ph.D. Program. The degree plan should include a simple timeline with the courses that will be taken, as well as other required activities (e.g., form a Ph.D. Dissertation Committee).

Once established students cannot drop classes and delay the program timeline. Only under extraordinary circumstances and with the approval of the professor in charge of the class and the Ph.D. Director a student may drop a class without a failing grade.

The Director of the program will meet annually with each of the doctoral students and inform them about their progress in the program.

Teaching Requirements

All Ph.D. students are required to teach at least two courses at Texas A&M International University before graduation. Doctoral students will serve as research assistants on campus for twenty hours per week during the first academic years. As part of these twenty hours work, students may be required to teach a course after passing the comprehensive exam as part of the Ph.D. degree requirements.

The Ph.D. Program Director informs the Division Chairs on the students available to teach and the students available to work as research assistants. The Division Chairs and the Dean have the final decision about the allocation of the doctoral students to classes and faculty.

Financial Support

Financial support is provided to students in good standing. This support is limited to a period not to exceed four years except in unusual circumstances. Financial support is not authorized for those students not in residence (i.e., not on campus as full time students) beyond the fees.

Students may seek grants and scholarships. This information can be obtained at the University's Office of Financial Aid. Finally, Ph.D. students may receive additional compensation during summer by serving as teaching assistants (Graduate Assistants-Teaching as instructors of record).

a) Research Presentations Series

On November 4, 2013 the Ph.D. Committee approved the rules regulating the participation of doctoral students in the Research Presentations Series.

Doctoral Student Participation in the A.R. Sanchez, Jr. School of Business Research Presentations Series

The A.R. Sanchez, Jr. School of Business Research Series is an avenue in which faculty and students can gain knowledge on research activities. The main goal of the Research Presentation Series is to provide an opportunity for students to improve their knowledge and research abilities, and also to develop their presentation skills. These skills are critical and useful for future conferences or job interviews.

Guidelines for Doctoral Student Participation:

• All doctoral students are expected to attend the Research Seminar Presentations. Attendance in 70% of the seminars is considered as meeting this requirement.
• Doctoral students who do not receive financial support (assistantships, scholarships, teaching assignments, etc.) from TAMIU or the A.R. Sanchez, Jr. School of Business must attend 70% of the presentations until they successfully defend their dissertation proposal.
• Doctoral students who receive financial support (assistantships, scholarships, teaching assignments, etc.) from TAMIU or the A.R. Sanchez, Jr. School of Business must attend 70% of the presentations until they successfully defend their dissertation.
• All doctoral students (beginning their second year) will serve as commentator or discussant of the papers presented in the Research Presentations Series. Doctoral students should perform this activity at least once during the program.
• All doctoral students are required to present at least one research paper in the Research Presentation Series prior to attending conferences, proposal defenses and dissertation defenses.
• Failure to meet the requirements is considered inadequate progress towards the doctoral degree and will be noted in the Annual Student Evaluation report. The doctoral student is expected to remedy this prior to being considered for renewal of their doctoral scholarship for the following year, when they are eligible. In cases where they are not considered for scholarship, they should remedy this requirement prior to their dissertation defense.
• Waiver for these requirements is considered by the director of the program on an individual basis based on extenuating circumstances which may prevent the student from fulfilling these requirements.

b) Participation in Assessment

Doctoral students must participate in the assessment process required by AACSB and SACS. It is expected that all the doctoral students will respond to the survey and present complete, reliable, and on-time information.

The failure to fulfill this requirement will affect the students' annual evaluation, the possibility to receive doctoral scholarships and the schedule of the dissertation defense.

All students must successfully complete all of the required course work and take a comprehensive examination within seven years of admission to the program.

A. Written Examination

The comprehensive examinations will consist of one written examination in each of the International Business Administration classes and one in the student's chosen functional concentration area. Faculty who teach these classes will be responsible for preparing the questions and evaluating each examination.

The length of the examination should not exceed one and a half hours for each of the areas examined. Examination results will be "A", "B" or "Fail."

• Students must obtain an "A" in their area of specialization to pass the exam
• Students may pass the rest of the classes with a "B"
• Students should pass all the questions presented by the faculty to approve the written comprehensive exam

Students will be allowed one opportunity to retake each examination. If the student does not agree with the result of the examination a committee of faculty in the same area of the examination will evaluate the student's answer and decide the result of the examination.

Important: If the student cannot answer a test question correctly after retaking the exam, the student will be dismissed from the program.

B. Oral Examination

An oral examination is scheduled upon passing the written comprehensive examination. The goal of the oral examination is to test the student's knowledge of the main concepts in his/her area of specialization.

The PhD Program Director and the faculty members teaching the concentration classes and the core classes in the area of specialization arrange the examination. At least 3 faculty members who teach concentration classes and the faculty teaching the core class in the area of specialization are required to be on the committee.

If the number of faculty available is less than 3, the PhD Director may invite other faculty in the same and/or similar concentration area to participate on the committee. Only the faculty mentioned before and/or the invited faculty will be responsible for grading the student's performance. Each faculty member is expected to attend the entire examination.

Students should be prepared to answer any question belonging to their area of specialization as well as those related to the core module.

Examination Length and Adjournment

The Graduate School does not set a time limit for the oral examination. However, at least two hours, but probably not more than three hours should be scheduled for such examination.

If questioning is not completed in a reasonable length of time, the examination may be adjourned until a later time, which is not to exceed three weeks duration from the scheduled examination date. The majority of the faculty in charge of the examination will decide to adjourn the test and they will inform the student and the director of the program about the new date and time to complete the test.

Results

Examination results will be either "Pass" or "Fail" and the members of the committee should reach their decision by simple majority of votes. In the event of a "Fail" decision, the student will have one last opportunity to retake the oral examination.

Examination Schedule

The written and oral comprehensive examinations will be offered on the Fall and Spring semesters. The Director of the Program is responsible for scheduling the test.

Doctoral Candidate Status: Upon successful completion of the comprehensive examination, a doctoral student attains the status of Doctoral Candidate for Ph.D. in International Business Administration.

After completing the comprehensive examinations and forming a Ph.D. Dissertation Committee, students should choose a specific dissertation topic, and prepare a comprehensive dissertation proposal. This proposal will be publicly defended before their Ph.D. Dissertation Committee.

Students are responsible for selecting and developing the research topic. The dissertation proposal should include:

• A description of the topic to be studied and the rationale behind the choice of topic
• A comprehensive review of the theoretical and empirical literature on the topic
• A set of research questions and/or hypotheses associated with the topic of study as derived from the literature review
• If required, the results of a preliminary empirical data collection and analysis related to the research questions and/or hypotheses

Normally, students will work closely with their dissertation chair in developing their proposal.

Resources

The TAMIU Thesis and Dissertation Policy Manual and the TAMIU Thesis and Dissertation Formatting Manual have been created to assist graduate students and their committee members in the preparation of theses and dissertations. The purpose of these manuals is to provide guidelines on uniform standards of style and format while allowing enough flexibility to satisfy the acceptable practices of each academic discipline.

Thesis and Dissertation forms, deadlines, policy manual, and formatting manual can be found in the Graduate School Thesis and Dissertation website: www.tamiu.edu/gradschool/thesishomepage

Ph.D. candidates must defend their proposal before their dissertation committee and the Ph.D. Program Director. Each committee member shall have a copy of the dissertation proposal to read at least seven working days prior to the examination.

While the proposal defense is open to all faculty and Ph.D. students, the respective dissertation committee chair will chair the proposal defense session and will set ground rules for the conduct of the session.

Only the members of the Committee and the Director of the Program will vote for "Pass" or "Fail". Simple majority will reach the final decision.

After successfully defending his or her proposal and having incorporated suggestions from their dissertation committee, the Ph.D. candidates may commence their dissertation project under the supervision of their chairs and committee.

IRB Requirement: Texas A&M International University's Institutional Review Board must approve any research involving human subjects, before the study can proceed. The specific forms and guidelines to be used in this process are available from Texas A&M International University's Office of the Vice President for Institutional Advancement.

The dissertation document is the culmination of the Ph.D. student's work and is intended to demonstrate the candidate's ability to independently conduct meaningful and original research.

Dissertation Format

The format of the proposal could include:

• 5 chapters (introduction, literature review, data and methodology, results and conclusion), or
• An introduction, 3 related essays and a conclusion

Independent Research

The Ph.D. candidates must conduct the work leading to the dissertation document independently, with advice from the dissertation advisor and members of his or her dissertation committee. Nevertheless, such work may be a part of, or utilize data from, a larger study.

Requirements

The dissertation must:

• Reflect a new idea or approach
• Generate new knowledge or understanding
• Involve a creative extension or application of theory and knowledge
• Use methodology that is appropriate to the research problem (includes both theoretical and empirical venues)
• Add to the state of the art of theoretical or empirical knowledge regarding a specific topic
• Be of publishable quality
• Meet the standards of excellence for written scholarship in connection with business administration studies

Dissertation forms, deadlines, policy manual, and formatting manual can be found in the Graduate School Thesis and Dissertation website: www.tamiu.edu/gradschool/thesishomepage

Time Limit

All students will be required to successfully defend their dissertation within seven years after the beginning of the program.

In the case that the student cannot complete the program within the seven years, the student should ask for permission to continue to the Director of the program. The director of the program should inform of the request to the Dean of the A.R. Sanchez, Jr. School of Business and the Ph.D. Studies Committee. The director of the program and the PhD. Studies Committee members will provide their recommendations to the Dean. The Dean of the A.R. Sanchez, Jr. School of Business will have the final decision.

Pre-defense

On October 16, 2018, the Ph.D. Committee recommended that all doctoral students make a presentation in front of the dissertation committee and the director of the program at least 1 month before the final dissertation defense.

In the case that the dissertation committee and/or the director of the program consider that the student need more time to complete the dissertation, the proposed date for the defense of the dissertation will be postponed.

Defense Preparation

Each committee member shall have a copy of the dissertation to read at least seven working days prior to the defense. The oral defense should not be held until the dissertation is in final draft (except for minor points brought out during the examination).

Defense Process

After questioning of the candidate is complete, the candidate is asked to leave the room. Committee members and the director of the program may discuss any topics concerning the candidate's performance and qualifications.

However, committee members and the director of the program must cast their votes independently. A vote to pass, fail, or adjourn the examination to a later date may be cast.

Voting Outcomes:

• A candidate will pass if there are three or more votes to pass
• A candidate will fail if there are two or more votes to fail
• The defense will be adjourned if there are two or more votes to adjourn
• Two votes of fail override two votes to adjourn
• One vote to fail and one vote to adjourn are not acceptable and an additional ballot or ballots must be cast
• If the vote is to adjourn, the examination must reconvene within 3 weeks

The dissertation defense meeting is open to the community and should be advertised at least one week in advance of the oral defense. Questions from visitors should be restricted to the dissertation and should be addressed to the dissertation chair, which may use discretion in addressing them to the candidate.

Post-Defense Submission

After successfully defending the dissertation, a dissertation PDF version, journal model, Written Dissertation form (with all committee members signature), and Copyright & Availability form must be submitted to thesis@tamiu.edu.

The Graduate School will review the dissertation for formatting only. The Graduate School does not review for content. After the initial review the dissertation will be returned to you for revisions. The dissertation may be returned to you multiple times before it is approved.

Once final approval of the dissertation is received you will receive notification from the Dean of the Graduate School.

Definition and Consequences

Plagiarism can be defined as the wrongful appropriation, purloining, publishing, expressing, or taking, as one's own, the thoughts, writings, inventions, or ideas of another person (Oxford University Dictionary).

All Dissertation proposals and final drafts must be accompanied with a Turnitin report (or comparable report from other software) with the Advisory Committee Chair's assessment of said report.

Any Dissertation that appears to be plagiarized will be brought to the Graduate Council for assessment. If the Graduate Council deems that the Dissertation does indeed appear to be plagiarized, the case will be referred to the Honor Council.

The nature of Ph.D. research implies adherence to very high standards of ethics, without which the findings of any research investigation have very little value.

Students are strongly advised to make sure that they do not commit plagiarism during their Ph.D. Program, since doing so is certain to lead to their expulsion of the Program. They will not be allowed to complete their Ph.D. program.

Proper Attribution

The process of conducting Ph.D. research involves building on previous knowledge and adding new insights to it. This is a process that can seldom be accomplished without borrowing, developing, and extending ideas previously proposed by other researchers. The key to avoid plagiarism is proper attribution.

Generally speaking, text, diagrams, and other elements found in a published document (whether it is published as a journal article or through other means, such as a Web site with an indication of who the author is) must not be used in another publication without clear reference to the original source. Use of ideas, even if re-stated in different ways, should follow the same rule of thumb.

More details on plagiarism, including illustrative examples of what is acceptable and what is not, are available from the A.R. Sanchez, Jr. School of Business's Dissertation/Thesis Manual.