In the field of organizational behavior we research fundamental questions about the behavior of individuals, groups and organizations, from both psychological and sociological perspectives.
A distinguishing feature of Stanford’s PhD Program in organizational behavior is the broad interdisciplinary training it provides. Our students benefit from their interactions with scholars from many disciplines within the Graduate School of Business, as well as from Stanford University’s long-standing strength in the study of psychology, organizations, and economic sociology. The program is broken down into two broad subareas: Macro Organizational Behavior and Micro Organizational Behavior.
Cross-registration in courses, access to faculty, and participation in colloquia are available in other Stanford departments, such as sociology and psychology. Strong relations with these departments mean that students can build their careers on the foundation of strong disciplinary training in psychology and sociology, respectively.
A small number of students are accepted into the program each year, with a total of about 20 organizational behavior students in residence.
The doctoral program places a heavy emphasis on training students through active engagement in the process of doing research. In addition to formal seminars with invited presenters, our faculty and students exchange research ideas and advice at informal weekly lunches and lab meetings. Students work as research assistants and are expected to conduct independent research early in the program.
Preparation and Qualifications
All students are required to have, or to obtain during their first year, mathematical skills at the level of one course each of calculus and linear algebra, probability, and mathematical statistics.
Macro Organizational Behavior: Organizational Theory and Economic Sociology
The Macro OB track is dedicated to training students who will be leading researchers in the fields of organizational theory and economic sociology. Our faculty members are among the foremost scholars who bring a sociological approach to the study of organizations and markets, and they are especially active in the fast-developing field of computational social science. They use and teach a variety of research methods such as social network analysis, natural language processing, agent-based modeling, and online group experiments.
Our area has trained students to study a range of topics:
- Organizational culture and its dynamics
- The dynamics of change in organizations
- Social networks and the diffusion of ideas or beliefs within them
- The role of identity and categories in organizational processes
- Social movements and their influence on firms and markets
- Firm strategies and the effects of long-run histories of strategic interaction
- Organizational learning processes
- Entrepreneurship and firm formation processes
- The impact of workforce demographic change and labor market inequality
Micro Organizational Behavior
The study of how individuals and groups affect and are affected by organizational context. Drawing primarily on psychological approaches to social science questions, this area includes such topics as:
- Cognition
- Decision-making
- Moral judgment
- Social norms
- Negotiation and bargaining
- Cooperation and altruism
- Emotions
- Culture
- Leadership
- Group processes
- Stereotyping and injustice
- Personality
- Power, status and influence
There is also a formal institutional link between the behavioral side of marketing and the micro side of organizational behavior, which is called the Behavioral Interest Group. The Stanford GSB Behavioral Lab links members of this group. This lab supports work across field boundaries among those with behavioral interests.