The ultimate objective of FIM research is to contribute to leading international academic journals and, as an intermediary step, to present findings at prominent international academic conferences (e.g. Academy of Management, Academy of International Business). All FIM researchers, including doctoral students, are expected to contribute to this objective. This ambition guides the choice of dissertation topics at FIM and has major implications for the choice of research methods.
Research at FIM is mostly of an empirical nature. Doctoral researchers typically collect data on Swiss and/or German firms in order to identify the determinants and/or consequences of specific international strategic or organisational choices, corporate governance features, or performance patterns. Most of the research conducted at FIM is of a quantitative nature, using advanced statistical techniques to analyse large datasets, although in selected cases qualitative approaches may be followed.
Doctoral researchers at FIM are expected to function as a team. This means that doctoral students are expected to interact closely, comment on each others’ research design and progress, and contribute to the wider FIM research agenda. This way, by the time a doctoral student starts to write his/her thesis, (s)he will have gained substantial research experience. This approach implies that doctoral students are not expected to carry out fully independent projects. Most doctoral researchers at FIM at the same time have a position as an assistant.
Ultimately, a dissertation project at FIM may take somewhat longer than at certain HSG Institutes. The average duration at FIM is three years.
We are receiving many requests to act as a thesis supervisor. As a result, acceptance of new doctoral students will be based on the following criteria: overall quality of the candidate; proximity of research interests to FIM research; potential to publish results in leading (especially academic) journals; and potential to build up promising new areas of competence.
If the above sounds interesting to you, we look forward to hearing from you.
