Ph.D. Information Systems Concentration
Ph.D. in Business Administration - Information Systems Concentration
The Ph.D. Information Systems concentration is a full-time program that provides a strong grounding in areas of behavioral, strategic, analytical and economic aspects of the impact of digital technologies; digitalization; and digital transformation on individuals, organizations and society. Students are trained to become world-class scholars and passionate and effective teachers.
- Dong-Heon (Austin) Kwak, Ph.D.
Information Systems Coordinator
330-672-1143
dkwak@kent.edu 
CONCENTRATION COURSES
Courses in the Information Systems concentration focus on theorizing meaningful Information Systems theories, the bright and dark sides of digital technologies, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, and the business value of digital transformation.
GRADUATE ASSISTANT STIPEND
In addition to the tuition waiver and discounted health insurance, Ph.D. students in the Information Systems concentration may receive a stipend of up to $24,000/year.
MENTORSHIP PROGRAM
Research Mentorship
The Mentorship program in the Department of Information Systems and Business Analytics has two primary goals: First, to help the Ph.D. student develop the conceptual and methodological skills required for conducting original research, and second, to help the student acquire the knowledge necessary to establish expertise in their area of concentration.
All incoming Ph.D. students are assigned a faculty mentor and work collaboratively with their mentor and other professors or students as a research team to undertake and publish research.
An important aspect of this program is to expose students to a wide variety of research perspectives. As each mentor may have different perspectives on research, the student benefits from working with a variety of mentors. The faculty mentor will often be heavily involved in the development of the research design, in guiding the analysis and in "polishing" the research paper and moving it through the publication process.
Teaching Mentorship
Students will be assigned a mentor to guide their teaching for every course they teach. As part of this mentorship, students who are teaching are required to discuss their course preparation with a faculty who has previously taught the course. Students are also encouraged to invite their mentor to class, so faculty can provide useful suggestions for effective teaching.
Research Seminars
The research seminars provide a forum for students to develop and refine their research ideas and methodology and their presentation skills. These skills are vital for research presentations at conferences, job interviews, and in the classroom. The mentor will play a supporting role during the presentation.
PLACEMENT
Graduates of our Ph.D. Information Systems concentration have gone on to accept faculty positions at Louisiana State University, Cleveland State University, and the University of Tennessee.
RESEARCH FACULTY
Jose Benitez, PH.D.
jbenite1@kent.edu
330-672-1141
Research Interests:
- The impact of digitalization and digital technologies on organizations and employees
- The development of theory and quantitative research methods in IS research
About:
Jose Benitez is a Professor of Information Systems (IS), Department Chair of Information Systems and Business Analytics, and the Bridgestone Endowed Chair in International Business at the Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, USA. His research interests cover the impact of digitalization and digital technologies on organizations and employees and the development of theory and quantitative research methods in IS research. His research has been published in about 70 papers in elite and leading journals.
Pratim Datta, Ph.D.
pdata@kent.edu
330-672-1229
Research Interests:
- Cybersecurity
- Digital Transformation
- Corporate Analytics
- 4IR global ICT strategy.
About:
Dr. Pratim Milton Datta is a Professor of Information Systems in the College of Business at Kent State University. He specializes in Cybersecurity, Digital Transformation, Corporate Analytics, and 4IR global ICT strategy. Pratim also serves as a Senior Research Associate (4IR Visiting Researcher) with the University of Johannesburg, South Africa and a Visiting Researcher with ITU Copenhagen, Denmark. He served as the PhD Director for the College of Business from 2012-2018. He also served as the College's AACSB accreditation Assurance of Learning (AoL) lead from 2010-2012.
Dong-Heon (Austin) Kwak, Ph.D.
dkwak@kent.edu
330-672-1143
Research Interests:
- Online Helping Behaviors
- Charity Website Design
- Persuasion
- Enterprise Systems
- Gamification
About:
Dong-Heon (Austin) Kwak received his Ph.D. from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2014.
Rouzbeh Razavi, Ph.D.
rrazavi@kent.edu
330-672-1155
About:
Dr. Razavi has received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. from the University of Essex, UK. He is currently a faculty member involved in the Master in Business Analytics (MSBA) program at Kent State University. Prior to joining Kent State University, he was the Director of Group Decision Sciences at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in New York where he was leading a team of data scientists and quantitative modelers to improve various risk models across the bank. Before that, he was a Senior Scientist in the Advanced Analytics Department at SAP, where he was leading a team of software developers and involved in designing SAP Predictive Analytics software suite.
Greta Polites, Ph.D.
gpolites@kent.edu
330-672-1166
Research Interests:
- IS habits and resistance to change in technology usage
About:
Dr. Polites joined the Kent State faculty in Fall 2012. She earned her B.S., M.S., and M.B.A. degrees from the University of South Florida, and completed her Ph.D. in Business Administration at the University of Georgia. Dr. Polites currently teaches three seminars in the PhD program: Multivariate Statistics (MIS 74017), Structural Equation Modeling (MIS 84266), and Innovation, Adoption, Diffusion (MIS 84080). Dr. Polites' research focuses primarily on IS habits and resistance to change in technology use.
Chaojiang (CJ) Wu, Ph.D.
cwu13@kent.edu
330-672-1158
Research Interests:
- Developing quantitative methods and analyzing complex data for better decisions and applying to applications in social media, online word of mouth, knowledge workers, and others.
About:
Chaojiang (CJ) Wu is Associate Professor in the Department of Information Systems and Business Analytics. He obtained his PhD from the University of Cincinnati. His research develops quantitative methods in analyzing complex data for better decisions and applies such methods to applications in social media, online word of mouth, knowledge workers, and others.