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 prepares you to address our technology-powered business environment fueled by information and driven by knowledge. The Information Systems concentration provides a strong analytical orientation, as well as behavioral perspectives of Information Systems.

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INFORMATION SYSTEMS CONCENTRATION COURSES

Courses in the information systems concentration focus on important areas of knowledge in the field including organizational behavior and theory, social issues, strategy, innovation, adoption and diffusion.  

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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 Doctoral Information Systems concentration have gone on to accept faculty positions at Louisiana State University and Cleveland State University. 


RESEARCH FACULTY

Jose Benitez

Jose Benitez, PH.D.

rrazavi@kent.edu
330-672-1155

Research Interests: 

  • The impact of digitalization on companies and individual
  • 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 on companies and individuals and the development of theory and quantitative research methods in IS research. His research has been published in about 50 papers in leading journals.

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    Pratim Datta

    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.

    Read more about Dr. Datta

     

      Greta Polites

      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. 

      Read more about Dr. Polites

       

        CJ Wu

        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. 

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          Austin kwak

          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.

          Learn more about Dr. Kwak

          Rouzbeh, razavi

          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.

          Read more about Dr. Razavi