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Postgraduate research at Henley Business School

Management (Marketing & Reputation) PhD Opportunities

At a glance

  • Supervision from an internationally renowned faculty
  • Contribute to teaching and research activities
  • Participate in the M&R PhD Annual Conference
  • Programme features personal development modules and workshops
  • Network with practitioners and academics at guest speaker talks and international conferences
Subject area(s)
Business & Management
Duration
3 years
Attendance
Full-time
Programme Director
Rodrigo Perez Vega Profile Pic Jun18 75iugl9ic
Dr Rodrigo Perez-Vega

Overview

During your PhD in the area of Marketing and Reputation, you will develop your critical thinking, intellectual capacity and creativity. You will work with your academic supervisors to engage with industry and publish your ideas. You’ll be an important member of the academic community at Henley.

Our postgraduate research students are drawn from all over the world and you’ll benefit from a dynamic research environment. You’ll have supervision from an internationally renowned faculty, and a programme of personal development modules and workshops. You’ll also benefit from our dedicated administrative support, and outstanding facilities.

We recognise that as a PhD student, you’ll enrich the ideas within your academic discipline and in practice. You are therefore invited to play an active role in the department and are invited to research seminars, conferences and guest talks. You’ll also be encouraged to make external links with practitioners and academics in their field. This will be through presentation of your work at international conferences, and there is financial support for this activity.

Due to the taught elements of this programme we will only consider applications for full-time, campus-based students. For part-time or distance options, please instead consider the Henley Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) programme. For this reason, we also do not currently offer an option for January entry.

Henley Business School holds triple-accreditation status and enjoys a reputation for high quality academic and applied research. It is part of the University of Reading, consistently rated among the UK's most research-intensive institutions.

The module descriptions set out on this page are correct for modules being taught in the current academic year. Optional module listings are indicative and may be subject to change.

Year 1

During your first year of studies, you will be required to:

  • Obtain at least 60 credits from PhD/Masters level courses in research methods and other relevant courses, plus one no-credit bearing course (see below);
  • Complete the Preparing to Teach training programme (which is necessary to be able to complete any teaching-related activities within Henley Business School);
  • Participate in the M&R PhD Annual Conference, monthly research seminars organised by your Department, and research seminars of other departments relevant to your area of interest;
  • Hold regular/monthly meetings with your supervisor(s), and attend monthly M&R PhD Meetings


Required Taught Component

We have a slightly different path of taught components for students primarily using qualitative vs. quantitative research methods - Marketing & Reputation PhD students will usually (though not always) follow the Qualitative path.

Qualitative Path

Compulsory modules Credits

The module aims to provide students with an understanding of all the issues involved in researching, preparing and writing a literature review for their thesis, together with the specific techniques and resources involved.

Academic authors
Professor peter scott 397 3 Peter Scott 75e5pfi6j
Professor Peter Scott
20 [10 ECTS credits]

The module aims to broaden students’ understanding of data analysis by providing an overview of key methods and particularly focusing on regression analysis.

Academic authors
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Dr Min Zou
0 [0 ECTS credits]

The module aims to deepen students’ understanding of qualitative research, particularly in the areas of business, organisational, social and management studies.

20 [10 ECTS credits]

Through taking this module, students should gain a greater insight into contextualising language learning, updating notions of pedagogical achievements and challenges in business learning and providing pedagogical information and tutorial plans on selected business topics.

Academic authors
Yelena Kalyuzhnova002 75e5pfilw
Professor Yelena Kalyuzhnova
20 [10 ECTS credits]

Quantitative Path

Compulsory modules Credits

The module aims to provide students with an understanding of all the issues involved in researching, preparing and writing a literature review for their thesis, together with the specific techniques and resources involved.

Academic authors
Professor peter scott 397 3 Peter Scott 75e5pfi6j
Professor Peter Scott
20 [10 ECTS credits]

This module aims to introduce students to the understanding of qualitative research, (in social science and particularly in the area of business and management studies). It is designed for students mainly using quantitative methods in their PhD studies who wish to have an introductory class in qualitative research.

Academic authors
Kleio Akrivou New Photo
Professor Kleio Akrivou
0 [0 ECTS credits]
20 [10 ECTS credits]

Through taking this module, students should gain a greater insight into contextualising language learning, updating notions of pedagogical achievements and challenges in business learning and providing pedagogical information and tutorial plans on selected business topics.

Academic authors
Yelena Kalyuzhnova002 75e5pfilw
Professor Yelena Kalyuzhnova
20 [10 ECTS credits]

You can also view the whole range of Module Descriptions, though only modules at Masters level (7) and above will be available to PhD students.

Year 2 & 3

Confirmation of Registration

In the middle of the second year - 12 to 15 months from the start of your PhD (usually in October) - you will submit a substantive Confirmation Report of ~10-20k words that will be assessed by and defended in front of independent examiners. This process will review and determine your Confirmation of Registration and, if successful, will upgrade your status from initial registration to the programme to that of a full PhD candidate.

The Confirmation Report will be a significant development of the initial Research Proposal you submitted for your application. It will include material you may have produced during the 1st year courses in research methods (e.g. literature review, methodologies, data description).

If you plan to do a PhD thesis combining three papers, you may be expected to include a draft of the first paper in your research proposal; if you intend to use a book-like structure for your thesis, the document should include the draft of at least one of the three/four key chapters.

During the rest of your 2nd and 3rd years you will:

  • Continue to work on your PhD dissertation drafting the other two papers / key chapters;
  • Hold regular/monthly meetings with your supervisor(s), attend monthly M&R PhD Meetings, and present at the M&R Annual PhD Conference;
  • Contribute to Henley Business School and Marketing & Reputation departmental teaching/research activities and events;
  • Present posters/papers at national/international conferences;

Your thesis should be completed before your viva examination at the end of your third year.

*The module or course content descriptions set out on this page are correct for those being taught in the current academic year. Modules or course content marked as optional are indicative and may be subject to change. Please note, constraints in timetable scheduling may mean you are unable to take some optional modules at the same time as others.

How can Henley Careers work with you?

We have an award-winning careers team here to support you through your time at Henley and 4 years after graduating.

Henley Careers and Professional Development run numerous events throughout the autumn and spring terms to help you gain industry experience. These events are aimed to enhance your professional development and network with employers. We also offer one-to-one career coaching appointments where you can talk to a Careers Consultant about your professional development. This may include planning your ideal career journey or building confidence in a particular area. It could also involve practicing for interviews or having your CV checked.

For more information please see our Careers page.

Continuing Your Career

A PhD in Marketing & Reputation can open doors to a successful career in academia and other organisations. This includes large multinationals, leading consulting firms, and governmental and non-governmental organisations worldwide. Your supervisors will work with you to create a personal development plan which will support your future career. You can apply for funding from the department for external workshops and conferences to complement your progression.

If you are seeking an academic career, then you’ll be able to undertake training that prepares you for the lecturing role. This includes opportunities to lead classes, deliver lectures and undertake assessment within the department. All PhD students will gain experience presenting their ideas through regular PhD conferences. You will also have meetings with the programme director, and attendance at department and faculty research events.

Throughout the programme you will be encouraged to make links with practitioners and relevant industry associations. You’ll be strongly encouraged to publish your work in leading journals during your PhD and following completion.

Henley Business School’s research in Marketing and Reputation is driven through leading centres. This includes the Henley Centre for Customer Management, the John Madejski Centre for Reputation, and the Governance & Leadership group.

We welcome applications from self/externally funded candidates seeking to conduct full-time postgraduate research in all areas of Marketing and Reputation. This includes in quantitative, qualitative and mixed methodologies. The faculty has extensive experience in survey methods, experimental design, depth interviewing, case studies, content analysis and ethnography (including netnography).

The faculty are also interested in the following topics for projects:

In Marketing:
  • Aspects of customer experience, especially relating to the use of new technologies;
  • Relational dynamics in markets, including aspects of service recovery, service innovation and the management of customer relationships;
  • Emerging consumer cultures, particularly non-Western contexts and practices involving new technologies;
  • Organisational culture and climate and its impact on customer satisfaction, retention and sales;
  • Marketing planning, strategy and competitive advantage especially involving new technologies
In Reputation:
  • Corporate responsibility and wellbeing in/around organisations including individual and organisational resilience;
  • Decision-making within a stakeholder environment, particularly bias and prejudice in leadership decision making, or the unintended consequences and decision making;
  • The impact of the reputation of leaders and leadership teams on organisations;
  • Nature of and working through ethical dilemmas;
  • Governance and reputation enhancement especially leading for a sustainable and reputable organisation.
In Governance & Leadership:

We are seeking potential PhD students for the following group projects:

Further areas of interest include:

  • Board performance and value delivery, including boardroom diversity and the dynamics and functioning of boards;
  • Responsibility and accountability of the board, board sustainability and resilience, including the strengths and weaknesses of governance frameworks, governance risk and reputation;
  • Top-Team dynamics and the CEO role and contribution, including the reality of strategy generation and execution;
  • The functioning of government, especially the relationship between minister and civil servant, and between government and critical bodies such as Central Bank, Financial Authorities and Regulators;
  • Relationship of the firm to government, and relationship of the concentration of capital to policy development and execution

The Supervision Experience

The Marketing & Reputation department has considerable experience of supervision and will work to ensure that you quickly develop a constructive and productive relationship with your supervisors. All PhD students will be supported by a supervisory team that will include at least one experienced supervisor who has previously supervised students to completion, and a second supervisor with subject, context or methodological expertise. We will ensure that a suitable supervisory team is identified and available before you are accepted on the programme.

You will have regular meetings with your supervisors, normally at least every 2 weeks. You will also meet regularly with the Director of Postgraduate Research who will also support you with all academic issues. In addition, all PhD students have access to workshops run by both the University of Reading and by Henley Business School, and will be invited to attend department research seminars and research events. As a PhD student you will be provided with a budget to attend further external training if required, and to present your work at international conferences.

See below for first supervisors in Marketing & Reputation:

Professor Moira Clark

Professor of Strategic Marketing

Professor Carola Hillenbrand

Professor of Organisational Psychology

Professor Nada Korac Kakabadse

Professor of Policy, Governance and Ethics

Professor Andrew Kakabadse

Programme Director, The Board Directors' Programme

Professor Kevin Money

Professor of Responsible Leadership and Reputation

Professor Adrian Palmer

Head of Marketing & Reputation

Current students

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