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Dear AIB-L members, Rotterdam School of Managament at Erasmus University, the Netherlands has a fully-funded 5-year PhD positition available. Project proposals relating to social and environmental issues in International Business are very welcome. Details on the position are available below and at: https://www.erim.eur.nl/doctoral-programme/phd-in-management/phd-vacancies/open-phd-position-in-sustainability-and-management/ The deadline for applications is January 15, 2023. Kind regards, Khadija van der Straaten Abstract The Business-Society Management department in Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, seeks a highly motivated PhD student looking to study a topic in the area of sustainability and management. For this open position, you choose your own research topic within our department’s area of expertise. Potential research topic start from the challenges that society and our natural environment face and then consider how organizations can address these challenges. Specific topics include alternative definitions of and approaches to business, addressing sustainability issues in multinational enterprises and global value chains, systems and resilience thinking, corporate communication, sense-making processes, social innovation, business ethics, philanthropy, alternative organisational and governance forms such as social enterprises, commons and cooperatives, corporate social (ir)responsibility, stakeholder management, and aligning corporate value propositions with societal issues. We are looking for candidates who are passionate about research on how organisations and businesses can be key drivers of social change, and we welcome applications from a wide variety of backgrounds and perspectives. Strong applicants typically have backgrounds in business or economics and are looking to pursue an academic career. Students define and execute their own research projects with the support of their supervisory team. Creativity, self-direction, and a passion for scientific research are therefore essential qualities. Keywords Grand Challenges, Sustainability, Sustainable Management, Systems Thinking, International Business, Social Evaluations, Social Innovation, Partnerships, Philanthropy, Sense-Making, Social Enterprises, Stakeholders, Commons and Cooperatives, Social Movements Topic Our PhD program seeks to train the next generation of academics in the area of sustainability and management. We want our PhD students to become scholars who address societally relevant questions with original research that meets the highest methodological standards. During their five years of study, PhD students define and execute their own research projects. They do this with the support of their supervisory team, but also work with other faculty, including those at other departments and other universities. Through courses, research seminars, applied and theoretical research with faculty, and coaching from the supervisory team, our PhD students gain the requisite experience to do high-quality research independently. We expect our PhD students to become experts in and define a research agenda around a topic of their choosing. The new PhD student will be part of the Business-Society department. Our department is unique in its focus on sustainability and management, diverse, and highly collegial. We start from the challenges that society and our natural environment face and then consider how organizations, from small local start-ups, NGOs and social enterprises to large multinational enterprises, can address these challenges. In other words, we interrogate how organisations impact society and the natural environment, and how, as value-based organisations, they can take responsibility in the contexts they operate in. This is an important research agenda because our social and natural environments are changing in drastic and unprecedented ways – examples of which include climate change, growing (social) inequality, and the global displacement of populations – and organisations can play a central role in both causing and solving these grand challenges. Furthermore, traditional business models are starting to alienate parts of the general public by losing track of their interests and concerns. Overall, these issues are complex, because society changes in ways that are difficult to foresee for companies and other organisational actors alike, and thus warrant deep scholarly inquiry. For the open PhD position, you choose your own research topic within our department’s area of expertise: businesses acting upon unprecedented social and environmental changes. A common theme underlying this research is that it seriously considers the possibility that the way organisations engage in business – including how they relate to the context in which they operate – needs to be changed fundamentally and that incremental efforts are unlikely to be of sufficient help. Potential research topics include (but are not limited to) alternative definitions of and approaches to business, addressing sustainability issues in multinational enterprises and global value chains, systems and resilience thinking, corporate communication, sense-making processes, social innovation, business ethics, philanthropy, alternative organisational and governance forms such as social enterprises, commons and cooperatives, corporate social (ir)responsibility, stakeholder management, and aligning corporate value propositions with societal issues. Our department’s faculty consists of world-class, multi-disciplinary scholars who publish in top journals, develop pragmatic solutions for corporations, and educate future generations of business leaders in the classroom. The department’s faculty who advise on PhD research are (in alphabetical order): Flore Bridoux (Stakeholder Management, Stakeholder Governance, Corporate Social (ir)Responsibility), Tine De Moor (Social Enterprise and Institutions for Collective Action), Corinna Frey-Heger (Social Innovation, Grand Challenges, Wicked Problems), Tony Jaehyun Choi (Community Influences on [ir]Responsible Business Behaviours), Jan Lodge (Negative Social Evaluations), Emilio Marti (Sustainable Investing, Shareholder Pressure), Steve Kennedy (Systems and Resilience Thinking, Sustainable Business Models, Circular Economy), Khadija van der Straaten (International Business and Sustainability), Marius van Dijke (Behavioural Ethics), and Mirjam Werner (Sense-making). Our faculty publishes in top journals such as Academy of Management Annals, Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Management, Journal of Management Studies, Organization Science, Organization Studies, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, and Research Policy. Faculty members teach at Bachelor, Master, and MBA-levels. In its teaching, the group links state-of-the-art theory and research on sustainability, business-society management, business ethics, and general management with business practice, using innovative teaching methods. We also invest in bringing our knowledge back to society through intensive cooperation with societal partners and transdisciplinary research. Approach There are many methods that you can use for theory development and/or theory testing depending on your phenomenon of interest, intended theoretical contribution, and the methodological skills you wish to develop. Our faculty form a multidisciplinary team, and have broad experience with multiple research methodologies, both empirical quantitative research (surveys, laboratory experiments, field experiments) and qualitative research (e.g., case studies, ethnographies, longitudinal research). Required profile Candidates applying for a Ph.D. position within this research theme should have (or be close to completing) a master’s degree in business studies, management studies, sociology, economics, psychology, or a related discipline. In terms of methodological skills, candidates preferably have proven expertise and interest in statistical, experimental and/or interview skills, and should be eager to learn new methodological tools. We are looking for candidates who are passionate about research on how organisations can be key drivers of sustainable development, and we welcome applications from a wide variety of backgrounds and perspectives. Candidates should have a clear sense of the specific topic they want to study, and what method(s) they wish to apply. Your preferred topic, method(s) and supervisory team should be included in the cover letter. Students define and execute their own research projects with the support of their supervisory team. Creativity, self-direction, and a passion for scientific research are therefore essential qualities. Below are the test scores required by ERIM, please be advised to plan your tests well before the application deadline as it may take some time for your official scores to be released: - GMAT/GRE scores above the 85th percentile, not older than 5 years - IELTS/TOEFL test scores, not older than 2 years: IELTS: minimum overall band score 7.5; no band score lower than 6.5 Internet-based TOEFL: minimum total score 100, no sub-score lower than 23 Paper-based TOEFL: minimum score 600 Expected output You will produce research that can be published in top-tier peer reviewed journals in sustainability, management, organisation, strategy, or applied psychology. These star journals are listed on the ERIM´s webpage: http://www.erim.eur.nl/about/erim-journals-list-ejl/. Your work will also be published as a PhD dissertation. Cooperation To strengthen your international research network and complement your time at RSM, you will receive funding for a 3- to 6-month research visit at a top international university. We have strong connections with academics studying sustainability at many other universities such as at the University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, Harvard University, Stanford University, London Business School, HEC Paris, Imperial College London, and the University of Southampton. Members of the group are also well connected with executives in sustainable and innovative organisations. Contact Information For questions regarding the PhD application and selection procedure, please check the Admissions<https://www.erim.eur.nl/doctoral-programme/phd-in-management/admissions/> or send us an e-mail via [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>. ____ AIB-L is brought to you by the Academy of International Business. 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