E. (Ejian) Zhou

ERIM’s research group in Organization and Management Theory (OMT) is seeking a highly motivated and passionate PhD candidate to contribute to its research program. We are recruiting for a five year, fully funded PhD position that will enable you to gain state-of-the-art methodological and theoretical skills, conduct rigorous research, and gives you broad freedom to follow your interests within our research program. The core tenet of this program is that organizations are everywhere and play a key role in tackling humanity’s challenges. From birth, most people’s lives are lived through and in organizations such as hospitals, schools, corporations, governments, sports clubs, cultural organizations, and many more. As such, all key societal challenges and transformations – such as those related to inequality, the onset of artificial intelligence and geopolitical conflict – are ultimately addressed and coordinated through organizations. The study of organizations is thus crucial to our understanding of contemporary societies and economies. As societies are evolving, so do organizations and the role they are expected to play. How can we make sense of how organizations persist and change in today’s volatile world? How do new forms of organizing emerge in response to today’s challenges? How do important social aspects such as history or identity play a role in contemporary organizations? How do organizations maintain a ‘license to operate’ in a continuously changing world?

At RSM, and the department of Organization and Personnel Management, we have an eclectic program with state-of-the-art and impactful research in relation to these kinds of questions. Researchers that are part of this program adopt an explicit macro perspective, meaning that they start from the organization, organizational field, or societal level as the main unit of analysis. Otherwise, researchers are highly diverse and, as a group, encompass a wide variety of theoretical perspectives and research methods. For our PhD candidates, we provide an encouraging and supportive environment where you can explore and develop your own research interests within the broad contours of our program.