Management Science
About Management Science
Management science is the discipline of using mathematics, and other analytical methods, to help make better business decisions. The scope and method of Management Science includes decision analysis, optimisation, simulation, forecasting, game theory, network and transportation models, mathematical modelling, probability and statistics, resource allocation, project and cost management, management control, organisational design, contracting and incentive systems. Management Science uses rational, systematic, science-based techniques to inform and improve decisions.
Areas of research
The PhD programme in Management Science currently offers two specialisations; Energy, Resource and Environmental Economics (EREE) and Business Planning and Control (BPC). These are described below
Energy, Resource and Environmental Economics (EREE)
Energy, Resource and Environmental Economics is concerned with the economic analysis of utilization and development of the earth's natural resources. The subject matter encompasses questions of optimal production and consumption affecting energy, minerals, land, air and water, and includes analysis of firm and industry behavior. Our interdisciplinary research focuses on:
- Economic fundamentals of the energy and natural resource value chains
- The impact of regulatory schemes on commercial energy and resource development
- Business/government interactions
- Strategic responses to more competitive energy and resource markets
Business planning and control (BPC)
Business Planning and Control is concerned with identifying and solving problems in the process of creating value. Areas of research include implementation of strategic decisions, capital budgeting, choice of product and customer portfolios and pricing. The field also deals with organisational issues such as defining structures of authority and responsibility, the degree of decentralisation, coordination, transfer pricing and outsourcing. Performance measurements at different organisational levels, such as measures of profitability, productivity and innovation, are also of central importance for managerial control, as is the construction of compensation mechanisms. Business Planning and Control systems rely heavily on available information. The design and implementation of information systems is therefore another important element in this area.
Management Science faculty
Current faculty interests cover both general topics in EREE and BPC as well as highly specialized topics:
- Market design in deregulated energy and natural resource markets
- Dynamic feedback rules in resource management
- Contract theory
- Evolutionary games
- Revenue and operations management models
- Cost allocation and profit sharing and other applications of cooperative game theory
- Managing shared marine resources
- Computational and theoretical aspects in non-standard economic models
- Time series fortcasting in the energy and resource sectors
- Election theory and preference models
Specialized topics: Combinatorial auctions, transmission pricing, supply chain management in the forestry sector, climate change and impacts on migratory fishing stocks, refinery planning, regional science and discrete choice models, environmental corrective taxes.
Find out more about the Management Science faculty at NHH here.
Programme of study
The three-year PhD programme in Management Science provides training that enables students to produce original research of high quality. The programme is suitable for highly motivated and talented individuals who would like to pursue an international career at universities and other academic institutions, or in public or private sector jobs. The programme has a strong international focus. The programme is relatively small, which ensures close interaction with the department's faculty members.
Our students have access to a very active research environment at NHH, which regularly publishes in the top international finance and economics journals, and moreover have a large number of visitors from other leading US and European institutions. Specialised courses offered by other Nordic universities complement our in-house course offering. The entire programme is conducted in English.
Find out more about the programme structure here.
Student experience
Currently, 30% of the PhD students at the Department of Finance and Management Science are international students. The department emphasises student-faculty interaction, including student participation in department seminars, faculty-student research collaboration, and faculty-student teaching collaboration.
Students are moreover expected to attend the Management Science group's seminar activities throughout the programme. These include a weekly seminar with international guests, lunch seminars for faculty members and PhD students, as well as ad hoc seminars and workshops.
Find out more about the seminar programme at the Department of Finance and Management Science here.
Careers and placement
Traditionally, management science PhDs from NHH have taken jobs in Norway, including academia, government agencies, and the industry, finance industry included. Today there is also a large international job market for the candidates.
General requirements for admission
Students should already hold a Masters degree in finance or economics, or another quantitative discipline. Students with an incomplete background in finance, economics, mathematics, statistics, or probability theory will be required to take suitable classes in the Masters programme. Students with only an undergraduate degree will normally not be considered. Moreover, recent GMAT or GRE tests are necessary to be considered for enrollment in the programme.