Executive PhD in Business Management: A New Doctoral Journey Begins
How can executive experience contribute to research that shapes the future of business? In September 2026, EDHEC Business School welcomed its inaugural Executive PhD in Business Management cohort to Lille for its first residential session. Bringing diverse leadership perspectives into academic dialogue, these experienced professionals began a doctoral-level journey designed to deepen their understanding of complex organisational challenges and develop original insights with lasting managerial and societal value.
Connecting executive experience with impactful research
EDHEC Business School’s first Executive PhD in Business Management cohort began its doctoral journey in September 2026 under the academic leadership of Professor Martin Wetzels the programme’s Academic Director. Designed for experienced professionals, the 40-month, part-time programme enables participants to pursue doctoral-level research in parallel with their careers and leads to a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) degree. Its practice-oriented approach encourages candidates to bring questions arising from their own organisations into their research, connecting managerial experience with rigorous academic enquiry. The programme reflects EDHEC’s commitment to producing knowledge that helps transform business and address the complex challenges facing organisations and society. Through their doctoral projects, participants will develop the theoretical understanding and research skills needed to examine these challenges and contribute insights relevant to both scholarship and management practice.
Building the foundations of a doctoral journey
The cohort came together in Lille in September for its first residential session, with two complementary courses. Management Research for Net Positive Business, led by Professor René Rohrbeck, explored how research can support organisational transformation and address societal and environmental challenges. Participants examined sustainability, desirable futures and regenerative business models while beginning to position their own research within these broader questions. Theory Development in Management Research, led by Professor Shiko Ben-Menahem, introduced the foundations of management theory and the craft of theory building, helping candidates develop the conceptual vocabulary and analytical habits required for doctoral research. The next residential sessions will take place in Paris in January 2027 and Nice in April 2027. Alongside research seminars and online sessions, candidates benefit from personalised supervision and ongoing intellectual dialogue with leading international scholars, combining theoretical and methodological guidance with their own professional experience to develop academically rigorous and managerially relevant research.
Diverse leadership backgrounds enriching a shared research experience
The inaugural cohort brings together five experienced professionals whose backgrounds span renewable energy, operational management, automotive leadership, hospitality and management consulting. Several have held senior executive responsibilities, with experience ranging from organisational restructuring and growth to digital transformation and leading multinational teams. This diversity creates a rich setting for intellectual exchange: participants bring different organisational perspectives while exploring management questions that resonate across sectors. As they develop their research, they will draw on this professional experience to examine assumptions, connect practice with theory and contribute to management knowledge.
Supported by around forty EDHEC faculty members involved as supervisors and mentors, the inaugural cohort joins an academic community committed to impactful research. The programme also advances EDHEC’s Generations 2050 vision, which addresses the environmental, social and economic challenges shaping the coming decades. Within this environment, candidates will strengthen their critical thinking and capacity for responsible leadership, helping them translate research insights into decisions that create long-term value for their organisations and society.
