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  • Technology & Operations Management
    • Technology & Operations Management
    • Program Requirements
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Technology & Operations Management

Technology & Operations Management

  • Program Requirements
The doctoral program in Technology & Operations Management prepares students to conduct important research on a broad range of issues in operations and innovation.
Students in the Technology & Operations Management are trained in various disciplinary areas including operations research, operations management, economics, engineering, and organizational behavior. Doctoral students' research addresses managerially-relevant problems, integrating discipline-based theory with rigorous research methods. Many faculty and doctoral students work in collaboration with industry partners, giving them a unique perspective on academic research and the ability to test their ideas in the field.

Curriculum & Coursework

Our programs are full-time degree programs which officially begin in August. Students are expected to complete their program in five years. Students typically spend their first two years on course work, at the end of which they take a field exam, and then another three years on dissertation research and writing.

The program requires a minimum of 13 semester long doctoral courses. Students in the Technology & Operations Management program complete courses in the areas of business management theory, economic theory, quantitative research methods, academic field seminars, and two MBA elective curriculum courses. In addition to HBS courses, students may take courses at other Harvard Schools and MIT.

Research & Dissertation

Students in TOM often begin research in the summer preceding their first year by working with a TOM faculty member. Over the first two years in the program, students are encouraged to explore their research interests as they complete relevant coursework. During their third year, students begin working on their dissertation research, typically developing three publishable papers by the end of the program.

Examples of doctoral thesis topics include: Examining how employee non-compete agreements affect entrepreneurship and job mobility; Improving retailers' sales forecasting using cost-of-sales, inventory levels, and gross margins; How familiarity among team members fosters organizational capabilities among teams; The implications of operations management for investors; and How firms influence service quality, and how service quality affects performance.

Program Requirements

Profiles

Omar Olivarez

Technology & Operations Management

Kala Viswanathan

Technology & Operations Management

Michelle Shell

Technology & Operations Management
“My professors are incredibly generous with their time, and the other members of my cohort are consistently engaged and curious.”
Kala Viswanathan
“My professors are incredibly generous with their time, and the other members of my cohort are consistently engaged and curious.”
Kala Viswanathan

Recent Placement

Maya Balakrishnan, 2024

University of Texas at Dallas, Naveen Jindal School of Management, Operations Management Area
Advisors: Kris Johnson Ferreira (Chair), Ryan W. Buell, and Jordan Tong

Ryan Allen, 2023

University of Washington, Foster School of Business
Advisors: Rory McDonald, Prithwiraj Choudhury, and Gary P. Pisano

Raha Imanirad, 2020

York University, Schulich School of Business
Advisors: Ananth Raman, Ryan W. Buell, and Soroush Saghafian

Caleb Kwon, 2024

University of Texas at Austin, McCombs School of Business, Information, Risk and Operations Management Department
Advisors: Ananth Raman (Chair), Antonio Moreno, and Jorge Tamayo

Tommy Pan Fang, 2022

Rice University, Jones Graduate School of Business
Advisors: Feng Zhu, Andy Wu, and Shane M. Greenstein

Michelle Shell, 2020

Boston University, Questrom School of Business
Advisors: Ryan W. Buell, Frances X. Frei, and Alison Wood Brooks

Daniel Yue, 2024

Georgia Institute of Technology, Scheller College of Business, Information Technology Management Department
Advisors: Shane M. Greenstein (Chair), Karim R. Lakhani, and Frank Nagle

Grace Gu, 2020

Boston College, Carroll School of Management
Advisors: Feng Zhu, Shane M. Greenstein, and Marco Iansiti

Ohchan Kwon, 2019

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), Department of Information Systems, Business Statistics and Operations Management
Advisors: Shane M. Greenstein, Prithwiraj Choudhury, and Feng Zhu

Maya Balakrishnan, 2024

University of Texas at Dallas, Naveen Jindal School of Management, Operations Management Area
Advisors: Kris Johnson Ferreira (Chair), Ryan W. Buell, and Jordan Tong

Caleb Kwon, 2024

University of Texas at Austin, McCombs School of Business, Information, Risk and Operations Management Department
Advisors: Ananth Raman (Chair), Antonio Moreno, and Jorge Tamayo

Daniel Yue, 2024

Georgia Institute of Technology, Scheller College of Business, Information Technology Management Department
Advisors: Shane M. Greenstein (Chair), Karim R. Lakhani, and Frank Nagle

Ryan Allen, 2023

University of Washington, Foster School of Business
Advisors: Rory McDonald, Prithwiraj Choudhury, and Gary P. Pisano

Tommy Pan Fang, 2022

Rice University, Jones Graduate School of Business
Advisors: Feng Zhu, Andy Wu, and Shane M. Greenstein

Grace Gu, 2020

Boston College, Carroll School of Management
Advisors: Feng Zhu, Shane M. Greenstein, and Marco Iansiti

Raha Imanirad, 2020

York University, Schulich School of Business
Advisors: Ananth Raman, Ryan W. Buell, and Soroush Saghafian

Michelle Shell, 2020

Boston University, Questrom School of Business
Advisors: Ryan W. Buell, Frances X. Frei, and Alison Wood Brooks

Ohchan Kwon, 2019

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), Department of Information Systems, Business Statistics and Operations Management
Advisors: Shane M. Greenstein, Prithwiraj Choudhury, and Feng Zhu
See All Placement

Current Technology & Operations Management Students

  • Justine Boudou
  • Bonnie Cao
  • Matthew DosSantos DiSorbo
  • Natalie Epstein
  • Jeffrey Fossett
  • Paul Hamilton
  • Shirley Huang
  • 'Leke Jegede
  • Michael Joyce
  • Omar Olivarez
  • Srimayi Tenali
  • Paige Tsai
  • Jenny Wang
  • Lorry Wu
  • Miaomiao Zhang
Current Technology & Operations Management Students
  • Justine Boudou
  • Bonnie Cao
  • Matthew DosSantos DiSorbo
  • Natalie Epstein
  • Jeffrey Fossett
  • Paul Hamilton
  • Shirley Huang
  • 'Leke Jegede
  • Michael Joyce
  • Omar Olivarez
  • Srimayi Tenali
  • Paige Tsai
  • Jenny Wang
  • Lorry Wu
  • Miaomiao Zhang
Close

Current HBS Faculty

  • Eva Ascarza
  • Iavor I. Bojinov
  • Ryan W. Buell
  • Prithwiraj Choudhury
  • Thomas R. Eisenmann
  • Chiara Farronato
  • Alexandra C. Feldberg
  • Kris Johnson Ferreira
  • Frances X. Frei
  • Shane M. Greenstein
  • Janice H. Hammond
  • Robert S. Huckman
  • Marco Iansiti
  • Ayelet Israeli
  • Ebehi Iyoha
  • Christian Kaps
  • Karim R. Lakhani
  • Himabindu Lakkaraju
  • Jacqueline Ng Lane
  • Michael Lingzhi Li
  • Alan D. MacCormack
  • Edward McFowland III
  • Antonio Moreno
  • Kyle R. Myers
  • Frank Nagle
  • Seth Neel
  • Elisabeth C. Paulson
  • Gary P. Pisano
  • Ananth Raman
  • Maria P. Roche
  • Willy C. Shih
  • Stefan H. Thomke
  • Michael W. Toffel
  • Sara McKinley Torti
  • Isamar Troncoso
  • Jeremy Yang
  • David B. Yoffie
  • Shunyuan Zhang
Current HBS Faculty
  • Eva Ascarza
  • Iavor I. Bojinov
  • Ryan W. Buell
  • Prithwiraj Choudhury
  • Thomas R. Eisenmann
  • Chiara Farronato
  • Alexandra C. Feldberg
  • Kris Johnson Ferreira
  • Frances X. Frei
  • Shane M. Greenstein
  • Janice H. Hammond
  • Robert S. Huckman
  • Marco Iansiti
  • Ayelet Israeli
  • Ebehi Iyoha
  • Christian Kaps
  • Karim R. Lakhani
  • Himabindu Lakkaraju
  • Jacqueline Ng Lane
  • Michael Lingzhi Li
  • Alan D. MacCormack
  • Edward McFowland III
  • Antonio Moreno
  • Kyle R. Myers
  • Frank Nagle
  • Seth Neel
  • Elisabeth C. Paulson
  • Gary P. Pisano
  • Ananth Raman
  • Maria P. Roche
  • Willy C. Shih
  • Stefan H. Thomke
  • Michael W. Toffel
  • Sara McKinley Torti
  • Isamar Troncoso
  • Jeremy Yang
  • David B. Yoffie
  • Shunyuan Zhang
Close

Current HBS Faculty & Students by Interest

Analytics
  • Eva Ascarza
  • Kris Johnson Ferreira
  • Ayelet Israeli
  • Michael Lingzhi Li
  • Edward McFowland III
  • Antonio Moreno
  • Seth Neel
  • Elisabeth C. Paulson
  • Isamar Troncoso
  • Jeremy Yang
  • Shunyuan Zhang
Disruptive technology
  • Sara McKinley Torti
Electronic commerce
  • Kris Johnson Ferreira
  • Ayelet Israeli
  • Isamar Troncoso
Entrepreneurship
  • Thomas R. Eisenmann
  • Kyle R. Myers
  • Maria P. Roche
  • Sara McKinley Torti
Environment
  • Michael W. Toffel
Health care quality
  • Robert S. Huckman
Information technology
  • Iavor I. Bojinov
  • Shane M. Greenstein
  • Edward McFowland III
  • David B. Yoffie
Knowledge management
  • Alexandra C. Feldberg
  • Jacqueline Ng Lane
  • Maria P. Roche
Innovation
  • Iavor I. Bojinov
  • Marco Iansiti
  • Alan D. MacCormack
  • Kyle R. Myers
  • Maria P. Roche
  • Stefan H. Thomke
Machine learning
  • Himabindu Lakkaraju
  • Michael Lingzhi Li
  • Edward McFowland III
  • Seth Neel
  • Elisabeth C. Paulson
  • Isamar Troncoso
  • Jeremy Yang
  • Shunyuan Zhang
Networks
  • Thomas R. Eisenmann
  • Shane M. Greenstein
  • Ebehi Iyoha
  • Jacqueline Ng Lane
  • Edward McFowland III
Operations management
  • Janice H. Hammond
  • Michael Lingzhi Li
  • Antonio Moreno
  • Elisabeth C. Paulson
  • Ananth Raman
  • Stefan H. Thomke
  • Michael W. Toffel
Operations strategy
  • Kris Johnson Ferreira
  • Robert S. Huckman
  • Marco Iansiti
  • Gary P. Pisano
Product development
  • Marco Iansiti
  • Alan D. MacCormack
  • Gary P. Pisano
  • Stefan H. Thomke
  • Sara McKinley Torti
Service management
  • Ryan W. Buell
  • Frances X. Frei
Supply chain management
  • Janice H. Hammond
  • Ananth Raman
  • Willy C. Shih
  • Michael W. Toffel
Technology strategy
  • Thomas R. Eisenmann
  • Shane M. Greenstein
  • Karim R. Lakhani
  • Kyle R. Myers
  • Gary P. Pisano
  • Willy C. Shih
Current HBS Faculty & Students by Interest
Analytics
  • Eva Ascarza
  • Kris Johnson Ferreira
  • Ayelet Israeli
  • Michael Lingzhi Li
  • Edward McFowland III
  • Antonio Moreno
  • Seth Neel
  • Elisabeth C. Paulson
  • Isamar Troncoso
  • Jeremy Yang
  • Shunyuan Zhang
Disruptive technology
  • Sara McKinley Torti
Electronic commerce
  • Kris Johnson Ferreira
  • Ayelet Israeli
  • Isamar Troncoso
Entrepreneurship
  • Thomas R. Eisenmann
  • Kyle R. Myers
  • Maria P. Roche
  • Sara McKinley Torti
Environment
  • Michael W. Toffel
Health care quality
  • Robert S. Huckman
Information technology
  • Iavor I. Bojinov
  • Shane M. Greenstein
  • Edward McFowland III
  • David B. Yoffie
Knowledge management
  • Alexandra C. Feldberg
  • Jacqueline Ng Lane
  • Maria P. Roche
Innovation
  • Iavor I. Bojinov
  • Marco Iansiti
  • Alan D. MacCormack
  • Kyle R. Myers
  • Maria P. Roche
  • Stefan H. Thomke
Machine learning
  • Himabindu Lakkaraju
  • Michael Lingzhi Li
  • Edward McFowland III
  • Seth Neel
  • Elisabeth C. Paulson
  • Isamar Troncoso
  • Jeremy Yang
  • Shunyuan Zhang
Networks
  • Thomas R. Eisenmann
  • Shane M. Greenstein
  • Ebehi Iyoha
  • Jacqueline Ng Lane
  • Edward McFowland III
Operations management
  • Janice H. Hammond
  • Michael Lingzhi Li
  • Antonio Moreno
  • Elisabeth C. Paulson
  • Ananth Raman
  • Stefan H. Thomke
  • Michael W. Toffel
Operations strategy
  • Kris Johnson Ferreira
  • Robert S. Huckman
  • Marco Iansiti
  • Gary P. Pisano
Product development
  • Marco Iansiti
  • Alan D. MacCormack
  • Gary P. Pisano
  • Stefan H. Thomke
  • Sara McKinley Torti
Service management
  • Ryan W. Buell
  • Frances X. Frei
Supply chain management
  • Janice H. Hammond
  • Ananth Raman
  • Willy C. Shih
  • Michael W. Toffel
Technology strategy
  • Thomas R. Eisenmann
  • Shane M. Greenstein
  • Karim R. Lakhani
  • Kyle R. Myers
  • Gary P. Pisano
  • Willy C. Shih
Close
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Registrar: docreg+hbs.edu
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