We are looking for a PhD candidate who is passionate about the subject of evidence-based management in organizations, and who possesses a keen interest in utilizing a wide range of research methodologies, including both qualitative and quantitative methods.

The employment is primarily dedicated towards carrying out the proposed research described below, with the aim to write a dissertation, likely consisting of academic articles following principles of open science (i.e., open data, materials and computer code) that are publishable in peer-reviewed journals. The position also involves contributions to teaching giving the candidate the opportunity to build a teaching portfolio during the PhD project. The position and the environment in which the candidate will be embedded provide an optimal starting point for a career in academia in general and Human Resource Management in particular. The candidate will follow a customized track of graduate courses as part of the Interuniversity Graduate School of Psychometrics and Sociometrics (IOPS) program which will further develop the candidate’s research skills, background knowledge, and network.

Project description
With the growing volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity surrounding businesses today, and the increasing availability of data, leveraging data is key to creating competitive advantage for organizations. Evidence-based Management (EBMgt), which is a decision-making strategy that involves using the best available evidence for management decisions, is being considered a timely approach for practitioner to use data to improve organizational outcomes. Despite claims that EBMgt can promote positive behaviors like employee voice and knowledge sharing, and will contribute to a positive learning environment, there is little empirical evidence about the impact of managers’ EBMgt on employees’ behaviors and employee, team, and organizational outcomes. Thus, this project focuses on examining employees’ evaluations of their managers’ EBMgt (e.g., fairness), employees’ reaction to their managers’ EBMgt (e.g., voice, proactive behaviour), and the impact of these employee evaluations and reactions on individual and team outcomes. The PhD project entails both quantitative and qualitative research methods. 

Job description
The PhD project is supervised by Dr. Brigitte Kroon and Dr. Tina Sahakian who have a research interest in EBMgt, and Dr. Christine Yin Man Fong who has a research interest in employees’ perceptions and reactions in job design. The project is funded through a Starter Grant at Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Science. You will collect primary data (via fieldwork and questionnaires), and apply qualitative and quantitative methods to answer the following research questions:

1. What existing studies have investigated employee evaluations and reactions to managerial decision making and what insights can they provide for this research?
2. How do employees observe or perceive managers’ evidence-based management, under what conditions do managers practice evidence-based management, and what is the level of overlap between what managers practice and employees perceive?
3. How do employees evaluate their managers’ evidence-based management practice, how do they react to it, and what are the implications of this for social relationships at work and performance? 
4. What is the implication of managers’ evidence-based management on the team environment and -performance? 
5. You will start your PhD with drafting a research proposal based on these questions. You will be a member of the departement of Human Resource Studies, where you will also engage in teaching activities, e.g. supervising (Bacheor) theses, and conducting workgroups in courses like Strategic Human Resource Management or Academic Writing.

We have the following requirements:

• A Master’s degree in human resource studies, organization studies, organizational psychology, business administration, international business or another related field with relevance for the project 
• Academic excellence, as demonstrated by grade transcripts and CV
• Excellent qualitative and/or quantitative research skills and data analytical abilities
• Enthusiastic, independent, proactive, with a positive learning attitude, strong motivation and ambition for research excellence
• Good communication and presentation skills and team spirit
• Interest in engaging in education (up to 20% of total time)
• Excellent command of English and academic writing skills 

This is a position for 1.0 FTE (40 hours per week) of the full-time working week. 

The start salary amounts to €2.541 and a maximum in the fourth year of €3.247 gross per month for full time employment contract, based on UFO profile PhD student and salary scale number PhD’s of the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities. Tilburg University uses a neutral salary system for scaling that is based on relevant education and work experience. 

You are entitled to a vacation allowance of 8% and a year-end bonus of 8.3% of your gross annual income. If you work 40 hours per week, you will receive 41 paid days of leave per year.

Tilburg University offers excellent employment conditions. We think flexibility, professional and personal development, and good employee benefits are important. We make clear agreements about career paths and offer all kinds of facilities and schemes to maintain an optimal balance between work and private life. You can also follow numerous training courses, for example, in the areas of leadership skills, personal effectiveness, and career development.  

Tilburg University values an open and inclusive culture. We embrace diversity and encourage the mutual integration of groups of employees and students. We focus on creating equal opportunities for all our employees and students, so that everyone feels at home in our university community.

Tilburg University has a lively campus in beautiful green surroundings that is easily accessible by public transport. We are committed to a sustainable society and challenge you to make an active contribution.

Please visit working at Tilburg University for more information on our terms of employment. 

Tilburg University - Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences

About Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (TSB) is one of the five faculties of Tilburg University. The teaching and research of the Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences are organized around the themes of “Adaptive societies, organizations, and workers”, “Healthy life span”, and “Personalized prevention and care”. The School’s inspiring working environment challenges its workers to realize their ambitions, involvement and cooperation are essential to achieve this.   
Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences

About Tilburg University 
Serving society and making it better for its citizens. That is what drives us. Tilburg University's founder, Martinus Cobbenhagen, believed that anyone who wants to understand society must be actively and consciously involved in it. These ideas still form the basis of our university.

Under the motto Understanding society, our more than 2,800 employees develop and transfer knowledge and bring people from different disciplines and organizations together. In this way, we want to contribute to solving complex social issues. In doing so, we work from the fields of economics, business and entrepreneurship, social and behavioral sciences, law and administration, humanities and digital sciences, and theology

We educate our 20,000 students of 132 nationalities to become Tilburg University Shaped Professionals: responsible and entrepreneurial thinkers, driven by solidarity, a sense of responsibility and empathy, who are able to influence and give direction to a rapidly changing society in an innovative way.