Exploring the PhD supervisor/candidate relationship for a ‘publication-based thesis’: a metaphor-driven approach

In this paper, we use metaphors to capture the experiences of a group of five PhD supervisors (who have supervised) and three PhD graduates (who have completed) a Publication-Based Thesis (P-BT) within the Information Systems (IS) discipline. Our analysis leads to the emergence of five themes referred to as ART-IQ (Ambidexterity, Responsibility, Trust, Integrity, Quality). These five themes shine a light on the PhD supervisor/candidate relationship dynamic and are also core in theorising PhD supervision (in a P-BT context) as a sustainable leadership practice. Overall, we argue that viewing PhD supervision as sustainable leadership (in a P-BT context) suggests that the IQ (Integrity, Quality) is only achievable if the ART (Ambidexterity, Responsibility, Trust) elements are present.