DBA PROGRAM GOALS

DBA Program Goals

This professional doctorate program in business administration is designed to provide participants with the opportunity to make significant contribution to both theory and practice in the field and to develop professional practice at the highest level. It is a practical and research-based doctoral program in business and industry which is designed for mid-career executives who have already completed the MBA (or equivalent qualification) and are looking to further enhance their practical and theoretical knowledge in the field. As such it is a specialist qualification which is aimed at professional development in business and industry. It will help students apply research-based thinking to business ideas while deepening and broadening their ideas of business practice. The program provides students with innovative approaches for integrating academic knowledge with professional practice. Students will be actively encouraged to choose a topic for the DBA thesis that is related to their area of responsibility in an organization or an area they wish to focus upon in their career path.

The DBA program goals are as follows:

• Graduates will have knowledge of advanced theoretically grounded and methodologically sound research skills that provide the foundation for impactful, practice-focused research.
• Graduates will be able to disseminate evidence-based management practice through identifying and communicating to audiences within an academic and a practice-based settling.
• Graduates will have a mastery of quantitative and qualitative research methods specifically oriented to applied research.
  Each of the above-mentioned program goals are seen in terms of specific learning objectives which students become very familiar with as they become thoroughly immersed in the learning process.

Applicants to the program are required to submit a 15 page research proposal as part of their application package. The research proposal will enable the Admissions Committee to determine, in an objective manner, the coherence of the proposed thesis project, the applicant’s knowledge of pertinent literature, the intended methodology of the thesis research, and overall suitability of the applicant to successfully undertake DBA studies.

The program is placed on level 8 of the French and European Qualifications Framework (EQF, 2012) which corresponds to the 3rd Cycle of qualifications as defined by the Qualifications Framework in the European Higher Education Area, (QF-EHEA, 2005).

Total duration for completing the program on a full-time basis is three (3) years. And for part-time enrollment it is five (5) years. This is divided into courses, research seminars and workshops, and the DBA thesis. The course component of the program amounts to 60 ECTS credit points. The remaining component (i.e. the DBA thesis) represents a total of 120 ECTS credit points.