Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)
What is a Doctor of Business Administration?
The Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) is the ultimate degree in the field of Business Administration. It is a specialist professional qualification that unites professional practice in business and industry with academic knowledge. DBA professionals are an elite group, recognised as leaders of their own organisation, and attractive to those others who seek to appoint at the highest level of management.
DBA, which is the highest level of academic qualification attainable in business, separates you from the rest. The doctoral degree represents a common currency of excellence globally, and is recognised as the highest academic qualification achievable. Companies know that the DBA has given you research, critical thinking, strategic thinking and quantitative evaluation skills which are invaluable for their organisation.
The aim of the DBA is for our graduates to:
- Develop the skills and confidence to design and shape organisational interventions which help address 21st Century challenges
- Analyse the effectiveness of those interventions
- Communicate and implement those findings such that both the world of business practice and the world of research can benefit.
In this way, DBA candidates fulfil the primary and ultimate goal of doctoral research, which is to generate new knowledge
The PPA Business School DBA is a part-time executive doctoral programme for motivated, high achieving global executives who want to research cutting edge solutions to real world issues, without having to put their careers on hold. It is structured around a research project which is driven by you, the individual, and which has direct application to the business world. This is an outstanding opportunity for you to study real-life business issues and to make an impact in your organisation and beyond.
We offer two routes to the Doctor of Business Administration:
- DBA by traditional thesis
- DBA by publication
Structure of the DBA Programme
The following are the components of the DBA programme
- Comprehensive Research Methodology Course delivered online.
- Produce a Detailed Research Proposal.
- Defence and Approval of the Research Proposal.
- Field work in your own organisation or sector.
- Thesis writing and submission.
- Viva Voce Examination.
- Award of the DBA Degree on successful Viva
We expect the DBA programme to be completed within 3 years
The Research Methodology Course
The online Research Methods course is an online assessed course that enables you to develop the research skills necessary for this level of study.
The course requires completion of 8 modules. The timing of the modules is flexible. You can work to your own timetable, in keeping with your other commitments. However, in our experience, candidates tend to spend the following times on each module.
| Module 1 | Critical Analysis 1 | One to two months |
| Module 2 | Critical Analysis 2 | Two to four weeks |
| Module 3 | Preliminary Literature Review | Two to three months |
| Module 4 | Publication of the Literature Review as a Primer | Two to four weeks |
| Module 5 | Methodology | Two to three months |
| Module 6 | Survey design and analysis | Two to four weeks |
| Module 7 | Reflection | Two to four weeks |
| Module 8 | Research Proposal | Two to three months |
All modules are summatively assessed with the exception of module 7 which is formatively assessed and results are reported on your transcript.
You will be given full supervisory support with targeted feedback from your application all the way through to the submission of your thesis. Contact is made either through emails or Zoom.
Eligibility
You will need a good Master’s degree from a recognised Institution, and have at least four years of managerial experience involving responsibility for strategic issues. You may alternatively be considered on the basis of your alternative academic qualifications, managerial experience or prior professional knowledge & experience.
Adequate command of spoken and written English is required for admission (equivalent to IELTS 6.5). Applicants whose native language is other than English and who do not hold a Bachelor degree or its equivalent from an institution at which English is the language of instruction must provide evidence of their proficiency in the language.
