DBA

Doctorate of Business Administration

After the MBA, the DBA

Our doctorate program is designed to help students use research methods to define, implement and evaluate potential solutions for very real business issues.

Attracting high-calibre students from across the globe, the DBA builds on the learning gathered in our MBA and MSc courses to create a research-based program of original thought and novel ideas. Studied on a distant learning basis, students will have the full support of a dedicated Brooklyn Academy supervisor.

Structure

The DBA has two distinct stages. Complete them and you’ll be among the very best practitioners of research-based business solutions in the world.

The Courses Stage

Demonstrate the knowledge and expertise required to underpin the subject of your thesis. You first complete the three courses titled Introduction to Business Research 1, 2 and 3. These will help you understand the research process. Each course is assessed by a written examination.

Pass these and you will go on to discuss your research interests with our senior mentor and develop an outline of your proposed area of research. The senior mentor will then consider all your prior qualifications and experience in the proposed research area to decide which, if any, additional courses are required.

If necessary, you must successfully complete these additional subject courses, each of which requires around 200 hours of study, before progressing to the research stage. The majority of students are not required to take additional courses as they tend to research an area they have qualifications and/or experience in.

The Research stage

The mentored phase: Define an appropriate subject for your thesis. Working in co-operation with your mentor, you will spend around six months developing your research proposal. Your mentor will be a senior academic with experience facilitating the progression of DBA students through the mentoring stage but not necessarily an expert in the subject of the proposed final thesis.

The research proposal must be submitted to the DBA Research Committee for approval. Once accepted, you will be allocated a supervisor whose expertise lies within your proposed area of research.

The supervised phase

Conduct a literature search, then write and defend your thesis. Working under the direction of your supervisor, you will conduct a literature review that supports your research and methodology. You will then carry out your research and write your thesis.

Your supervisor will be a senior academic with specific knowledge of your chosen area of research. You will have approximately six hours of contact time with the supervisor every month; electronic communication takes place on a secure web board within your Student Portal and is supplemented by telephone/Skype conversations.

Each stage of your research must be developed to a level acceptable to the DBA Research Committee.

On completion, your thesis is submitted for examination, which takes the form of an oral 'defence'. The examination will be conducted in person or by live video link.