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Anglia Ruskin University

Doctor of Business Administration

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At A Glance

Course Title

Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)

Course Type

Full Degree

Course Level

Doctorate

Study Method

Block Delivery and Research

Start Date

September

Course Duration

4 – 5 years

Awarded & Delivered By

Anglia Ruskin University
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Course Description

The Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) has been designed to increase your professional capabilities, make a positive contribution to your organisation, and produce publishable-level research. It is structured in a way that allows you to develop the necessary academic skills to complement your existing professional skills set. Research training is integral to this course and will let you develop transferable skills in research methods, report writing, academic publishing, conference presentations, personal effectiveness and more.
The DBA is a professional doctorate, designed to generate an original contribution to professional practice, through a rigorous engagement with management theory, and a focussed programme of independent research into a specific ‘research problem’ in your professional practice.

There are only 30 places available on this programme. These will be filled in order of acceptance, after which, if your application is successful, you will be offered a place on a waiting list. We advise you to apply online by the end of March as we cannot guarantee available places after this date.

Course Content

The DBA is structured in a way that allows you to develop the necessary academic skills to complement your existing professional skills set. Stage 1 consists of two 30 credit modules over one year. Stage 2 consists of primary research, based on your preceding work, over three years.

Stage 1 - Taught component

This module will cover three core elements:

1: As the introductory module on the DBA, the module will introduce the conceptual basis of Evidence Based Management and explore the relationship between theory and practice in management research. The DBA is a professional doctorate, designed to generate an original contribution to professional practice, through a rigorous engagement with management theory, and a focussed programme of independent research into a specific ‘research problem’ in your professional practice. The move from practice to theory and back to practice will provide the underpinning structure of this module.

2: The module will explore how to move from a research topic, to a set of specific research problems and questions, to clarify and focus what a good research question is and how to formulate researchable questions.

3: This section of the module will focus on how to undertake a literature review, and how to use academic literature in business and management theory to clarify and narrow the research topic into a coherent set of research questions, that will deliver a doctoral level research project if answered.

The module will take you through the different approaches to reviewing the literature, with a focus on undertaking systematic literature reviews to explore the evidence base for specific practices and their efficacy in the field of management practice. This approach is located within an Evidence Based Management (EBM) paradigm that encourages you to critically analyse and evaluate the evidence underpinning your taken-for-granted practices and assumptions about what makes effective management.

The EBM paradigm is at the core of the management approach found in the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), and the structured literature review is the preferred approach in the International Journal of Management Reviews, the British Academy of Management’s main journal for literature reviews. As such, this module combines best practice in both the management profession and academic studies of management, to prepare you for formulating novel and relevant research questions.

The module is the first of two modules on the DBA. The second follows from this module to explore the kinds of research methods that will enable you to answer the focussed research questions you have formulated on this module.

The module adopts a blended approach to learning, combining a one-week, intensive, face-to-face block, delivered once a year on the Chelmsford campus, with a Canvas-based tutor lead program of studies for the duration of the remainder of the semester.

This module will cover three core elements:

1: The second and final module on the taught stage of the DBA, introduces the theoretical, contextual and conceptual requirements of undertaking independent research that will lead to a Doctoral award. The module will explore the relationship between practice-based research and the requirements needed to develop and create a doctoral thesis.

The DBA is a professional doctorate, designed to generate an original contribution to professional practice, through a rigorous engagement with management theory, and a focussed programme of independent research into a specific ‘research problem’ in your professional practice. The move from practice to theory and back to practice will provide the underpinning structure of this module.

2: The module will explore how to move from the development of a research topic and its underpinning theoretical concepts into developing a robust and justified scientific research paradigm, equipping you with a wide range of doctoral level research tools, prior to moving to the praxis research in stage 2.

3: The main section of the module will focus upon the relationship between practice-based research and the requirements to develop a research paradigm that is appropriate and justified academically, that will lead to a doctoral award. Consequently, you will be exposed to a wide range of research processes with the associated lexicon, ensuring that you will be able to determine an appropriate research paradigm for your research project.

It will be expected that you will build upon your first module and by the time this module is completed you will have gained a thorough understanding of the various research techniques that you’ll have at your disposal, to develop your research and complete your doctoral thesis.

The module will take you through the different approaches to the various research paradigms, exploring as well as practical issues wide philosophical issues such as ontological. epistemological axiological positions. Additionally, you will develop your research strategies, research approaches and research methods with a constant requirement that the research is scientifically based. As such, this module combines best practice in both the management profession and academic studies of management, to prepare you for formulating novel and relevant research paradigms.

The module adopts a blended approach to learning, combining a one-week, intensive, face-to-face block, delivered once a year on the Chelmsford campus, with a Canvas-based tutor lead program of studies for the duration of the remainder of the trimester.

Stage 2 - Research component

The research proposal is situated at 18 months as after this time period you will have completed three of the modules and produced the equivalent of 18,000 words. As these modules will have provided you with the initial problem definition (assignment 1), a review of the extant literature (assignment 2) and an examination of the methodological approach (assignment 3), you would normally be in a position to develop a coherent proposal.
By this stage of the programme you will have clarified your research instruments, operationalised a pilot study for the main research and be in a position to proceed with the primary research project. By building in supervisory meetings it will mean that you will have benefited from a structured programme of support that will have prepared you for the upgrade.
The final DBA is assessed through the production of a 60,000 word thesis, which is defended in a viva voce examination.

Study Method

Workshops

Workshops are the mechanism through which the modules will be delivered and continuous support maintained. Therefore, in the first year of the programme you will attend full day workshops for each module (one week per module). Workshops will continue online after this through Canvas.

Or you can choose to attend all workshops completely online instead of visiting the campus.

Canvas

Canvas provides candidates with access to a range of resources to support their development. This includes academic databases, links to other websites and research software. In addition, it provides a mechanism through which candidates and staff can interact and facilitates electronic submission of work for formal assessment and allows timely feedback from academic staff.

Supervision

The role of supervision and the relationship with supervisors is one of the key determinants for successfully undertaking doctoral level study. For this reason, your supervisory team will be established at the outset, and is built into your programme of study. Mentors will be assigned during stage 1 and the supervisory team at stage 2. Supervisory support is, therefore, an on-going process during and after the completion of the taught modules.

Course Fees

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Entry Requirements

  • Applicants must hold an approved Masters degree in business, management or in a subject that is relevant.

  • The DBA is a professional doctorate, designed to generate an original contribution to professional practice, through a rigorous engagement with management theory, and a focussed programme of independent research into a specific ‘research problem’ in your professional practice.

  • If you do not meet the entry requirements, we can provide a pathway for you, after taking your existing educational qualifications and work experience in consideration. Please make an enquiry to learn more.

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There are only 30 places available on this programme. These will be filled in order of acceptance, after which, if your application is successful, you will be offered a place on a waiting list. We advise you to apply online by the end of March as we cannot guarantee available places after this date. The minimum registration period is 48 months, the maximum is 72 months.

This degree programme has intakes in September each year. Click the Enrol Now button and share your information so that one of our Academic Advisors will get in touch with you promptly.

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