DBA, Doctorate of Business Administration, one of the most respected degrees in academia and industrial world is also the best alternative to traditional PhDs program being offered by most universities. Doctorate of Business Administration or DBA is a research doctorate and is only offered by top ranking universities of the world including Harvard. The typical coursework requires participant to do research work beyond masters which may result in journal publications. Widely respected in consulting industry due to its nature of coursework and curriculum design DBA concentrates more on applied research and not on theoretical research besides the thesis being geared towards contribution to business practice.
In fast changing economic scenario where students needs to be taught on various perspectives and in industries customers demanding a subject matter expert to lead the project or product team a DBA is an ideal choice for both Academic and Industrial positions over PhD.
B-School.com decided to cover top three universities where a prospective candidate can pursue a Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) through different modes.
Harvard Business School (HBS): – The website at HBS states that they are trying to educate scholars who can make a difference in the world through rigorous research that influences practices which is the sole motive of DBA. Banking on a team of teachers, mentors, educators, researchers and authors who led both industry and academia successfully, HBS is churning out leaders who are ready to take the world both in Industry and Academic world . Flexibility in learning and choosing the area of study HBS DBA Programs offers eight area of study which includes Accounting & Management, Business Economics, Health Policy Management, General Management, Marketing, Organizational Behaviour, Strategy and Technology & Operations Management.
To apply for a DBA program in Harvard Business School the applicant needs to have a bachelor’s degree but applicants with master in business administration will be given more preference. The Candidate needs to complete online application form, upload a résumé, upload a statement of purpose (SOP), transcripts for all college/university degrees and courses, GRE or GMAT Score, TOEFL Score, Three letter of reference (one from academic source) and an application fee 105$.
HBS DBA program produced some of the most notable intellectuals and few of them are Clayton M. Christensen, Robert and Jane Cizik Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and John Quelch, Vice President and Distinguished Professor of International Management at CEIBS.
Swiss Business School (SBS): – Swiss Business School Doctorate in Business Administration focused its programs more on leadership, change and process management and research methodologies. Ranked among top 30 b-schools in world by various management journals and one of the top 10 b-schools for various programs SBS DBA program is also one of the most flexible program for participants. SBS conducts its DBA program every Saturdays and Sundays and the curriculum consists of 108 units which need to complete in a minimum time frame of 2.5 years and most of six years.
SBS conducts its DBA Program in classroom format based on the concept of interactive workshop which includes coursework phase and research phase divided equally. The coursework phase at SBS DBA consists of doctoral program seminars and workshops while the research phase consists of supervision workshops. To apply for a DBA program in SBS one needs to have a Master in Business Administration or any other program which bridged the gap between management educations. The participant needs to have at least five years of experience and an IELTS score of at least 7. The potential candidate needs to send a 1000 word outline of the proposed research.
Edinburgh Business School: – Launched in 2003 EBS DBA is gradually becoming the best alternative for working executives and entrepreneurs, interested in pursuing doctoral program or research program, to continue education to apply latest research in organizational working. EBS ranked among top 75 b-schools in world by Financial Times, designed its DBA course structure keeping in mind the current trends in education and industry. The DBA program at EBS consists of course stage, mentoring stage, supervision stage. The Course Stage consists of completion of three business research courses and each research consisting of 200 hours of study. The Mentoring Stage lasts for six months and the faculty at EBS helps in preparing a doctoral thesis. The Supervision stage consists of completing of doctoral thesis or preparing journal report under the guidance of faculty and following university guidelines. A research report for DBA at EBS typically consists of about 45000 words.
To apply for a DBA Program in EBS the potential candidates needs to have a Masters in Business Administration or M.Sc in Management or related discipline. The candidate also needs to have at least five years’ experience in executive position. For candidates from non-English speaking countries one needs to produce an IELTS score of at least 6.5 or TOEFL Score of 110 in internet based test.