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Why DBA?

Organisational Impact

The Executive DBA is a high quality, doctoral level, research degree which has real impact in organisations and on wider policy and practice.  It is undertaken by those who are focused on practice-based careers.

You and your organisation will benefit from dedicated research on a major, often critical, organisational issue. This should have a significant impact on your organisation's management thinking, approach, processes and profitability.

You will usually come to the programme with a broad practical question which aims to tackle a particular issue within your organisation. This question will become more focused and will lead to clear findings and insights throughout the programme. The combination of a review of existing evidence, the collection of primary empirical data and engagement with practice, allows you to undertake research that will have both academic value and a real impact on practice and policy.

Talking to Your Employer about Sponsorship

For many students, obtaining sponsorship from their organisation is a fundamental element of the application process. Our experience, strengthened by the agreement of our current students and alumni, highlights that securing the support of your employer, not only boosts the overall learning experience, but also enhances future career development.

The very essence of the Executive DBA means that the supporting organisation has the opportunity to capitalise on the employee's enhanced business and leadership skills allowing future company objectives and strategies to be met.

Personal Impact

The Executive DBA is designed to provide you with a range of transferable personal and professional skills as a basis for continuing professional development. You will develop personally by engaging in the learning required to progress through the doctorate.

The programme provides a rich developmental experience. Most students find that they undergo a transition in their thinking and approach during the programme to one that is more rigorous and evidence-based. The many skills that you acquire, or in many cases build on, are sophisticated ones that will clearly differentiate you from other managers. The skills are both derived from, and are seamlessly transferable to, ongoing business situations.

This personal development means that our DBA alumni go on to reach senior positions in their careers; sometimes moving into roles in government or starting their own consultancy business. DBA graduates might also combine this with part-time teaching roles, and, we hope, maintain their relationship with Cranfield School of Management.

The Cranfield DBA Experience

A world-class reputation for quality assurance, support, environment and resources

Our focus is on ensuring that your contribution to practice is not only of relevance to your organisation, but has the capacity to impact broader practice and/or policy within your field. To help you achieve this, the programme delivers on its world-class reputation for quality assurance, support, environment and resources.

What particularly distinguishes our Executive DBA is the level of individual attention given to each participant in the programme through a series of structured progress reviews and specialised tuition. Together, they provide participants with an enviable and possibly unique experience in the world of business education.

Quality Assurance

Our Executive DBA is a fully-resourced, structured programme with leading faculty contributing to both teaching and supervision. Launched in 1999, our Executive DBA is based upon over 17 years experience of delivering a quality programme which produces rigorous and relevant research.

Support

As the issues addressed by Executive DBA researchers are real organisational problems, they tend to be cross-disciplinary, requiring input from a number of faculty with differing expertise. This is reflected in our use of supervisory teams rather than a single supervisor, and additional support from various research activities, centres and groups within Cranfield. This ensures you will receive the most appropriate level of support and access to a wide range of expertise with common research interests.

The School of Management’s Student Advisory Services team are committed to supporting all researchers through their learning journey from initial enquiry to graduation and beyond. Whenever you need that vital piece of information or advice they will respond directly by email or telephone. A learning portal is also available for all course materials and guidelines, accessible anywhere in the world, which is supported by the Cranfield Research Office.

The structured nature of the programme provides a clear set of milestones, which enable students to evaluate their progress and ensure they are keeping on track to complete within the timeframe.

The strength of support from other students in the cohort is invaluable. A Cohort Leader from Cranfield School of Management's academic community takes specific interest in your progress, in addition to the Programme Director, Supervisory Team and Research Training Tutors. Support is also available from the School of Management Library and the award winning Kings Norton Library. Through both these facilities, Cranfield offers access to a vast electronic library of business information and management resources. Our rich, online collections enable students to explore the ideas of many world respected management thinkers.

What particularly distinguishes our Executive DBA is the level of individual attention given to each participant in the programme through a series of structured panels and specialised tuition. Together, they provide participants with an enviable and possibly unique experience in the world of business education.