STRATEGY
T
he Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) market is in its nascent phase and is entering a phase of growth.
ensure the dissemination of knowledge in the form of books published after the thesis. The personal motivations of DBA participants are prevalent. During pre-selection interviews, the desire for personal fulfilment and intellectual achievement is often mentioned. The idea of preparing a doctorate is often long-standing, and the decision to embark on a DBA well considered. The DBA allows managers to combine thinking with action. Aimed at a post- MBA audience, the DBA allows managers to create a virtuous circle between the knowledge acquired during their MBA and the professional experience they have developed. They adopt a reflective posture, taking a step back from their experience, as part of a lifelong personal development process. Managerial research factors Management research has gained respectability in the academic community, but it has moved away from the concerns of firms, and its value to business is being questioned. The gap between academia and the world of business has increased in terms of research. This point is raised by stakeholders in Business Schools, and accreditation bodies are more inclined to take into account criteria pertaining to the managerial and societal impact of research. The DBA brings these two worlds closer together because it confronts a manager with access to a rich field of practice, and a supervising academic providing expertise in literature and conceptual frameworks. The DBA makes it possible to produce managerial recommendations based on solid conceptual foundations, and academic articles co-authored by professors and their doctoral managers. It provides fertile ground for exchange between academics and managers. These considerations have led to more Schools offering DBAs. This phenomenon will be encouraged by the search for new growth, given the maturity of the MBA. In this context, the need for the development of DBA accreditation systems is obvious. It is important that managers have benchmarks. A DBA cannot be a two-year programme, designed as a collection of MBA modules, taught by non-academics. Business Science Institute (BSI) was founded in 2013 as an international academic networked organisation, having created the first ever DBA in France, at the University of Paris-Dauphine, with the aim of meeting these requirements.
EQUAL defines the DBA as a doctoral programme for managers with professional
experience, who wish to contribute to the production of knowledge that is useful for their company, their industry, or society. The DBA differs from the MBA in that its primary aim is not to impart knowledge, but to generate knowledge from the topic each doctoral student manager brings to the programme by virtue of the fact they are deeply involved in their field of practice. It also rests on the combination of a conceptual analysis and an analysis of managerial practices. The DBA is distinguishable from the PhD in its purpose. The latter aims to train academics, whereas the DBA is to enable managers to step back from their practice, conceptualise an experience, and communicate managerial recommendations. Whereas the PhD is primarily aimed at generating academic impact, the DBA is a vehicle for creating managerial and societal impact. The aim of the DBA is not to turn managers into full-time professors working at universities. Comparing the DBA and the PhD in terms of level is a contradiction in terms because they have distinct objectives that can only be measured using specific criteria. The DBA market is destined to grow due to managerial and management research factors. Managerial factors MBA programmes have become so popular that managers wishing to distinguish themselves are starting to look to the DBA as a means of standing out. The complexity of modern-day management and new paradigms require new managerial and societal responses: the DBA can contribute to providing these. It can also meet the needs of companies requiring in-depth analysis or wishing to
The DBA is a fertile ground for exchange between academics and managers
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