Doctorate of Business Administration

The innovative approach of The University of Liverpool’s Doctor of Business Administration programme advocates learning by engagement and action. You will be able to create professional actionable knowledge, both through classroom learning, and by applied research through Critical Action Learning and Action Research, utilising appropriate quantitative and qualitative methods.

The core curriculum of the DBA programme consists of contemporary management topics such as change and crisis management; innovative approaches to leadership; managerial decision making; as well as ethics, sustainability and social impact.

In addition to rigorous classroom scholarship, you will create a Doctoral Development Plan (DDP) which will allow you to chronicle your development as a doctoral practitioner and researcher.

The DDP will also assist you in understanding your transformation process and reflections on becoming a scholar/practitioner, creating doctoral-level professional knowledge, as well as the development of critical thinking skills such as leading in the midst of ambiguity.

You will complete your qualification with an original thesis that’s based upon a critical project that you undertake in your organisation. Unlike doctoral business programmes that are more theoretical in nature, the thesis for our DBA is designed to produce new, actionable knowledge that you will immediately use.

The University of Liverpool understands that most senior managers will change positions and organisations throughout their career. Therefore, due to our DBA programme’s focus on building critical reflection, critical thinking, and doctoral-level skills, you should graduate with the knowledge and expertise necessary to apply what you’ve learned in a variety of organisational and managerial settings.

Prior to taking the Online Doctor of Business Administration from The University of Liverpool Online, the following are required:

• A Masters degree from a recognised institution comparable and/or equivalent to a British Masters degree;
• A minimum of five years management experience at a senior level with practical knowledge of business or public organisations
• Completion of a Laureate provided online Academic Writing Skills assessment
• English Language skills relevant to an academic programme and comparable to a minimum of IELTS 7.0 or TOEFL 95 (Internet Based Test)
• Applicants must have an affiliation with an appropriate organizational context (e.g., place of work, volunteer organization, etc.) within which to accomplish the Action Learning and Action Research projects.

Please note for the Online DBA, The University of Liverpool Online also evaluates applicants on an individual basis. Contact The University of Liverpool Online to learn more.

A PhD is a research based doctoral programme which usually involves little or no taught element and is academic in nature. A professional doctorate, like the DBA, produces a qualification which, whilst being equivalent in status and challenge to a PhD, is more appropriate for those pursuing professional rather than academic careers. As such, the aim of a PhD is to advance knowledge, whereas the primary goal of a DBA is to advance professional practice.

The DBA programme is comprised of nine core modules. The first six modules will incorporate the Critical Action Learning methodology while the remaining three will incorporate both Critical Action Learning and Action Research methodologies. 

Each module is ten weeks in length and is worth 30 credit points - inclusive of the management research that you undertake in each module.

You will complete your degree with a thesis (for a total of 540 credit points). 

The Programme will contain nine taught modules. These are as follows

• The Doctoral Practitioner
• Change and Crisis Management
• Knowledge Creation
• Management Research: Quantitative & Qualitative Methods
• Leadership and Community
• Action Research & the Action Research Thesis
• Complex Adaptive Systems
• Decision Making with Risk and Uncertainty
• Ethics, Sustainability and Social Impact

The programme will take between 3.5 and 4.5 years based on the recommended study schedule. Should students need to alter their study path due to work or family commitments they can do so in consultation with a Student Support Manager.

• Course work: 2.5 years
• Thesis: 1 – 2 years

For tuition fee information, please contact The University of Liverpool Online.