8/7/2019 DBA_PhD

1/3

SHOULD I DO AN SCU DBA OR AN SCU PHD?

DBA programs did not begin in earnest until the 1990s. However, by 1999, morethan 16 UK universities offered a DBA program (Bourner, Ruggeri-Stevens &Bareham 2000) and about 6 Australian universities did. In 2001, SCU has one ofthe oldest and arguably the biggest and most successful DBA program of anyuniversity in Australia. The SCU DBA started in 1996 and by early-2001 hadabout 130 active students and 35 graduates. Indeed, this program is more

successful than the PhD programs in management at most universities inAustralia. Which raises the question: Why is the SCU program more popular thanPhD programs? Or, in other words, what is the difference between a DBA and aPhD program, and why would a DBA program be more attractive to managers?

Differences between a DBA and a PhD

There seem to be three major differences between the two types of doctorate:entry, focus and nature of the thesis.

Firstly, entry into a DBA usually requires an MBA degree or the equivalent

(students with a masters degree in a non-management field or who have anhonours degree, have to do four MBA-level units before they can start theresearch part of the DBA). In addition, entry into a DBA program requiresappropriate executive or managerial experience in the public or private sector. Incontrast, entry into a PhD program requires only a two-semester honours awardand no work experience of any kind. These differences suggest that the teachingand learning experiences of a DBA program are geared to more mature peoplewith both academic and managerial experience. Indeed, the SCU program isbusiness-like in its project-structured approach to producing the outcomes of aDBA thesis and its related learning experiences. For example, the DBA does notassume a research honours degree has been completed before the program

starts, as a PhD does, and it requires several papers are written under closesupervision in the early stages, that ease a student into his or her researchprocesses. Thus the completion rate of students in SCUs DBA is higher than inmost other DBA and PhD programs.

The second difference between a DBA and a PhD program is the focus of theprogram. The DBA is a professional doctorate for managers, that is, it is adoctoral-level program that will help the professional development ofpractitioners. A survey of UK degrees concluded that the DBA program focusesan executives development and his or her practice:

there is reasonable degree of consensus emerging about thenature of the DBA: it is program of research-based managementdevelopment aimed at developing the capacity to make a

8/7/2019 DBA_PhD

2/3

2

(A paper prepared by Chad Perry on 17.3.01)

significant original contribution to management practice. (Bourner,Ruggeri-Stevens and Bareham 2000, p. 494; emphases added)

In contrast, the PhD is a degree that focuses on a contribution to academicliterature and prepares usually younger students for a career in academicresearch it could perhaps be called a professional doctorate for academics.This PhD degree has been scathingly criticised by business and industry as

inappropriate for a non-academic career because it is too theoretical and solitary,among other things (Perry and Zuber-Skerritt 1993). Nevertheless, the SCU DBAdoes not discard all the features of a PhD. It keeps features such as precision ofthought and expression, and an awareness of what others have previouslywritten about a topic. But it applies those features to address issues of practicalrelevance to a manager rather than to an academic.

The third difference between a DBA and a PhD flows from the first twodifferences, and is the doctoral thesis itself. Because a DBA student alreadyhas a MBA when he or she enters the program and because of his or her focuson a management problem, the DBA thesis is usually a bit shorter than a PhD

thesis. A SCU DBA thesis is normally about 50,000 words or so, while a PhDthesis is normally about 60,000 words or so (although it can sometimes be farlonger) (Phillips and Pugh 1994). Sometimes a DBA thesis can be longer than50,000 words, and sometimes a PhD thesis can be shorter than 60,000 words, sothis difference is not an important one. A more important difference is that theDBA thesis will emphasise the managerial implications of what the DBA researchproject has found, and will not put so much emphasis on the literature.

However, there are many ways in which the two types of theses are the same.For example, both must make a contribution to knowledge (although the PhDsknowledge is usually about theory and the DBAs knowledge emphasises

practice). As well, both must be clearly written and demonstrate an ability to plan,execute and report a research project. For example, both will follow a standardstructure like Perrys (1998), and describe and justify the methodology used.Finally, both types of thesis usually have at least one external examiner and atleast one internal examiner.

In brief, the SCU DBA is a professional doctorate for a manager that aims to helptheir career in a way that a PhD cannot.

Difference between a DBA and some managers or consultants

reportsWe finish off by noting how a DBA is different from a report about one managersproblem. Essentially, a managers and some consultants reports are about justone firms problem. In contrast, a DBA student could write a thesis thatcomplements or wraps around a managers or a consultants report anddevelops a broader understanding from that report. Indeed, writing a DBA thesiswill prepare students to write a larger consultants report like an environmentimpact statement or a feasibility study for a major mine or infrastructure work.

That is, a DBA thesis:

explicitly considers what practitioners and others have already learnt andwritten about the practice;

8/7/2019 DBA_PhD

3/3

3

(A paper prepared by Chad Perry on 17.3.01)

explicitly explains how ideas in the report are related, as a basis forpredictions made in the report;

explicitly says how processes were carried out to execute the research andprepare the report, so that other practitioners can learn about them and/orcheck them out; and

explicitly develop implications for other managers in other firms in other

industries.

An example of this sort of DBA research might be a student we could call Sallywho was paid to conduct a consulting project to develop a strategic plan for aninnovative medical practice. She conducted indepth interviews with the two mostsenior doctors and then facilitated a string of strategic planning retreats andinterviews with all five doctors. She then developed a five-year plan for that onemedical practice which incorporated their visions. Next, she wrote a DBA thesisabout the processes she had used, relating concepts in the literature like Portersgeneric strategies and forces of competitive advantage to a professional practice(about which little had been written). As well, she justified why she had done

things the way she had, and extrapolated her findings to all professionalpractices. The report and the dissertation were both submitted for her DBAdegree.

Conclusion

In brief, the SCU DBA program offers a manager a tough but exciting journey ofprofessional development that is more appropriate for him or her than a PhDprogram would be. We hope you consider it.

List of references

Bourner, T., Ruggeri-Stevens, G. & Braeham, J. 2000, The DBA; form andfunction, Education + Training, vol. 42, no. 9, pp. 481-495.

Perry, C. 1998, A structured approach for presenting research theses,Australasian Marketing Journal, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 63-86.

Perry, C. and Zuber-Skerritt, O. 1993, Professional doctorates in management,in Still, L. and Clarke, P. (ed), Directions in Management 1992:The Best ofManagement Research in Australia, McGraw Hill, Sydney.

Phillips, E.M. & Pugh, D.S. 1994, How to Get a PhD, Open University Press, MiltonKeynes.