The Bradford DBA

The Bradford DBA provides a unique part-time structure of rigorous, concentrated study, ongoing research practice and continual, practical assessment. The course combines distance learning with the advantages of face-to-face study. Participants make scheduled visits to Bradford and/or Germany each year for modules, peer review workshops and discussions with supervisors.

You will attend compulsory residential workshops spread throughout the year in years one and two. Year one consists of 4 residential sessions, spread over the year. Each of those sessions last between 3 to 5 days. Year two follows with another 3  residential modules - each of them lasting 3 days.

From year three onward you will attend a minimum of two, two-day Peer Review Workshops each year. They give you the chance to test your ideas with fellow participants and share ideas with others. The workshops also keep DBA students motivated, and contribute to our having fewer students fail to complete than most DBA programmes.

Twice a year you are assessed through our Monitoring Progress System, in which you report in to the DBA Review Team. This ensures that you are up to speed with your research and writing.

The schedule of modules and workshops is agreed well in advance and full details of dates for 2013/14 are available on request.

In years one and two you will study eight modules designed to develop doctoral-level expertise in research methods and to take you to the point where you can start your own independent research. In this intensive period, you learn to translate your hard won management wisdom into a research framework that enables you to produce an academic thesis with practical business impact.

The modules are practically focused so that, if you wish, you can hone your research skills by focusing on current problems you have to tackle for your organisation. You will maintain a learning journal that will help you become more reflective as a business person and encourages professional self-improvement along the way.

Before progressing to the next stage, you will use the knowledge and skills gained from your research training to design, refine and defend your research proposal by presenting it at a ‘mini viva’.

In years three to four or three to six, you will complete a supervised research project leading to either a thesis of 60,000 words, or a combination of thesis and management reports that together total about 60,000 words.

Students choose their own research topic, based on their individual and organisational needs. It may be problem driven, giving you the opportunity to demonstrate where existing theories break down and new thinking is needed, or discovering a new way in which to tackle difficult issues. The project will provide you with skills and insights you will draw on throughout your career.

Recent projects have included ‘Measuring the Efficiency of Customer Retention Programmes’, ‘Productivity Improvement in Small and Medium-Size Enterprises’, ‘Organisational Learning in Context’, ‘External Communication and Corporate Performance’, and ‘Managing Cultural Integration in International Joint Ventures’.