At the turn of the 20th century, the world was industrializing at a rapid rate. Businesses have become larger and more complex, with more and more employees working in more diverse sectors and spread across more geographic boundaries.
As a result, the need for people with special needs to increase training in managing the general operations of businesses has led to the Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree creation and diffusion.
After more than 100 years, the MBA has become a commodity that no longer serves the core needs of an organization.
In today’s data and information age, knowledge has become the most valuable resource. Companies don’t necessarily need more general managers who can evaluate broad patterns across multiple industries – they need people with deep expertise in specific areas who can analyze data and generate unique insights that lead to better business decisions .
That’s why a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) holder is becoming increasingly valuable in the modern workplace.
The DBA is a professional degree representing the highest management qualification. It puts students on a different path in acquiring and using business knowledge than an MBA.
For the MBA, students spend two years studying a wide range of practical courses in accounting, finance, marketing, leadership, operations, strategy and ethics in business Several pillars that help them become effective leaders in many industries.
In contrast, a DBA spends up to two years researching academic literature in multiple fields and an additional two years designing and executing an original study Project: A dissertation focused on one area. The main goal of a DBA is to develop academics with deep expertise in the field of management.
” titles may help them stand out from their peers. DBAs can also pursue senior positions in fields such as consulting by becoming a subject matter expert, or as a full- or part-time The professors maintain connections with academia.
DBA training provides them with a variety of career options. The academic literature they read provides them with an understanding of management theory Expertise, these theories can help them analyze real-world situations and distinguish signal from noise. Innovation-focused DBAs can assess whether new entrants pose a credible threat of disruptive innovation to incumbents.
Students then learn quantitative advanced scientific techniques and/or qualitative methods, training them to analyze data to generate valid inferences that their organizations can use for decision-making purposes. Rather than relying on intuition and graphs, DBAs can use powerful techniques such as sampling data to reduce bias, using statistical regression to identify the strongest factors affecting results, or designing an experiment to obtain 100% certainty about causal relationships between variables.
Finally, DBAs combine their business knowledge with analytical skills to design and execute original research, making them world-leading experts in their specific field.
DBAs also stand out, as they make up only 2% of all people with higher business degrees. In 2021, more than 250,000 students earned an MBA or professional degree; only 5,000 earned Ph.D.
While a DBA may represent an attractive option and very valuable to today’s organizations, it is not necessarily recommended for everyone.
To help you decide if a DBA is right for you, the most important question to ask yourself is whether you are comfortable with the tools and frameworks you use to analyze data and information, to make important business decisions. If you’ve ever found yourself wondering where these frameworks came from—or if there is a better way to make decisions—consider applying to the DBA program. These courses are designed to channel deep intellectual interest and enthusiasm into generating Theoretical novelty and practically relevant business knowledge.
DBA training can help you develop more ambitious careers than an MBA program will simultaneously open doors for industry or academia. While an MBA degree was designed to meet the needs of 20th century businesses, a DBA can help meet the needs of today’s and tomorrow’s organizations.
Learn more about how getting a DBA can help advance your career.
