The Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) and the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in business or management discipline are both terminal degrees of university; nevertheless, the purpose, the target audience, entry requirements, duration, career path, research focus, research methodology, expected outcomes, and dissertation or thesis could be different in these two qualifications.
Let’s discuss them one by one.
Let’s take the case of an action-research scenario and see how these two degrees may approach this problem. In a DBA, the purpose could be to solve real-world business problems using applied research, whereas in a PhD, the purpose could be to contribute to theoretical knowledge through original academic research. The target audience for the DBA could be experienced professionals and executives aiming to advance their practice, while in PhD the researchers could be mainly academics pursuing careers in teaching and scholarly research or practitioners in the business world.
Entry requirements in a DBA are significant professional/managerial experience, often an MBA or equivalent, and in a PhD, it is a strong academic background, research proposal, and often a master’s degree in business or related fields.
The duration of a DBA is usually 3 to 5 years (often part-time owing to the busy schedule of the business managers) (it depends upon the university also sometimes), and in a PhD it is usually 3 to 3.5 years full-time and 4 to 6 years part-time.
In terms of career path post-DBA, it could be senior leadership roles, higher echelons of management, consultancy, or practitioner-scholar positions, and in the case of a PhD, academic careers, full-time research, or university-level positions.
Research focus of a DBA could be applied and/or practice-based research focused on organizational contexts. In the case of a PhD, it could be theoretical, conceptual, experimental, and empirical research focused on knowledge advancement.
When it comes to research methodology, which is the ‘how to do’ part of the research, DBA is based on more qualitative and, in some cases, mixed-methods case studies, content analysis, document analysis, and the like, and may be correlational if quantitative; whereas, in PhD, it is more quantitative or theoretical, often hypothesis-driven, mixed methods, experimental, and could be causational study.
Expected outcomes of DBA are more of an improvement in business practice or organizational effectiveness, actionable recommendations, case studies, applied frameworks, direct and measurable impact on business/organizational processes, enhanced leadership skills, strategic thinking, applied research capability, and the like. In a PhD, the expected outcomes could be mainly theory-driven concepts that add to ‘the body of knowledge,’ advancements of academic and scholarly understanding of complex phenomena, theoretical models, empirical validation, scholarly publications, advanced research skills or methodological expertise, and publications in peer-reviewed journals, academic books, and scholarly conferences.
When it comes to the dissertation or thesis, the DBA could be practice-oriented reporting with managerial relevance and actionable recommendations, whereas, in a PhD it would be theory-driven with rigorous academic contribution and, preferably, generalizable findings derived through hypothesis testing.
To sum up, a DBA is for business leaders seeking to apply research to practice, and a PhD is for academics and theorists seeking to expand scholarly knowledge. Note that if you are aiming for practical impact in business practice, the DBA is suitable. If your goal is to teach or publish in academic journals, a PhD is the better path.
Blog Written By – Lewlyn L.R. Rodrigues
