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Professional Doctorates (PDs) have been added to the curriculum of many universities worldwide, as an alternative to the traditional Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). PDs are more focused on practice-based knowledge that advances professional practice and contributes to society, industry and the economy. The dominance of the PhD as the typical higher degree by research has led universities to develop frameworks for their PDs which are very similar to the PhD framework. This includes the assessment of the PD, which in many cases follows the same process and is based on the same criteria as for the PhD. This similarity in the assessment of the two types of doctorates creates challenges for external examiners (EEs), who are invited to evaluate the contribution of the PD within frameworks which are tailored around the PhD. Here, the authors focus the investigation on the Doctorate in Business Administration and conduct a review and analysis of institutional documents from universities in England in an attempt to understand the similarities and differences between the examination process of the PD and the PhD and the extent to which the examination process of the PD supports the evaluation of the practice-based contribution that is at its heart. Through this review and analysis, the authors identify the challenges that exist for EEs who are called to assess PDs, and make recommendations which will support EEs to evaluate the contribution of the PD.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) programmes currently offered by UK universities are appropriate to the needs of all stakeholders, including those of the experienced business and management professionals who enrol on them.

The paper proceeds to its conclusions by scrutinising DBA programme descriptors on UK university websites, by critically reviewing the content of recent academic papers on doctorates in the fields of business and management, and by considering current provision in the light of ongoing debates about the nature of “doctorateness” taking place in the field of doctoral education as a whole.

On the basis of a detailed review of relevant scholarly literature and of UK university website material, the paper concludes by suggesting, among other things, three possible futures for the DBA: one in which essentially the status quo prevails; a second in which all doctorates carry the award title PhD (though with two variants); and a third in which, in response to views expressed elsewhere in Europe, the current “professional doctorate” in business administration is no longer referred to as a “doctorate” but takes on a new title.

This paper is an original contribution to the debate about the value and purpose of professional doctorates (and, in particular of the DBA) to the professional development of experienced managers and to their skills in research and workplace problem solving and decision making.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the dynamics of the Doctorate of Business Administration (DBA) in Australia through the lens of a changing higher education landscape. The paper reflects on issues raised in a previous analysis of DBA programmes undertaken a decade ago, and highlights persistent challenges and emerging opportunities for professional Doctorate programmes in the Australian context.

Interviews were undertaken with higher degree research directors, deans of graduate schools, and DBA programme directors from all 18 Australian institutions offering the DBA in 2013. Quantitative data on enrolments, accreditation requirements, course structures; and demographics are contextualised within a qualitative view of programme purposes, student and institutional motivations, rationales and concerns. Particular focus is given to perceptions of the difference between traditional research doctorates (PhDs) and professional doctorates, especially the DBA.

In the decade from 2003 to 2013 DBA enrolments are down but enquiries are up, indicating unmet demand. There is a shift in the players, with some smaller, regional universities dramatically increasing their enrolments, and larger, traditional institutions exiting the space altogether. Significant changes in accreditation criteria have generated a perceptual shift: where DBAs previously suffered from “academic snobbery” regarding their legitimacy, this perception is being challenged by standards which require DBA equivalence with a PhD. This shift in standards has also created some confusion amongst supervisors and candidates.

There is limited research into the DBA award or its candidates, and academic literature is generally silent on DBA supervision. This piece of research, one of very few that specifically examine the DBA, reflects on the past decade, analyses the present context and identifies emerging issues for the delivery of DBA programmes in Australia.

The 1990s have seen the emergence and development of professional doctorates in the UK and, in particular, the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA). This article identifies the rationales offered for DBA programmes and their intended learning outcomes. Research findings are based on programme documentation produced by the 16 universities offering the DBAs in 1999. Analysis of these documents shows that these programmes have been designed to provide research‐based career development for experienced and senior professionals in management positions. Whereas the PhD is aimed at developing professional researchers, the DBA aims to develop researching professionals. Rather than viewing research as an end itself, the new DBAs have placed research at the service of the development of professional practice and the development of professional practitioners. The learning outcomes of the DBA programmes identified in this paper are appreciably broader than the intended learning outcomes of the traditional PhD in business/management.

To explore the nature (component parts, degree structure) and purpose (intended outcomes) of the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) degree, identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the degree as they stand presently, using Australian experience.

A review of DBA programme offerings in Australia identified commonalities and differences in these offerings, and provided information necessary to propose strategic and theoretical implications of DBA education.

The paper demonstrates areas of confusion surrounding the purpose and nature of the DBA degree, especially as a research degree in comparison to the PhD. It concludes that quality controls are needed to ensure that this growing addition to management education adds to, and aids, the goal of strengthening management research, in ways that link theoretical insights with management practice.

Theoretical and practical implications of the DBA degree are offered, as well as the extent to which the DBA addresses the educational needs of students and its benefits to the university.

The paper provides data useful to administrators interested in establishing a DBA degree in their institution, for researchers wishing to further explore and contribute to the discourse regarding the calibre and content of DBA degrees, and for students wishing to learn more about the fundamental differences between the PhD and the DBA.

This paper provides new information about the way the DBA degree is developing in an Australian context, and offers advice on issues that need attention in order to further ground the DBA in a combined research and practitioner ethic.

David G. Allen earned his Ph.D. from the Beebe Institute of Personnel and Employment Relations at Georgia State University. He is an assistant professor of Management in the Fogelman College of Business and Economics at the University of Memphis. His current research interests include the flow of people into and out of organizations, and technology implications for human resource management.Michelle M. Arthur is an assistant professor in the Anderson Schools of Management at the University of New Mexico. She received her Ph.D. in Labor and Industrial Relations from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her current research focuses on diversity supporting human resource practices and firm-level outcomes.Murray R. Barrick is the Stanley M. Howe Leadership Chair at the Henry B. Tippie College of Business at the University of Iowa. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Akron in Industrial-Organizational Psychology. He was recognized with the “Outstanding Published Paper Award” in 1992 by the Scholarly Achievement Award Committee of the Human Resources Division of the Academy of Management, and in 2001, was the recipient of the Owens Scholarly Achievement Award from the Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP). In addition, in 1997, he was elected a fellow of SIOP. He also serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Applied Psychology, Personnel Psychology, and has served on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Management.Ronald M. Bearden received his MS in Quantitative Psychology from the University of Wisconsin. He is currently a Personnel Research Psychologist with the Navy Personnel Research, Studies, & Technology (NPRST) Department, working in the area of selection and classification. He is the principal investigator for the Navy’s efforts to develop a mulitifaceted non-cognitive assessment battery that will be utilized for identifying Navy personnel likely to perform well in the recruiting environment. He has over twenty years of experience working in the area of large-scale Navy selection and classification research programs.Walter C. Borman received his Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the University of California (Berkeley). He is currently CEO of Personnel Decisions Research Institutes and is a professor of Industrial-Organizational Psychology at the University of South Florida. He is a fellow of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, and in 1994–1995 served as President of the Society. Borman has written more than three hundred books, book chapters, journal articles, and conference papers. He recently co-edited the I/O volume of the Handbook of Psychology (Borman, Ilgen & Klimoski, 2003), and, with two PDRI colleagues, wrote the personnel selection chapter for the 1997 Annual Review of Psychology. He also has served on the editorial boards of several journals in the I/O field, including the Journal of Applied Psychology, Personnel Psychology, Human Performance, and the International Journal of Selection and Assessment. Dr. Borman’s areas of interest are performance measurement, personnel selection, job analysis, and assessment centers.Kenneth G. Brown is an assistant professor and Huneke Faculty Research Fellow at the Henry B. Tippie College of Business at the University of Iowa. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Michigan State University. Ken does research and consulting in the areas of technology-delivered training and knowledge transfer. For work in this area, Ken received the 2002 American Society of Training and Development and the 2003 Society of Human Resource Management Research Awards. He currently serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Management.Alison Cook is a doctoral candidate in Organizational Behavior at Purdue University. Her primary research interests include individual-level and firm-level outcomes of the work-family interface. Her other interests include organizational justice, gender, and diversity research.Brian R. Dineen received his Ph.D. in Human Resource Management/Organizational Behavior from the Max M. Fisher College of Business, The Ohio State University in 2003. Prior to his time in graduate school, he served four years as a Division Officer in the U.S. Navy. He is currently an assistant professor of Management in the Gatton College of Business and Economics at the University of Kentucky. His primary areas of interest include Internet-based recruitment and selection and the impact of team fluidity on team processes and outcomes. His work has appeared in the Journal of Applied Psychology, Public Personnel Management, and Journal of Management (forthcoming), and he has presented at national conferences such as the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology and the Academy of Management.William L. Farmer received his Ph.D. in Quantitative Psychology (with sub-specialization in Industrial-Organizational) from the University of Oklahoma. He is currently a Personnel Research Psychologist with the Navy Personnel Research, Studies, & Technology (NPRST) Department, working in the area of selection and classification. He is the program manager/principal investigator for the Navy’s efforts to develop a mulitifaceted non-cognitive assessment battery that will be utilized to improve the quality of enlisted selection and classification. He has over ten years of experience working in the area of large-scale employee selection programs.Kerri L. Ferstl earned her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from the University of Minnesota. She is a senior research associate in the Minneapolis office of Personnel Decisions Research Institutes. She has worked with many public and private sector clients designing and implementing customized human resource tools for use in selection, development, promotion, and performance appraisal. Her work has appeared in Personnel Psychology and the Journal of Vocational Behavior.Rodger W. Griffeth earned his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina. He is the Freeport-McMoran Chair of Human Resource Management at the University of New Orleans. His primary research interest is investigating employee turnover processes.Jerry W. Hedge earned his doctorate in I/O Psychology in 1982 from Old Dominion University. He has been involved in personnel research for more than 25 years. He has worked with both public and private sector clients designing, implementing, and evaluating numerous tools, systems, and techniques. He has extensive experience in job analysis and competency modeling; performance measurement; selection system development and validation; training program design, development and evaluation; and attitude assessment. Dr. Hedge is currently an independent consultant; during his career he has been employed by both public and private organizations, most recently serving as President and COO for Personnel Decisions Research Institute. Over the years, Dr. Hedge has stayed actively involved in conducting applied research, publishing his research in books and journals, and presenting regularly at professional conferences. He is a fellow of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology and the American Psychological Association.Jennifer D. Kaufman earned her master’s and Ph.D. degrees in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Tulane University. She has worked with law enforcement, the U.S. Navy, and the U.S. Army while employed as a Research Scientist with Personnel Decisions Research Institutes. As a Customer Leader now with DeCotiis Erhard Inc., Dr. Kaufman continues to partner with customers to develop selection and performance management systems. Dr. Kaufman received her Master’s degree and Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Tulane University. Throughout her academic career, Dr. Kaufman has received academic awards, honors and fellowships, and was chosen for a two-year appointment as the Industrial/Organizational Psychology representative for the American Psychological Association’s Science Student Council which reports directly to the Board of Scientific Affairs. In addition, Dr. Kaufman’s research has been published in academic journals and books. Her research has also been presented at numerous national conferences such as the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, the Academy of Management, and the Interdisciplinary Conference on Occupational Stress and Health.Timothy A. Judge is the Matherly-McKethan Eminent Scholar in Management at the University of Florida. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Tim’s research interests are in the areas of personality and individual differences, leadership and influence behaviors, internal and external staffing, and job attitudes. He is a SIOP and American Psychological Association Fellow. In 1995, Tim received the Ernest J. McCormick Award for Distinguished Early Career Contributions from the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, and in 2001, he received the Larry L. Cummings Award for mid-career contributions from the Organizational Behavior Division of the Academy of Management. Tim currently sits on 6 editorial boards, including the Journal of Applied Psychology, Personnel Psychology, and Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes.Todd J. Maurer received his Ph.D. in industrial-organizational psychology from the University of Akron. He was employed at Georgia Institute of Technology and will join the faculty of Georgia State University in Fall 2003 as Professor of Management. In 2002 he won the Sidney A. Fine Award for Research on Analytic Strategies to Study Jobs from the Society for Industrial-Organizational Psychology (SIOP) and was elected to Fellow of SIOP in 2003. He has consulted or conducted applied research on issues including aging workers, employee testing and selection, learning and development, performance appraisal, job analysis, and legal concerns. Some of the research he has conducted has been supported by private organizations, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and SIOP. He has served on the editorial boards of Personnel Psychology and Journal of Management.Raymond A. Noe is the Robert and Anne Hoyt Designated Professor of Management in the Department of Management and Human Resources at The Ohio State University. He received his BS in Psychology from The Ohio State University and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Psychology from Michigan State University. Professor Noe’s teaching and research interests are in Human Resource Management, Organizational Behavior, and Training and Development. He has published articles on training motivation, employee development, work and non-work issues, mentoring and team processes in the Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Vocational Behavior, and Personnel Psychology. Professor Noe is currently on the editorial boards of Personnel Psychology, Academy of Management Learning and Education, Journal of Organizational Behavior, and Journal of Business and Psychology. Professor Noe has authored three textbooks, Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, Human Resource Management: Gaining a Competitive Advantage, and Employee Training and Development, all published with Irwin McGraw-Hill. He has received awards for his teaching and research excellence, including the Herbert G. Heneman Distinguished Teaching Award, the Ernest J. McCormick Award for Distinguished Early Career Contribution and election as a fellow of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, and the American Society for Training & Development Research Award in 2001.Robert W. Renn holds a doctorate in Business Administration from Georgia State University’s College of Business Administration. He is an associate professor of Management in the Fogelman College of Business and Economics at the University of Memphis. His dissertation research focused on job design and his current research interests center on improving work motivation and work performance through self-regulation, goal setting, performance feedback, and work design.Christina E. Shalley is a professor of Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management in the DuPree College of Management at the Georgia Institute of Technology. She received her Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her current research interests include investigating the effects of various social and contextual factors on employees’ creativity and examining ways to structure jobs and the work environment to support creative and innovative work. She has published in such journals as Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Journal of Applied Psychology, and Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. She also serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Management.Kennon M. Sheldon is an associate professor of Social Psychology at the University of Missouri-Columbia. His primary research interests concern goals, motivation, psychological well-being, creativity, and the resolution of social dilemmas. He received a $30,000 Templeton Prize in 2002 for his contributions to the emerging field of “positive psychology.” Ken has published one book, Self-Determination Theory in the Clinic: Motivating Physical and Mental Health (Yale University Press, 2003), and has another book in press, Approaching Consilience: Exploring Optimal Human Being (Erlbaum Press, to appear in 2004).Bennett J. Tepper is a professor in and chair of the Department of Management in the Belk College of Business Administration at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He received his Ph.D. in Organizational Psychology from the University of Miami and served on the faculty of the University of Kentucky where he held Ashland Oil and Gatton Research Professorships. His research on organizational justice, leadership, and prosocial and antisocial organizational behavior has appeared in various outlets including the Academy of Management Journal, the Journal of Applied Psychology, and Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes.Daniel B. Turban is a professor of Management at the University of Missouri. He earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from the University of Houston. His current research interests include self-determination theory, recruitment processes and applicant attraction, and dyadic relationships in organizations. Dan has served on the editorial boards of Journal of Applied Psychology and Academy of Management Journal.Connie R. Wanberg is currently the Carlson Professor of Human Resources and Industrial Relations and an adjunct professor of Psychology at the University of Minnesota. She received her Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Iowa State University in 1992. Her research has focused on issues such as unemployment, job-search behavior, career indecision, organizational change, employee socialization, and employee development, and has been funded by a variety of agencies including National Institute of Mental Health, Department of Labor, and the Society for Human Resource Management Foundation. She has consulted with a variety of government organizations and is on the editorial review boards of the Journal of Applied Psychology and Personnel Psychology.Elizabeth M. Weiss received her Master’s degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2001 and is working on her Ph.D. Her research interests include employee learning and development and the role of technology in social science research. Her work on these and related topics has been published in Computers in Human Behavior and Behavior and Information Technology, and is soon to appear in Journal of Applied Psychology and Journal of Applied Social Psychology. She is currently working in the field of performance improvement and training development.Elizabeth T. Welsh is a Ph.D. student in Human Resources and Industrial Relations at the University of Minnesota. She also has a Masters in Business Administration from UCLA. Before returning to school, she was Vice-President of Human Resources for a software company. She has been a consultant and worked at companies including First Boston and Microsoft. Her research interests include employee development and staffing.Kimberly A. Wrenn earned her Master’s degree and is a Ph.D. candidate in Industrial-Organizational Psychology at Georgia Institute of Technology. She has published research in the areas of employee development and selection. She is employed at Management Psychology Group where she has conducted job/task analysis, test development, selection system development and validation, and 360-degree surveys.Kelly L. Zellars is an assistant professor of Management at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She received her bachelor’s and M.B.A. degrees from the University of Notre Dame, her M.S.T. from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and her Ph.D. in Business Administration from Florida State University. Dr. Zellars has focused her research interests in the areas of job stress and burnout, personality, and perceptions of fairness. She has published in journals such as Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Organizational Behavior, and Journal of Applied Social Psychology.Jing Zhou is an associate professor of Management and Mays Fellow in the Management Department at the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University. She received her Ph.D. degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her current research interests include contextual factors that promote or inhibit employee creative performance. She has published in such journals as Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Management, and Personnel Psychology. Currently, she serves on the editorial boards of Journal of Applied Psychology and Journal of Management. Beginning in fall 2003, she will join the Jones Graduate School of Management at Rice University as an associate professor of Management.