1997 Postgraduate Handbook

Doctor of Business Administration

Fees apply

The Doctor of Business Administration builds on your existing strengths by exposing you to additional areas of expertise in which you are required to perform.

The DBA will provide an opportunity for senior business and related personnel to refine and extend their business education at an advanced level and in a manner which builds upon their existing strengths by exposing them to additional areas of expertise in which they are now required to perform and to give them a formal educational opportunity to demonstrate their capacities in these areas at the highest level.

The DBA program will serve the needs of the Australian business community by providing business professionals with the opportunity to consolidate, refine and expand their theoretical bases and to demonstrate their capacity to apply their knowledge in a practical business oriented way in terms of either business research, business policy or project development and management.

The DBA aims to produce graduates who will be able to make a significant and lasting contribution to the conduct of Australian business. The program aims to:

• enable students to develop senior managerial effectiveness in one of the areas of business research, business policy or business decision making;
• expose students to the need for organisations to generate competitive advantage through a full appreciation of the complex nature of diverse issues affecting business and government decision makers globally and nationally;
• both prepare students for and provide them with the opportunity to demonstrate their suitability for, appointments at the most senior level in Academe, government and business.

Enrolment through

Office for Research and Graduate Studies
Wagga Wagga campus

Study mode

On campus
Distance education

Normal course duration

3 years full-time (6 sessions)
5 years part-time (10 sessions)

Admission criteria

Applicants are required to have a Master degree by research (or equivalent) in a business related field or a Master degree by coursework (or equivalent) in a business related field or a Bachelor of Business degree at Honours I or Honours IIA level or equivalent AND a minimum period of pertinent professional experience as determined by the University.

Course requirements

The Doctor of Business Administration will consist of a coursework component and a thesis. The doctoral coursework component normally comprises the first year of the program, or part-time equivalent (64 subject points), and aims to provide students with the advanced analytical techniques necessary for successful functioning at the most senior managerial levels in their chosen field.

Each student's program will be individually designed to complement and enhance the student's previous education and experience in a manner which equips them for duties at a more advanced level.

The research and thesis component of the program (128 subject points) will normally comprise years two and three of the program, or part-time equivalent.

Course structure

Coursework Program

Each student must successfully complete four of the following five doctoral level subjects (for a total of 64 subject points). The normal structure of a student's DBA coursework program will be DBA701, DBA702, DBA704 and DBA705. Students who have had adequate exposure to research methodology, through, for example, an undergraduate Honours program, may substitute DBA703 for DBA701. Approval to make this substitution will be given by the student's Doctoral Committee. The Doctoral Committee will consist of (i) Chair, Research Committee - who shall also chair the student's Doctoral Committee, (ii) Sub-Dean of the discipline group in which the student wishes to prepare a thesis, (iii) the Head of School through which the student is enrolled and (iv) the appointed supervisor(s).

DBA701 Research Methodology for Business
DBA702 Business Background Studies 1
DBA703 Business Background Studies 2
DBA704 Advanced Business Specialisation Study
DBA705 Advanced Business Specialisation Research

Thesis Program

The student, under the direction of the Doctoral Committee and appointed supervisors, will pursue either:

• a program of research relevant to the chosen specialisation studies resulting in a thesis that is an original and significant contribution to knowledge;

• or
  • the development and implementation of an extensive business project or document which demonstrates the capacity of the student to perform at the highest level in business and which appropriately utilises the skills developed in the coursework program of the DBA. Students will be required to write-up the various stages of their project and to defend, in an analytical manner, the major decisions taken in each of the stages of the project. The final written report, which will be in all respects comparable to the thesis required for (a), will be subject to external examination.
    or
  • the development and implementation of a proposal for extensive policy action which demonstrates the capacity of the student to provide advice at the highest levels of public policy determination. As for (b), the final written report, which will be in all respects comparable to the thesis required for (a), will be subject to external examination.

Successful completion of this component is equivalent to 128 subject points.

Inquiries

Course Coordinator
Professor Charles Noble
School of Business
Telephone: (060) 41 8804
Facsimile: (060) 41 8878
Email: cnoble@csu.edu.au

Professor John Hicks
Dean
Faculty of Commerce
Telephone: (063) 38 4234
Facsimile: (063) 38 4250
Email: jhicks@csu.edu.au

Last Revised: 25 November 1996.