DBA in Management - Qualitative
What Is a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) With an Emphasis in Management?
Grand Canyon University’s DBA with an Emphasis in Management can prepare graduates to create and manage the deployment of organizational structures in a variety of industries. Students will be taught to apply theoretical foundations to address complex interconnected management issues, propose organizational structures to achieve optimal organizational performance, create change in management strategies, analyze the implications of law in business management and analyze complexities of management. Throughout this program, students will use qualitative methodology to design, collect and analyze information in alignment with conducting a scholarly dissertation.
Choosing a Qualitative Research Management Doctorate
Students pursuing their qualitative DBA in Management will use research studies to gain insight into how and why people think, believe and behave a certain way, whereas students pursuing their quantitative DBA will use statistical tools to clean, assess and analyze numeric data. In this program, students will have the opportunity to create a sampling plan, design research tools, field test the tools, collect data and conduct a deep and careful analysis of the data using a systematic approach. The results of their study will be presented in a written report consistent with published academic standards.
Skills You Develop With a DBA with an Emphasis in Management
GCU’s qualitative DBA with an Emphasis in Management was created by the College of Doctoral Studies to help business-minded learners broaden their management skills and position themselves to potentially further their careers. This minimum 60-credit program explores the theories and frameworks that drive financial decision making in organizations, provides an overview of seminal management theories and their relevance, applicability and/or divergence from current business practices, introduces sampling, data collection and data analysis methods employed in qualitative research designs, provides every doctoral learner with the opportunity to manage a fictitious business entity and more.
Students in this program will participate in courses including:
- Contemporary business law
- Economics for business decisions
- Emerging issues in financial management
- Management of business complexity
- Management theory in a global economy
- Qualitative data analysis, results and findings
- Qualitative data collection and management
- The sustainable future
In addition to passing these courses, students can attend two five-day residencies on or near campus and must complete an approved dissertation.
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What Earning an Online Management DBA is Like
GCU specializes in online learning and offers over 275 online programs, as of September 2023. GCU’s qualitative DBA with an Emphasis in Management can be completed on a flexible timeline, allowing you to continue working as you pursue your degree. Additionally, GCU provides the same quality in education for online students as they do for on-campus students, including knowledgeable faculty members and student learning resources.
Job Outlook for a DBA With an Emphasis in Management
Earning your DBA in management may help you position yourself for possible career advancement. Students who graduate from GCU with a Doctor of Business Administration degree with an Emphasis in Management may go on to work for a domestic or international business, consulting firm or postsecondary education institute. Positions you may pursue with your DBA with an Emphasis in Management include:
- Chief executive officer
- Chief innovation officer
- Chief operating officer
- Client executive
- Entrepreneur
- Market research analyst
- Operations manager
- Professor
- Senior management consultant
GCU alumni enrolling in a doctoral program for the first time may be eligible for a $2,000 scholarship.§
§ MOU-Alumni 2000 Doctoral-Dec2024: The Alumni Scholarship for Doctoral Programs is only valid for those applicants who submit a complete application and begin a Doctoral program in December 2024. This scholarship cannot be used in conjunction with any other GCU scholarship or awards and only applies to online and evening programs. Please speak to a university counselor for complete details.
Time to Completion and Dissertation Process
To learn more about time to completion and the dissertation process at GCU, visit our doctoral page.
Core Courses
Course Description
This course introduces doctoral learners to the principle elements of research, scholarly writing, and effective argumentation. Learners are made aware of the dispositions and expectations of doctoral researchers as well as the University’s overarching values and beliefs regarding research and the responsibility of scholars to contribute new knowledge to their respective fields of study. Learners begin the process of identifying a researchable dissertation topic and are acquainted with appropriate scholarly resources that support the development of the dissertation.
Course Description
In this course, learners are introduced to the critical reading of scholarly qualitative and quantitative literature at the doctoral level. Learners also explore the concept of synthesizing the scholarly literature to identify problems and problem spaces that emerge to form a researchable topic of study. The application of scholarly argumentation from the extant literature to defend the need for a research study is discussed.
Course Description
This course explores the theories and frameworks that drive financial decision making in organizations today. Students focus on issues facing administrators in the changing business environment.
Course Description
This course provides an overview of seminal management theories and their relevance, applicability, and/or divergence from current business practice. Students focus on understanding the application of management theories to support organizational sustainability in a global economy.
Course Description
In this course, learners are introduced to key components of qualitative and quantitative research designs and the means to critically appraise the application of research designs as observed in the scholarly literature. The University's core research designs are presented. Consideration is given to the initial selection and defense of a research design to address a problem that emerged from the extant literature.
Course Description
This residency allows learners to continue developing their skills as academic researchers. Learners will have hands-on experience applying quantitative and qualitative design principals to develop the foundational elements for their potential dissertation studies. Prerequisite: RES-850, RES-825, RES-831, or RCS-831.
Course Description
This course provides an introduction to the sampling, data collection, and data analysis methods employed in qualitative and quantitative research designs. Learners explore the alignment of sampling, data collection, and data analysis methods to the research topic, research questions, and research design. The course positions learners to select qualitative or quantitative designs for their dissertation studies. Prerequisite: RES-831.
Course Description
This course examines the foundational considerations of organizational design and the relationship between design and structures. It presents the key considerations relevant in designing and structuring the optimal organization. The theoretical foundations for such decisions are also presented.
Course Description
Learners explore the legal aspects of business management in a global integrated enterprise. Emphasis is placed on ethically limiting organizational liability in a complex business environment by extending the perspective of business beyond profit.
Course Description
This course provides the student with the skills and competencies needed to be able to apply microeconomic principles to the solution of business problems. Specifically, the course examines the four market structures focusing on competition and utilizes microeconomic theory to provide solutions to business problems.
Course Description
In this course, learners explore the basic components of GCU qualitative core research designs including descriptive, case study, and phenomenology. The nature of epistemological foundations and the structure of problem statements, purpose statements, research questions, data sources, collection and analysis approaches are discussed in the context of each design.
Course Description
In this course, learners differentiate the epistemological foundations and explore the data trustworthiness, research ethics, and potential for bias in descriptive, case study, and phenomenology research designs. The process of building a rationale for design choice and aligning the research questions, interview questions, problem statement, and purpose statement is addressed. Sources of qualitative data are introduced for each design, and ethical aspects of research are discussed. Prerequisite: RES-841.
Course Description
This course examines organizational sustainability through the lenses of competitive advantage and innovation. It addresses the leadership skills and capabilities required to foster, lead, and sustain innovation in organizations, and it explores how these ideas can be applied to create competitive advantage leading to a sustainable organization.
Course Description
In this residency, learners orally present and defend an expanded design of their preliminary dissertation research from RSD-851. Emphasis is placed on developing the qualitative dissertation. Prerequisite: RES-843.
Course Description
This course provides the doctoral learner the opportunity to manage a fictitious business entity in which they balance conflicting resource requests. The doctoral learner applies the management, financial, marketing, technology, and economic skills acquired during the program of study to recommend policy decisions with the intent to increase stakeholder value, competitive advantage, and long term sustainability.
Course Description
In this course, learners apply the skills of the practitioner-scholar. They are self-motivated and committed to reflective practice. They actively seek input from other scholars while continuing to design independent research under the guidance of the dissertation committee. Prerequisite: RES-871 or RES-885 or RSD-883 or RSD-884.
Course Description
In this course, learners explore qualitative data collection techniques and sources of qualitative data in the context of answering the research questions posed by a study. Consideration is given to the recognition of data saturation and the management of data. Learners continue to work with their respective dissertation chairs to prepare a written statement of data collection, and management activities. Prerequisites: RES-843 and one of the following: DBA-955 or DIS-955 or DHA-955 or PSY-955 or PCE-955 or TLC-955.
Course Description
In this course, learners apply the skills of the practitioner-scholar. They are self-motivated and committed to reflective practice. They actively seek input from other scholars while continuing to design and/or conduct independent research under the guidance of the dissertation committee. Prerequisite: DBA-955.
Course Description
In this course, learners focus on the interpretation of qualitative data to produce written research findings, results, and implications. Learners continue to work with their respective dissertation chairs and apply information from this course to move ahead in the dissertation process. Prerequisites: RES-873 and one of the following: DBA-960 or DIS-960 or DHA-960 or PSY-960 or PCE-960 or TLC-960.
Course Description
In this course, learners apply the skills of the practitioner-scholar. They are self-motivated and committed to reflective practice. They actively seek input from other scholars while continuing to design and/or conduct independent research under the guidance of the dissertation committee. Prerequisite: DBA-960.
Continuation Courses
The course identified above represent the minimum academic course requirements only. Most students will also need to take one or more of the following Research Continuation Courses to complete a dissertation. Research Continuation Courses are 3-credit courses charged at the standard doctoral per credit rate.
Course Description
This course emphasizes the finalization of the dissertation and provides learners with individualized support for completing their dissertation journey. Learners continue to work directly with their dissertation chair and committee members based on their individual progress plan for completing their dissertation. Prerequisite: DBA-965.
Course Description
This course emphasizes the finalization of the dissertation and provides learners with individualized support for completing their dissertation journey. Learners continue to work directly with their dissertation chair and committee members based on their individual progress plan for completing their dissertation. Prerequisite: DBA-966 or DBA-966E.
Course Description
This course emphasizes the finalization of the dissertation and provides learners with individualized support for completing their dissertation journey. Learners continue to work directly with their dissertation chair and committee members based on their individual progress plan for completing their dissertation. Prerequisite: DBA-967 or DBA-967E.
Course Description
This course emphasizes the finalization of the dissertation and provides learners with individualized support for completing their dissertation journey. Learners continue to work directly with their dissertation chair and committee members based on their individual progress plan for completing their dissertation. Prerequisite: DBA-968 or DBA-968E; RSD-951.
Course Description
This course emphasizes the finalization of the dissertation and provides learners with individualized support for completing their dissertation journey. Learners continue to work directly with their dissertation chair and committee members based on their individual progress plan for completing their dissertation. Prerequisite: DBA-969 or DBA-969E.
Course Description
This course emphasizes the finalization of the dissertation and provides learners with individualized support for completing their dissertation journey. Learners continue to work directly with their dissertation chair and committee members based on their individual progress plan for completing their dissertation. Prerequisite: DBA-970 or DBA-970E.
Course Description
This course emphasizes the finalization of the dissertation and provides learners with individualized support for completing their dissertation journey. Learners continue to work directly with their dissertation chair and committee members based on their individual progress plan for completing their dissertation. Prerequisite: DBA-971E.
Course Description
This course emphasizes the finalization of the dissertation and provides learners with individualized support for completing their dissertation journey. Learners continue to work directly with their dissertation chair and committee members based on their individual progress plan for completing their dissertation. Prerequisite: DBA-972E.
Course Description
This course emphasizes the finalization of the dissertation and provides learners with individualized support for completing their dissertation journey. Learners continue to work directly with their dissertation chair and committee members based on their individual progress plan for completing their dissertation. Prerequisite: DBA-973E.
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- Please note that this list may contain programs and courses not presently offered, as availability may vary depending on class size, enrollment and other contributing factors. If you are interested in a program or course listed herein please first contact your University Counselor for the most current information regarding availability.
- Please refer to the Academic Catalog for more information. Programs or courses subject to change
Pursue a next-generation education with an online degree from Grand Canyon University. Earn your degree with convenience and flexibility with online courses that let you study anytime, anywhere.
Grand Canyon University’s evening programs cater to the demands of working professionals who prefer an in-person learning environment. Our night classes meet just once per week and offer the interaction and discussion of a typical college classroom.