Doctor of Business Administration (52-unit)

Program Description/Overview

The program is designed to provide a multidisciplinary and global perspective for managers and leaders to improve their practical and theoretical capabilities to create new knowledge and apply it to create innovation and solve problems in organizations in the 21st century. 

The program encourages an interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary approach integrating ideas from Business, Management, the Humanities and the Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences. The program prepares students for advanced positions in management or consulting, as well as academic positions in teaching, research or administration in Higher Education institutions. Students will learn in classes with their professors, and they will also engage in extensive self-learning and collaborative learning opportunities such as the research labs.

This program has a strong focus on diversity and on international competencies, with professors and students having diverse backgrounds and coming from different countries. Cohorts in the program include accomplished professionals who are working in successful positions, and some have successful international backgrounds. This creates a network of professionals that enhances life-long career opportunities of the graduates. Students attend conferences, engage in projects of a consulting nature, and publish, either writing books or conference papers or research articles which further enhance their professional stature.

It is expected that this program will take a minimum of three (3) years full-time study, but a more practical time frame is four (4) years if students are not able to take classes full time when offered.

Practical Training Throughout the Program: Practical training is an integral part of the California School of Management Leadership (CSML) programs and aligns with the academic goals and learning outcomes for each program. CSML graduate programs at Alliant International University require practical training from the first term until graduation.

Emphasis/Concentration/Tracks

Information and Data Science

This specialization is geared towards students with a focused interest in understanding and contributing to knowledge creation within the broad and contemporary field of data revolution. Data science can be researched from a quantitative, programming and applied perspective. The specialization emphasizes research in the data and information science areas from the applied perspective of impacting organizational, management and competitive perspectives. The program will also provide experience in important, business related data-science problems in diverse fields including ethical and societal considerations surrounding data science and its applications.

Management

This specialization prepares students with broad based foundational skills for academic research, consulting and corporate positions in organizations. The specialization is geared towards students with an interest in understanding and contributing to knowledge creation within the fields of strategy in the context of US as well as the global context, leadership, management, growth and competitiveness, organizational development and theories. Students learn emerging theories and research issues to develop solutions to complex management problems.

Marketing

This specialization is geared towards students with a broad range of interests including but not limited to the organizational strategy of firms, managing and growing organizations, and behavior of employees, teams and groups, strategies for political and social influence and organizational learning and adaptation. Doctoral candidates in this specialization will be able to create new knowledge for application in the real-world to the evolving needs of complex global organizations and their management. They learn and research theory and application, leading them to impact management practices across the globe.

Hospitality Management

This specialization prepares students with broad based foundational skills for academic research, consulting, and corporate positions in the hospitality industry. The specialization is geared towards students with an interest in understanding and contributing to knowledge creation within the fields of hospitality management in the context of US as well as the global context, leadership, management, growth and competitiveness, organizational development, and theories. Students learn emerging theories and research issues to develop solutions to complex hospitality management problems.

Program Learning Outcomes/Goals

1. Develop research-based solutions in complex environments using discipline-specific theory in an area of specialization.
2. Conduct scholarly literature review relevant to business decision-making in an area of specialization.
3. Demonstrate understanding of multicultural and international issues influencing success of solutions in organizations.
4. Analyze and research contemporary business problems using appropriate qualitative and quantitative methods, tools, or techniques.
5. Contribute knowledge by utilizing data and interdisciplinary understanding for identifying business problems and developing solutions that may lead to highly functioning and sustainable organizations.
6. Demonstrate ethical and professional skills for leadership roles in academia, consulting or business organizations.
7. Demonstrate competence in interpersonal communication in virtual, cross-functional and/or interdisciplinary teams.

Training Model

This is an applied doctoral degree and graduates work in academia, corporations, not-for-profits, consulting agencies upon graduation. Accordingly, the program ensures comprehensive coverage of the body of knowledge and skills needed for graduates to perform successfully in academia as well as corporations and other organizations. The curriculum is a focused, rigorous program with a business and management emphasis and a research orientation.

Students must demonstrate an ability to work independently with initiative and diligence to design and implement an empirically grounded and theoretically significant contribution to their field. This is accomplished under the mentorship and supervision of a Doctoral Chair and Committee.

Programmatic Accreditation

The program is accredited by Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP), which is a globally recognized accreditation body for business and management area programs.

Internship, Practicum, and/or Dissertation Information

Students get real-world experience in real client contexts. This is designed to provide students with in-depth supervised practical learning experiences. These experiences are designed to expose students to learning experiences within the program that require them to apply theory and models to real academic, organizational or non-profit settings. This is achieved through a variety of learning experiences designed to develop professional practice related skills in student’s areas of study or specialization. DBA online students will engage in research projects. In addition to classroom instruction, students in the ground program are required to get real-world practical training experience in an approved organizational setting for a minimum of 45 hours in every academic term.

The DBA on-ground program requires practical training for all domestic and international students from the start of the program continuing through all courses. Practical training can be part time (PT, 20 hours or less a week) or full time (FT, more than 20 hours a week), paid or unpaid. International students should see guidelines from the International Office regarding details of FT and PT practical training (see Curricular Practical Training  section).

It is the student’s responsibility to find practical training opportunities, but the CSML practical training coordinator will support students in providing practical training opportunities. A student will have eight weeks (one term) to secure a practical training/internship site once they start the on-ground DBA program. Students who do not have practical training/internship by the end of their first term will be placed in a project by the school’s practical training coordinator. If a student loses their practical training at any point during their program, they must notify the practical training coordinator immediately. They will have a maximum of 4 weeks to get a new practical training site or to be assigned a CSML professional development project. Students are required to be involved in an internship or a project throughout the program from start on Day 1 to program completion. 

Approval of practical training sites: Program Director or Faculty Internship/Project Coordinator will have the final approval required each term. Detailed procedures for approval of a practical training site and the training details will be provided by the program. International students should meet the International Student Office (ISSO) and the Designated School Official (DSO) for guidance and approval to start their practical training. International students must apply for authorization for Curricular Practice Training (CPT) to the DSO and schedule an appointment at least two weeks prior to the beginning of the CPT. Please email ISSO@alliant.edu to schedule an appointment. Note that international students may begin CPT ONLY after receiving their updated Form I-20 with the DSO endorsement. To be considered for CPT, the work must be related to your current field of study in your program at CSML. Please review CSML CPT Application Process for International Students  with the ISSO for application information. 

Goals of CSML’s Career and Professional Development (CPD) Plan and Infrastructure: 

Practical training courses are part of CSML’s Career and Professional Development (CPD) plan and infrastructure. Its goals are the following: 

1. To enable students to gain their real-world experiences before graduation, CPD aims to assist them in developing and polishing their resumes and cover letters while also equipping them with application discipline-specific body of knowledge and encouraging continuous learning in their chosen field of study. 
2. To assist students with practical training positions or projects aligned with their program of study, allowing them to gain valuable insight into the context of practice and apply their knowledge and research in new and innovative ways.       
3. To offer support and access to projects, and job listings while also providing opportunities for the student to apply new and innovative ways of gaining insight into the context of practice. This ensures that students not only secure practical training opportunities but also develop the skills to apply their knowledge in real-world settings and gain valuable experience that sets them apart in the job market. 
4. To provide students with opportunities to participate in real-world application, consulting, and research projects, including business development, professional development, applications in minority-owned businesses and humanitarian causes, while also emphasizing the importance of multicultural/international competence and promoting team-based and multidisciplinary approaches. This approach ensures that students develop a well-rounded set of skills, including cultural sensitivity and the ability to work collaboratively across diverse teams, which are essential in today’s global and interconnected workplace. 
5. To provide students with support, resources, and opportunities to develop their professional literacy and communication skills, including written and verbal communication, presentation skills, and interpersonal skills. This will help students effectively communicate their knowledge, skills, and experiences to potential employers, colleagues, and clients. 
6. To encourage students to engage in application, research, and learning / scholarship opportunities independently to enhance their knowledge and skills. CPD achieves this goal by providing students with resources, guidance, and support. 
7. To take a holistic approach that directs, equips, and empowers students to take control of their future selves by providing resources, accountability, and motivation to remove ambiguity and replace it with confidence and inspiration, while also fostering conduct, judgment, dispositions, and ethics. This approach ensures that students develop not only the skills and knowledge necessary for success but also the ethical values and personal qualities needed to make sound decisions and contribute positively to society. 
8. To offer students real opportunities, inspirational instructors, and authentic practical experiences that can make a real difference in the world, while also helping students build their resumes and set them apart in the job market. 

Credit Units

Total Credit Units: 52

Total Core Credit Units: 37

Total Elective Credit Units: N/A

Total Concentration Credit Units: 15

Degree Requirements

Students must pass a comprehensive exam to ensure qualified doctoral candidacy.

In addition to classroom instruction, all students in the on-ground program are required to get practical training experience in an approved setting for a minimum of 45 hours in every academic term throughout the program.

Emphasis/Concentration/Track Requirements

Curriculum Plan

The following curriculum plan is a sample and serves only as a general guide. Curriculum plans and course sequence are subject to variation depending on a student’s start term and other factors such as student course demand. Students must complete all coursework required for their program as set forth in their individual master plan of study.