Online Doctor of Business Administration

The course provides an introduction to business administration for doctoral students entering the Doctor of Business Administration or Doctor of Management programs who do not have prior academic experience in this area.

In this course students explore their role as a scholar, practitioner, and leader from historical, theoretical, and applications-based content and framework—all within the context of critical reasoning, writing, and research. Students will develop doctoral-level critical analysis, evaluation, and synthesis skills as these apply in leadership practices within their organizations. Competency A: Analyze historical leadership concepts through doctoral-level research. Competency B: Contextualize leadership models through critical thinking. Competency C: Compare and contrast the relationship between leadership theory and the role of a practitioner. Competency D: Evaluate the role of leadership in fostering organizational development. Competency E: Integrate personal experience, scholarly inquiry, and reflexive approaches to learning and development.

This course provides an overview of social science research methodologies and their application in context to the student's degree program. Foundational concepts include the examination and application of theoretical frameworks, critical analysis of scholarly literature and interpretation of data through a theoretical lens. Students also explore quantitative, qualitative and mixed research methods and the core elements of an effective research plan. Competencies: Describe how conceptual and theoretical frameworks provide the foundational elements of social science research and inform the interpretation of data and other research findings. Identify the significance of scholarly literature and how gaps in extant literature provide a direction for new research. Summarize the ethical issues of research involving human subjects. Identify and explain quantitative and qualitative research methods and assess their appropriateness for different research problems Assess quantitative and qualitative research studies and discuss the concepts of methodological rigor, credibility, validity and reliability. Evaluate the research topic, research question, and purpose and problem statements for methodological and theoretical alignment. Establish strategies for formulating clear, concise research questions that are methodologically sound, theoretically grounded and researchable.

During this course you will be working on the initial dissertation milestone, the prospectus, which is a formal outline of the research project that outlines information to convey that the research can be completed and will provide meaningful results that contribute to the academic and practitioner communities. The prospectus should be iteratively updated until the beginning of DOC/723 when a Dissertation Chair is assigned to assist with development of the proposal. You may use previous course work when developing Dissertation Phase deliverables.

This class presumes some basic understanding of the foundations and underlying assumptions in the field of qualitative research as well as examples of practice. Building upon this preexisting foundational understanding, the purpose of the class is to enhance students’ understanding and craft through reading, writing, and reflecting on the practice of qualitative inquiry. Specific focus is on the design and development of qualitative research studies. Competency A: Differentiate between the various qualitative designs i.e. phenomenological, case study, ethnographic, grounded theory, and content analysis. Competency B: Evaluate the alignment of the qualitative designs to identified problems. Competency C: Evaluate the components of qualitative data collection and the appropriateness of each approach to an expressed conceptual framework. Competency D: Analyze the limitations of qualitative research and approaches for overcoming research challenges. Competency E: Analyze issues and concerns regarding the concepts of reliability and validity as they relate to qualitative research. Competency F: Address ethical issues that are inherent in qualitative research. Competency G: Develop a research methodology for a study incorporating best practices of the qualitative design chosen.

Doctoral practitioners are resolute in their commitment to identifying, informing, and affecting both individual and organizational change and innovation. Generating actionable interventions requires an extensive investigation of situational factors and a foundational understanding of research methodology. In this course, students explore the foundations of statistics used in quantitative research by actively engaging in processes focused on evaluation, appraisal, and application.

This course evaluates research on issues that organizations face in optimizing organizational performance. Students will gain insight on organizational theory and leadership, organizational behavior and globalization, people systems, and emerging trends and issues in organizations.

This course provides an overview of business information systems, specifically Business Intelligence (BI) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). Students will learn how businesses adapt approaches to optimize their operations and the conditions under which these lead to success. Students will also examine the link between operations excellence and corporate strategy.

This course deals with the theoretical and practical aspects of research and dissertation development in a practice doctorate context. In this course, students begin to examine relevant industry and academic literature and move toward creation of a robust, cogent review of scholarship aligned with designing Chapter 2 of an applied doctoral dissertation.

In this course, students will integrate visionary organizational leadership ideas and practices and apply these to the optimization of organizational resources in a complex, global environment to positively impact future organizational performance, change and sustainability. Competency A: Interpret visionary leadership ideas and practices in a global organizational setting. Competency B: Align future organizational change to the mission, vision, and values of the organization to support long-term sustainability. Competency C: Incorporate the internal and external factors into marketing, industry and competitive analysis to improve decision-making and business planning. Competency D: Integrate finance, operations, and management structure to achieve continuous improvement and sustainability. Competency E: Exhibit visionary organizational leadership to create present and future value through the optimization of people, organizational processes, and technology utilization.

This course explores and evaluates research on how businesses measure and could modify their measure of financial value to improve decision-making. Topics include business analysis, valuation tools, and applications; mergers and acquisitions; marketplace valuation of equity; U.S. GAAP/IFRS convergence; and the challenges of valuing high growth companies, companies in emerging markets, cyclical companies, and banks. Competencies: Develop leadership competence in financial management of an organization. Evaluate the application of risk and risk management concepts to financial activities. Employ statistical and other quantitative measures to management decision-making. Implement strategies that work toward the goal of shareholder wealth maximization. Develop research skills that support the comprehension, analysis, and evaluation of new events and circumstances in a global, fast-paced economic environment.

In this course students refine the requisite skills necessary to further their dissertation concept for review and approval. Students expand their work from Second-Year Residency by applying critical analysis to refine the research method, inform the selection of a research design, and to develop a focused literature review. Competencies: Articulate knowledge gaps in a selected field by synthesizing relevant literature in content, theoretical/conceptual framework, and research methodology and design. Define appropriate research methodology and design for a research study. Describe the scope, limitations and delimitations, population, sample, and possible instrument(s) used in a research study. Evaluate the relevance of research studies related to the selected research topic. Synthesize historical and current sources of literature plus theoretical/conceptual and methodological/ design literature relevant to the selected research topic.

This course explores leadership strategies and issues focusing on a changing workforce, short and long-term directions, decision-making, and performance expectations leading towards a sustainable and profitable organization. The focus is on business results that encompass organizational development and issues driving and implementing organizational change.

This course evaluates models for creating economically viable global businesses using the technology of the Internet. Topics include assessing business and management models, assessing geopolitical and economic factors that influence business strategy, and decision making in a global environment.

In this course, students will finalize their dissertation proposal. Students receive continued support in assessing and improving their readiness and skill preparation for completion of the dissertation proposal. Additionally, students explore communities of scholarship to engage with scholars in their area of practice and to share their future research.

In this course, students develop models for economically viable businesses using both traditional tools and technology as marketing enablers. Topics include evaluating and summarizing the economic and societal factors, including ethics, that contribute to the success of a marketing strategy in a competitive environment. Outcomes include developing a strategic marketing plan and creating solutions and recommendations for global and entrepreneurial business marketing.

This course serves as the second of two online immersive experiences for University of Phoenix doctoral students. The second covers advanced tenets of doctoral socialization and issues in higher education. Students will focus on currency in their respective disciplines.

In this chair-guided course, doctoral candidates finalize their dissertation as a significant contribution to the body of knowledge. The chair and committee members work with the candidate to complete the dissertation in preparation for University approval, followed by the oral defense. Additionally, this course focuses on engagement in communities of scholarship and practice. Competencies: Articulate strategies for effective dissertation completion. Analyze research data to develop dissertation results. Synthesize study results and relevant, current literature to develop recommendations and conclusions that add to the body of knowledge. Employ engagement strategies for continued discourse in scholarly communities. Synthesize all chapters to create a comprehensive dissertation that contributes to the body of knowledge.