By Philip A. Cola, PhD, Associate Director, Academic Affairs, DM Programs
Over the past 6 months and as I have hit the ground running as President of the Executive Doctor of Business Administration Council (EDBAC) there has been much discourse on student enrollment in DBA Programs. The EDBAC established, as a community of collaborators, is an entity where DBA programs can learn best practices from one another. We do not set out to compete with one another or worry about some type of artificial DBA ranking from outside entities based on criteria that may not be applicable to all programs.
However, post-pandemic many programs are facing various difficulties with enrollment levels. Some have speculated that this is a residual of less than optimal economic conditions; others say this is a trend in management graduate education in general including MBA programs and other specialty master’s programs, but others believe that this might be a sign of market saturation for this population of students.
Therefore, at Case Western Reserve University, the longest running and often recognized as the most rigorous program, has been constructing ideas both within and outside the EDBAC to address this issue. The information below is a proposal that outlines ideas around collaborating with external organizations, both for profit and not-for-profit, as a strategic way for DBA programs to both continue to conduct relevant research and to build a pipeline for enrollment into such programs.
These ideas attempt to begin to outline a systematic approach on how DBA programs can establish and ultimately sustain such collaborations:
1. Identify Potential Business Management Partners - the action to the proposal begins by identifying organizations that align with your DBA program’s research interests, objectives and capabilities. Engage each sector and discipline for opportunities in both for-profit companies, non-profit organizations, government agencies, industry associations and research institutions.
2. Create and Articulate a Strong Value Proposition – this entails clearly defining what the DBA program can offer to potential partners. This might include access to faculty expertise, student talent (a network of experienced business professionals\consultants), research resources (i.e., library access, student support, etc.). It is important to highlight how these benefits can help the partner achieve their goals and desired outcomes (Osterwalder, Pigneur, Bernarda, & Smith, 2015).
3. Develop a Shared Vision within a Context of a Strategic Plan – Create a comprehensive plan that outlines your goals, objectives, and a roadmap for engagement with all external organizational collaborators. Clearly define what you aim to achieve through these partnerships and how to achieve mutual benefits for both the DBA program and the external partner organization. Creating “win-win” opportunities for academia, business and society (Follett, 1918).
4. Professional Networking and Relationship Building – establishing relationships with key individuals in potential partner organizations. Participating in and attending industry events, conferences, and networking sessions to make and sustain connections. Building relational capacity with deep and meaningful bi-directional relationships (Cola & Wang, 2022) is critical for successful long-term collaborations.
5. Pursue Collaborative Research Projects and Funding – Identify specific research topics of mutual interest. Collaborate with partners to develop research proposals and secure funding as necessary. These research projects must address real world contemporary business management problems and they must be actionable and manageable toward solutions (i.e., practitioner scholarship and engaged management, evidence based management) (Salipante & Aram, 2003, Van de Ven, 2009, Rousseau, 2006).
6. Student Involvement – Engage DBA students in the design and development of the research projects along with the external partners. Encourage the students to bring their real world lived experiences into these external contexts and leverage the work for their research project deliverables in the DBA program
7. Leverage Faculty Expertise – Utilize the expertise of experienced faculty members to guide the research project rigor, ensure relevance both theoretically, and practically while they mentor students and provide access to external partners.
8. Celebrate and Market Success – highlight the learning and business outcomes of these partnerships within the practitioner scholar communities and within the organizations and their related sectors. Disseminate results at conferences, trade shows, in publications and reports that demonstrate the value of the partnerships to both the academic and business communities (Kruss, 2006).
9. Create and Sustain a Pipeline for Program Enrollment – Leverage the partnership to attract potential DBA candidates from the partner organizations by promoting the program to employees and associates of the partner organizations. Offer discounts to those employees and associates who want to further their own education within the context of their work roles.
By attempting to establish and sustain these types of relationships, the DBA\PhD program can conduct true research that matters. This occurs by mixing rigor and relevance of today’s most pressing business management questions while gaining recognition, building reputations, and creating a steady pipeline for Program enrollments and helping the external organizations reach their goals and objectives.
We would very much appreciate ideas and feedback on these suggestions in general for both DBA programs and collaborating organizations. We also think that our students and alumni are in the best position to help us think through these challenges and proposed solutions.
References:
Cola, P. A., & Wang, Y. (2022). Discovering factors that influence physician scientist success in academic medical centers. Qualitative Health Research, 32(10), 1433-1446.
Follett, M. P. (1918). The New State. London, Longmans, Green.
Kruss, G. (2006). Working partnerships: The challenge of creating mutual benefit for academics and industry. Perspectives in Education, 24(3), 1-13.
Osterwalder, A., Pigneur, Y., Bernarda, G., & Smith, A. (2015). Value proposition design: How to create products and services customers want (Vol. 2). John Wiley & Sons.
Rousseau, D. M. (2006). Is there such a thing as “evidence-based management”? Academy of Management Review, 31(2), 256-269.
Salipante, P., & Aram, J. D. (2003). Managers as knowledge generators: The nature of practitioner‐scholar research in the non-profit sector. Non-profit Management and Leadership, 14(2), 129-150.
Van de Ven, A. H. (2007). Engaged scholarship: A guide for organizational and social research. Oxford University Press, USA.
