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Turn Ambition Into Achievement
Are you looking to take a seat at the table—or teach the next generation of business leaders? Realize your professional potential with Walden’s online doctoral programs in business. We’ve been helping busy working adults achieve their higher education goals for more than 50 years.
Taught by experienced faculty members, our business doctoral programs allow you to apply the latest theory and research to real problems facing organizations today. Whether you choose our Doctor of Business Administration or our PhD program in management, you’ll have the inspiration and support you need to stay on track toward the finish line.
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Both of these business management degrees represent the highest level of academic achievement, and both degrees are highly respected in both the academic and business worlds. However, there are differences. The Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) is considered a professional doctorate, and the PhD in Management is an academic doctorate. Both are advanced research degrees that involve conducting original research, analyzing data, and producing important findings.
DBA candidates focus on real-world organizational and business problems and involve original and secondary research to explore, examine, and address those problems. The DBA is primarily for those focused on a career in business and consulting. However, many DBAs do teach in colleges and universities.
PhD research is focused on developing theories, addressing a gap between theories, or addressing a gap in the general body of knowledge. The PhD may be more appropriate if you are focused on a faculty career in higher education or a career as a researcher in a research center.
If your dissertation is the only thing standing between you and your doctorate, you may be able to transfer your doctoral coursework, complete your research, and earn your doctorate through Walden’s online PhD in Management completion program. This option is designed specifically for returning doctoral degree candidates who have completed all coursework for a PhD, except the prospectus and dissertation process, at an accredited university.
In the Walden University Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) degree program, the capstone can either be a doctoral study (examining a real business problem), a consulting capstone (studying a real-world organization and coaching that organization to improve performance and/or overcome challenges), or a portfolio capstone. In a portfolio capstone, students choose one of two portfolio options: qualitative program evaluation or quantitative secondary data analysis. A program evaluation is a systematic approach to collecting and analyzing data to assess how well a program is working and why. Data analysis students use an archival (secondary) dataset or combine multiple datasets to conduct their data analysis.
The doctoral journey is different for everyone. However, Walden students have up to eight years to complete their doctoral program unless they petition for an extension.
