Do you have to go to Paris to take the Executive Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA)?

Not necessarily. The pathway can be followed 100% online or in a hybrid format, and in-person key moments are possible on the Paris campus depending on the option chosen. The mandatory quarterly workshops in the 2nd and 3rd year are held online or in Paris.

Who supervises the thesis of Excelia Business School's Executive DBA?

A Senior professor supervises your thesis on a one-to-one basis, with the support of international lecturer-researchers. You select the Senior professor in the 2nd year, when submitting your research proposal, and quarterly progress presentation workshops then set the pace of the work.

Are there any scholarships for Excelia Business School's Executive DBA?

Yes, scholarships may be offered for Excelia Business School's Executive DBA, depending on your profile and your potential. You will find the details in the Funding tab.

Executive Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA)

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The Executive DBA is aimed at experienced professionals who want to structure a rigorous research approach, grounded in the reality of organisations. It requires three years and an applied thesis, supported by a Senior professor, and is pursued without interrupting your professional activity. Offered by Excelia Business School's Executive Education Centre, the Executive Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) is a doctoral research pathway designed for professionals already in post.

Why choose Excelia Business School's Executive DBA?

You choose Excelia Business School's Executive DBA for what the pathway produces: useful, methodologically sound research that can be put to use in your professional environment. Each thesis is a piece of applied research and is designed to produce concrete recommendations for organisations. This methodological soundness stems from the school's high academic standards and the quality of its research, both attested by its accreditations. Excelia Business School indeed holds the quadruple accreditation EQUIS, AACSB, AMBA and EFMD Master, which the page on Excelia Business School's accreditations presents.

The DBA also consolidates your expert stance. It gives a method to an experience that nothing had formalised until then: your observations from the field become research questions, dealt with rigorously, then conclusions that you defend before a panel.

It is not a general management programme: it is a research pathway, in which you explore a single issue in depth for three years. If you are aiming instead for a Bac+5-level degree geared towards steering, the Executive Master Grande École meets this need.

Supervision and research resources

A thesis carried out while in post can quickly become solitary work, and the scheme responds with several forms of support. A Senior professor, whom you select in the 2^nd year, supervises your thesis on a one-to-one basis, with the support of Excelia Business School's international lecturer-researchers. Quarterly progress presentation workshops structure this follow-up and allow you to exchange with your peers, other experienced professionals who are carrying out their own research. In addition, thematic conferences offer other perspectives on your subject. They are led by internationally renowned researchers.

You also have access to more than 100,000 academic publications, journal articles and case studies: enough to feed a literature review and back up your analyses, even when you are carrying out your research alongside your professional activity.

A doctorate pursued without leaving your job

The programme can be followed 100% online or in a hybrid format, with the possibility of key moments in Paris, and it progresses in stages: mandatory quarterly workshops punctuate the 2^nd and 3^rd years. You devote three years to it, without interrupting your professional activity, and you can apply your work in your job while you carry it out: the thesis thus remains rooted in your practice.

One point deserves to be made from the outset: the programme takes place in English. This working language is an entry requirement to be assessed before applying. The organisation of the pathway, year by year, can be found in the Curriculum tab.

The career paths that the Executive DBA opens up

The DBA prepares you for career paths with high added value, in companies as well as in the academic ecosystem:

Expert consultant / expert advisor
Change and transformation manager
Executive roles (Executive Committee, functional directorates)
Speaker on management topics
Professor of Practice at a business school
Trainer / guest lecturer in higher education

If you already hold leadership, management or advisory responsibilities, the DBA acts first and foremost as a consolidation of expertise: the thesis gives your know-how a written form, discussed by peers and usable in your organisation.

It can also support a progression or a repositioning towards executive responsibilities, consulting, change management, or teaching and training, where the role of Professor of Practice is found. None of these career paths is guaranteed by the pathway: your experience, shaped by research, will make the difference.

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Key program points

Degree : Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA)
Admission : Master's-level degree (or equivalent) and significant professional experience
Format : Hybrid
Study format : synchronous online classes; mandatory quarterly workshops in years 2 and 3
Language : English

The Executive DBA takes place over three years: a first year of teaching, then two years devoted to the thesis, which you carry out while continuing your professional activity. The programme can be followed 100% online or in a hybrid format, with possible in-person key moments on Excelia Business School's Paris campus: the research remains compatible with your job. Quarterly workshops (30 hours) punctuate the thesis and are mandatory in the 2^nd and 3^rd year. The whole programme takes place in English.

How you learn

The scheme combines high academic standards and pragmatism, within the framework of Excelia Business School's research. You learn through six complementary methods:

Synchronous online classes, to keep direct exchange with the professors and the cohort without having to travel for every session
Some of the sessions followed in a hybrid format, online or in person on the Paris campus, depending on the option chosen
Workshops on research methods and data analysis software, to move from intuition in the field to an analysis that you can defend
One-to-one supervision and regular progress reviews, to adjust your work as you go
Thematic conferences led by internationally renowned researchers
Access to a leading academic library collection

How your work is assessed

The work is assessed at the thesis defence: you present your conclusions orally, in a viva voce, before a panel of members from inside and outside Excelia Business School.

Three years, three stages

The 1^st year establishes the method and the theoretical frameworks, the 2^nd sets the thesis topic and the supervisor, the 3^rd brings the work to completion through to the defence. Each year unfolds below, with its teaching or milestones.

Year 1: courses and research certificate

You take a first year of teaching leading to a certificate in Research in Business and Management. Objective: to master research methods and the main theoretical frameworks in management.

This year lays two foundations: first the method, with research design and qualitative and quantitative approaches, then the theoretical frameworks, from strategy to financial and non-financial performance, on which your thesis will be able to build.

Module titles

Conducting research in management for DBA (15 h)
Research Design (15h)
Theoretical perspectives in strategy and supply chain (15h)
Innovation for sustainable growth, theory, and practice (15h)
Leading change and organizational transformations (15h)
Fundamental of Financial and extra-financial performance (15h)
Qualitative research Methods (15h)
Quantitative Research Methods (15h)

Year 2: research proposal and thesis development

You submit a research proposal and select your supervisor. The thesis progresses under supervision, with quarterly workshops (30 h) devoted to progress presentations.

Once the research proposal has been submitted, the topic and the supervisor are set, and each quarterly presentation requires you to set out the progress of the thesis rather than write alone.

Module titles

Submission of a research proposal and selection of a supervisor
Thesis development under supervision
Quarterly Workshops: 30 h Research progress presentations (mandatory)

Year 3: finalisation and defence

You finalise the thesis with continuous support, then you defend your work (DBA Thesis Defense Viva Voce). The panel is made up of members from inside and outside Excelia Business School.

As the panel includes members from outside the school, your conclusions must convince beyond your own organisation, before a perspective that does not share its context.

Module titles