Applied Doctoral Project - Business Education, Consulting, and Business Leadership

Indiana Wesleyan University
Marion, Indiana, United States
Douglas Sloan
Professor
2
Timeline
  • May 22, 2023
    Experience start
  • December 8, 2023
    Experience end
Experience
1/1 project matches
Dates set by experience
Preferred companies
Anywhere
Large enterprise, Non profit, Small to medium enterprise, Social Enterprise
Hospital, health, wellness & medical

Experience scope

Categories
Marketing analytics Public health Healthcare Marketing strategy
Skills
database administration research methodologies ethical standards and conduct marketing management accounting organizational development consulting change management economics business administration
Learner goals and capabilities

The Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) at Indiana Wesleyan University prepares students for business education, consulting, and business leadership careers. This program is designed to help students create new knowledge and skills applicable to the global workplace, specifically in strategies for advanced change management and complex business problems. Its problem-based learning model is unique to the DeVoe School of Business (DSB).

The DBA student is a working adult of an average age of 44 and 10 – 15 years of work experience and 5+ years of management experience. The DBA program includes advanced studies in Leadership, Economics, Marketing, Organizational Development, Research Methodologies, and 20 credits (5 courses) in their specialization area.

There are at present four specializations: management, accounting, healthcare administration, and information systems.

Indiana Wesleyan University | Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)

Learners

Learners
PhD
Any level
1 learner
Project
1000 hours per learner
Learners apply to projects
Individual projects
Expected outcomes and deliverables

The Applied Doctoral Project (ADP) is your opportunity to engage, over the next 6 months, advanced professional students who are:

  • Forward-thinking, virtuous business leaders
  • Passionate and skilled in creating ethical solutions to complex business problems
  • Capable of synthesizing and integrating research in education, consulting, and business leadership in areas spanning management, accounting, healthcare administration, and information systems

Organizations who participate in this doctoral study will get a doctoral-level consultant who has been studying problem-solving. This student averages around 44 years of age and has a minimum of 5 years of managerial experience.

Deliverables may include

  • This student will act as a consultant to help you solve a significant organizational issue.
  • This study will deliver a report that summarizes what is known about the problem at the beginning of the project, a detailed study of both academic and industry sources on the problem, a model of the problem, several potential solutions to the problem, the results of their research studying alternative solutions to the problem, and a recommended solution with a high-level change proposal plan that will describe the implementation of the change proposal.
  • Finally, the student will supply an assessment and reflection that discusses what was learned and recommendations for further study.
  • From the time the student begins to work with you, the project should last 1 – 1 ½ years.
  • We are committed to ensuring privacy and anonymity throughout the duration of the project for all participants in the project.
Project timeline
  • May 22, 2023
    Experience start
  • December 8, 2023
    Experience end

Project Examples

Requirements

The Doctorate of Business Administration (DBA) program at IWU allows students to demonstrate their mastery in solving real-world business problems through an Applied Doctoral Project (ADP). While a dissertation is the capstone of a research-based Ph.D. program, the ADP serves as a capstone for the IWU DBA. The distinction of the ADP is that students integrate evidence-based scholarly research in a consultative manner aimed at identifying a significant problem, formulating a solution, and presenting a proposal to a real organization.

  • The ADP Experience employs a problem-based learning framework to guide the researcher-consultant process that is beneficial for professional practice as a consultant, practitioner, or scholar.
  • Students are also uniquely advantaged when assigned a research chair who serves as their mentor and coach—from start to finish in the program—to ensure the project meets the rigorous standards worthy of a terminal degree in business.

Focus

  • The primary emphasis of the ADP is to build a foundation of knowledge using research.
  • To develop the ADP, the student first identifies the industry and then researches it to obtain a thorough understanding.
  • Within that industry, the student next locates a partner organization with an appropriate business challenge that warrants investigation.

Process

  • The DeVoe School of Business assigns a research chair to each student to help guide the student on the project.
  • DSB also is charged with ensuring that the project rises to the level of a doctoral project and that all research is conducted in accordance with academic and federal research requirements.
  • The student will then meet with that partner organization to define the exact challenge to be studied and to confirm the goals, scope, and estimated timeline of the project and the roles, responsibilities, and deliverables for both the student and the partner.
  • In general, the partner organization agrees to supply a liaison from within the organization to be the point of contact and general internal support and provide access to needed information relevant to the project.
  • The student will provide to the partner a consulting report that will include a detailed literature review on the type of project being undertaken, the results of the research conducted as part of the project, a list of potential solutions, a recommendation, and the supporting data for the preferred solution, analysis of the costs and benefits of implementing the solution, and a high-level change management plan. The length of time for the project, starting from the initial agreement as to the project, can range from six months to two years, depending on the project's complexity.

Example projects currently in the works:

  • Working with a government agency to improve its ability to hire diverse and minority employees (management).
  • Developing a new approach to integrating activity-based accounting across multiple global currencies (accounting).
  • Providing a healthcare supplier with a system that schedules limited resources more efficiently (healthcare management).
  • Developing applications for mobile devices that duplicate services provided through PCs (information technology management).

Additional company criteria

Companies must answer the following questions to submit a match request to this experience:

From the time the student begins to work with you, the project should last 6 months.

We are committed to ensuring privacy and anonymity throughout the duration of the project for all participants involved.

A representative of the company will be available for a pre-selection discussion with the Research Chair of the course to review the project scope.

The company is willing to review and sign a Partner Organization Permission Form prior to project start.