Curriculum
CURRICULUM
EXECUTIVE DBA PROGRAM
The Saint Mary's learning environment is student-centered, interactive, focused on collaboration, and designed to stimulate critical thinking. You'll join an intimate class of experienced professionals, which allows professors to actively engage everyone in the learning process—even during online sessions. Many students tell us that they learn as much from classmates as they do from professors.
In the business world, your success often depends on your ability to complete work through teams. While much of the curriculum involves individual work, you will also work with a team on group presentations and projects, allowing you to refine your leadership and teaming skills.
The curriculum is designed to develop your capabilities in three broad areas:
Analysis and critical thinking
- Assess organizational performance across a wide range of criteria, including financial, operational, ethical, and marketing effectiveness.
- Forecast changes and evaluate the effect on the business using quantitative and qualitative techniques and models.
Broad functional knowledge
- Identify and diagnose business problems related to human resources, accounting and financial management, operations, marketing, and other functional areas.
- Identify, select, and justify strategies and tactics at functional, business, and corporate levels.
Responsible leadership
- Evaluate business opportunities and develop strategic implementation plans.
- Communicate effectively as a manager and leader, including presenting analysis, justifying recommended actions, and gaining support from others.
- Negotiate and collaborate with others who have different interests and objectives.
- Create a committed and motivated workplace culture with a shared mission and common values.
- Assess and discuss ethical and social implications of situations, actions, policies, and proposals.
Courses
| First year | Course 1 | Course 2 |
| 10 Week Term 1 – Oct-Dec | ORB 907 - Leadership and Organizational Behavior: Theory and Practice This seminar on Organizational Behavior and leadership topics and leadership focuses on application of management theory in the business world. This course addresses seminal and current management concepts, theories and constructs. An emphasis will be on the application of organizational behavior and leadership theories to the business arena. Students will learn how to conduct substantive scholarly literature review and develop testable hypotheses to address and capture relevant and cutting-edge OB topics for application in business situations.
| ORB 905 - Becoming an Applied Scholar Through Scientific Inquiry This course introduces students to the scientific method, the philosophy of science, process of scientific inquiry, and understanding applied scholarly research. Students will gain skills in reading, understanding and critiquing scholarly papers, and conducting literature review. Topics such as foundations of theory development, grounded theory, hypothesis testing, scholarly rigor, and research methods will be discussed. Students will begin identifying their research interest and focus in this course. |
| 10 Week Term 2 – Jan-Mar | OPS 902 - Quantitative Research Methods and Statistical Analysis This course emphasizes the analysis of quantitative data. The course will introduce various analytic approaches, explore their use, and guide students in applying them to quantitative data. By using pertinent scholarly and practitioner research, learners will investigate quantitative methods used in conducting primary research and develop skills to apply those methods to real world settings that address contemporary business issues. The use of statistical software for modeling and graphing will also be included. Classroom sessions will include lectures, discussions, intensive group work related to the projects, and instruction in the associated software tools for each topic. | OPS 901 - Qualitative Research Methods and Data Analysis This course emphasizes the analysis of qualitative data. The course will introduce various interpretive analytic approaches, explore their use, and guide students in applying them to qualitative data. By using pertinent scholarly and practitioner research, learners will investigate qualitative methods used in conducting primary research and develop skills to apply those methods to real world settings that address contemporary business issues. The use of computer software for coding textual data will also be included. Classroom sessions will include lectures, discussions, intensive group work related to the projects, and instruction in the associated software tools for each topic. |
| 10 Week Term 3 – Mar-Jun | OPS 903 - Integrative Research design This course emphasizes the research methods for both qualitative and quantitative data. The course will introduce various research approaches, explore their use, and guide students in applying them. By using pertinent scholarly and practitioner research, learners will investigate research methods used with secondary data and global information systems. Research methods for collecting primary data and the associated measurement concepts will also be covered. Students will become familiar with best practices in fieldwork design. Classroom sessions will include lectures, discussions, intensive group work related to the projects, and instruction in the associated software tools for each topic. | MGT 908 - Strategy & Business Models for a Global Marketplace This course explores the theory and practice of developing and implementing strategies for gaining competitive advantage in the domestic and global business environment. The course reviews and integrates the growing theoretical body of knowledge in the fields of strategic management and international business with an emphasis on moving from local to global strategies. We will explore variety of empirical approaches used to research the international competitive strategy process to include exploration of the accelerating globalization of industries, and the institutional contexts that both facilitate and impede the formation and implementation of global strategies as well as evolving business models. The class with specifically focus on theoretical debates to emerging research and real-life emerging challenges facing firms today and their possible solutions. |
| 10 Week Term 4 – Jul-Sep | EDBA 980 - Dissertation Proposal Research Practicum 1 In this research practicum, the emphasis is on selection of paper topic, refinement of the primary research question and literature review. The student will work with his/her advisor to complete the course deliverable. The deliverable is a thoroughly researched “front-end” of a scholarly paper, including refinement of research question and adequate literature review. | EDBA 980 - Dissertation Proposal Research Practicum 1 In this research practicum, the emphasis is on selection of paper topic, refinement of the primary research question and literature review. The student will work with his/her advisor to complete the course deliverable. The deliverable is a thoroughly researched “front-end” of a scholarly paper, including refinement of research question and adequate literature review.
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| Second year | Course 1 | Course 2 |
| 10 Week Term 5 – Oct-Dec | MKT – 910 Marketing: Applied Theory and Practice This seminar gives students a useful background for doing academic research as an applied scholar in the field of marketing. The course explores academic research in marketing utilizing a variety of empirical methods. Readings will include theory-driven published academic research as well as practitioner-oriented research addressing current issues of relevance to marketing practitioners. | MGT 911 - Innovation: Theory and Silicon Valley Perspectives Creativity and innovation are the key drivers of success for many of today’s leading companies. This course focuses on advanced research in the fields of organizational strategy and performance. The course outcomes will add increased depth and breadth to the synthesis of critical thinking, analysis, research writing and evaluation regarding organizational innovations and competitive advantages. The literature on this discipline is abundant. A focus of this course is to enable students to develop their own mental map of theories and concepts for application of innovation in real-world managerial and leadership settings. The course will include an in depth review of theoretical approaches, their similarities and differences and their practical application, with a special emphasis on theoretical tensions and ongoing inquiries that can lead to new organizational insights. |
| 10 Week Term 6 – Jan-Mar | FIN 909 - Corporate Finance Seminar This course considers a broad range of issues faced by corporate financial managers with respect to the valuation of projects, divisions, and entire companies. It introduces the modern theories of corporate finance and their applications. Topics include financial markets, free cash flow forecasting, present value analysis, the theory of risk and return, and cost of capital. | OPS 906 - Operations and Supply Chain: Research and Practice This course on operations management and supply chain explores the fundamental issues and recent developments in operations management. Learners investigate the role of operations within the firm. Review and analysis of pertinent scholarly and practitioner research are used to enhance the learning experience and assist students to develop a framework for understanding, analyzing, and addressing contemporary operations management and supply chain issues. |
| 10 Week Term 7 – Mar-Jun | EDBA 981 - Dissertation proposal Research Practicum II In this research practicum, the emphasis is on further refinement of the primary research question and development of hypotheses. The deliverable for the course is steeped in grounded theory. | ACCTG 900 - Accounting Theory and Application Accounting is the language of business and its role is key in communicating financial information to all parties engaged in any type of commerce. In this course, emphasis is placed on developing a conceptual framework and set of skills for addressing questions broadly, related to accounting information. Specifically, we will focus on the decisions of what, how, and to whom to communicate information and the consequences of these communications. The course will prepare students to conduct research on the use of accounting information: in the firm’s internal decision-making and performance evaluation functions; in the contractual relationships between the firm and both internal and external parties; in the functioning of capital markets; and by other stakeholders and potential stakeholders in the firm. |
| 10 Week Term 8 – Jul-Sep | EDBA 982 - Dissertation Proposal Research Practicum III In this research practicum, the student works on methodology for the research project and begins development of a pilot study. Students are expected to defend their dissertation proposal by the end of this academic term. | EDBA 982 - Dissertation Proposal Research Practicum III In this research practicum, the student works on methodology for the research project and begins development of a pilot study. Students are expected to defend their dissertation proposal by the end of this academic term. |
| Third year | Course 1 | Course 2 |
| 10 Week Term 9 – Oct-Dec | EDBA 983 - Dissertation Research Thesis I Students work on the dissertation phase of the EDBA program with their dissertation advisor and committee members. Students develop and execute a complete research project that aims to address practical problems that are relevant within the student’s own workplace or interest areas. | ORB 904 - Knowledge Dissemination From Theory to Practice This course provides a framework to transfer evidence-based knowledge into the business world in order to implement findings. Students will learn ways to communicate results and bring research findings to target audiences, including those in the work place. Dissemination strategies will be discussed. |
| 10 Week Term 10 – Jan-Mar | EDBA 984 - Dissertation Research Thesis II Students work on the dissertation phase of the EDBA program with their dissertation advisor and committee members. Students develop and execute a complete research project that aims to address practical problems that are relevant within the student’s own workplace or interest areas. | EDBA 985 - Research Colloquium This course provides a hands-on experience for students to develop, improve, and strengthen their scholarly work by engaging with and receiving feedback from faculty and peers. Course content includes developing research questions, literature review, theoretical framework, testable hypotheses, improving scholarly writing skills, and giving presentations. The final |
| 10 Week Term 11 – Mar-Jun | EDBA 994 - Dissertation Research Thesis III In this course, students formally work on and present their dissertation work to other students, dissertation committee members and faculty members. Students are expected to revise their work based on constructive feedback from faculty and other students. Students will also learn to give feedback for faculty research presentations. | EDBA 994 - Dissertation Research Thesis III In this course, students formally work on and present their dissertation work to other students, dissertation committee members and faculty members. Students are expected to revise their work based on constructive feedback from faculty and other students. Students will also learn to give feedback for faculty research presentations. |
| 10 Week Term 12 – Jul-Sep | EDBA 987 - Dissertation Research Thesis IV Students work on the dissertation phase of the EDBA program with their dissertation advisor and committee members. Students develop and execute a complete research project that aims to address practical problems that are relevant within the student’s own workplace or interest areas. Students are expected to complete defense (oral and written) of their dissertation by the end of the summer academic term.
| EDBA 987 - Dissertation Research Thesis IV Students work on the dissertation phase of the EDBA program with their dissertation advisor and committee members. Students develop and execute a complete research project that aims to address practical problems that are relevant within the student’s own workplace or interest areas. Students are expected to complete defense (oral and written) of their dissertation by the end of the summer academic term.
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