Online Doctorate in Management

The course provides an introduction to business administration for doctoral students entering the Doctor of Business Administration or Doctor of Management programs who do not have prior academic experience in this area.

In this course students explore their role as a scholar, practitioner, and leader from historical, theoretical, and applications-based content and framework—all within the context of critical reasoning, writing, and research. Students will develop doctoral-level critical analysis, evaluation, and synthesis skills as these apply in leadership practices within their organizations. Competency A: Analyze historical leadership concepts through doctoral-level research. Competency B: Contextualize leadership models through critical thinking. Competency C: Compare and contrast the relationship between leadership theory and the role of a practitioner. Competency D: Evaluate the role of leadership in fostering organizational development. Competency E: Integrate personal experience, scholarly inquiry, and reflexive approaches to learning and development.

This course provides an overview of social science research methodologies and their application in context to the student's degree program. Foundational concepts include the examination and application of theoretical frameworks, critical analysis of scholarly literature and interpretation of data through a theoretical lens. Students also explore quantitative, qualitative and mixed research methods and the core elements of an effective research plan. Competencies: Describe how conceptual and theoretical frameworks provide the foundational elements of social science research and inform the interpretation of data and other research findings. Identify the significance of scholarly literature and how gaps in extant literature provide a direction for new research. Summarize the ethical issues of research involving human subjects. Identify and explain quantitative and qualitative research methods and assess their appropriateness for different research problems Assess quantitative and qualitative research studies and discuss the concepts of methodological rigor, credibility, validity and reliability. Evaluate the research topic, research question, and purpose and problem statements for methodological and theoretical alignment. Establish strategies for formulating clear, concise research questions that are methodologically sound, theoretically grounded and researchable.

During this course you will be working on the initial dissertation milestone, the prospectus, which is a formal outline of the research project that outlines information to convey that the research can be completed and will provide meaningful results that contribute to the academic and practitioner communities. The prospectus should be iteratively updated until the beginning of DOC/723 when a Dissertation Chair is assigned to assist with development of the proposal. You may use previous course work when developing Dissertation Phase deliverables.

This class presumes some basic understanding of the foundations and underlying assumptions in the field of qualitative research as well as examples of practice. Building upon this preexisting foundational understanding, the purpose of the class is to enhance students’ understanding and craft through reading, writing, and reflecting on the practice of qualitative inquiry. Specific focus is on the design and development of qualitative research studies. Competency A: Differentiate between the various qualitative designs i.e. phenomenological, case study, ethnographic, grounded theory, and content analysis. Competency B: Evaluate the alignment of the qualitative designs to identified problems. Competency C: Evaluate the components of qualitative data collection and the appropriateness of each approach to an expressed conceptual framework. Competency D: Analyze the limitations of qualitative research and approaches for overcoming research challenges. Competency E: Analyze issues and concerns regarding the concepts of reliability and validity as they relate to qualitative research. Competency F: Address ethical issues that are inherent in qualitative research. Competency G: Develop a research methodology for a study incorporating best practices of the qualitative design chosen.

Doctoral practitioners are resolute in their commitment to identifying, informing, and affecting both individual and organizational change and innovation. Generating actionable interventions requires an extensive investigation of situational factors and a foundational understanding of research methodology. In this course, students explore the foundations of statistics used in quantitative research by actively engaging in processes focused on evaluation, appraisal, and application.

This course evaluates research on issues that organizations face in optimizing organizational performance. Students will gain insight on organizational theory and leadership, organizational behavior and globalization, people systems, and emerging trends and issues in organizations.

In this course, students evaluate the relationships among technology, structure, and behavior to inform strategic organizational decisions. In addition, students assess the benefits and challenges surrounding technology integration and develop implementation strategies to strategically manage and promote organizational performance. Competencies: Examine the function and influence of technology in organizations. Evaluate the effectiveness of technology systems in organizations. Analyze organizational factors that influence strategic technology decisions. Examine the theoretical perspectives of system design and integration. Evaluate change management strategies to enhance technology integration, implementation and innovation. Analyze strategic, technology-specific, management decisions that affect organizational performance. Assess the impact and effectiveness of technology on organizations based on key performance indicators.

This course deals with the theoretical and practical aspects of research and dissertation development in a practice doctorate context. In this course, students begin to examine relevant industry and academic literature and move toward creation of a robust, cogent review of scholarship aligned with designing Chapter 2 of an applied doctoral dissertation.

This course prepares students to implement emerging managerial practices designed to develop organizational agility and responsiveness. Additionally, students will be able to adapt best practices, implement high-performance work teams, and build advanced strategies for effective global communications. Emphasis is placed on how organizational leaders are encouraged to develop and demonstrate creative, adaptive, and flexible business approaches to meet the challenges of the future of work. Competency A: Argue different leadership styles, power bases, and influence approaches for building advanced management strategies for the global landscape. Competency B: Evaluate the effect of shared leadership theories in various team settings, including virtual environments. Competency C: Justify different approaches for organizational agility to enable leaders and managers to implement innovation. Competency D: Judge the effectiveness of creative, adaptive, and flexible management approaches within the global environment. Competency E: Assess best practices for cultivating diversity in an organization. Competency F: Interpret statistical analysis findings to enhance decision-making in a human resources environment. Competency G: Advance personal and corporate social and ethical responsibilities as a global citizen.

Upon completion of this course, learners will be prepared to use advanced leadership strategies for group communications, team building, and coaching skills to attain organizational objectives. Learners explore large group and smaller team dynamics and the ways in which the role of a leader is required to affect behavior. Emphasis is placed on the growing dependency on self-directed work teams in the workplace. Competency A: Examine the advantages, disadvantages, dynamics, processes, and stages of teams. Competency B: Apply the major theoretical models of leadership to team dynamics. Competency C: Create strategies for addressing the forces that form organizational teams. Competency D: Evaluate interventions to address critical challenges and changes during a team's life cycle. Competency E: Develop a personal philosophy on team leadership.

In this course students refine the requisite skills necessary to further their dissertation concept for review and approval. Students expand their work from Second-Year Residency by applying critical analysis to refine the research method, inform the selection of a research design, and to develop a focused literature review. Competencies: Articulate knowledge gaps in a selected field by synthesizing relevant literature in content, theoretical/conceptual framework, and research methodology and design. Define appropriate research methodology and design for a research study. Describe the scope, limitations and delimitations, population, sample, and possible instrument(s) used in a research study. Evaluate the relevance of research studies related to the selected research topic. Synthesize historical and current sources of literature plus theoretical/conceptual and methodological/ design literature relevant to the selected research topic.

Upon completion of this course, learners will be prepared to optimize organizational performance through the judicious implementation of performance interventions utilizing organization theory, organization design, and technology. Competency A: Utilize knowledge of organization theory, design, and technology to design, develop, implement, and lead change initiatives to optimize organizational performance. Competency B: Distinguish core organizational issues from symptoms. Competency C: Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of different models of organization assessments and their applicability to various situations. Competency D: Design interventions to address issues that hinder organizational performance. Competency E: Evaluate change interventions for continuous performance improvement. Competency F: Determine factors that further development of the organizational system.

This course will provide students with the tools leaders need to address current and future impacts on business and society. Students will examine methods used to influence organizational change toward proactively addressing risk factors such as political, legal, regulatory, and governmental requirements. The course will focus on understanding how business leaders can change, strengthen, and transform their organizations. Topics include corporate social responsibility, organizational and community involvement, and attaining and maintaining American corporate ethical standards in local and global environments. Competency A: Analyze the role of business ethics theories in different areas of executive leadership. Competency B: Assess the application of business ethics theories to everyday practice in executive leadership. Competency C: Critique the effectiveness of business ethics in developing, maintaining, and revising corporate governance policy. Competency D: Apply economic concepts, tools, and techniques to address ethical challenges in domestic and international business. Competency E: Evaluate the efficacy of governmental regulation on a capitalist business economic structure and on international forms of business structure. Competency F: Determine judicious resolutions to emerging economic and policy issues in corporate business management.

In this course, students will finalize their dissertation proposal. Students receive continued support in assessing and improving their readiness and skill preparation for completion of the dissertation proposal. Additionally, students explore communities of scholarship to engage with scholars in their area of practice and to share their future research.

Upon completion of this course, students will be prepared to develop and maintain a strong orientation to the future and a commitment to improvement and innovation in creating and establishing new business models for attaining organizational goals, setting new short- and long-term directions, and achieving performance excellence. This course includes an assessment of how leaders address current and future impacts on society in a proactive manner and how leaders establish and accomplish ethical practices in all stakeholder interactions. Competency A: Determine emergent social, environmental, organizational, and ethical complexities leaders must address in the 21st century. Competency B: Apply leadership theory and practice to challenges and opportunities for organizational excellence and sustainability. Competency C: Prepare leadership strategies that address and incorporate diverse stakeholder perspectives from multiple levels and sectors Competency D: Develop a deeper understanding of one's leadership beliefs, values, and strategies to integrate and apply the Scholar-Practitioner-Leader model.

This course serves as the second of two online immersive experiences for University of Phoenix doctoral students. The second covers advanced tenets of doctoral socialization and issues in higher education. Students will focus on currency in their respective disciplines.

In this chair-guided course, doctoral candidates finalize their dissertation as a significant contribution to the body of knowledge. The chair and committee members work with the candidate to complete the dissertation in preparation for University approval, followed by the oral defense. Additionally, this course focuses on engagement in communities of scholarship and practice. Competencies: Articulate strategies for effective dissertation completion. Analyze research data to develop dissertation results. Synthesize study results and relevant, current literature to develop recommendations and conclusions that add to the body of knowledge. Employ engagement strategies for continued discourse in scholarly communities. Synthesize all chapters to create a comprehensive dissertation that contributes to the body of knowledge.