Doctor of Business Administration

Drive long-term business change

The challenges facing the business world are numerous and complex, but they aren’t impossible. Through the Doctor of Business Administration program, Concordia is preparing Christian leaders to address those problems holistically by combining quantitative and qualitative business concepts. The outcome? The actual change translates to long-term growth and profitability.

New - All but the Dissertation (ABD) Option

Have you started your doctorate but life got in the way? Completed coursework, but never finished your dissertation? Our new program provides an opportunity for students who have completed all requirements for a doctorate at another institution, except their doctoral dissertation. Concordia University welcomes all applicants who have achieved this status in their graduate education. We will help you achieve your goal and set you up for success. Now is the perfect time to finish earning your doctorate.

Informational Webinars

Our DBA faculty and staff provide live webinars for you to learn more about this new program including an in-depth view of the DBA concentrations, what the dissertation entails, and how you'll be supported throughout this doctorate program.

View our previously recorded DBA informational webinars below. In these recordings, you'll meet staff and faculty who explain the curriculum structure, concentrations, dissertation, and how this will help you reach the goals you’ve set for yourself. You'll also learn more about the admission and application process.

The Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) is the highest accredited academic business degree at Concordia University designed to address the current challenges facing companies, leaders, and teams in today’s business environment. You will develop scholar-practitioner skills as you learn from industry experts skilled in blending applied learning with theory development. You'll leave the program equipped with the tools, experience, and knowledge to transform organizations and improve performance through grounded research methods.

This three-year, 60-credit (minimum) Doctor of Business Administration program features four distinct concentrations:

• Financial and Economic Management: Study how the financial and economic theory impacts global and regional organizations. You'll have the opportunity to explore further either financial or economic principles allowing you to apply the concepts to organizational structure and productivity.
• Organizational Change and Performance: Learn applied methods and theories that address organizational improvement by examining individual, team, and organizational analysis and enhancing decision-making techniques.
• Healthcare Administration: Study the administration of global healthcare systems and provide graduates with the opportunity to examine technology and analytics, legal and ethical considerations, and leadership topics encountered by top industry professionals.
• Business Sustainability: Examine multiple methods to assess environmental risks and innovate sustainable solutions in order to implement strategies that generate value and increase competitiveness through sustainability.

Regardless of concentration, you will benefit from the unique holistic approach that the program takes in addressing and teaching both quantitative and qualitative business concepts. Throughout the coursework, you will acquire evidence-based decision-making skills to prepare them for effective leadership in business, healthcare, non-profit, education, government, and other professional industries.

Specialized Courses

As the DBA program continues to grow and evolve, the following defined specialization courses have been approved as offerings in each area, effective for the spring 2023 semester. As we move forward and look to IACBE and eventual AACSB accreditations, as well as to our first full cohort of graduates, we are excited to see the progress and opportunities ahead.

Financial and Economic Management:

• DBA9330: Economic Theory & Bus Effectiveness
• DBA9331: Financial Theory & Decision Making
• DBA9333: Applied Economics
• DBA9337: Investment Portfolio Analysis

Organizational Change and Performance:

• DBA9320: Leading Transformation & Change
• DBA9321: Scenario Planning
• DBA9323: Contemporary Topics in Org Performance & Change
• DBA9325: Talent Mgmt. & Development

Healthcare Administration:

• DBA9310: Managing Human Capital in Healthcare
• DBA9311: Legal & Ethical Issues for HC Prof
• DBA9313: Healthcare Financial Mgmt. & Economics
• DBA9317: The United States Healthcare Delivery System

Business Sustainability:

• DBA9340: Environmental Risks and Sustainable Solutions for Business
• DBA9041: Ecological Economics and Sustainable Development
• DBA9043: Engaging Science to Promote Innovation
• DBA9045: Environmental Stewardship Plan Development for Business

The next cohort will start in July 2023 with the in-person residency July 13-15, 2023. The application is now open and closes on May 1.

The DBA launched in July 2021 as a primarily online program with low residency requirements. Designed in collaboration with the School of Education, the program follows an eight-week format and includes 16 new online courses. The DBA is the perfect next educational step for students who already possess an MBA or a Master in Organizational Leadership degree, especially organizational managers seeking to advance their careers by developing an ability for advanced critical reasoning.

Upon completion of this program, you will be able to:

• Compose ethical business solutions to complex organizational problems.
• Formulate scholar-practitioner knowledge for organizational success.
• Design qualitative and quantitative research projects related to business.
• Evaluate organizational structure and design for productivity.