This module aims to:

Enable students to demonstrate a doctoral standard use of academic literature and research methods;

Enable students to produce work that is an original contribution to knowledge within an organisational or professional context;

Provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to argue clearly, coherently and persuasively, using empirical evidence and reasoning, to provide a coherent account of their research project;

Enable students to reflect on their development as a scholarly practitioner during the thesis stage of the programme.

(LO1) Students will be able to produce and defend a thesis of doctoral standard.

(LO2) Students will be able to refine and execute a structured plan of research based on informed choices about research design, and data collection and analysis methods.

(LO3) Students will be able to conduct research in a rigorous and systematic fashion.

(LO4) Students will be able to present a logical, critical and sustained argument, and develop conclusions in a manner consistent with doctoral level standards.

(LO5) Students will be able to build on previous learning to create a personal development trajectory post-thesis.

(LO6) Students will demonstrate how they have adopted a reflexive approach to conducting research.

(LO7) Students will be able to critically evaluate personal biases, assumptions, and attitudes when managing and leading.

(LO8) Students will demonstrate how their practice has been influenced by scholarship.

(LO9) Students will be able to demonstrate how a scholarly orientation will influence their future practice.

(LRE1) Organised and able to work under pressure.
This skill will be evident in the student’s independent management of their research project.

(LRE2) An excellent verbal and written communicator.
Students will have opportunities to develop written and oral communication skills through their work on the thesis and their interactions in supervisory meetings.

(LRE3) Ethically aware.
This skill will be developed as students go through the process of considering the ethical implications of their selected research design, as well as through the process of applying for ethics approval (if applicable).

(LRE4) Flexible and adaptable.
This skill will be developed through the programme of original research that forms the basis of the original research required to work through the Executive DBA thesis.

(LRE5) A problem solver.
Students will be challenged to think critically about the process of research as it applies to their chosen problem. They will do this by gathering and synthesising information, analysing alternative perspectives and options, and presenting and executing a considered programme of action in relation to their original programme of research.

(LRE6) IT literate.
Students will have opportunities to improve their IT skills. Students will demonstrate skills in the use of software applications including word processing, visual presentations, databases, spreadsheets and using the internet for information searches in the course of researching and presenting their thesis.

(LRE7) Commercially aware.
Students will be encouraged to think critically about theory and practice and to challenge and critique assumptions about the management of people and organisations. In doing so they will be able to recognise and consider issues such as corporate social responsibility, ethics, diversity, technology and strategy. This will be assessed through their thesis.

(LRE8) A lifelong learner.
Students will be equipped to practice management within a spirit of inquiry, to draw on the research skills they have developed, to identify themselves as scholarly practitioners and to set development objectives for their future practice.

This module will be delivered wholly online.

Method 1 - Students will be allocated a minimum of two supervisors for their thesis. It is expected that students will work closely with their supervisors through the duration of the thesis and meet regularly.

Unscheduled Directed Student Hours: variable

Description: The content of meetings will be dependent on the needs of the student.
Attendance Recorded: No, but progress will be monitored through the University’s Independent Progress Assessment Panel (IPAP) process.

Method 2 - Students will be supported through 4 synchronous seminar sessions to complete the individual reflective element of the thesis. These will normally occur during the final 6-12 months of the thesis.

Scheduled directed student hours: 8

Description: The synchronous seminars will last for 2 hours each, during the final 6-12 months of the thesis (as determined by the primary supervisor).
Attendance Recorded: Yes ȁ 3; tracked via the learning platform.

Method 3 - Students will prepare for each synchronous seminar by contributing to a collaborative discussion board where they will discuss both set readings and those suggested by others in the group and further discuss their progress with the reflective element of the thesis.

Unscheduled directed student hours: 32 hours

Description: The preparation work for each synchronous seminar will equate to 8 hours (inclusive of the time spent posting to the discussion board) undertaken asynchronously, during the final 6-12 months of the thesis (as determined by the primary supervisor).
Attendance Recorded: Yes – tracked via the learning platform.

Method 4 – Self-directed learning hours: variable

Description: Students will work on their thesis.

Original research, with one-to-one supervision, leading to the production and defence of a doctoral thesis.

Refining the research proposal developed in the Designing Scholarly Practitioner Research module.

Planning and executing the research project.

Utilising appropriate research methods.

Setting development objectives.