Doctor of Business Administration
An applied doctorate for senior executives and institutional leaders who need to conduct rigorous research on a problem inside their own sector rather than pursue an academic career. The distinguishing requirement is that the research must ...
Employment thesis
What this programme is designed to produce
Forward publishes the destination of every programme before you enrol. If the thesis stops holding, the programme is reviewed and, where necessary, retired. Next review: 2031.
Roles
- Chief executive and board director
- senior policy leader
- head of institutional research or strategy
- Professor of Practice
- senior consultant.
Employer types
- Large corporates and financial institutions
- government and regulatory bodies
- development institutions
- universities as Professors of Practice
- and consulting practices.
Target outcomes we hold ourselves to
- Senior leadership advancement and academic appointment on the practice track.
Compulsory · The Forward Core
How the Core works →Every Forward programme, including this one, carries the same five cross-cutting requirements. They are graded, not optional.
- AI Fluency
- Quantitative Reasoning
- Ethics and African Context
- Human-Advantage Skills
- Enterprise
Includes 12 months paid work-integrated learning
Am I eligible?
Check yourself against the published requirements
7 questions written specifically for Doctor of Business Administration. Every answer is checked against a requirement Forward has published, and the result tells you which page that requirement comes from. Indicative only, the admissions office decides on your full file.
What is the highest qualification you hold?
Curriculum structure
The same degree, in both pathways
Every Forward programme is published in both pathways: Path One, the term plan of two six-month terms, and Path Two, the block sequence of twelve four-week blocks. Same competencies, same assessments, same award. Toggle to see this programme in each.
Path One term plan shown
Path One · The Term Model
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| DBF 110 | Applied Research Methods for Business Both | 8 | 6-2-2 |
| DBF 111 | Advanced Topics in Digital Business and Finance Objective | 8 | 7-2-0 |
| DBF 112 | Research Ethics, Access and Conflict of Interest Objective | 4 | 3-2-0 |
| DBF 113 | Academic and Professional Writing Objective | 4 | 3-2-0 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| DBF 130 | Specialist Reading and Literature Synthesis Objective | 8 | 7-2-0 |
| DBF 131 | Teaching Practice and Supervision Apprenticeship Performance | 6 | 1-0-10 |
| DBF 132 | Implementation, Measurement and Practice Contribution Performance | 6 | 1-0-10 |
| DBF 133 | Thesis Proposal and Public Defence Performance | 16 | 0-2-30 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| DBF 610 | Doctoral Thesis Research and Supervision (continuous registration) Performance | 0 | 0-0-0 |
| DBF 611 | Doctoral Colloquium and Publication Performanc | 0 | 0-0-0 |
Total credit units: 60
Curriculum source
Forward University Curriculum Compendium
Assessment
Coursework + project + integrated exam
Work-integrated learning
12 months paid co-operative education
Your week at Forward
A typical week on Doctor of Business Administration
Path One, the Term Model: your own pace across a six-month term, one live session a week, short flexible lessons, and assessment on demand.
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Curriculum explorer
Drill into the degree, step by step
Choose a study path, then a year, then a term or block, then a course. Credit totals add up as you go, and every course shows what comes before it and what it unlocks.
Step 1, choose a year
Step 2, choose a term
YEAR 1, SEMESTER 1: DOCTORAL COURSEWORK
Year 1 · this step is worth 24 CU
Cumulative
24
Programme total
60
24 CU of 60 CU completed by the end of this step (40%)
Step 3, choose a course
Pick a course to see the detail
Credits, assessment, prerequisites and what each course unlocks later.
The twelve Forward capabilities
What this programme develops in you
Every Forward degree develops the same twelve cross-cutting capabilities. The profile below is the level this programme is designed to develop and verify by graduation, on the four-level scale in Part B2 of the Curriculum Compendium. Every claim above Level 2 is verified by someone other than the teaching lecturer.
- C1Intelligent Systems FluencyLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C2Quantitative and Evidential Reasoning CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C3Ethical and Contextual JudgementLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C4Communication and PersuasionLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C5Disciplinary MasteryLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C6Technical Production and CraftLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C7Problem Framing and Systems Thinking CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C8Collaboration and Multidisciplinary TeamingLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C9Enterprise, Value and Commercial Literacy CriticalLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C10Professional Conduct and Workplace PerformanceLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C11Learning to Learn and Adaptive Capacity CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C12Stewardship and Public ContributionLevel 3 of 4, Independent
Critical capabilities for this programme: Quantitative and Evidential Reasoning · Problem Framing and Systems Thinking · Enterprise, Value and Commercial Literacy · Learning to Learn and Adaptive Capacity. A graduate cannot pass out of this programme below the stated level on any capability marked critical.
Programme Learning Outcomes
What you will be able to do
Each outcome is assessed, and each is tagged with the Forward capabilities it is verified against.
- PLO 1Make an original contribution to professional practice in business or finance.
- PLO 2Design and execute rigorous applied research in an organisational setting.
- PLO 3Publish or present to peer reviewed or authoritative professional standard.
- PLO 4Implement research findings in practice and measure their effect.
- PLO 5Teach and supervise on professional programmes under mentorship.
- PLO 6Apply research ethics and manage conflicts of interest in own organisation research.
Why this programme exists
An applied doctorate for senior executives and institutional leaders who need to conduct rigorous research on a problem inside their own sector rather than pursue an academic career. The distinguishing requirement is that the research must ...
Admission requirements
A Master's degree in a relevant discipline and a minimum of five years of senior professional experience; a defensible research proposal grounded in a real organisational or sectoral problem; and organisational access confirmed in writing. Alternative pathways: Foundation Year, diploma entry with advanced standing, mature age entry and recognition of prior learning, all governed by Part A5 and Part G. Online applicants additionally complete the compulsory Digital Readiness orientation under Part D6.
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