DM/DMgt vs DBA

Hello, I'm new here, seems like everyone here is very enthusiastic about education. I would like to seek some opinions and feedback in regards to what are the differences (if any) between the Doctor of Management and Doctor of Business Administration.

From Googling, DBA seems to be more common, and DMgt less so, but most if not all do not address the differences and some seem to use them interchangeably. Are there any real differences? Or it is really up to the interpretation of the University?

I am comparing 2 AACSB accredited universities which are also AMBA accredited for their MBA programs.
First one only offers DMgt that encompasses coursework and a dissertation
2nd one offers a DBA that encompasses coursework and a dissertation and a DMgt based on applied research with 2 courses on research methodology & academic writing.

That made me a bit confused since both are DMgt but one is research based while the other is mixed mode.

My goal is to pave way for my career, and to lead in corporates -- where I feel a doctorate would give me an advantage. My area of interest is in digital transformation & innovation of a "traditional" organization, say a bank for example, and lead the transformation into becoming a digital bank.

I am single with no family commitments, which is why it is now or never. I do not discount the possibility of teaching part time in the future, a low priority, but a desire to give back to the community someday. I am leaning more towards the DMgt by applied research. I understand while I do not need to commit time in the class, I would need to manage my time and be disciplined enough to work on my research paper.

Advice, feedback and opinions welcomed.

For those who stumbled on this wondering DBA vs PHD, here's a link to a useful thread
My current dilemma - PhD or DBA? | DegreeInfo

 

Thanks, that's what I assumed but great to have it confirmed. I am in South East Asia and education is cheap in my country, relatively speaking.

 

What institutions? There’s a lot of AACSB alliance members out there that aren’t actually accredited by them, so you have to read carefully.

 

Not many DMgt in the region - I think I know which institution you are referring to. I think it is interchangeable - as the institution does not offer DBA. Ultimately, I believe, you can refer it to as a doctorate still nonetheless, upon graduation? Good luck!

 

Most of these degrees are meant for professionals. The DBA is very known but again, this might not matter so much. The main variable here is cost and reputation. A highly reputable institution might cost an arm and leg while a less reputable might cost half the price. In the corporate world, any reputable ranked school would be fine as results and previous experience would be the key factor. If you are interested in using it for academic positions then it is a different ball game, for this a residential traditional PhD from an AACSB accredited school would beat any DBA, DM, PhD DL, etc.
The PhD is more well known and for this reason some schools offer executive PhDs as many prefer this designation.

 

I was under the impression that a DBA or DMgt from an AACSB accredited school would be "sufficient" for academic positions? In your opinion, how would it compare if I have a DMgt from an AACSB accredited school, versus someone who holds a PhD from a non-AACSB accredited school but is accredited, such as TESU? Considering all other factors are equivalent e.g. age, experience etc.

 

Accreditation matters at AACSB schools--doing a doctorate at one is likely expected in order to be hired at one. They not only look for that for their own quality interests, it's also an element of meeting AACSB's accreditation requirement regarding faculty.

Then, as Steve noted, there's the difference between a scholarly doctorate and a professional doctorate. The Doctor of Management will almost always be considered a professional doctorate. Thus, some committees might find it unacceptable, even if it comes from an AACSB-accredited school. (The same can be true at non-AACSB schools as well.)

The DBA is a different animal. Some schools offer it as a scholarly degree, a PhD-by-another-name. Harvard used to do this because the business doctorate wasn't coming from the arts and sciences department. (Same way they treated the EdD.) I think that's changed, however.

Other schools offer the DBA as a professional degree. Again, same potential limitations apply.

There are exceptions to almost anything, of course, even getting hired to a doctoral program without having a doctorate. But these are some guidelines to be aware of.

My advice would be to check with examples of schools you're interested in applying to and seeing what they have to say.

So, you have accreditation, the title of the degree, whether it is scholarly or professional, and how it would be received on the hiring end. Lots to think about, and no hard-and-fast rules to apply.

 

Every business school should know what a DBA is. If they hadn't heard of a DBA, I'd be concerned. I haven't heard of people having issues with securing full-time teaching positions with a DBA. The wonkiest degree is the Ed.D in clinical or counseling psychology. If the hiring school doesn't see PhD or PsyD, they don't know what to think. Why would anyone create an EdD in anything other than school or educational psychology? A licensed psychologist with an EdD got so sick of explaining her degree, she considered going back to school for a PhD.

 

I saw this on Liberty's DBA page "Among only 3% of business schools worldwide to receive ACBSP accreditation." I guess ACBSP is more elite than AACSB since AACSB schools pride themselves as being among only 5% of business schools worldwide to receive AACSB accreditation. OKAY, it's meant to be a joke, lol. I think we all know AACSB is the gold standard.

 

Is it really though? Even so, the majority of academia and the public seem to agree.

 

I suspect that as long as the big-name business schools stay with AACSB that the current situation will not change. Is AACSB better, or does it get that credit because every B-school you've ever heard of in the US holds it, and ACBSP is held mainly by the programs you haven't?

If losing their USDOE recognition didn't hurt AACSB, though, I imagine this is all purely theoretical and unlikely to change anytime soon.

 

Academia? AACSB-accredited business schools prefer to recruit graduates of other AACSB schools. And that's about it.

The public? That can be taken two ways: employers and the general public. Employers? No. The general public? Even bigger no.

As for ACBSP accreditation, I cannot imagine a scenario where that will matter. Ever.

 

Not only AACSB schools. I've seen schools with ACBSP or no business program accreditation noting a preference for faculty with AACSB accredited doctorates. BTW, I'm not talking about the general public. I'm referring to those, including most of us on here, who have a good knowledge about business school accreditation. Whether we want to acknowledge it or not, AACSB dominates. It's like RA and NA. We can fool ourselves as much as we want, but we know RA is viewed as the gold standard. It's no different when it comes to AACSB, ACBSP, and IACBE.

 

Poor IACBE. They finally gained recognition, and still no one cares about them.

In Minnesota, if you earn a graduate degree from an AACSB or ACBSP-accredited business school, you only need to take 15 graduate-level accounting credits to become a CPA. There are other ways to qualify, but this is the easiest way I've seen.

 

Respectfully, I disagree, but only in terms of magnitude.

Graduates of nationally accredited schools benefit tremendously from the school being "accredited" and people not making distinctions about the type of accreditation. Business program accreditation, however, matters only to a few insiders. In those cases, it's "AACSB and the wannabes." There isn't a sliding scale. It's AACSB or nothing at all. With the public, none of it matters, whereas institutional accreditation matters greatly, since about anyone out there knows is "accredited = good" and "unaccredited = diploma mill." It's why we have all kinds of bogus institutional accreditation claims, but no one is making up ersatz business school accreditors to bless their fake b-schools.