The Doctorate of Business Administration (DBA)

The DBA (Doctorate of Business Administration) is a degree developed by major French and international universities. It is recognized in France and internationally as the highest available academic credential in management. Pursuing your DBA in Paris is one of the best ways to improve your skills!

The key points

  • Admissions requirements Applicants must have five years of university-level study and minimum 5 years of professional experience
  • Level Equivalent to a Bac + 8 in the French system; 180 ECTS credits
  • Accreditations Two international accreditations: AACSB, BGA and EDBAC
  • Languages 100% in English
  • Schedule Appropriate for working professionals
  • Length 36 month
  • Tuition 13000€ for the 1rst year ; 6000€ for the 2nd year ; 6000€ for the 3rd year
  • Next start date May 2024
  • Campus Paris

What is a DBA?

The DBA is offered in English, and is a continuation of the BBA (Bachelor of Business Administration), and the MBA (Master of Business Administration). After completing this degree, you will have in-depth knowledge of the management world. The DBA truly serves as a link between academic research and the business world; the ISC Paris DBA program is aimed at professionals who want to pursue a new career path by learning new skills. The ISC Paris DBA has its finger on the pulse of an increasingly interconnected and complex business world, offering you a high level of visibility and documented expertise related to current business issues.

This diploma is also helpful for managers who want to develop their international profile and reach high positions in their company by studying abroad. This is the reason why you should pursue your DBA with a school in Paris, one of the most renowned cities in the world in terms of higher education.

Why pursue a DBA at ISC Paris?

The ISC Paris group is committed to academic excellence, with a team of 50 tenured or tenure-track professors, of which 36 hold Doctorates and 13 hold the prestigious designation of authorized research directors. We also offer managers a high level of personal attention from our team of full-time researchers, and our dedicated research facilities.
Our school is constantly tracking trends in the ever-evolving business world. This led us to create a DBA (Doctorate in Business Administration) in Paris, as a degree program for top-level managers. This program gives students insights and expertise related to issues in the modern business world, by helping to model best practices.

Highlights of the DBA program in Paris

Prestige

A practical approach, targeting applied research,
Create your own research project within the program

Professors

International accreditations that guarantee the program’s quality
Personal attention from our team of professors

Insertion

A flexible schedule and hybrid instruction, allowing you to continue working

Research Workshops

Tool kit to navigate complex business environment

Curriculum for the Doctorate of Business Administration

The most important aspect of this research-based curriculum is your DBA thesis, for which you do a public defense. Unless you are otherwise authorized, your thesis must be written in English.
To introduce students to the world of research and to develop thesis-writing skills, students receive 120 hours of courses in English, both in-person and online:

  • Theoretical Perspectives in Strategic management (30 hours)
  • Innovation and entrepreneurship theory and practice (30 hours)
  • Research Design (30 hours)
  • Qualitative research methods and Quantitative Research methods (30 hours)

Before choosing a thesis topic, students must write and defend a research proposal before the DBA oversight committee. Students writing a thesis will be advised by two supervisors who are qualified researchers in the area that the student is studying.

Career paths after the DBA

The DBA proves that you are an experienced manager, specializing in real-world organizational issues. It provides you with new skills, and prepares you for a high-level position. If you work in upper management, you will gain a new level of credibility once you’ve earned your DBA in Paris. Studying with a French school will prove your open mindset and your capacity to adapt to new professional contexts.. You might work in in your home country or anywhere in the world, in a public or private-sector entity, and share your knowledge with your co-workers.

DBA program methods and policies

Advanced entry is possible, based on an advanced entry examination
Transfer from other programs

No

Credits for prior experience

No

CPF (personal educational account)-eligible program

No

Objectives of the ISC Paris DBA program

Understanding and working in an increasingly complex business world

The DBA program is for intelligent, thoughtful managers who want to develop new ways of understanding and working in an increasingly complex business world. Research-based training helps our DBA students understand theoretical knowledge.

Developing critical thinking skills to identify management problems

The DBA will also help you to develop critical thinking skills to identify management problems that limit economic and business performance, and to apply the appropriate skills and academic rigor to transform this knowledge into management solutions.

Skills developed in the DBA program

  • Theoretical Perspectives in Strategic management (30 hours)

Key skills: Understanding business issues using strategic theories
Skills targeted: Preparing a research project related to strategy

  • Innovation and entrepreneurship theory and practice (30 hours)

Key skills: Understanding business issues using innovation theories
Skills targeted: Preparing a research project related to innovation

  • Research Design (30 hours)

Key skills: Understanding academic standards
Skills targeted: Preparing research questions and hypotheses

  • Qualitative research methods and Quantitative Research methods (30 hours)

Key skills: Conducting interviews
Skills targeted:
-Gathering data
-Performing qualitative and quantitative analyses

Data about the 2020-2021 DBA class at the Paris campus

  • Satisfaction rate (academic year 2020-2021): 100% (Results from the annual satisfaction survey completed by three out of 10 students, July 2021).
  • Student success rate: in progress, no graduating class this year
  • Six-month career placement rate: in progress, no graduating class this year
  • Dropout rate (2020/2021): 16.7% (two out of 12 students)

Alumni Testimonials

The ISC Paris DBA is a particularly well-structured and well-organized program. It is the ideal program for both experienced professionals and new graduates. It increases students’ learning, while offering an approach that is balanced between theory and practice. The program has a strong emphasis on analytical reasoning, and develops each student’s ability to carry out rigorous university research. It also creates a bridge between academia and theory, in a very real-world way. The program includes the highest-caliber teaching faculty. Course sessions are dynamic and involve a great deal of participation. The ISC Paris DBA program is more than a doctoral degree. It is a very enriching program that provides students with all of the analytical, academic, and practical skills that they need to succeed in their chosen areas of expertise.

Elena Ranguelaova
Graduate of the ISC Paris DBA program

A word from the DBA director

The ISC Paris Group has chosen a path of excellence, by committing to have all of our programs accredited by the French government, and particularly by pursuing the AACSB and AMBA international accreditations. This shows our commitment to high-quality programs and continuous improvement. Our commitment to excellence is shown by our increasing commitment to academic research activities, which guarantees rigorous instruction, rooted in the real world of business and the markets.

It is in this spirit of excellence and responsiveness to an increasingly complex business world that we are launching our DBA (Doctorate in Business Administration) program.

In launching the DBA, the ISC Paris Group is leveraging its relationships with the business world, and its commitment to high-quality research activities, in order to offer managers a new way of learning how to do research. This research is relevant to the business world because it transfers into management practices, and also into research that fulfills the most rigorous current requirements for research.

Tuba Bakici, DBA program director.

Our team of professors

  • Tuba Bakici, Director of the DBA program, is a professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at ISC Paris Business School. She studies the innovation process, and disruptive strategies. She regularly publishes in academic journals, and has served as guest editor for numerous journals.
  • Sébastien Liarté, is a tenured professor at the University of Lorraine, and is a senior writer for the journal M@n@gement. Professor Liarté studies the change and strategic transformation process in organizations and industries.
  • Tao Wang, is an associate professor at the Grenoble School of Management. His research focuses on organizations’ reputation and status. Dr. Wang earned a Doctorate in Management Science from EMLyon Business School.
  • Monica Rivière is an associate professor of international management at ISC Paris. After serving for over 10 years as a manager for Europe and North America-based multinationals, Dr. Rivière launched her career in academia. She studies corporate strategy changes, and strategies for internationalization.
  • Cédric Diridollou is an associate professor of Economics at ISC Paris Business School. His research focuses on market innovations and the emergence of business models within collaborative communities and digital platforms.
  • Ilyes Abid is an associate professor Finance at ISC Paris. He studies price volatility on the energy markets, and the valuation of financial assets.
  • Andrew Zylstra is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at ISC Paris. He holds a Doctorate from ESCP Europe, and is interested in the financial performance of marketing strategies. Dr. Zylstra worked in the banking sector for over 20 years.
  • Btissam Moncef, associate professor of supply chain. She studies the effectiveness of supply chains and global supply chains.
  • Amélie Clauzel is a professor of marketing at ISC Paris and at  Paris Sorbonne Université. Dr. Clauzel studies consumer behavior
  • Hakim Akeb, associate professor of quantitative methods. Dr. Akeb holds a Doctorate in Computer Science. He studies the effectiveness of supply chains, and how to optimize them.

Instructional methods

Activities alternate between lectures, discussions, and group work.
When students complete the program, they will be able to understand and appreciate various types of journals, various types of academic and practical genres and structures. They will also know how to write a research proposal, identify a journal’s target audience, and identify the design and methods for their own research.

Evaluation methods

Each course is individually evaluated using either a final exam, or a grade based on various evaluations (midterm exam, final exam, participation, etc.).

Attendance at exams is mandatory.

Exam results are posted on the intranet.

ECTS credits are awarded if the student’s average grade on the course evaluations is at least 10/20. Credits are awarded directly or after makeup exams, depending on the jury’s decision.

Pre-requisites and admissions methods

The DBA is primarily for:

  • Managers who are currently working or changing careers, and who hold an MBA or a Master in Management,
  • Applicants who hold a Master degree in another subject area are encouraged to apply. ISC Paris will support these students with background coursework online
  • Managers who have five years of work experience; candidates with three years of experience may be admitted based on an application review

Two-step admissions process

01.
Online application

The application includes a cover letter indicating your motivation for pursuing this program, a detailed CV, a copy of your highest or most recent university diploma, and your score on an online English proficiency test.

Send to Karim Ben Slimane

02.
Interview

Applicants are interviewed in person or remotely

Dr. Karim Ben Slimane, DBA program director kbenslimane@iscparis.com
No application fee.

What are the costs for the DBA?

  • Year 1: 13,000 euros
  • Year 2: 6,000 euros
  • Year 3: 6,000 euros

A question
about the program?

Paris Campus
Ikrame BOUAOUDA
International Admissions
(+33) (0)1 40 53 79 32
international.applications@iscparis.com
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