Is this you?
You hold a good position in a company, earn a decent pay and enjoy nice perks. Seeing colleagues and friends who are far more successful, you are driven to improve yourself, so you sign up for a Master of Business Administration (MBA). You spend a few years slogging away at your studies. After much toil and trouble, you emerge triumphant with a scroll in hand, looking forward to all the luxuries that corporate executives aspire to. You get what you seek and it makes you happy, very happy. But after a while, the shine wears off. Almost everyone you know also has an MBA, so you are back to blending in instead of standing out.
What do you do now?
“Do a DBA!” says Dr Raemah Abdullah Hashim.
It’s no surprise that she would say so as she is the Programme Coordinator for the programme. However, if you look at the facts, there is some merit in her suggestion.
If you enrol in the DBA programme, you will have four specialisations to choose from – marketing, human resource, management and finance. You just have to complete the following to attain the 80 credits required for graduation – nine core courses, three elective courses, a doctoral concept paper and a thesis.
The courses, which are taught by both OUM professors and public university academics, require just a few seminars each semester. They cover advanced managerial economics, organisation management, marketing management and strategic management as well as accounting and finance, applied statistics, business research and technical/academic writing.
“Learners can choose from a wide range of elective courses and their assignments can comprise an assignment alone or a blend of assignment and final examination,” says Dr Raemah.
The courses will spur you to read business-centred articles, journals, reports and professional magazines, thereby sharpening your theoretical knowledge. Your practical knowledge will be honed by the research you conduct. If your research is good, you could even provide new insights and ideas within your chosen area of specialty.
Think you might not qualify for admission?
“We accept all accredited master’s degrees for admission,” says Dr Raemah. If you don’t have a master’s degree, you can still be accepted if you have an equivalent qualification accepted by the Senate.
Let’s say you are in the midst of pursuing a master’s degree. You can apply for the DBA if you have already spent a year doing your master’s. You just have to demonstrate your ability to conduct research at the postgraduate level and undergo an internal assessment by the Senate. International candidates also need to possess an English language competency requirement with a minimum IELTS grade of 6.0 or equivalent.
Access is no problem as you can attend DBA seminars at Learning Centres in Kuala Lumpur, Melaka, Johor Bahru, Kuantan, Kota Bharu, Seberang Jaya and Kota Kinabalu.
What can you expect if you undertake and complete this DBA programme? You will be able to create a strategic business plan, implement effective business policies and make sound decisions to achieve your company’s business goals. More importantly, you will have a cutting edge over others, plus a Dr title to your name. Sounds good, doesn’t it?
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