DBA in Supply Chain, Operations, and Technology

The completion of the DBA in Supply Chain, Operations, and Technology (formerly Operations & Manufacturing Management) program requires 72 credit hours of graduate course work in supply chain and operations-related topics. In addition, as a DBA student you must maintain satisfactory academic progress; pass examinations and paper requirements; and write, submit, and defend a doctoral thesis. All students are expected to finish the program within four years on a full-time basis, or five to six years on a part-time basis.

Required studies include course work and a written doctoral thesis as follows:

• 48 credit units for course work
• 24 credit units for a doctoral thesis
  

Required Courses (48 credits)

Required courses will provide you with basic knowledge in operations and supply chain management including:

• Operational excellence in process management; lean operations
• Agile project management for operational and product development/ innovation environments
• Supply chain management principles and best practices
• Operational risk management in global supply chains
• Supply chain finance concepts and practices for effective working capital management of global businesses

These courses also provide basic knowledge in operations research, optimization, stochastic methods, simulation, statistics and empirical research methods. View the curriculum (PDF).

Research (24 credits) for Supply Chain, Operations, and Technology

Research credits finalize the course work for your DBA degree from Olin Business School. Course work inclusive of Independent Studies, Research Assistantships, and Directed Readings will account for 12 credit units, and doctoral thesis work accounts for 12 credit units. After successfully passing the qualifying exams (or field exams), you will write an extended research paper under the guidance of a faculty member in preparation for your thesis proposal. That faculty member will advise you throughout the stages of the thesis – proposal, research, writing, and defense – as well as serve on the thesis and defense committees.

Qualifying Exams

Comprehensive field examinations should be completed within six months of the conclusion of required course work (normally within two to three years). Examination committee will be composed of the faculty advisor and two other faculty members.

Doctoral Thesis

After completion of 48 units of DBA course work and passing the qualifying exams, you will begin research for your doctoral thesis. As a DBA student, you will prepare your thesis proposal in consultation with your faculty advisor and the approval of the research advisory committee and program director. Once complete, you will defend your doctoral thesis in an oral presentation to your advisory committee. The committee will either assign a passing grade or a failing grade or ask for revisions to be made in order for you to receive a passing grade.