How to manage a Doctor of Business Administration: now the hard sell is over

This chapter examines the recent past, the present, and the future of the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA), a degree that in Australia has experienced fluctuating fortunes and popularity. Due to its nature and its target cohort, the degree may be susceptible to the impact of external factors, including economic downturn, but that makes it timely to consider the future of the degree. The chapter commences with a detailed analysis of the trends in its enrolments and the numerical decline across the sector in the students enrolling. Then follows study of the providers, including the initial expansion in the number of universities offering the degree, but this analysis also revealing a “rise and fall” of the degree from the 1990s into the twenty-first century. For the future, the chapter asks and provides possible answers for questions a university should ask about offering the DBA, related to the degree, including being aware of a strong rationale, knowing the market and cost, finding industry partners among others, followed by recommendations for a university and the candidates to manage the degree.