Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)

The Olin Business School Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) degree program offers a collaborative atmosphere centered on industry-relevant applied research in finance, marketing or supply chain, operations, and technology. This advanced graduate program crosses traditional boundaries and provides students with the opportunity — under the guidance of Washington University faculty — for structured course work along with focused independent scholarly reading and research on important issues relating to business.

The Olin DBA program is a 72-credit-unit doctoral degree designed for individuals with a serious interest in finance, marketing, or supply chain and operations-related research who wish to pursue graduate study. The finance DBA program is available in a full-time format only. The marketing and supply chain, operations, and technology programs may be pursed full-time or part-time. A DBA is an advanced graduate degree that differs from a traditional PhD and extends beyond the fundamental foundation of a master's degree to develop the necessary skills to conduct applied research. A DBA differs from a master's degree and a PhD in a number of ways, including the scope of study, the approach to research, and essentially the definitive outcome.

The Olin DBA is a practitioner's doctoral degree designed to meet the needs of the researching professional rather than the professional researcher. While a PhD is intended for those who wish to pursue research careers in academia, a DBA involves extended graduate study beyond a master's degree for those who wish to pursue careers in corporations, consulting firms or government agencies that can benefit from advanced research skills for the analysis of business problems. The research capabilities developed in the DBA programs for finance and marketing are of a more applied nature, with more immediate real-world applicability than the typical research pursued in a PhD program. Unlike a PhD program, the DBA program is aimed at those who are working in industry and who may continue to work during their enrollment in the program.

Contact Info

Website:

https://olin.washu.edu/programs/doctoral/

The completion of the DBA program requires 72 credit units of graduate coursework. In addition, DBA students 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 within five to six years on a part-time basis.

Required studies include coursework and a written doctoral thesis as follows for the marketing and operations, supply chain, and operations programs:

• 48 credit units for coursework
• 24 credit units for a doctoral thesis

The DBA in finance program includes required coursework,  electives, and research courses:

• 24 credit units for required coursework
• 33 credit units for elective coursework
• 9 credit units for research coursework
• 6 credit units for dissertation 

Qualifying Exams

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

Doctoral Thesis

After completing the DBA coursework and passing the qualifying exams, the student will begin research for their doctoral thesis. A DBA student will prepare their thesis proposal in consultation with their faculty advisor and with the approval of the research advisory committee and the program director. The completed doctoral thesis will be defended in an oral presentation to the advisory committee. The committee will assign either a passing grade or a failing grade, or they may ask for revisions to be made so that the student may receive a passing grade.

DBA in Finance

The curriculum includes foundation courses, required courses, and elective courses.

Required Courses (24 credits)

Course List

Code	Title	Units
FIN 8620	Empirical Methods in Finance	3
FIN 8642	Advanced Continuous Time Finance	1.5
FIN 8643	Information Economics & Corporate Finance Theory	3
FIN 8652	Introduction to Asset Pricing	1.5
FIN 8654	Empirical Methods in Asset Pricing	1.5
FIN 8655	Introduction to Corporate Finance	1.5
MEC 8610	Microeconomics I	3
MEC 8615	Microeconomics II	3
MGT 8805	AI and Machine Learning Business Applications - Part A	3
MGT 8806	AI and Machine Learning Business Applications - Part B	3
Total Units		24

Elective Courses (minimum 33 credits)

Students may take any other graduate-level (5000 and above) course as an elective with the approval of the Doctoral Programs Office and the course instructor.

Course List

Code	Title	Units
CSE 4102	Introduction to Artificial Intelligence	3
CSE 5105	Bayesian Methods in Machine Learning	3
CSE 5140	Data Mining	3
CSE 5170	Machine Learning	3
CSE 5410	Advanced Algorithms	3
DAT 5370	Data Analysis, Forecasting & Risk Analysis	3
DAT 5550	Machine Learning Tools for Prediction of Business Outcomes	3
DAT 5561	Introduction to Python and Data Science	3
DAT 5562	Text Mining	1.5
DAT 5563	Data Visualization for Business Insights	1.5
DAT 5564	Database Design and SQL	1.5
DAT 5565	Deep Learning for Prediction of Business Outcomes	1.5
DAT 5566	Big Data and Cloud Computing	1.5
DAT 5567	Prescriptive Analytics	1.5
DAT 5571	Introduction to Cybersecurity	1.5
ESE 5130	Large-Scale Optimization for Data Science	3
FIN 5380	Stochastic Foundations for Finance	1.5
FIN 5390	Mathematical Finance	1.5
FIN 5506	Fintech: Methods and Practice	3
INFO 5558	Applications of Deep Neural Networks	3
MEC 8625	Industrial Organizational I	1.5
MEC 8626	Industrial Organization II	1.5
MGT 8620	Empirical Methods in Business	3
MKT 5569	A/B Testing in Business and Social Science	3
MKT 8675	Empirical Methods in Structural Modeling	1.5

Research Courses (9 credits) 

Course List

Code	Title	Units
FIN 5999	Research Practicum	3
FIN 8615	Research in Finance 1 (two semesters)	3
FIN 8616	Research in Finance II (two semesters)	3
Total Units		9

DBA in Marketing

Quantitative Track

Required Courses (24 credits)

Depending on their knowledge of quantitative methods in marketing, students may request to replace the above required courses with more advanced graduate-level courses. Faculty approval is required.

Course List

Code	Title	Units
MGT 8201	Empirical Methods in Business Part A	3
MGT 8621	Empirical Methods in Business Part B	3
MKT 5002	AI Driven Customer Analytics	3
MKT 5550	Data Analysis for Brand Management	1.5
MKT 5551	Analytics Driven Brand Management	1.5
MKT 5710	Marketing Research I	1.5
MKT 5711	Advanced Marketing Research	1.5
MKT 5770	Marketing Strategy	3
MKT 7710	Marketing Management	3
MKT 8679	Directed Readings in Marketing	3
Total Units		24

Elective Courses (minimum 24 credits)

Students may take other graduate-level (5000 and above) courses as electives with the approval of the faculty and the instructors of the specific courses.

Course List

Code	Title	Units
ECON 8110	Applied Econometrics	3
ECON 8140	Advanced Quantitative Methods in Economics	3
MATH 5110	Experimental Design	3
MEC 8625	Industrial Organizational I	1.5
MEC 8626	Industrial Organization II	1.5
MEC 8670	Seminar in Econometrics	3
MKT 8601	Consumer Behavior I	3
MKT 8602	Consumer Behavior II	1.5
MKT 8673	Analytical Modeling in Marketing	1.5
MKT 8674	Judgment and Decision Making	3
MKT 8675	Empirical Methods in Structural Modeling	1.5
MKT 8679	Directed Readings in Marketing	3
POLSCI 5063	Causal Inference	3

Consumer Behavior Track

Required Courses (21 credits)

Depending on their knowledge of quantitative methods in marketing, students may request to replace the above required courses with more advanced graduate-level courses. Faculty approval is required.

Course List

Code	Title	Units
MGT 8660	Seminar On Presentation Skills	1.5
MKT 5710	Marketing Research I	1.5
MKT 5711	Advanced Marketing Research	1.5
MKT 5760	Understanding and Influencing Consumer Behavior	1.5
MKT 8601	Consumer Behavior I	1.5
MKT 8602	Consumer Behavior II	1.5
MKT 8679	Directed Readings in Marketing	6
PSYCH 8066	Quantitative Methods I	3
PSYCH 8067	Quantitative Methods II	3
Total Units		21

Elective Courses (minimum 27 credits)

Students may take other graduate-level (5000 and above) courses as electives with the approval of the faculty and the instructors of the specific courses.

Course List

Code	Title	Units
MGT 2010	Management Communication	4
MGT 5330	Effective Managerial Communication	1.5
MKT 5003	Digital Marketing	1.5
MKT 5200	Creating and Building Brand Equity	1.5
MKT 5580	Pricing Strategies	1.5
MKT 5590	Creating & Managing Innovative New Products	1.5
MKT 5770	Marketing Strategy	3
MKT 8674	Judgment and Decision Making	3
PSYCH 5030	Seminar: Experimental Social Psychology	3
PSYCH 5453	Introduction to Affective Science	3
PSYCH 5958	Emotion Regulation	3
PSYCH 8011	Research Designs and Methods	3
PSYCH 8012	Selected Topics in Design and Statistics	3
PSYCH 8160	Applied Multivariate Analysis	3

DBA in Supply Chain, Operations, and Technology

Required Courses (48 credits)

Students may take other graduate-level (5000 and above) courses as electives with the approval of the faculty and the instructors of the specific courses.

Course List

Code	Title	Units
MGT 8201	Empirical Methods in Business Part A	3
MGT 8621	Empirical Methods in Business Part B	3
SCOT 5310	Supply Chain Finance	1.5
SCOT 5500	Project Management	3
SCOT 5501	Supply Chain Risk Management	1.5
SCOT 5580	Advanced Operations Strategy	3
SCOT 5704	Operations Management	3
SCOT 5721	Operations Analytics	3
SCOT 5760	Foundations of Supply Chain Management	1.5
SCOT 5770	Supply Chain Innovation and Technology	1.5
SCOT 7480	Data-Driven Decision Making: Analysis to Action	1.5
SCOT 8652	Theory and Research Methods in Inventory and Supply Chain Management	3
SCOT 8653	Stochastic Models for Production and Service Systems	3
SCOT 8654	Inventory & Supply Chain Management Theory and Research	3
SCOT 8656	Optimization Theory and Applications	1.5
SCOT 8657	Research Topics & Engineering Themes in Supply Chain & Revenue Mgt	3

Research Courses (24 credits)

Course List

Code	Title	Units
MGT 6010	Research Practicum	3
MGT 6898	Dissertation	12
SCOT 8999	Independent Study	9
Total Units		24