New doctoral program at Royal Roads

A new doctoral program at Royal Roads University will allow business professionals to pursue innovative solutions to contemporary issues and problems.

The four-year doctor of business administration program, expected to appeal to working professionals, will start January 2020. It will combine online course work with in-person instruction on campus.

Prof. Bill Holmes, dean of Royal Roads’ Faculty of Management, said it’s hoped that students will come with issues from their own firms or fields. The program will then assist them in researching and studying those issues within an academic setting.

“The program marries all the academic rigour and research within a PhD to look at an applied business issue or problem,” Holmes said. He took a similar course of study in Australia, looking at the role of corporate leadership in the oil and gas industry as it deals with environmental considerations.

Holmes said the program will be one of only four like it in Canada. The others are at Athabasca University, the University of Calgary and Université de Sherbrooke in Quebec.

Philip Steenkamp, president of Royal Roads University, said it’s expected the new program will appeal to senior-level executives who want to go beyond theory.

“Candidates will actually get a chance to create the tools they need to apply to issues they face in the workplace,” he said.