Smith School DBA Prepares Leaders for Tomorrow's Challenges

For working professionals who aspire to advance their careers and become leaders in business and government organizations, the Smith School’s Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) program is an ideal starting point.

The three-year program, launched by the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business in 2023, exposes students to topics ranging from relevant business strategies and rigorous research methodologies to big data management strategies and legal and ethical issues related to the digital economy.

Incoming DBA Program Director Paulo Prochno believes that this degree program is “‘lifelong learning’ taken to the next level,” as it helps professionals adapt to a business environment driven by emerging technologies, evolving work structures and new methods to engage customers and stakeholders.

"The rapid advancement of AI is further speeding up this transformation of business. While short courses can help bridge some of the knowledge gap, a DBA program takes it a step further,” says Prochno. “It equips participants not only to keep up but to lead—empowering them to become independent learners who both absorb and generate practical, impactful knowledge for the business world."

Smith’s DBA program curriculum is attuned to the dynamic nature of the business world. Working closely with the school’s world-renowned faculty, students gain valuable skills that enable them to publish research, consult organizations and teach while researching and developing innovative solutions to modern business issues.

Over the program’s duration, students can complete the required 54-credit coursework part-time, with only three in-person meeting days each month scheduled on Fridays and Saturdays to minimize interruptions and accommodate working schedules.

Program coursework includes research tools and methodologies, as well as practice-focused electives. The majority of required credits will fall under one of three selected areas of expertise: Information Systems, Marketing or Management and Organization (M&O). 

The Information Systems track enables students to harness the potential of emerging technologies and digital platforms, understand their impact on business strategy and policy and apply these insights to informed decision-making in real-world contexts. In this track, students work with state-of-the-art research tools and techniques in AI and machine learning, as well as other related topics.

The Marketing track offers analytics-focused coursework related to digital marketing, social media, advertising, brand and product management, as well as e-commerce and new product development. Students will leverage behavioral theories to recognize customer attitudes and motivations, and their application in predictive analysis. They’ll also gain valuable insights regarding market segmentation, marketing mix models and attribution modeling.

Students in the M&O track will gain a deeper understanding of how to navigate a rapidly evolving business environment by applying theoretical frameworks and empirical methods to solve real-world problems. This track's topics include negotiation, conflict resolution, leadership, strategic entrepreneurship and adapting to organizational change.

In addition to completing two required summer research projects, the DBA program culminates in a third-year research capstone project.

Although students will specialize in only one of the three expertise areas, Prochno says that the program is designed “to encourage the development of knowledge that bridges the gap” between them, and ultimately helps students become better positioned to succeed moving forward.

“The most relevant problems in business are cross-disciplinary, and the program equips participants with the tools and knowledge bases to tackle complex issues,” says Prochno. “Our students leverage this experience to become experts in a given domain, which supports their career advancement and opens opportunities for new professional trajectories."