The Cranfield Experience
Our focus is on ensuring that your contribution to practice is not only of relevance to your organisation, but capable of being generalised and disseminated in other relevant communities. To help you achieve this, the programme delivers on its world-class reputation for Quality Assurance, Support, Environment and Resources.
Quality Assurance
The International Executive Doctorate (DBA) is a fully-resourced programme with leading faculty contributing to both teaching and supervision. We are commited to delivering a quality Executive Doctorate programme which produces rigorous and relevant research. This is backed by the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) which rated Cranfield's doctoral programmes as 'world-leading' in terms of scale, resourcing and Quality Assurance.
Support
As the issues addressed by International Executive Doctorate researchers are real organisational problems, they tend to be cross-functional, requiring input from a number of faculty with differing expertise. This is reflected in our distinctive panel structure of up to three members of faculty rather than a single supervisor. This ensures you will receive the most appropriate level of support.
Support from faculty is backed additionally by the various research activities, Centres and Groups within Cranfield School of Management, allowing access to a wide range of expertise with common research interests.
At Cranfield, the International Executive Doctorate (DBA) programme has a dedicated Programme Manager, Alison Wilkerson who is committed to supporting all researchers through their learning journey from initial enquiry to graduation and beyond. Whenever you need that vital piece of information or advice they will respond directly by email or telephone. A learning portal is also available for all course materials and guidelines, accessible anywhere in the world, which is supported by the Cranfield Research Office.
The structured nature of the International Executive Doctorate (DBA) provides a clear set of milestones throughout the programme, which enable students to evaluate their progress and to ensure that they are keeping on track to complete within the timeframe.
The strength of support from other students in the cohort is invaluable. A Cohort Leader from Cranfield School of Management's academic community takes specific interest in your progress, in addition to the Programme Director, Supervisor(s) and Research Training Tutors. Excellent support is also available from the Management Information Resource Centre (MIRC) and the award winning Kings Norton Library. Through both these facilities, Cranfield offers access to a vast electronic library of business information and management resources. Our rich, online collections enable students to explore the ideas of many world respected management thinkers.
What particularly distinguishes our Executive Doctorate is the level of individual attention given to each participant in the programme through a series of structured panels and specialised tuition. Together, they provide participants with an enviable and possibly unique experience in the world of business education.
Environment and Resources
The learning environment at Cranfield School of Management has been created through investment in people and resources to offer students and delegates a world class experience of management development.
In the latest Financial Times (FT's) Executive Education Survey, Cranfield is 3rd in the UK, 10th in Europe and 18th in the world for its 'Combined Ranking', illustrating the School's position as a leading international player in executive development.