Health Care Management Concentration
The intention of the healthcare management concentration is to align the courses with the American College of Healthcare Executives and the five critical domains they have identified are needed for healthcare executives as follows: Communication and Relationship Management, Leadership, Professionalism, Knowledge of the Healthcare Environment, and Business Skills and Knowledge.
DBA Core
27 Credit Hours
Prerequisites: None
Academic research involves a process of activities rather than the application of isolated, unrelated concepts and ideas. Students in this course will learn how to search for and conduct a review of current literature and scholarly work in topics they are interested in pursuing.
Prerequisites: None
Few recognize the difference between management and leadership. However, the scholarly research on these topics will help students understand and recognize the differences between management and leadership. This course is focused on the study of management and existing seminal literature as well as the study of leadership and its literature.
Prerequisites: DBA 7000 or DBA 7001
Consistent with the idea that leadership is rooted in influence and not position, this doctoral course will explore the ethical foundations that inform the leader’s personal and professional practices in today’s changing environment. Students will examine ethical theories and concepts applied to leadership challenges in volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous real-world situations across business.
Prerequisites: None
In this course, doctoral students will learn the fundamentals of financial management to include analysis of financial statements, ethics in financial management, and government accounting and financial condition analysis with the goal of making strategic decisions.
Prerequisites: DBA 7000 or DBA 7001
It is critical that twenty-first-century leaders develop the necessary skills and cultural intelligence to operate in a global world. This course will examine strategies to assist leaders in the management of multicultural teams within the workplace. Students will examine culture, communications, and negotiations within multicultural organizations as applied to management challenges in real-world situations, including examples of their own life experiences. Emphasis will be placed on understanding cultural dynamics and the manager’s role to learn and communicate effectively in cross-cultural environments.
Prerequisites: DBA 7000 or DBA 7001
This course exposes doctoral students to organizational change theories and best practices in organizational strategy development. Effective change management maximizes the congruence between an organization’s mission, goals, strategies, environment, technology, structure, processes, people, culture, and reward systems.
Prerequisites: DBA 7000 and DBA 7001; 15 DBA credit hours
To advance students’ understanding of theory formation and provide students skills to design effective research in applied settings, this course will examine selection and application of different qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Connection between methods, data, and research questions will be emphasized. Students will also be introduced to research ethics and accountability in a practical business setting.
Prerequisites: DBA 7000 or DBA 7001
Business analytics skills are essential in the business world and this course provides a fundamental competence and understanding of descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive analytics tools. The objective of the course is to develop students’ ability to apply analytical and quantitative tools in business decision making. To achieve this objective, the course will introduce the general classes of analytical models, their applications in business contexts, and problem formulation and solution techniques.
Prerequisites: DBA 7000 or DBA 7001
This course begins with the study of the entrepreneurial process with a focus on the characteristics and mindset of entrepreneurs, ideation and innovation, startup models, risk mitigation, analyzing emerging opportunities, resource creativity, and ethics. It then dives deeper and examines the tools and processes involved in developing a new venture, including formulation of a sustainable business model, performing a comprehensive feasibility analysis, and concept testing.
Concentration Courses
15 Credit Hours
Provides an overview of the techniques used in the financial management of health care organizations. Topics will include sources of health care funding, third party payment or reimbursement, the implications of uninsured patients, budgeting, and capital asset evaluation.
Students will be introduced to the quality concepts that help improve operational processes that are part of the health care delivery system. Students will analyze different types of health care organizations to develop recommendations for improvement.
This course provides an interactive study of historic and current systems, concepts, trends and best practices applied to a global view of healthcare. Designed for professionals at all levels, this course will provide a framework for students to step back from current geopolitical restraints to challenge a global view of commonality of comprehensive healthcare delivery. Students will recognize barriers and any impediments to developing global strategies. Exploration in these areas of global health will take place: 1) challenges of health service organizations, 2) community participation in planning, 3) talent development and capacity building, 4) health policy and advocacy, and 5) transnational leadership competencies.
Prerequisites: DBA 7000 or DBA 7001
Students will be introduced to the concepts of personal and professional accountability by understanding the importance of ethical conduct, maintaining integrity, and accountability in healthcare settings. Professional development and lifelong learning will emphasize the need for continuous education, skill enhancement, and staying updated in the latest healthcare developments. Focus will include contributions to the community and profession by encouraging active participation in community service, professional organizations, and contributing to the overall improvement of the healthcare sector.
Prerequisites: DBA 7000 or DBA 7001
This course will emphasize applying business principles and systems thinking to improve healthcare delivery and management. Students will understand organizational dynamics and governance through the lens of structure, behavior, and culture in healthcare organizations including governance issues. Students will understand strategic decision-making and marketing in healthcare organizations. Students will examine information management, risk management, quality improvement, and patient safety practices.
Prerequisites: 9 Indiana Tech DBA Credit Hours
The main purpose of the course is to introduce students to indigenous or local leadership theories and practices by providing an immersive experiential learning experience and traveling to different cultural destinations. The students are able to apply global business and leadership concepts studied in their courses to understand these phenomena as they manifest across the world. Finally, in addition to experiencing native cultures and learning about local business and leadership characteristics, students enhance research methods knowledge and skills. World destinations for global practicums differ, and additional descriptions of activities varies per destination.
Capstone Project: Three Sequential Courses
9 Credit Hours
The Applied Business Project sequence of courses is designed for students to develop a practitioner-focused Business Case Analysis to explore and analyze business issues in-depth. Students in this series of courses will conceptualize, investigate, and analyze a business problem using an Action Research model. Emphasis is placed on the process of strategy formulation, implementation, evaluation, and control for organizations of all sizes. The Business Case Analysis can be applied to a variety of for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. The Applied Business Project sequence of courses will result in a final Business Case Analysis that serves as the culminating doctoral project in the program in lieu of a traditional dissertation.
Prerequisites: All DBA required and concentration courses
In the first course, having the theoretical and practical knowledge learned throughout the DBA curriculum, students will develop the initial sections of the project by identifying a business problem and plan the action. The business case must be informed by current literature in the field and course learning.
Prerequisites: DBA 8100
In the second course, students will go through the IRB (Institutional Review Board) process and investigate the business problem. Students will add the acting and observing sections by collecting and reporting data.
Prerequisites: DBA 8200
In the third course, students will complete the project by adding the analysis and reflecting sections. In this stage students will analyze and evaluate the data collected. Students will critically reflect on the results and provide recommendations for future practitioners in the field.
Residency
3 Credit Hours
Students participate in one residency.
Pre-requisites: DBA 7000, DBA 7001, 9 DBA credit hours at Indiana Tech (excluding transfer credit)
The Residency experience is used to connect students with one another and program faculty by providing practical exercises in professional management, leadership development, and decision making. As a practitioner, students will be required to apply theoretical concepts to practitioner problems, recommend solutions for specific organizational issues, and balance the needs of stakeholders. Students will complete an in-class project and group presentation.