Your complete guide to a PhD in Business Administration

Everything you need to know about studying a PhD in Business Administration

part of Business & Management

What is Business Administration?

Business Administration is the intricate dance of managing, leading, and driving businesses towards success. By studying for a Business Administration degree, you will learn about market dynamics, managing resources efficiently, and making informed business decisions. You'll also get to understand the multiple layers of an organisation, from finance to marketing, and from HR to operations.

Business Administration Specialisations

Business Administration is like a multi-layered field, and some of its most popular specialisations are:

  • Finance: Managing the monetary pulse of a business.
  • Marketing: Carving the brand's voice and reaching out to audiences.
  • Human Resources: Steering the ship through its crew - the employees.
  • Operations Management: The nuts and bolts of daily processes.
  • Strategic Management: Crafting the roadmap to business victory.

The draw towards a Master’s in Business Administration (often known as an MBA) is strong, and for good reason. The most common specialisation in Business Administration is often Strategic Management, which zeros in on long-term business success and vision crafting.

What will you learn during a Business Administration programme?

Embarking on this academic voyage, you'll uncover:

  • How businesses operate, strategize, and compete in global landscapes.
  • Techniques to analyse financial statements and gauge business health.
  • Ways to market products and services in this digital age.
  • Leadership and people-management skills, critical for team dynamics.
  • Ethical considerations and corporate social responsibilities in business.

Key courses in most programmes include:

  • Business Ethics: Navigating the moral compass of commerce.
  • Organisational Behaviour: The psychology of workplaces.
  • Supply Chain Management: Ensuring smooth product journeys.
  • Entrepreneurship: Crafting and driving startups.
  • International Business: Thriving in a global market.

Business Administration is a good degree to pursue because of its applicability in nearly every industry. The skills you can get from Business Administration courses are transferrable, valued, and in-demand. These skills are assets not only in the business world but in diverse sectors like NGOs, government, and more.

Skills required for a degree in Business Administration

Critical thinking, problem-solving, and excellent communication are indispensable in this field. Aspiring students should also be organised, decisive, and people-oriented. The Business Administration degree requirements often include a keen interest in business processes, leadership potential, and an analytical mindset.

What can you do with a Business Administration degree?

The career panorama post-degree is vast and varied:

  • Business Consultant: Advising firms on how to enhance their game.
  • Financial Analyst: Reading the fiscal tides of the market.
  • Marketing Manager: Championing brands.
  • Human Resources Director: Sculpting the workforce.
  • Operations Manager: Streamlining business processes for efficiency.

Pondering on the jobs you can get with a Business Administration degree, it's evident that it's a springboard to diverse roles. Whether you're musing over what can you do after a Business Administration degree or weighing if a Business Administration degree is worth it, remember this: it's a ticket to understanding the corporate world's heartbeat and potentially shaping its future.

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View all PhDs in Business Administration. Keep in mind you can also study an online PhDs in Business Administration.

Interesting programmes for you

Best Universities for Business Administration on PhDPortal

Universities Location Shanghai Jiao Tong University Ranking (2017)
University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, United States 1
Northwestern University Evanston, United States 2
Erasmus University Rotterdam Rotterdam, Netherlands 3
Harvard University Cambridge, United States 4
Pennsylvania State University State College, United States 5
Tilburg University Tilburg, Netherlands 5
Columbia University New York City, United States 7
University of Minnesota Twin Cities Minneapolis, United States 8
University of Texas at Austin Austin, United States 9
University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada 10
Stanford University Stanford, United States 11
University of Michigan Ann Arbor, United States 12
Duke University Durham, United States 13
Cornell University Ithaca, United States 14
University of Maryland College Park, United States 15
Indiana University Bloomington Bloomington, United States 16
University of Toronto Pickering, Canada 17
University of Alberta Edmonton, Canada 18
University of Florida Gainesville, United States 19
University of Southern California Los Angeles, United States 20
Melbourne Business School Melbourne, Australia 21
New York University New York City, United States 22
University of Chicago Chicago, United States 23
Georgia State University Atlanta, United States 24
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Cambridge, United States 25
Texas A&M University College Station, United States 26
University of South Carolina Columbia, United States 27
University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, United States 28
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Hong Kong, Hong Kong (SAR) 29
Arizona State University Tempe, United States 30
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, United States 30
University of Groningen Groningen, Netherlands 32
National University of Singapore Singapore, Singapore 33
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Los Angeles, United States 34
University of Virginia Charlottesville, United States 35
York University Toronto, Canada 36
University of Washington Seattle, United States 37
Monash University Clayton, Australia 38
University of Wisconsin Madison Madison, United States 39
KU Leuven Brussels, Belgium 40
London Business School Camden Town, United Kingdom 41
University of Georgia Athens, United States 42
University of Colorado at Boulder Boulder, United States 43
Michigan State University East Lansing, United States 44
University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, United States 45
University of Houston Houston, United States 46
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign Urbana, United States 46
University of St. Gallen (HSG) St. Gallen, Switzerland 48
Maastricht University Maastricht, Netherlands 49
Boston College Newton, United States 50
Aston University Birmingham, United Kingdom 101
Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi Milano, Italy 101
Colorado State University Fort Collins, United States 101
Drexel University Philadelphia, United States 101
Florida International University Miami, United States 101
Fudan University Shanghai, China 101
George Mason University Fairfax, United States 101
HEC Paris Jouy-en-Josas, France 101
Korea University Seoul, South Korea 101
Lancaster University Lancaster, United Kingdom 101
Lehigh University Bethlehem, United States 101
London School of Economics and Political Science London, United Kingdom 101
Louisiana State University Baton Rouge, United States 101
Massey University Palmerston North, New Zealand 101
McGill University Montréal, Canada 101
Nanyang Technological University Singapore, Singapore 101
Queensland University of Technology Brisbane, Australia 101
Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands 101
Renmin University of China Beijing, China 101
Shanghai Jiao Tong University Shanghai, China 101
Southern Methodist University Dallas, United States 101
Syracuse University Syracuse, United States 101
Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv Yaffo, Israel 101
Australian National University Canberra, Australia 101
The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, United States 101
University of Auckland Auckland, New Zealand 101
The University of Texas at San Antonio Helotes, United States 101
University at Buffalo Buffalo, United States 101
Ruhr University Bochum Bochum, Germany 101
University of California, Davis Davis, United States 101
University of California, San Diego San Diego, United States 101
University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, United States 101
University of Connecticut Storrs, United States 101
University of Illinois at Chicago Chicago, United States 101
University of Kansas Lawrence, United States 101
University of Kentucky Lexington, United States 101
University of Leeds Leeds, United Kingdom 101
University of Missouri - Columbia Columbia, United States 101
University of Navarra Pamplona, Spain 101
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Lincoln, United States 101
University of Notre Dame South Bend, United States 101
University of Nottingham Nottingham, United Kingdom 101
University of South Australia Adelaide, Australia 101
University of South Florida Tampa, United States 101
University of Tennessee Knoxville Knoxville, United States 101
University of Utah Salt Lake City, United States 101
Vanderbilt University Nashville, United States 101
WU (Vienna University of Economics and Business) Vienna, Austria 101
Washington University in St. Louis Saint Louis, United States 101
Baylor University Waco, United States 151
Cardiff University Cardiff, United Kingdom 151
China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) Shanghai, China 151
Clemson University Clemson, United States 151
Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) Eindhoven, Netherlands 151
Esade Sant Cugat, Spain 151
Griffith University Nathan, Australia 151
Huazhong University of Science and Technology Wuhan, China 151
IE University Segovia, Spain 151
Iowa State University Ames, United States 151
Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, United States 151
KEDGE Business School Bordeaux, France 151
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) Daejeon, South Korea 151
National Taiwan University Taipei, Taiwan 151
North Carolina State University Raleigh, United States 151
Oregon State University Corvallis, United States 151
Queen's University Kingston, Canada 151
Rutgers University New Brunswick, United States 151
Sun Yat-sen University Guangzhou, China 151
Sungkyunkwan University Seoul, South Korea 151
ETH Zurich - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich, Switzerland 151
Technical University of Munich München, Germany 151
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Jerusalem, Israel 151
University of Reading Reading, United Kingdom 151
University of Sheffield Sheffield, United Kingdom 151
The University of Texas at Arlington Arlington, United States 151
Blanquerna - Universitat Ramon Llull Barcelona, Spain 151
UCL London, United Kingdom 151
University of Arkansas Fayetteville, United States 151
University of California, Irvine (UCI) Irvine, United States 151
University of Central Florida Orlando East Mobile Home Park, United States 151
University of Cologne Köln, Germany 151
University of Delaware Newark, United States 151
Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) Nuremberg, Germany 151
The University of Exeter Exeter, United Kingdom 151
The University of Iowa Iowa City, United States 151
University of Lausanne Lausanne, Switzerland 151
University of Massachusetts Amherst Amherst, United States 151
University of Münster Münster, Germany 151
University of Oklahoma Norman, United States 151
University of Southern Denmark Neder Holluf, Denmark 151
University of Strathclyde Glasgow, United Kingdom 151
University of Twente (UT) Enschede, Netherlands 151
University of Valencia Valencia, Spain 151
University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Milwaukee, United States 151
University of Zurich Zürich, Switzerland 151
Utrecht University Utrecht, Netherlands 151
Villanova University Plymouth Meeting, United States 151
Washington State University Pullman, United States 151
Yonsei University Seoul, South Korea 151
Aalto University Helsinki, Finland 51
Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, United States 51
City University of Hong Kong Kowloon, Hong Kong (SAR) 51
Copenhagen Business School (CBS) Copenhagen, Denmark 51
Florida State University Tallahassee, United States 51
Georgetown University Washington, D. C., United States 51
Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, United States 51
INSEAD - The Business School for the World Fontainebleau, France 51
Northeastern University Boston, United States 51
Temple University Philadelphia, United States 51
Texas Christian University Fort Worth, United States 51
The Chinese University of Hong Kong Shatin, Hong Kong (SAR) 51
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hong Kong, Hong Kong (SAR) 51
The Ohio State University Upper Arlington, United States 51
University of New South Wales Sydney, Australia 51
The University of Arizona Tucson, United States 51
University of Cambridge Cambridge, United Kingdom 51
University of Mannheim Mannheim, Germany 51
University of Miami Coral Gables, United States 51
University of Montreal Montréal, Canada 51
University of Warwick Coventry, United Kingdom 51
Virginia Tech Blacksburg, United States 51
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands 51
University of Western Ontario London, Canada 51
Yale University New Haven, United States 51
BI Norwegian Business School Oslo, Norway 76
Boston University Boston, United States 76
Brigham Young University Provo, United States 76
City, University of London London, United Kingdom 76
CUNY Baruch College New York City, United States 76
Concordia University Montréal Montreal West, Canada 76
Dartmouth College Hanover, United States 76
Emory University Atlanta, United States 76
Ghent University Ledeberg, Belgium 76
Oklahoma State University Stillwater, United States 76
Peking University Beijing, China 76
Rice University Houston, United States 76
Simon Fraser University Burnaby, Canada 76
Singapore Management University Singapore, Singapore 76
Imperial College London London, United Kingdom 76
University of Calgary Calgary, Canada 76
The University of Hong Kong Hong Kong, Hong Kong (SAR) 76
The University of Manchester Manchester, United Kingdom 76
University of Queensland Saint Lucia, Australia 76
University of Texas at Dallas Richardson, United States 76
University of Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands 76
University of Bath Bath, United Kingdom 76
Goethe University Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main, Germany 76
Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) Munich München, Germany 76
University of Oxford Oxford, United Kingdom 76
University of Sydney Sydney, Australia 76
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