On 18 October 2006, AIT School of Management officially launched its Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) program, a professional doctorate program designed for senior professional managers/administrators, focusing the combination of coursework and research investigations and intended to create a body of knowledge embedded in practices.
At the launching ceremony held at Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit Hotel, H.E. Mr. Piyabutr Cholvijarn, Deputy Industry Minister, who inaugurated the ceremony, congratulated AIT for offering this innovative professional doctoral program which will fill up the gap in practical research education in Thailand. He emphasized the need to improve the quality and standard in the education system in Thailand. He also elaborated on the need and strategy for accelerating the industrial growth. He disclosed that he would try to remove all impediments of industrial growth. He was quite disappointed at the low productivity of Thai industry and emphasized that the programs like DBA will help to improve knowledge and productivity of managers. He also urged for a need for a dedicated focus on developing and improving the efficiency of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
Professor Indra M. Pandey, Dean of AIT School of Management, said that “the launch of the DBA program will create an opportunity for the School to differentiate itself from other business schools in Asia. The program curriculum is interdisciplinary, integrative, and adopts a holistic approach. It provides an opportunity to practicing managers to investigate the ongoing practices of the Asian companies and develop new contextual theories, or theories that will complement those built around the practices of the Western companies”. He emphasized that the ultimate academic objective of the program is to develop and disseminate “grounded” theories based on Asian business practices including developing case studies and industry analyses.
In his remarks of the launching ceremony, Professor Said Irandoust, AIT President, said the launching of DBA program is a significant step in AIT’s contribution for higher education in professional context and it is a great innovation for AIT’s professional education in all fields. He also suggested that AIT should move to create “Professional University” where there is a direct and systematic link between practice and theory”. He further emphasized on collaboration among Thai government, Thai industries, and AIT.
In addition to the new DBA program, the School also offers full-time Master of Business Administration (MBA), Executive MBA, and PhD programs. The School’s existing PhD program focuses on research works embedded in theories from social sciences and humanities, and prepares students for teaching and research-related jobs. DBA is a professional doctorate program, where the research is rooted in the context of professional practice making a significant contribution to management practice, policy or strategy.
