Program Overview

Doctor of Business Administration - Executive DBA

Brief Description

The Kemmy Executive DBA is a next-generation professional doctorate designed for senior leaders, policymakers, and change agents who are leading systemic transformation in an age of complexity and disruption. Developed by a world-class faculty team, the Kemmy Executive DBA is the first programme of its kind globally to integrate systems thinking and sustainability meta-competencies as the foundation for doctoral inquiry and the generation of actionable knowledge.

Overview

During this programme, you will:

• Bring a significant complex problem from your own professional context and use it as the foundation for original doctoral research in topics related to leadership, sustainability, systemic transformation, and associated knowledge frontiers.
• Develop sustainability meta-competencies that reflect the latest emerging research in leadership, sustainability, and systemic transformation with a particular focus on systems thinking.
• Immerse in week-long residencies once each semester that will support you to develop and strengthen the four tenets of the programme; complex problem, knowledge frontiers, research mastery, and the transformative leader.
• Cultivate a praxis of critical reflexivity and inquiry, interweaving scholarship and practice, to facilitate continuous transformational learning regarding worldview, self, epistemology, ontology, behaviour, and capacity.
• Evolve from an accomplished executive to a systemic actor and responsible knowledge creator — a leader who not only responds to complexity but thrives within it.

Programme Content

Key Information:

• Complete part-time over four years.
• Blended delivery. Online and on-campus.
• Immersive residencies are held on campus twice annually in Years 1 and 2, and for five days each.
• Leadership summits take place over two days at the end of each year of the programme in Years 1, 2, and 3.
• Designed for senior leaders working across private and public sectors.
• Over four years, you will move from taught foundations to independent doctoral inquiry.
• Assessment is practice-based, integrative, and developmental.
• Participants are evaluated through reflective portfolios, applied research artefacts, and written assignments during the taught phase.
• The submission of your final thesis in March of Year 4, together with the successful defence of your research during the oral viva voce, is a requirement for the award of the doctorate degree.

Year 1

Autumn

• Relational Engaged Scholarship for Systemic Transformation (MG8001): Explores relational and engaged research paradigms that bridge scholarship and leadership.
• Systems Thinking for Navigating Complex and Wicked Problems (MG8011): Develops the capacity to understand interconnections, feedback loops, and paradoxes within complex systems.
• Evidence-Based Decision-Making for Policy and Practice (MG8021): Builds skills for evaluating and integrating research evidence into strategic and operational decisions.

Spring

• Responsible Leadership (PM8012): Examines moral courage, stakeholder accountability, and values-driven leadership in contemporary contexts.
• Research Strategy and Methods of Empirical Inquiry (MG8002): Introduces qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method approaches with an emphasis on ethical and systemic coherence.
• Foresight, Reflexive Futures, and Systemic Intervention (MG8003): Applies futures thinking and systems intervention approaches to anticipate and design change.

Year 2

Autumn

• Generative Review, Synthesis and Framing (MG8031): Develops capability to synthesise literature, identify gaps, and formulate original research questions.
• Sustainable Consumption, Production and the Circular Economy (MG8041): Examines new models of value creation that align economic success with environmental stewardship.
• Responsible and Social Innovation (MG8051): Explores how innovation can be mobilised to address societal and environmental challenges.

Spring

• Designing Scholarly Practice Research (MG8022): Consolidates methodological and reflective skills for practice-based doctoral inquiry.
• Sustainable Development Policy, Governance and Accounting/Accountability (IN8022): Analyses how governance and reporting systems enable or constrain sustainability transformation.
• Responsible Digitalisation, Datafication and Artificial Intelligence (IN8032): Examines ethical, social, and organisational implications of digital transformation and AI.

Years 3–4

• Independent Research and Thesis: Candidates work with a dedicated supervisory team to conduct applied doctoral research addressing their chosen complex problem. The final thesis demonstrates both academic rigour and measurable strategic impact.

Entry Requirements

• Applicants should hold a Master's degree (NFQ Level 9) with at least a second-class honour, grade 2 (2:2).
• Applicants should have at least ten years of senior management or leadership experience.
• Successful submission of a Portfolio of Inquiry that articulates the applicant's complex organisational or societal challenge and demonstrates readiness for doctoral-level research in topics related to leadership, sustainability, and systemic transformation and associated knowledge frontiers.
• The university will shortlist candidates and invite you to an interview.

International Students

• For details on country-specific qualifications, visit postgraduate entry requirements for international students.

Checklist of Documents

• Academic transcripts and certificates, translated if required.
• Successful submission of a Portfolio of Inquiry that articulates the applicant's complex organisational or societal challenge and demonstrates readiness for doctoral-level research in topics related to leadership, sustainability, and systemic transformation and associated knowledge frontiers.
• Copy of your birth certificate or passport
• Copy of your CV

English Language

• English Language Competency certificate. For details on accepted language qualifications, visit English Language Requirements.

Fees

• Year 1: €11,500 EU, €15,000 Non-EU
• Year 2: €11,500 EU, €15,000 Non-EU
• Year 3: €7,500 EU, €11,000 Non-EU
• Year 4: €7,500 EU, €11,000 Non-EU
• *Please note year 2, 3, and 4 fees are subject to change.

Graduate Profile

Graduates of the Kemmy Executive DBA emerge as reflective scholar-practitioners who lead transformation across business, government, and civil society. They act as knowledge brokers and systemic thinkers — individuals capable of integrating research, practice, and policy to create sustainable futures. The programme also serves as a catalyst for establishing new ventures and thought-leadership platforms in sustainability and systems innovation.

Career Opportunities

• Leadership at the intersection of strategy, complexity, and societal transition
• Board-Level and Stewardship Roles
• Policy, Public Leadership, and National Strategy Roles
• Global Consulting, Advisory, and Thought Leadership
• Academic and Research Leadership Roles
• Sector-Specific Senior Roles Across High-Complexity Domains