DBA conference – Putting business theory into practice

The inaugural DBA Conference was held on Friday 12 and Saturday 13 May at the Business School. The aim was to provide Durham DBA students and alumni with the opportunity to present their work to internationally recognised academics, leading executives and DBA peers, as well as to interact and network in a supportive and enabling environment. The event reflected the international and collaborative nature of the School with delegates travelling from Canada, Lebanon, Qatar and South Africa. Alongside students from the Durham DBA were representatives from our joint DBA programmes with Fudan University, Shanghai and emlyon business school, France.

Attendees both in person and online were able to hear keynote presentations by Dr Jonathan Sims, Chief Procurement Officer at EQUANS, Professor Lucian Hudson, Professor in Practice and Director of Advancement, Marketing and Communications at Durham University and Professor Margarita Mayo, Professor in Organisational Behaviour at IE Business School, Spain. Associate Dean for DBA Programmes, Professor Karena Yan commented, “Hosting the inaugural

DBA conference is a significant milestone, bringing together three DBA programmes to create a collaborative platform where students can showcase their research and build meaningful connections within the academic community.”

During the conference dinner held at Hotel Indigo, the research efforts of the current DBA students were acknowledged with a presentation for the Best Paper. A student from the Durham, Global and Fudan DBA programmes was selected and received their award from Professor Hudson and Professor Yan.

Congratulations to Said Al Saqri (Durham DBA programme) and his paper, ‘It is not easy to let go: How power and status concerns of incumbent leaders affect their active involvement in the family business and consequent family succession success’, Samantha Yarwood (Global DBA programme) and her paper ‘Understanding leadership development programs and change’ and Leon Zhang (Fudan DBA programme) and his paper ‘The purchase journeys of omnichannel customers’.

Scan or click for more information on the DBA programmes offered.