Doctoral Candidate looking for some help

[JES Adventures]

Here's the deal...

I've recently completed all of the coursework associated with a Doctorate in Business Administration that I have been pursuing for a couple of years, and have entered the dissertation phase of the degree program.

For those unaware, the difference in a PhD and a DBA is pretty simple.. A PhD culminates with research that contributes to knowledge or theory in a certain field/area.. Where a DBA takes theory and applies it to actual business practice for the purpose of trying to solve (or answer) known problems.

FWIW, I am pursuing the DBA solely for the purpose of learning. I am some sort of weird masochist that enjoys the learning process and beating myself to death with research and study, just for the sake of doing so lol.. I have zero interest in pursuing a career in academia, and putting DBA in my signature block will do nothing to advance my career (for those that don't know me personally, I currently serve in a senior executive capacity at a mid market sized defense firm.. there is literally no room left for advancement, and I have no interest in changing firms at this point to pursue the same seat within a larger organization.. I am very happy where I am at)...

Typically a DBA candidate will use his dissertation to research a problem specific to his own business/company or firm where he has very close ties..

Based on the above (no further advancement opportunities in my industry.. and my job already calls for me to problem solve at the highest level for my business).. I'm choosing to conduct research and attempt to problem solve for something I am personally interested in instead... the hunting industry in Southern Africa..

I'm looking for three different types of people to conduct potential surveys and interviews with over the course of the next 6-12 months... no more than a couple of hours of time would be required from any one person... these are:

hunting outfitters/business owners (in Southern Africa) that have been in business a minimum of 5 years...

Experienced Southern Africa hunters (US Citizens only.. this is not a knock on any other nationality.. but an attempt to provide some specific focus on one particular type of potential client) that have hunted Southern Africa 3 or more times and intend on hunting Southern Africa again at some point in the future...

Inexperienced Southern Africa hunters (again, US Citizens only) that have not hunted Southern Africa previously, but intend on doing so at some point in the future..

It will likely be a year or more before the study would be complete, published, etc.. but, results and findings would be provided to anyone/everyone that participates (maybe some interesting information for business owners? as well as for hunters?).. and anonymity would be absolutely assured to all involved (as well as all ethics guidelines established by the university for the conduct of research and the handling of information, etc.. being followed)..

If this sounds like something that might be of interest to you.. shoot me a PM, and I can provide more information about the specifics of the study topic, the timeline expected, etc...

I'd love to pick the brains of the membership here and try to produce some research that could benefit the "business" side of the industry if possible....

Thanks!

Happy to help @mdwest I have been hunting Southern Africa since 1986. PM me if you wish.

John Ed

 

[Mark Biggerstaff]

Dave
You know I will help if i can. You have my number

 

[wesheltonj]

Completely agree with the University perspective on the PhD vs DBA.. and that the public at large has no understanding of what a DBA is.. For me the decision was tied to preferring to do research related to solving an actual problem vs generating theory.. combined with not really caring about University perspective (no desire to ever enter into Academia as a career), and not really caring about public perspective (also not looking to advance my career or change careers)...

Im just a glutton for educational punishment lol... I swore when I finished a bachelors program almost 30 years ago that I was done forever... Fast forward to today.. with 2 masters degrees, 4 masters level certificate programs, countless "trade" school type classes, and 1/2 of a DBA finished (not to mention the 18 months of a PT JD program attended before realizing I really didn't want to be an attorney any more than I wanted to be a "professor"... and it appears I have some sort of perverted addiction to study that I cant break lol..

View attachment 496762

Back in the day, when I thought wanted a doctorate degree in Business, I submitted a dissertation proposal and the response was we award PhD’s not DBA’s, not interested. Went to law school after that. Best employment decision I made, however it came at a very high personal cost or so in thought at the time. The the replacement, is working out just fine, although her banking skills are more restrictive then anticipated.

 

[Newboomer]

Back in the day, when I thought wanted a doctorate degree in Business, I submitted a dissertation proposal and the response was we award PhD’s not DBA’s, not interested. Went to law school after that. Best employment decision I made, however it came at a very high personal cost or so in thought at the time. The the replacement, is working out just fine, although her banking skills are more restrictive then anticipated.

Been to RSA three times. Eastern Cape. Give me some intel and I'll see if I can contribute.

 

[Just Gina]

Another category 2 here willing to help if needed.

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

Willing to help.

I’d fit into the second category with 3 hunts in RSA and 1 in Namibia to include 3 different species of the Big 5.

I might also fit a 4th category you don’t have listed and might not have considered. You’re welcome to PM me when you’re ready.

 

[Safari Dave]

My major professor was at the twilight of his career, and didn't even want to co-author another peer-reviewed article, even though I did, but, ultimately didn't.

He was more interested in "hook & bullet" articles at the end of his career, and I couldn't blame him.

He was a great professor, who has my ultimate respect.

 

[Tokoloshe Safaris]

Amen

 

[Woodcarver]

I come from a family of formal education addicts; somehow that gene skipped me. But I do see the value. It also sounds like your pursuit should have value as well. I would fall into the 3rd category and would be glad to help.

 

[Tundra Tiger]

1) Congrats and best wishes on your venture.

2) I literally spit nachos when I saw that Brokeback Mountain meme. I have GOT to learn to abstain from food and drink when perusing this forum.

3) I feel disenfranchised and maybe even a little ostracized: I don't fit into any of your 3 categories. (shaking my fist in the air) Damn you to all you who are in category 2. I'm jealous!!

 

[TNDave]

Happy to help if needed, just let me know.

 

[R.M.C.]

1) Congrats and best wishes on your venture.

2) I literally spit nachos when I saw that Brokeback Mountain meme. I have GOT to learn to abstain from food and drink when perusing this forum.

3) I feel disenfranchised and maybe even a little ostracized: I don't fit into any of your 3 categories. (shaking my fist in the air) Damn you to all you who are in category 2. I'm jealous!!

I'm with you, jealous about the group that is "experienced" African hunters, and I laughed my ass off when the brokeback mountain references began lol

 

[Finprof]

I am in the third category and would be glad to help. My PhD is in Business Administration with a major in Finance and minor in Tax. I just retired and plan to concentrate on hunting and fishing so s trip to Africa is planned for the next couple of years. The school where I worked grants both a DBA and PhD so the distinction is familiar, although historically there was little difference since many schools including Harvard Virginia and Indiana granted only a DBA and not a PhD and many of their DBA grads went on to stellar academic careers.
I did a lot of research on the G part of ESG and my colleagues were some of the most eminent scholars in the area. We left the E and S part to the Management faculty except for some work in measuring ESG or relating it to stock market performance.
Because most outfitters are small owner-managed businesses there probably isn’t much diversity in the G space to study, but as a small business the E and S part could be interesting.

 

[mdwest]

Because most outfitters are small owner-managed businesses there probably isn’t much diversity in the G space to study, but as a small business the E and S part could be interesting.

Completely agree...

My intent is to focus on the S and determine influence potential S has when properly communicated on consumer purchasing decisions...

My experience through working pretty closely with Bos en Dal for the last few years, building relationships with several other outfitters, etc... and also being heavily involved in DSC, these forums, etc for several years is.. that many outfitters are participating in the S space as a matter of practice with a variety of motivators for doing so present.. they are incurring any/all of the commonly researched detriments.. but rarely capturing any of the commonly researched benefits.. This is largely due to a lack of communication and socialization of their activities... PHASA tracks some of these activities, but from what I can tell isn't really conducting analysis or determining how CSR/ESG might be used to improve industry or benefit outfitters individually or collectively (if this happening, I haven't been able to find it yet.. I have started dialogue with PHASA at this point and should be able to find out...

While showing some of my bias here (that I'll have to remove/mitigate while analyzing data) I think the typical American consumer could be influenced (in a positive manner) in their purchasing decisions if information related to these activities were properly disseminated and communicated...

My goal is to validate whether this is true or not.. and if so, determine what degree/value that influence might have.. and then build out a framework for capturing maximized results..

 

[SFRanger7GP]

I would be happy to assist. As you are already aware, food and booze are my standard rates.

 

[mdwest]

I would be happy to assist. As you are already aware, food and booze are my standard rates.

I see some quality Irish Whiskey and a couple of pounds of red meat in your future...

Payment to be made 2 weeks from today!

 

[mark-hunter]

Why not involving European perspective in your reasearch? In order to improve industry, making it more popular to European hunters and travel / and hunting agents?
(I am not aware, for example of any European travel agency, specializing in travel with hunting firearms, for example)

But nevertheless, great idea!
Looking fwd to see your results!

 

[mdwest]

Why not involving European perspective in your reasearch? In order to improve industry, making it more popular to European hunters and travel / and hunting agents?

A future study might branch out to look either at European outfitters through the same lens.. or at European hunters that hunt Southern Africa..

One of the big challenges of a study like this is limiting the scope to a very specific area.. if the scope is too broad, you create a study that cant be completed within time constraints or add so many variables and so much complexity that it becomes difficult to turn data into verifiable knowledge.. If the scope is too narrow, you run the risk of there not being enough literature and prior research to support the new work, or the results found being so limited that they really don't provide any value to anyone (among other things)...

Something that could be interesting (I think).. would to do a similar study looking at European hunters rather than America.. and then compare and contrast the two study results to see how differently (or similarly) the groups decisions are impacted..

As a rule, Europe leads the world in terms of companies and governments promoting the concepts of CSR and ESG across industry.. The US lags a good bit behind... What I think is interesting though is when Americans consumers are polled, it generally appears they value CSR and ESG (without often having a clue what it actually is) just as highly as Europeans... even though corporate America and the US government don't promote its concepts as much..

 

[WAB]

I would be happy to assist. As you are already aware, food and booze are my standard rates.

There’s food and booze involved??? Now we’re getting somewhere!

 

[Jay Kelley]

I fall into category 3. I'd be happy to help in whatever way I can.