DBA targets leaders keen to explore core business issues

The DBA (doctor of business administration) offered by City University (CityU) is specifically designed to attract a certain type of candidate.

With its emphasis on research and analysis, the programme is tailor-made for senior executives who want to delve deeper into business issues affecting their own company or industry. It gives students the scope and support to present original ideas and solutions with a practical, real-world impact. And by combining foundation courses with supervised research, which builds towards a 50,000-word thesis, it also provides a fuller understanding of changes taking place in the business world and what it takes to excel as a leader.

“The day I read the introduction to the programme on the CityU website, I knew the DBA was for me,” says Sean Kuan Thye, who is now about 18 months into her studies. “A friend, who is also a professor at an international business school, suggested I should check it out. I could see straight away that it would meet my needs in terms of learning and applying advanced research techniques to address business challenges and solve management problems.”  

In her day-to-day role, a Singaporean based in Shanghai Sean is managing director, human resources, for the China and Asia-Pacific HR services centre of international logistics company FedEx Express. Her responsibilities include overseeing HR services for close to 9,000 employees in China who work in domestic and international operations and for the company’s Asia-Pacific hub.

Together with a 130-strong team of professionals and managers, she aims wherever possible to “add science” to the HR process in order to effect improvements in everything from planning and hiring to training and retention.

In recent years, a particular area of interest has been how best to manage, motivate and retain employees in call centres. This takes on special importance when it is known that, for some companies, call centres can handle as much as 70 per cent of all customer interactions. This work involves answering queries, accepting reservations, resolving complaints, promoting products and offering after-sales service, all of which has a direct impact on customer loyalty, revenue and results.

However, Sean notes, the work and the routines can be demanding, stressful and repetitive. Studies have shown that annual staff turnover in major call centres is typically around 20 per cent. In China, though, the average annual turnover is closer to 30 per cent, in some cases even approaching 50 per cent.