Emeritus India Brings IPAG Business School’s AACSB-Accredited Doctor of Business Administration Course to India’s Senior Business Leaders in Partnership with XLRI

Mumbai, India, 2026-04-27 — /EPR Network/ — For India’s most accomplished business leaders, the pursuit of a doctoral degree has historically meant choosing between career continuity and academic aspiration — a trade-off that has kept many exceptional professionals from reaching the highest levels of research-driven leadership. Emeritus India, in collaboration with IPAG Business School Paris and XLRI Jamshedpur, has resolved this dilemma with a transformative doctor of business administration course that is 100% live online, accelerated to three years, and designed specifically for senior professionals who lead organizations — not for those who have left them.

Launched in January 2026, this is the first DBA programme in India to combine an AACSB-accredited doctoral degree from IPAG Business School, France with a Certificate from XLRI Jamshedpur — creating a dual-credentialed doctoral experience that carries both European academic authority and India’s most trusted management institution recognition within a single, connected programme.

A Doctor of Business Administration Course Built for Practicing Senior Professionals

The fundamental distinction between a DBA and a traditional PhD is purpose. Where a PhD is primarily an academic exercise, a DBA is a research-driven professional degree — one that uses rigorous academic methodology to investigate real business challenges that matter to organizations and industries. This doctor of business administration course from IPAG and XLRI is built entirely around this principle — every research module, every faculty mentor interaction, and every dissertation milestone is designed to produce original, industry-relevant insights that participants can apply directly within their organizations and contribute to their fields.

The three-year programme follows an accelerated, structured pathway — combining live-synchronous online sessions led by distinguished global faculty, three 5-day residential campus immersions at XLRI Jamshedpur, and the option of an additional immersion at IPAG’s Paris or Nice campus for participants seeking the complete European academic experience. These immersions are not supplementary additions — they are strategic inflection points in the doctoral journey, creating the deep peer cohort relationships, faculty mentorship connections, and research community engagement that define doctoral-level learning at its best.

The programme’s structured admissions process, smart research topic recommendation framework, and dedicated faculty mentor pairings ensure that every participant begins their doctoral journey with a well-defined research direction — eliminating the unstructured ambiguity that causes many DBA programmes to stall before participants reach their dissertation stage.

Online DBA Programs That Carry AACSB Accreditation — a Standard Held by Fewer Than 6% of Business Schools Globally

The global landscape of online dba programs is expanding rapidly — but not all doctoral credentials carry equal professional or academic weight. AACSB accreditation is the defining standard that separates doctoral programmes of genuine international credibility from those that lack external validation. IPAG Business School holds AACSB accreditation — a distinction achieved by fewer than 6% of business schools worldwide — ensuring that the DBA degree conferred upon programme completion carries direct recognition from multinational employers, academic institutions, and professional bodies across Europe, North America, Asia, and beyond.

For senior Indian professionals who plan to publish research, teach at leading institutions, serve on corporate advisory boards, or position themselves as recognized thought leaders in their industries, this AACSB-accredited DBA is not simply a credential — it is the academic foundation from which all of those career aspirations become structurally achievable. The XLRI certificate that accompanies the IPAG DBA further ensures that the programme’s Indian institutional credibility is beyond question — combining European doctoral rigour with the domestic recognition that India’s corporate hiring and academic communities immediately trust.

This programme is designed for professionals such as:

• C-suite executives and senior leaders with 10+ years of management experience seeking to elevate their research capability, academic credibility, and organizational thought leadership

• Experienced consultants and advisors who want to ground their professional expertise in original, peer-reviewed research and contribute to their fields at the doctoral level

• Business school faculty and academic professionals seeking an AACSB-accredited doctoral degree that strengthens their research profile and teaching authority

• Senior entrepreneurs and business founders looking to combine their practitioner expertise with doctoral-level academic rigor for publication, teaching, or institutional leadership

• Professionals targeting board directorships, advisory roles, or policy influence who understand that a doctoral credential from an AACSB-accredited institution amplifies their strategic credibility

IPAG Business School — Research Strength and Global Academic Legacy Since 1965

Founded in 1965, IPAG Business School has built its academic identity around a clear conviction — that rigorous research and practical business application are not opposites but complements. With campuses in Paris and Nice and a global alumni network spanning multiple continents, IPAG has spent six decades developing business leaders who are as comfortable contributing to academic literature as they are navigating boardroom complexity.

The DBA programme reflects this dual identity at every level. Research seminars, doctoral workshops organized around IPAG’s core research themes — including CSR and organizational transformation, Family and Impact Entrepreneurship, and Market Dynamics, Financial Stability and Green Finance — give participants a structured intellectual community within which to develop and refine their research. Distinguished global faculty bring both research depth and real-world advisory experience to every session — creating the rare academic environment where theoretical rigor and practical relevance reinforce rather than compete with each other.

The programme’s annual fee is EUR 8,667 per year when paid in cash — or EUR 9,067 per year when paid in installments — with a one-time application fee of EUR 100, making it one of the most competitively priced AACSB-accredited DBA programmes available to senior professionals in India.

Programme Structure at a Glance

The three-year DBA programme follows a phased research journey:

1. Year 1 — Research foundations and coursework — doctoral research methodology, literature review, theoretical frameworks, research design, and identification of the dissertation research question

2. XLRI Campus Immersions (3 × 5-day residential) — peer cohort engagement, faculty mentor meetings, research progress presentations, and doctoral workshop participation

3. Year 2 — Fieldwork and data collection — primary and secondary research execution, data collection across organizational contexts, and ongoing faculty mentor supervision

4. Year 3 — Data analysis and dissertation writing — research data processing, interpretation of results, and development of the dissertation including theoretical, managerial, and societal contributions

5. Optional IPAG Paris/Nice immersion — European campus experience for participants seeking the full IPAG academic environment

6. Dissertation submission and defense — final doctoral assessment leading to conferral of the DBA degree from IPAG Business School and Certificate from XLRI

About Emeritus India

Emeritus is committed to teaching the skills of the future by making high-quality education accessible and affordable to individuals, companies, and governments worldwide. Through collaborations with more than 80 top-tier universities across the United States, Europe, Latin America, Southeast Asia, India, and China, Emeritus delivers short courses, professional certificates, degree programmes, and senior executive education that have transformed the careers of over 500,000 learners in 80 countries.

Contact Information
Emeritus India
303, Inzio Business Center, Cardinal Gracious Rd,
Chakala, Andheri (E), Mumbai, Maharashtra 400099
Phone: 082779 98590
Website: https://emeritus.org/in/
Hours: Monday–Saturday, Open until 7:00 PM IST