01 · PRACTICE
Begin with a consequential challenge
Frame an important professional problem whose resolution could improve judgement, policy, capability or organisational performance.
Monarch Management Institute · Doctor of Professional Studies
Turn advanced practice into an original professional contribution
A proposed doctoral pathway for accomplished professionals who want to investigate a consequential practice challenge, generate applied knowledge and strengthen their contribution at the highest level.
Advanced professional inquiry
A doctorate centred on practice, judgement and contribution
The MMI Doctor of Professional Studies is being developed for senior practitioners whose most important questions arise from professional responsibility. Its purpose is to connect rigorous inquiry with the realities of organisations, industries and communities—helping candidates examine complex challenges and produce work that is credible, useful and capable of informing practice.
02 · INQUIRY
Develop rigorous applied evidence
Use suitable research methods, critical reasoning and ethical inquiry to build a defensible understanding of the challenge.
03 · CONTRIBUTION
Create knowledge that can travel
Translate the findings into an original contribution that can inform professional practice beyond one immediate setting.
Practical research within MMI
Investigate the professional case you are experiencing
The DPS is centred on a consequential case arising from the candidate’s own professional setting—an organisation, programme, transformation, decision environment or persistent practice challenge that the candidate is experiencing or has experienced directly. Rather than beginning with an abstract problem and then searching for a setting in which to test it, the candidate begins with lived professional reality and investigates it systematically.
This experiential orientation is what locates the DPS within the Monarch Management Institute. The candidate contributes practical knowledge, professional judgement and direct understanding of the case. The doctoral process adds conceptual framing, disciplined evidence, ethical inquiry, appropriate research methods and critical reflection. The result goes beyond description or consultancy: it is an original and defensible contribution rooted in practice, with insights capable of informing other professionals and settings.
MGRI
Theoretical research
Develops and tests theory through academically centred inquiry.
MBS
Applied research
Applies research knowledge and methods to organisational and managerial problems.
MMI
Practical research
Investigates a lived professional case from within practice to strengthen judgement, action and transferable professional knowledge.
Designed for experienced practitioners. Candidates are not expected to arrive as full-time academic researchers. They arrive with a meaningful case, developed practical skills and the capacity to reflect critically. The programme helps them convert that experience into rigorous doctoral inquiry and an original professional contribution.
Position in the MMI pathway
Build beyond the MBA stage
The proposed DPS will sit beyond the MMI MBA in Management Practice as an advanced academic and professional-development pathway. Final admission standards, programme architecture, duration and award requirements remain subject to formal academic approval.
For professionals with something important to examine
This pathway is intended for experienced managers, executives, consultants and specialist practitioners ready to connect their accumulated experience with disciplined inquiry and a meaningful contribution to professional knowledge.
Proposed learning journey
From professional question to applied contribution
Foundation and proposal
Clarify the practice domain, strengthen research capability and develop a viable doctoral proposal.
Applied investigation
Conduct supervised inquiry with appropriate evidence, ethics and methodological discipline.
Doctoral contribution
Produce and defend an original practice-based contribution with relevance to professional audiences.
This doctoral program may be completed fully online, including the doctoral defence. No relocation is required. Candidates may select an in-person doctoral defence when offered by Monarch.
Questions answered
Considering the DPS pathway
When is the programme expected to become available?
The program is available to those meeting the underlying prerequisites and membership level.
Who is the programme being designed for?
Experienced professionals who can identify a significant practice challenge and are prepared for advanced, independent inquiry.
Will the MMI MBA be required?
The MMI MBA is intended as the principal programme pathway towards the DPS. Final entry routes and recognition of other suitable postgraduate preparation remain subject to approval.
Is the DPS the same as a PhD?
The Doctor of Professional Studies is a professional doctorate oriented towards applied inquiry and contribution to practice. Its final academic requirements will be stated in the approved programme specification.
Keep informed
Explore the Doctor of Professional Studies
Tell us about your professional background and the case you are experiencing to receive guidance on prerequisites, membership and the DPS pathway.