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Dr David Morgan Williams is pictured at his graduation ceremony with ... |
First Doctor of Business Administration creates UOW history
Wollongong businessman David Morgan Williams today (16 December 2008) received the first Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) awarded by the University of Wollongong.
Dr Williams, CEO of recruitment and HR specialist the DMW Group, combined his twin passions for learning and leadership in his doctoral studies, which he completed over the past six years, after gaining his Master of Business Administration in 2001.
As part of his research for his doctorate, Dr Williams developed and piloted a process to assist organisations identify capabilities needed in their leaders prior to the recruitment and selection of individuals for leadership roles. It is called the Leadership Capabilities Identification Process (LCIP).
“David’s original research found that while many organisations advertise for people with ‘strong leadership skills’, they do not apply a process to gather a specific understanding of what they mean by and require of leadership,” said Dr Grace McCarthy, one of his doctoral supervisors at UOW’s Graduate School of Business (GSB).
Dr Williams said the LCIP has been designed to assist organisations identify leadership capabilities by linking three areas: the intent or purpose of the role, performance outcomes and the context in which the role resides.
“The context is arguably the most important,” he said. “For example, leadership in tough times such as the current economic downtown may require a very different set of leadership capabilities than when things buoyant”
Dr McCarthy added: “Recruitment firms sometimes assess generic leadership skills. However, the skills demanded of an individual may be very different in a start-up innovative company to those required in a declining company, so organisations first need to decide which leadership capabilities are important in their context.”
Dr Williams said identifying the most appropriate leadership capabilities was enormously important for organisations, so it was surprising that so little research had been previously done in this area.
He said apart from recruitment and selection of leaders, the LCIP could also be used in performance management, auditing leadership capability frameworks in organisations, succession planning, and leadership development.
The LCIP is available through the Centre for Leader Selection and Development based at the DMW Group offices at the Innovation Campus.
Dr McCarthy said there had already been positive feedback from organisations that have tried the new process.
GSB Dean Professor John Glynn said Dr Williams’ research was an excellent example of a DBA topic that contributed to academic understanding of leadership as well as making a real world contribution to helping organisations improve the way they recruit leaders.
Dr Williams said he had thoroughly enjoyed the experience of undertaking doctoral studies that incorporated his understanding of the industry in which he works.
“The MBA was very satisfying, but undertaking a doctorate takes study to another level altogether,” Dr Williams said. “And I have really appreciated the interest shown by other people who have completed doctoral studies … their interest in your journey is always supportive.”