A You have spent years climbing the corporate ladder.”
You have mastered the art of leadership, navigated complex global markets, and earned your place at the executive table. For many professionals, this level of success is the final destination. But for a select few, it is simply the foundation for something greater.
If you are reading this, you are likely considering a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA). You want to move beyond executing strategies and begin creating them. You want the prestige, authority, and ultimate expertise that comes with the “Dr.” title.
However, before you can step onto the graduation stage at American Imperial University, there is one massive hurdle you must clear: your DBA thesis.
Unlike a Master’s degree, which largely tests your ability to absorb and apply existing knowledge, a doctoral programme requires you to create something entirely new. You must identify a problem that has not been solved, study it rigorously, and provide a solution. This unsolved problem is known as the “gap.”
For many brilliant executives, finding this gap is the most intimidating part of the DBA journey. How do you find a problem that is complex enough for a doctorate, yet practical enough to matter in the real world?
Here is a comprehensive guide to identifying a real-world business gap for your DBA thesis, and why American Imperial University is the perfect partner to help you solve it.
1. Understand the Difference Between a PhD and a DBA Gap
The first mistake many executives make is thinking like a traditional academic. It is vital to understand the fundamental difference between a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA).
A PhD candidate looks for a “literature gap.” They read hundreds of academic papers, find a highly theoretical area that scholars have ignored, and conduct research to fill that void. Their goal is to advance academic theory.
A DBA candidate, however, looks for a “practice gap.” Your goal is to advance business practice. You are looking for a real-world problem that is actively causing pain, losing money, or stifling innovation in your industry right now. Your thesis will apply high-level academic research methods to solve this tangible business issue.
When searching for your gap, do not start in the university library. Start in the boardroom.
2. Conduct a “Pain Point” Audit in Your Own Industry
The best DBA theses are born from frustration. They come from the problems that senior leaders complain about over coffee but never seem to fix. To find your gap, conduct a “pain point” audit of your own daily professional life.
Ask yourself the following questions:
- What is the most expensive recurring problem in my sector? For example, if you work in global logistics, why do last-mile delivery costs remain astronomically high in emerging markets despite new routing software?
- Where is the friction between strategy and execution? Perhaps the board of directors passes down brilliant Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) mandates, but the middle management layer consistently fails to implement them. Why does that disconnect happen?
- What keeps the CEO awake at night? If you can identify the existential threats facing your industry over the next decade such as supply chain resilience in a post-pandemic world you have the foundation for a brilliant thesis.
By focusing on a problem, you experience daily, you ensure your research is deeply relevant and that you have natural access to the data and interviews you will need later.
3. Look for “Institutional Voids” Across Borders
If you are an expatriate or a professional managing cross-border teams in hubs like Singapore, London, or Dubai, you have a unique advantage. You operate in the spaces between different economies, cultures, and regulatory environments.
In business strategy, these spaces often contain “institutional voids.” This term refers to the absence of the structures that make markets function smoothly, such as clear legal frameworks, reliable market data, or skilled labour pools.
When a multinational corporation from a developed market tries to operate in an emerging market, their standard operating procedures often fail because of these voids.
- How do Western financial institutions adapt their risk models when entering African markets lacking traditional credit bureaus?
- How do global tech firms manage talent retention in Southeast Asian markets where cultural expectations around loyalty differ from the West?
Identifying how businesses struggle to adapt across borders is a goldmine for DBA research. It is complex, highly relevant, and offers massive value to global corporations.
4. Follow the Technological Disruption
Technology is moving much faster than management theory. We have brilliant new tools, but we often lack the leadership frameworks to use them effectively, ethically, or profitably. This “technology lag” is one of the most fertile grounds for a DBA thesis today.
Consider the explosion of Generative AI.
Companies are rushing to adopt AI, but massive gaps remain:
- The Human-AI Integration Gap: How does the introduction of AI decision-making tools affect the psychological safety and job satisfaction of senior analysts in the banking sector?
- The Ethical Governance Gap: How can healthcare organisations build management frameworks to ensure patient data privacy while training predictive AI models?
- The Productivity Paradox: Why are firms spending millions on digital transformation but failing to see a corresponding increase in operational efficiency?
If you can find a gap where a new technology intersects with human behaviour or traditional management structures, you have found a highly compelling research topic.
5. Apply the “So What?” Test
Once you have identified a potential gap, you must subject it to the ultimate executive filter: The “So What?” test.
Imagine you are standing in front of a board of directors, pitching your research idea. You explain the problem you have found. If their response is, “So what?”, your gap is not strong enough.
A doctoral-level business gap must have high stakes. Solving it must offer a tangible, significant benefit.
- Will solving this gap save the industry millions of pounds?
- Will it prevent catastrophic regulatory fines?
- Will it open up a completely new demographic for market expansion?
- Will it drastically improve employee well-being and reduce expensive staff turnover?
Your thesis must matter. It must provide a framework, a model, or a set of actionable recommendations that a CEO could read on a Friday and begin implementing on a Monday.
6. Don’t Look for the Perfect Gap; Look for the Evolving Gap
Many students freeze because they are waiting for the perfect, fully formed idea to appear in their minds. This rarely happens.
In reality, your initial idea will be messy and broad. You might start by saying, “I want to research remote work.” That is not a gap; that is a topic. As you read industry reports and begin your coursework, that topic will narrow. It will evolve into: “The impact of permanent remote work on the innovation output of cross-functional engineering teams in the UK aerospace sector.”
The secret is to start with a broad area of interest and allow the academic process to help you chisel away the excess until the specific, unsolved gap reveals itself.
Why American Imperial University is Your Ideal DBA Partner
Finding your gap is challenging, but you do not have to do it alone. The right university acts as your compass, your sounding board, and your ultimate support system. This is where American Imperial University (AIU) truly stands apart.
At American Imperial University, we understand that our DBA candidates are not traditional students; they are high-level executives with demanding careers, families, and global ambitions. Our programme is designed specifically to help you bridge the gap between your boardroom experience and academic rigour.
Here is why AIU is the perfect place to complete your Doctor of Business Administration:
1. Executive-Focused Mentorship
From the moment you enrol, you are paired with faculty members who are not just career academics, but seasoned industry professionals. They understand the “So What?” test because they have sat in the same boardrooms you have. They will challenge you, guide you, and help you refine your broad ideas into a razor-sharp, researchable gap.
2. A Truly Global Perspective
Business is no longer local, and neither is our curriculum. With a diverse, international student body and a curriculum built on global best practices, AIU provides the perfect environment to study cross-border institutional voids. Your peers will be leaders from Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, providing you with a wealth of different perspectives to enrich your research.
3. Flexibility for the Mobile Elite
We know your schedule is unpredictable. You cannot put your career on hold for three years to sit in a lecture hall. AIU offers a robust, flexible online learning environment. Whether you are reviewing literature in a Changi Airport lounge or submitting a proposal from a hotel in London, our asynchronous platform ensures your education adapts to your life, not the other way around.
4. A Focus on Tomorrow’s Technology
AIU is committed to equipping leaders for the future. With our emphasis on the latest technological tools and our unique AI for Managers integrations, we ensure that you are perfectly positioned to research and solve the “technology lag” gaps that are currently baffling modern businesses.
Step Into Your Authority
Identifying your DBA thesis gap is the first step on a transformative journey. It is the moment you stop accepting the industry standard and decide to write the new rules yourself. It requires deep thought, a keen eye for operational pain points, and a relentless desire to improve the world of business.
You already have the experience, the ambition, and the drive. Now, you just need the right framework and the right academic partner to help you achieve the ultimate credential.
Are you ready to stop managing the present and start researching the future?
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is the main difference between a DBA research gap and a PhD research gap?
The primary difference lies in the outcome. A PhD focuses on finding a “literature gap” to advance academic theory, often remaining highly theoretical. A DBA focuses on a “practice gap.
2. I have a broad industry topic I want to research, but how do I narrow it down to a specific “gap”?
Do not worry if your initial idea is broad; it is meant to evolve. The best way to narrow it down is to conduct a “pain point audit” within your own company or sector, and then apply the “So What?” test.
3. What is the main mental hurdle for DBA students?
This is why choosing the right academic partner is critical. Modern DBA programmes, such as those offered by American Imperial University, are built on asynchronous learning platforms designed for the “mobile elite
