Microsoft Corporation has awarded FIU Business a $100,000 grant to launch the Center for Engaged Management Scholarship (CEMS), where Doctorate of Business Administration (DBA) students and graduates will provide research-based guidance to businesses.
As the program’s founding partner, Microsoft is providing seed money to establish the CEMS infrastructure and hire staff, said George Marakas, associate dean of research and doctoral studies at FIU Business. The center will be operating by the end of 2023.
CEMS will follow the practitioner-scholar model, where DBA students who have completed doctoral coursework but haven’t begun work on their dissertations, as well as DBA graduates from FIU and other universities, will apply research data to find solutions for businesses.
The program will support businesses with evidence-based solutions to existing problems and assist in the implementation of those solutions and analysis of their effectiveness, Marakas said. At the same time, CEMS’ practitioner-scholars will gain real-world skills, along with research and publishing opportunities.
“This is an opportunity to create business engagement between the graduates of our research-level degree program and companies at the local, national and international levels,” Marakas said.