MBA Curriculum, Pre-Fall 2020
Students who began our MBA program before fall 2020 may pursue the program curriculum below, which was in effect when they entered the program, or may switch to the Next Generation MBA curriculum.
Any student that decides to switch to the Next Generation MBA must inform the Graduate Programs Office so that your academic record can be updated. This is a critical necessity for the graduation audit process, so please make sure that you inform us of your desire to switch, and that you receive our confirmation.
We encourage students to contact their advisor to schedule a time to discuss the best option for you, and the plan for your remaining courses.
Previous MBA curriculum
Core Courses (3-7)
Qualifying students may waive up to four of the core courses. These courses are also prerequisites for most upper-level courses.
This course is an introduction to the accounting function that is used to measure and communicate business transactions. The focus is on understanding financial information to facilitate better decisions.
Outcome: Students will be able to identify the impact of business transactions on the basic financial statements: the income statement, the statement of financial position, the cash flow statement, and the statement of changes in owners¿ equity. Students will also be able to demonstrate an understanding of the financial statements and their implications on various business decisions.
This course uses tools of economic analysis to understand demand, supply, profits, production, competition, pricing policies, business criteria for investment, output, and marketing decisions.
Outcome: Students are able to do critical managerial decisions with respect to output and pricing policies in different business and industrial environments.
The course primarily explores the structure and function of human behavior in organizations. Students will be introduced to the principles of theory of perception, motivation, decision-making, job and organizational design as they relate to organizational realities such as power, politics and change.
Learning Outcomes
Students will gain a better understanding of both individual and group behavior in organizational settings and will be able to view organizational change through globalization, diversity, technology and ethics.
The fundamentals of managerial statistics are presented. Topics may include descriptive statistics, random variables, probability distributions, estimation, hypothesis testing, regression, and correlation analysis. Statistical software is used to assist in the analysis of these problems.
Outcome: Students will be able to demonstrate understanding of statistical thinking and data analysis technique for decision-making purposes.
The goal of this course is to provide students with an understanding of managerial finance: valuation, capital investment, financing, capital structure, and business ethics as they relate to finance.
Outcome: Students will demonstrate knowledge of financial analysis, time value of money, risk-reward, asset valuation, capital budgeting, capital structure, and working capital management.
This course develops a broad understanding of the marketing principles that undergird successful marketing strategies and marketing plans with special attention given to international and ethical considerations.
Outcome: Students use and apply marketing principles, strategic research, consumer analysis and target marketing to either a project or to case studies.
Introduction to concepts and methods for managing operations in manufacturing and service organizations. Topics typically include forecasting, capacity and aggregate planning, material requirements planning, scheduling, facility layout and location, inventory management, just-in-time, total quality management, project planning, and logistics.
Outcome: Students will understand the basic issues and role of operations management in organizations and learn tools for problem-solving in operations management.
Core Ethics (1)
This course examines the ethical aspects of individual and corporate decision making in business and provides resources for making ethical decisions within the context of managerial practice.
Outcome: Students will be acquainted with the concepts and principles of ethical reasoning that have been developed in ethical theory; be aware of the specific ethical issues that arise in management and of the ways in which these issues are commonly analyzed; and be able to make sound ethical and managerial decisions and to implement those decisions within the context of an organization in a competitive marketplace.
This is an advanced business ethics course that addresses the ethical issues that arise in the global business environment, including the standards for the operation of multinational corporations and the ethical perspectives of managers in different countries.
Outcome: Students will understand the specific ethical problems of international business and of different ethical perspectives; develop skills for personal decision making and for developing and implementing ethical corporate policies in international business; and learn how to work toward more effective background institutions and forms of international business regulation.
Analytics Course (1)
Business analytics is the practice of using methodically collected data to drive decisions about business and in business applications. The goal of the course is to introduce students to the current approaches, tools, and techniques involved in this practice. Because many topics and concepts in business analytics are best learned through hands-on work, time will be spent obtaining, processing, analyzing and visualizing data that pertain to different business cases. Students will use R, arguably the most popular analytical software used by data scientists. During this course, students will learn to use R, as well as gain and help improve business insight through data-driven analytics.
Outcomes: Explain the key factors differentiating business intelligence from business analytics. Frame a problem in a business analytics context to drive insightful decisions and gain the competitive edge.
This course focuses on how to effectively use Microsoft Excel and its built-in programming language, Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), to build financial models. It has a prerequisite of Finance 450 and presumes familiarity with basic Excel operations and functions. The course will model investment, derivative, corporate finance, and risk management problems. The course is a combination of both lecture and lab.
The purpose of this course is to help students understand feasible econometric techniques in order to mine information to understand economic and financial patterns and to forecast. A rigorous exposition of the theory behind econometric techniques will help students understand the issues raised in different published papers. Topics of econometric techniques covered in this course include panel data analysis, time-series models, discrete choice models, and methods to identify causality between variables. Practical applications will prepare students to use these methods in their own projects.
This course is designed as an introductory graduate level course in analytical problem solving, another name for research methods, and design. A basic understanding of - and general familiarity with fundamentals of statistical concepts is assumed. However, where necessary, we will revisit these concepts briefly. Of course, this is not a course in statistics.
This course uses database systems as the focus for studying concepts of data modeling and data manipulation. Procedures for creating, managing, sorting, and processing data are discussed. Concepts of relational database methods are covered as well as the issues that arise in managing information in a database and using it to support business processes.
Outcome: Understanding the development and use of business database systems.
Data Mining involves the search for patterns in large quantities of data. The fundamental techniques used in data mining include, but are not limited to, clustering, decision trees, neural networks, and association analysis.
Outcome: The student will be able to build models using an industry-standard package and interpret the results.
The components and design issues related to data warehouses and business intelligence techniques for extracting meaningful information from data warehouses are emphasized. Oracle tools will be used to demonstrate design, implementation, and utilization issues.
Outcome: students will learn how data warehouses are used to help managers successfully gather, analyze, understand and act on information stored in data warehouses
Techniques of forecasting and model building are introduced. Methods covered are simple and multiple regression, introduction to time series components, exponential smoothing algorithms, and AIRMA models - Box Jenkins techniques. Business cases are demonstrated and solved using the computer.
Outcome: To be able forecast business and economic variables to enhance business decisions.
This course develops an understanding of the marketing research process and the role of survey research in it.
Outcome: Students formulate research problems and a design research study, including the development of a questionnaire, selection of an appropriate sample and data analysis.
This course develops an understanding of the Internet as part of an overall marketing strategy by considering the ways in which the Internet has changed marketing and business. The course covers topics such as online consumer behavior, web analytics, online advertising, email, social media, mobile, and search engine marketing (paid and organic). In addition to learning fundamental principles of digital channels, students will apply the learned principles in a class project; example projects include creating a paid search campaign for a client, running a digital marketing simulation, writing a digital marketing plan, or conducting a social media audit.
Outcome: Students develop the power to act effectively by using technology in increasingly complex buying environments.
A study of the fundamental principles of effective management of inventory with emphasis on inventory costs, product stratification, performance measures, demand forecasting, periodic and continuous review, safety stock, material requirements planning, customer service and use of technology in inventory management. Issues related to storage and handling of inventory stock are also studied.
Outcome: Students will have developed an understanding of the issues involved in planning, managing and control of inventories and materials in a supply chain.
A study of the design, development, and use of decision models for analysis of supply chain problems. This course provides an example-driven approach to learn about important supply chain models, problems, and solution methodologies. The objectives of this course are to develop valuable modeling skills that students can appreciate and use effectively.
Outcomes: Students will have developed an understanding of the issues involved in the use of decision support tools for analysis of supply chain problems.
Global Perspectives (1)
This course uses tools of economic analysis to understand demand, supply, profits, production, competition, pricing policies, business criteria for investment, output, and marketing decisions.
Outcome: Students are able to do critical managerial decisions with respect to output and pricing policies in different business and industrial environments.
This course examines the international dimensions of financial management. It introduces potential opportunities/challenges faced by multinational corporations as they expand their business overseas.
Outcome: Students will be able to demonstrate understanding of foreign exchange markets, fundamental international parity relationships, foreign exchange risk management strategies, and capital budgeting for multinational corporations.
This course examines the critical roles of Human Resource professionals throughout the strategic globalization process, as well as the cross-cultural issues that affect organizational dynamics and behaviors central to Human Resource processes, such as staffing, training, motivation, negotiation, team-building, and communication.
Learning Outcomes
To survey the three types of topics covered by the field of Global HRM:
1. management of human resources in global corporations
2. management of expatriate employees
3. comparison of HRM practices in a variety of different countries.
To consider special topics at the forefront of global HR, such as effects of NAFTA and the European Union, global ethics, and critiques of globalization.
This course introduces students to different employment relations systems in advanced industrial economies in North America, Europe, and Asia and to formats for resolving new types of labor problems that have merged in a global economy.
Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to identify critical differentiating aspects of employment relations systems in the developed world and common pro and con arguments regarding proposed solutions to substandard working conditions in the developing world.
This course develops an understanding of marketing problems in an international context with particular attention given to how international factors impact consumers, competition, and marketing strategies.
Outcome: Students apply the principles of marketing to solve marketing problems in an international context. Students analyze cases and identify optimal solutions to international marketing problems
This course develops an understanding of the ethical issues and responsibilities arising from human interaction with the non-human natural environment. Perspectives from various religious traditions, Western philosophy, and the science of ecology are considered.
Outcome: Students will be able to demonstrate ethical awareness, reflection, and application of ethical principles in decision making.
This is an advanced business ethics course that addresses the ethical issues that arise in the global business environment, including the standards for the operation of multinational corporations and the ethical perspectives of managers in different countries.
Outcome: Students will understand the specific ethical problems of international business and of different ethical perspectives; develop skills for personal decision making and for developing and implementing ethical corporate policies in international business; and learn how to work toward more effective background institutions and forms of international business regulation.
This course examines how business partners along the supply chain can work together to gain competitive advantage in moving products and services around the world to satisfy customers.
Outcome: Understanding best practices like vendor-managed inventory and category management, and the application of information technologies for sharing information.
Advanced Core (4)
Choose four from the following eight disciplines; no more than one class per discipline.
- Accounting
- Economics
- Finance
- Human Resources and Employee Relations
- Information Systems Management
- Marketing
- Management
- Supply Chain Management
Electives or Optional Concentration (3–4)
No Concentration: Choose three electives from any of the course offerings in the Graduate Business Programs.
- General Business Electives (no concentration): Visit LOCUS and select the term for which you wish to see course offerings. Use the "Course Career" drop-down to select "Graduate Business" for a complete list of courses available that term.
With Concentration: For an optional concentration, choose three courses in any one of the following disciplines (four courses for accounting):
Concluding Integrative Capstone Experience (1)
The capstone required for all MBA students is to be completed during the final quarter of the program.
- MGMT 430: Strategy and Leadership in Organizations
*In order for core courses to be waived, you must have completed a minimum of one undergraduate course (3 credit hours) of comparable content in the prerequisite subject area within the last seven years with a grade of B (or equivalent) or higher.