Business Administration (MBA) Curriculum

Management provides a solid foundation for facing the challenges of a rapidly changing and highly competitive business environment. This course introduces the fundamental management functions of planning, decision-making, organizing, leading, and controlling, as well as the tools and techniques of managing people, processes, projects, and the work environment. Students explore current issues in management and gain insights into how successful organizations operate.

This course reviews marketing management within the broader context of an organization's strategies and operations. Students explore how marketing adds value by working to support organizational strategy. Topics covered include the 4 Ps (product, price, place and promotion), different types of markets, marketing research, market segmentation and differentiation, global aspects of marketing and the implementation and control of marketing plans. Students discover the benefits of market research and analysis, and develop effective marketing strategies through segmentation, targeting and positioning.

This advanced course examines how human behavior in organizations plays a crucial role in achieving organizational effectiveness, while simultaneously promoting positive human outcomes. This course is designed to introduce students to key theories and concepts, as well as practical applications related to the field of Organizational Behavior. While the course will focus on such pertinent issues as the behavioral science theories, and associated concepts, the course will emphasize such areas of concentration as, but will not limited to: personality, values, diversity, communication, leadership, attitudes, conflict management, motivation, group/team dynamics, and organizational culture. This course affords students both a firm theoretical background and foundation upon which to build, but likewise instructs and builds the practical skills necessary to understand and manage organizational behavior within a variety of milieus.

This advanced course applies microeconomic theory to the management of the firm by focusing on the use of microeconomics to enhance decision-making. The course explores the complex relationships between manager decisions and the impact of those decisions on product demand and profitability. Students delineate the economic environment in which the firm operates and learn to think strategically within this environment.

This course provides students with a framework for the analysis, use and design of internal accounting systems. This introduction to financial and managerial accounting prepares students to use accounting data for strategic and management purposes with an emphasis on profitability and understanding the strengths and weaknesses of an organization's accounting system. Students develop an understanding of the nature of costs, budgeting, cost allocation, standard costs and variances.

This course introduces students to a broad spectrum of issues relative to change, including the dynamics of leadership, the failure of change, how to make planned change work and the implications of change for the 21st century. Topics include the importance of leadership, how successful leadership can result in a more effective organization, how to implement new changes to promote a healthy organization, change in action, e-commerce, radical change, and the implications of change for the twenty first century.

This course covers the internet and related technologies which pose enormous opportunities for developing new business models and significant threats to existing models. Information professionals must be prepared to recognize opportunities and overcome challenges posed by the electronic economy. This course defines the core elements of developing an eBusiness strategy, including branding, competitive analysis, technology assessment, business method models and preparing for emerging trends. Course assignments involve extensive case studies and online research using the latest e-tools. Students collaborate to create a prototype eBusiness venture.

This Quantitative Analysis course addresses managerial decision analysis using quantitative tools. Topics include a general framework for decision analysis, decision tables and trees, forecasting, inventory control, linear programming, transportation and assignment, networks, project time management, waiting lines (queuing), and simulation. After the course, the student will be able to use a broad array of powerful analytical tools to make business decisions.

This introduction to corporate financial management and investments provides the framework, concepts and tools for analyzing financial decisions by applying the fundamental principles of modern financial theory. Major topics include the time value of money, the economic and financial environment, an overview of financial statement analysis, the essentials of risk analysis and the valuation process, and capital budgeting.

Strategic management is designed to help students effectively guide an organization toward a profitable and dynamic future. This course provides students with a formal method of defining the organization's purpose and aligning the entire business to achieve corporate goals. It also examines emerging technologies in information processing as an important element of strategic planning.

This course examines ethics and values in multiple contexts. It begins with an exploration of individual values and the integration of mind, body and soul. The perspective then broadens to include corporate ethics and the role of moral leadership in business. The course concludes with an examination of ethical dilemmas created by an expanding global economy.

In this course, students from a variety of graduate studies are brought together. Although you will each be working on separate projects, depending on your previous coursework, you will come together in the discussions to share your ideas from your various perspectives. This capstone project requires that students apply the reasoning, decision-making, analytical, and authorship skills previously learned in the curriculum to the work environment. The project is completed individually; students are encouraged to select work-related projects that are of particular interest and will result in professional growth and benefit the organization.