Curriculum

Our team-intensive EMBA curriculum provides a thorough education in business skills, theories and practices, regardless of your undergraduate degree. The first semester’s courses are introductory, establishing a basis in fundamental principles. After these foundation classes, you will progress to more advanced, in-depth studies in international business, management, accounting, marketing, finance, analysis, and management strategy. The final term culminates with the capstone courses in strategic development, implementation and communications.

The Executive MBA Program now offers two different locations to complete your M.B.A.

Class Descriptions:

Basic Accounting for Financial Control (AC 501) — A study of the fundamentals of financial accounting, including attention to the interpretation and uses of information contained in financial statements.

Accounting for Management Decisions (AC 502) — A study of the principles, aims, applications, and limitations of accounting, as well as analysis of management’s need for accounting information beyond that provided by financial accounting. Attention is given to the preparation, analysis and interpretation of the information manager’s need for planning, evaluation and control. Emphasis is placed on activity-based costing to maximize profitability measures.

Managerial Economics (EC 500) — An introduction to the foundations of both micro- and macroeconomic analysis, including consumer demand, production and cost analysis, price determination, and macroeconomic theory and policy. Emphasis is on interpreting economic theory to be able to apply to individual work situations and projects.

Foundations of Financial Management (FI 504) — A survey of corporate financial planning and decision making. The course presents the tools and techniques of analyzing investment expenditures of the firm; measuring and managing risk; establishing optimal capital structures; and implementing effective working capital management procedures.

Financial Markets and Institutions (FI 524) — A review of the major financial institutions and markets and their role in economic development. Special emphasis on the types of financial instruments traded in the financial markets and how they are used to raise capital for investment purposes.

Strategy Formulation and Implementation (GBA 525) — An integrated study of strategy formulation and administration, using case analysis and a management simulation game. The focus is on the broad sweep of entrepreneurial and administrative decisions that shape the directional choices and realities of an enterprise. Students will learn how to complete an Industry Competitive Analysis and to craft an effective strategy for their organization.

Managing Strategic Implementation (GBA 527) — An examination of the key tasks of strategic leadership and the action alternatives for matching internal organizational conditions to the requirements of strategy execution. This class teaches the student incredible strategic moves and evaluations to make when running a business and how to determine where an organization stands in its industry environment.

Negotiations and Entrepreneurship (GBA 591) — The negotiations portion of this course is designed to introduce students to a potent negotiating model that blends traditional competitive negotiating techniques with cooperative negotiating skills to provide them with the tools necessary to maximize the value they capture in every negotiation. One-on-one and multi-party role-playing to help students master critical negotiating skills will be included. The entrepreneurship portion of this course is designed to introduce executives to the entrepreneurial process and to provide them with the skills and knowledge necessary to find, evaluate and develop opportunities in corporations, small businesses and new ventures. As a whole, the course will employ three primary components to facilitate the mastery of key knowledge and skills: weekly readings and exercises, case studies, and the development of a written business plan or business case that focuses on capturing a new (high potential) opportunity.

Global Business: Analysis & Strategy (IBA 550) — A seminar emphasizing the environmental factors affecting international business operations. This course covers different economic, social, cultural, legal, and other environmental conditions and their influence on both the formulation and execution of business policy of firms engaged in multinational business. Evaluation of global practices in individual business environments is included and seen through the yearly international trip taken by the class to incorporate the teaching into reality.

Legal and Ethical Environment of Business (LGS 522) — A study of the role that federal authority plays in controlling and governing the economy with discussion of how business operates within such a system. Includes examination of the basic legal system, sources of law and authority, and various antitrust laws.

Leadership (MGT 517) — The class focuses the student on understanding what leadership is, what leaders do, and the difference between management and leadership. Objectives include discovering personal leadership style and developing that style, identifying hazards to effective leadership (including ethical, personal and organizational issues), creating awareness of the importance of power and influence in shaping effective leadership, and understanding the importance of followers in the leadership equation.

Purchasing and Sourcing (OM 527) — This course is an introduction to the field of Purchasing and Supply Chain Management.  The course will cover fundamental purchasing systems applications, supplier relations and evaluation, strategic planning in purchasing, purchasing techniques, value analysis and cost analysis, all of which are critical to the success of any business in a competitive marketplace. We will analyze case studies and procurement modeling for distributors.

Management Communications (MGT 542) — Methodology for understanding both written and oral presentations. This skill is vital for upward mobility in organizations and CEOs cite this as a critical skill. By developing these core competencies practiced in this class, students will be able to communicate more effectively and efficiently. There is also a focus on listening with hands-on activities to refine communication.

Management Information Systems/People Issues in Management (MIS 511) — Motivation for, construction of and application of MIS. Topics include IS strategic alignment, information- intensive business processes and decision making. Business analysis techniques are emphasized for systems such as TPS, e-business, management reporting systems, and data warehouses. The management portion of the class is a study of how organizations can manage people to achieve competitive advantage. This requires a basic understanding of both human behavior in organizations and systems for utilizing human resources, as well as the environmental conditions affecting them. Topics such as corporate culture, motivation, labor relations, employee selection, and reward systems are considered.

Survey of Marketing (MKT 518) —A combination of lectures and cases is used to examine and analyze the marketing process. Emphasis is on decision making, the refinement of skills needed to recognize and solve marketing problems, and effectively communicating recommendations both within and without the organization. The following components of the marketing mix are examined: product management, pricing, promotion, personal selling, buyer behavior, marketing channels, distribution, and segmentation.

Production Management (OM 516) — An analysis of the managerial activities associated with processes for converting inputs into outputs. The major aim is understanding the design, operation and control of production systems using computer-based solution procedures. There is a focus on inventory control, six sigma and lean manufacturing principles.

Statistics for Business Applications (ST 509) — An introduction to basic statistical techniques and concepts that are useful in managerial decision making. Emphasized topics include problem formulation, forecasting, analysis of data, and interpretation of the results.