MBA Curriculum

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The MBA degree requires 36 to 48 graduate hours. These hours include:

Foundation Courses (0-12 credit hours)
Foundation courses serve the needs of MBA students with no previous formal education or experience in the academic area. They can also serve as optional review courses for students with undergraduate business degrees. Students should consult with their academic advisor to determine what, if any foundation courses they should take.

Foundation courses are graded on a pass/fail basis. A "pass" indicates that the student has earned an A or B grade. Grades for the foundation courses are not calculated as part of the student's GPA.

MBAD 501	Survey of Management	2
MBAD 506	Survey of Marketing	2
MBAD 510	Survey of Quantitative Methods and Statistics	2
MBAD 511	Survey of Economics	2
MBAD 516	Survey of Finance	2
MBAD 521	Survey of Financial Accounting	2

Major Program:
MBA Core Courses (all six required) 24 hours

MBAD 606	Marketing Management	4
MBAD 626	Applied Business Research Methods	4
MBAD 651	Management and Organizational Behavior	4
MBAD 611	Managerial Economics	4
MBAD 616	Managerial Finance	4
MBAD 621	Managerial Accounting	4

Concentration Courses (three are required) 12 hours

Management Concentration (select 3) 12 hours

 

Health Administration Concentration (select 3) 12 hours

 

Training and Development (all required) 12 hours 

TDEV 612	Adult Learning and Development	4
TDEV 622	Needs Analysis, Instructional Design & Measurement	4
TDEV 632	Program Development & Evaluation: Applied Research Methods	4

Certificate in Logistics (all required) 16 hours:
(courses may be taken as electives for any graduate concentration in the MBA or MSM programs).

MBAD 625	Project Management	4
MBAD 655	Business Logistics	4
MBAD 656	Transportation Management & Economics	4
MBAD 657	International Logistics Management	4

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS (Business Courses Only)

Graduate Business Administration (MBAD) Courses
MBAD 501 SURVEY OF MANAGEMENT (2) - provides a survey of management principles and theories. Emphasis is given to the functions of management: planning, organizing, staffing, motivating, and controlling. This course analyzes the process that managers must understand in order to form, organize, and run today's businesses. This course serves the needs of graduate students with no previous formal education or experience in management. It also serves as an optional review course for graduate students with undergraduate preparation in business. This requirement can be met through an undergraduate course in management, prior learning assessment in management or a waiver from the academic advisor.

MBAD 506 SURVEY OF MARKETING (2) - surveys marketing as a process of planning and executing product development, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to accomplish organized objectives. Survey topics include the marketing processes, research, consumer behavior, distribution channels, industrial marketing, pricing, promotion, and international marketing. This course serves the needs of graduate students with no previous formal education or experience in marketing. It also serves as an optional review course for graduate students with undergraduate preparation in business. This requirement can be met through an undergraduate course in marketing, prior learning assessment in management or a waiver from the academic advisor.

MBAD 510 SURVEY OF QUANTITATIVE METHODS AND STATISTICS (2) - surveys basic descriptive and inferential statistics. Topics in descriptive statistics include measures of central tendency, graphing, measures of location, and variation. Topics in inferential statistics include estimation of population parameters, sample size determination, hypothesis testing, correlation, and regression. This course serves the needs of graduate students with no previous formal education or experience in statistics. It also serves as an optional review course for graduate students with undergraduate preparation in business. This requirement can be met through an undergraduate course in statistics or a waiver from the academic advisor.

MBAD 511 SURVEY OF ECONOMICS (2) - surveys the field of economics with special emphasis on pricing policy. Survey topics include: supply and demand, fiscal and monetary policy, market pricing, resource pricing, regulation of the market, and international trade. This course serves the needs of graduate students with no previous formal education or experience in economics. It also serves as an optional review course for graduate students with undergraduate preparation in business. This requirement can be met through undergraduate courses in macro and microeconomics, prior learning assessment in macro and microeconomics or a waiver from the academic advisor.

MBAD 516 SURVEY OF FINANCE (2) - covers the key concepts relating to financial statements and financial analysis processes essential to the continued study of finance. It includes: the basic principles behind the value of the income statement, balance sheet, statement of cash flows and their use in the financial analysis process. Financial analysis concepts typically covered initially in undergraduate accounting courses will be introduced and explained. This course serves the needs of graduate students with no previous formal education or experience in accounting/finance. It also serves as an optional review course for graduate students with undergraduate preparation in business. This requirement can be met through undergraduate courses in financial accounting, managerial accounting, and finance, prior learning assessment or a waiver from the academic advisor.

MBAD 521 SURVEY OF FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING (2) - concentrates on the basic principles of financial accounting in order to provide a foundation for the study of managerial accounting. The information and data required in managerial accounting are often drawn from the financial accounting system. This course serves the needs of graduate students with no previous formal education or experience in accounting. It also serves as an optional review course for graduate students with undergraduate preparation in business. This requirement can be met through undergraduate courses in accounting, prior learning assessment in accounting, or a waiver from the academic advisor.

MBAD 606 MARKETING MANAGEMENT (4) - examines the conceptual foundations and ethical practices of contemporary marketing management as well as the planning, implementation and control of the marketing function. Topics include situation analysis, marketing objectives, target market selection, and strategies for product, pricing, promotion and physical distribution in foreign and domestic markets. Contributions from the various schools of marketing will be studied, analyzed and applied to today's managerial decision-making process. Prerequisite: MBAD 506 or competency in Marketing.

MBAD 611 MANAGERIAL ECONOMICS (4) - uses the tools and techniques of economic analysis including computerized analysis, to examine and solve business problems, bridging the gap between theoretical economics and business administration decision making. Managerial Economics clarifies the vital role business plays in the international economy. Prerequisite: MBAD 511 or competency in Economics.

MBAD 616 MANAGERIAL FINANCE (4) - covers two significant areas of financial decisions for managers: how to best invest/deploy the firm's financial resources such as decisions to invest in new equipment or new products; and how to best fund the corporation using the various forms of debt and equity capital available. The course builds a quick foundation in the vocabulary and concepts of financial markets and financial valuation (cash flows, net present value), presents a fulsome examination of various financial tools/models used to support managerial decisions on capital and strategic investments, and includes a complete review of options managers have to fund their firm and the process by which they do so. Prerequisite: MBAD 516 or competency in Finance.

MBAD 621 MANAGERIAL ACCOUNTING (4) - covers key concepts used by managers to understand and manage a firm's financial performance. The course builds a quick foundation in the vocabulary and concepts of cost accounting, presents a fulsome process for budgeting including variance analysis, and provides an overview of various financial tools/models used to support managerial decision making such as product pricing, capital expenditures, and performance compensation. Prerequisite: MBAD 521 or competency in Financial Accounting.

MBAD 625 PROJECT MANAGEMENT (4) - provides an overview of professional project management practices. It equips the student with the skills to assess the degree to which organizations apply these practices at the individual, team, and organization levels. It also helps them contribute as productive members of cross-functional project teams and understand project management as a dynamic learning process. Prerequisite: MBAD 501 or competency in management.

MBAD 626 APPLIED BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODS (4) - introduces the conceptual and technological tools used to conduct business research. Emphasis is placed on the application of research methods to specific business problems and managerial decision-making. Prerequisite: MBAD 510 or competency in Statistics.

MBAD 631 STRATEGIC BUSINESS MANAGEMENT (4) - is designed as a capstone course in which students learn and apply various models and tools to formulate a business strategy. The student will learn and apply the process of situational analysis including the macro-environment, industry environment and internal situation of the firm. This analysis will be used to create alternative strategies and determine the optimal strategy to be implemented. The course also examines the processes and issues to implement the selected strategy. Prerequisite: MBAD 501 or competency in Management.

MBAD 636 SOCIAL AND LEGAL ENVIRONMENTS OF BUSINESS (4) - examines the interaction between the modern corporation and the legal, social and international environments in which it operates. It examines the impact of values, ethics, governmental regulations and laws on corporations' response to changing social issues. Prerequisite: MBAD 501 or competency in Management.

MBAD 641 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (4) - provides a critical review of theory, research and practice related to the human factor of the production of goods and services. It examines the basic concepts of individual and social behavior as they apply to the modern international organization, and it explores contemporary social and ethical issues as they apply to the work place. Prerequisite: MBAD 501 or competency in Management.

MBAD 646 BUSINESS ETHICS (4) - explores the role of the corporation in modern society and its responsibilities to government and to the economic and social well-being of the nation. Theories of ethics will be surveyed and an ethical decision-making model will be developed and applied to various business situations. Prerequisite: MBAD 501 or competency in Management.

MBAD 650 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS (4) - introduces the student to the world of international business transactions. International trade, finance and investment, and economics are presented from the working business-world perspective. The impact of culture, politics, and public policy on the business entity is brought to light. This course is multi-disciplinary in its approach to business and the international environment. Prerequisite: MBAD 501 or competency in Management.

MBAD 651 MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR (4) - provides an overview of the management skills and principles used in today's business environment. It also examines the impact that groups, individuals, and hierarchical structures have on behavior within organizations. Presented are organizational structures, successful strategies for leadership and decision-making, motivation, interpersonal communications, and group structure and process. Prerequisite: MBAD 501 or competency in Management.

MBAD 655 BUSINESS LOGISTICS (4) - introduces the concepts of logistics and supply chain management. Topics include procurement, customer service, order processing (distribution) management, transportation, warehousing, inventory control, and information technology. Emphasis will be placed on analyzing the interrelationships among these topics in designing a successful logistics strategy. Assumes student has knowledge of fundamental business courses and logistics management concepts. Prerequisite: MBAD 501 or competency in management.

MBAD 656 TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT & ECONOMICS (4) - provides a broad survey of transportation issues, methods and strategies in policy studies, business, trade or transportation. Analysis and discussion from various perspectives including motor carrier, shipper and third party providers. Other topics include modes of transportation, logistics and freight pricing, relationship of logistics operations to transportation decisions, effects of compliance laws on transportation and transportation economics. Prerequisite: MBAD 501 or competency in management.

MBAD 657 INTERNATIONAL LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT (4) - focuses on international logistics operations and the legal infrastructure in which it operates to move goods in a global economy. Extensive discussions regarding export/import procedures, multinational logistics strategy, international payment processes, review/selection of transportation modes, and risk management. The effects of government trade and public policies on global logistics operations will also be analyzed. Prerequisite: MBAD 501 or competency in management.

MBAD 671 TOPICS (1-4) - selected contemporary topics in business.

MBAD 695 PRACTIUM (1-6) - provides an experience designed to enhance and deepen a student's competence in one or more areas of study while offering the opportunity to integrate theory and practice. The practicum will be conducted in a professional capacity in a work setting under the supervision of University faculty.

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University of St. Francis 500 Wilcox Street Joliet, Illinois 60435 (800) 735-7500 A Catholic, Franciscan University

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