Master of Business Administration

Program Description/Overview

This program curriculum is designed to train students for professional practice by enhancing their skills in the current employment situation or educating them for new professional challenges. The MBA program provides advanced business, management and analytical skills, and extensive practical experience in applying and integrating these skills through projects, case studies, and presentations. The program delivery format was developed to serve working adult students who want to complete their degrees in a format that would make it possible to continue working while achieving the outcomes of the program.

The program follows a cohort model, with all students taking the core curriculum courses as a cohort at the beginning of the program, followed by concentration tracks during their remaining program of study.

Emphasis/Concentration/Tracks

Corporate Finance

This concentration targets the expertise required in current financial environments and provides a clear understanding of practical financial decision-making. Students will gain an understanding in the way money and accounting affect businesses. The corporate finance concentration instills essential set skills sets in financial modeling, debt and equity issues, valuation, mergers and acquisitions, financial planning, risk management, financial reporting and analysis, and taxation necessary in corporate finance positions and in other related careers. Potential career opportunities for students with a corporate finance concentration includes work in investment and merchant banks, insurance and pension funds, and for governments and multinational companies, a CFO, corporate treasurer, controller, director of finance, financial analyst, credit manager or cash manager.

Digital Marketing

Today’s rapidly advancing technologies are changing the business landscape in a way that requires a shift in the way we think about marketing. As marketing continues to develop alongside a range of new technological advancements, the need for professionals who understand the changing digital environment is greater than ever. Digital marketing skills are in serious demand and the digital skills gap is set to widen, the job market is growing and companies are putting more efforts into digital marketing than ever before. Bigger budgets, increased pay and more career choice are just some of the benefits digital marketing professionals can anticipate.

Entrepreneurship and Innovation (on-ground only)

The purpose of this concentration is to prepare students to meet the challenging demands of leading new businesses and maintaining their growth through the process of innovation. One way to ensure that learning and transfer of knowledge occurs is to enable students to become curious, creative, and able to apply their skills in designing and presenting well-planned ventures.

Students will thrive in a verity of careers such as Product Innovation Director, Director of Innovation, or Innovation and Strategy Director. Other career opportunities are in the area of Innovation Architecture, Research & Development, Business Development, Financial Analysis, Marketing & Sales, and Innovation Management Consulting.

Health Care Management

This concentration gives students a comprehensive understanding of the U.S. Healthcare system, its infrastructure, business and operations models as well as the role of health information system. Students further explore the current legal, economic, and financial issues faced by the industry, and the outlook of the industry. Potential career opportunities for students with Health Care Management concentration include hospital administrator, health care consultant, or private practice manager.

Hospitality Management

This concentration is designed to provide an opportunity for students to meet the needs of the growing and fast-paced hospitality industry. It will prepare students for careers in the large hospitality segment focusing on the hotels industry but also including the travel and tourism segments. The courses provide an understanding of emerging aspects in these segments which include a number of highly profitable markets which are also poised to grow with innovation and technology. Employers and market trends confirm that careers in these fields are coveted, well-paid with a well-defined progress path. Students should also note that demand for professionals in the hospitality industry is internationally growing.

Human Resources Management

The purpose of this concentration is to maximize the productivity of an organization by optimizing the effectiveness of its employees. Topics covered in the concentration include component of Human Resources (HR) systems, utility of selection systems, legal issues, environmental scanning, workforce planning and linking HR strategy to business objectives.

Information and Technology Management (on-ground only)

This concentration gives students specialized knowledge in enterprise business process integration, enterprise system analysis, enterprise data management and utilization of business intelligence, as well as information systems for small and medium enterprises. SAP software is utilized for a large part of the hands-in instruction, making this concentration very practical for the real0work IT areas. The concentration provides expert training on the full range of SAP products from SAP Netweaver and SAP ERP through SAP Business Suite or SAP Business Objects Solutions. For further details, refer to the detailed SAP instruction sheet.

Marketing

In this concentration, students learn important principles and applications of branding and brand management, how to develop and articulate marketing plan and sales strategy, how to conduct market research, collect and analyze data, and gain in-depth understanding of consumer behaviors in the global context and the impacts of national and geographic cultures.

Management and Leadership

This concentration is design to provide students with theoretical and practical management knowledge and to prepare them to become skilled and effective in managing and leading any type of organization. Among the many benefits of this concentration is that students will become aware about their own leadership style and gained skills for developing leadership skills in others.

Students may choose their career paths from a variety of areas, including Retail, General Management, Sustainable Management and Development, Human Resources, Marketing and Public Relations, Organizational management, International Business Relations, or Entrepreneurship.

Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Industry Management

With this concentration, students learn the structure, legal and regulatory issues related to the industry, management of the pharmaceutical product life cycle and the clinical research process, as well as essential marketing and sales operation concepts and skills needed to operate business within the industry.

Project Management

With business problems growing more complex and companies implementing projects that span the globe, there is an increased need for effective project management. Organizations in every industry need project managers to lead each phase of a project to ensure a project meets business goals in a timely, cost-efficient manner.

Students who complete this concentration will have the skills and knowledge companies in just about every industry seek. Project managers are in higher demand due to more corporations turning to a project-based approach to meeting goals and assigning responsibilities. According to The Project Management Institute (PMI®), an estimated 1.2 million project management posts will open each year through 2016. The average annual earnings of a full-time project manager are $108,000, based on PMI® Project Management Salary Survey, Ninth Edition, 2015.

This concentration deepens a person’s understanding of important subjects, cultivates professional skills, and may widen job opportunities as degree holders will meet more minimal education requirements.

No Concentration Option

Students sometimes have career goals which align with more than one functional concentration or more than one industry segment.  Employers support this graduate preparation in roles such as individual contributors or business overview positions involving a broad expertise in operations, execution or strategy.  In such cases, students can discuss with their academic advisor and/or the program director to complete the program with a diverse set of concentration courses.  If approved, they may complete 12 units from amongst the courses offered for the other MBA concentrations with approval from their Academic Advisor. Students who choose this option will not have a specific concentration noted on their record upon graduation.

Program Learning Outcomes/Goals

Learning Outcome 1: Practice professional business skills and apply critical thinking skills in the context of an ethical and multicultural business workplace.

Learning Outcome 2: Demonstrate competence in interpersonal, oral, written, and technological skills in an individual and multicultural team environment.

Learning Outcome 3: Apply business knowledge and skills in the context of the overall dynamics of organizations.

Learning Outcome 4: Be able to make ethical and socially responsible decisions in business scenarios.

Learning Outcome 5: Demonstrate competence in interpersonal, oral, written, and technological skills in an individual and multicultural team environment.

Program-Specific Admission Requirements

1. GPA: Applicants need to meet one of the following GPA requirements:
   1. Overall Bachelor’s GPA is 2.75 or above or
   2. Overall Bachelor’s GPA is between 2.60 and 2.75, plus Minimum five (5) years professional work experience, or
   3. Minimum GPA of 2.75 in the last 60 units of coursework (include graduate work) completed, or
   4. An accredited master’s degree with overall GPA 3.0 or above
2. Resume
3. Recommendations: Encouraged but not required
4. Personal essay: A 1 to 2 page personal essay describing the following is required:
   1. A brief autobiographical statement including future professional plans the professional organizations to which you belong and honors, activities and other creative accomplishments.
5. English Proficiency (international applicants):
   1. CSML will admit students with IELTS score of 6.0 with no individual band score below 5.5 (TOEFL IBT 75, PTE 50). Students can start their academic program immediately on entry into their program. 
   2. CSML will conditionally admit students with IELTS score 5.5-5.9 with no individual band score below 5.5 (TOEFL IBT 60, PTE 42). Students will start in an English program and upon successful completion will start their academic program
   3. Students with IELTS scores 5.0-5.4 (TOEFL 45, PTE 36) will be admitted to a full ESL program. Upon successful completion of the ESL program, they will start their academic programs.

Final admissions decision will be made by the Program Faculty.

Note that students may apply for admission in the final year of their undergraduate program if they are confident they will meet the admission requirements above upon completion of their Bachelor’s degree. A completed Bachelor’s degree, with appropriate GPA, is required to remain enrolled after admission.

Internship, Practicum, and/or Dissertation Information

Students will have the option to take a capstone course or participate in the internship option as part of their culminating learning experience within the program. The Internship option is designed to develop professional practice related skills in student’s area of specialization through a variety of work experiences which could involve independently conducted projects in professional settings or an internship. This is designed to provide students with in depth supervised practical learning experiences. The Internship option should be chosen by international students after in one (1) academic year in the MBA program. Contact the International Students Office for details in case you want to do the internship prior to completion of one (1) academic year.

Credit Units

Total Credit Units: 36

Total Core Credit Units: 24

Total Elective Credit Units: N/A

Total Concentration Credit Units: 12

Prerequisite Courses

The following two (2) prerequisite courses are required for students without a business major:

• ACT5000 - Financial and Managerial Accounting (3 units)  
• ECO5000 - International Economics and Trade (3 units)  

Emphasis/Concentration/Track Requirements

Curriculum Plan

Gainful Employment

For important information about the educational debt, earnings, and completion rates of students who attended this program, please visit https://www.alliant.edu/media/gainful-employment-disclosure/Master_Business_Administration.html.