Online Masters in Business Administration Program Requirements
(36 credits)
The Online MBA Program requires a core of 30 credit hours of breadth course requirements and six (6) credit hours of elective courses. Students may also be required to take up to an additional 15 credit hours of foundation courses based on their educational and work experience. To enrich the MBA degree, students may take electives in the areas of finance, information systems, risk management, sport management and business analytics.
Breadth Course Requirements
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| PMBA 8000 | Executive Communications 1 | 3 |
| PMBA 8210 | Information Technology Management | 3 |
| PMBA 8220 | Strategic Accounting for Manager | 3 |
| PMBA 8230 | Managerial Economics | 3 |
| PMBA 8240 | Applied Corporate Finance | 3 |
| PMBA 8250 | Operations & Supply Chain Management | 3 |
| PMBA 8260 | Mkt Analysis & Decision Making | 3 |
| PMBA 8270 | Adv. Organizational Behavior | 3 |
| PMBA 8290 | Legal and Ethical Aspects of Management | 3 |
| PMBA 8880 | Strategic Management | 3 |
| Elective Courses | ||
| Students are required to complete 6 semester hours of electives to complete the program requirements. 2 | 6 | |
| Total Credits | 36 | |
- 1
Students are required to take PMBA 8000 as one of the first classes they take in the Breadth of the program.
- 2
Students pursuing a concentration as part of their degree will need to complete 9 semester hours of electives by taking an additional elective.
Foundation Requirements
(15 credits for non-business undergraduates or business undergraduates with outdated course work or course work that did not meet waiver standards)
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| PMBA 8020 | Fundamentals of Accounting | 3 |
| PMBA 8030 | Economic Analysis | 3 |
| PMBA 8040 | Basic Financial Principles | 1.5 |
| PMBA 8051 | Fundamentals of Statistical Analysis | 3 |
| PMBA 8052 | Models and Methods of Operations Management | 1.5 |
| PMBA 8060 | Basic Marketing Principles | 1.5 |
| PMBA 8070 | Management: Theory & Application | 1.5 |
The Master of Business Administration (MBA) –Waiver of Courses
Waiver of Foundation Courses
A waiver of a course from foundation requirements may be granted under the following conditions:
I) PMBA foundation class is waived based on previous undergraduate coursework if:
- Student took the equivalent course less than six years ago and received a grade of B or above.
- Student took the equivalent course more than six years ago and received a grade of B or above and utilizes the knowledge in their professional position on a regular basis, as determined by the Dean's Office.
II) PMBA foundation class is waived upon the proficiency assessment or successful completion of a review short-course if:
- Student took the equivalent course less than six years ago and received a grade of B- or C+.
- Student took the equivalent course more than six years ago and received a grade of B or better.
- Student took the equivalent course more than six years ago and received a grade of B- or C+ and utilizes that specific knowledge in their professional position on a regular basis, as determined by the Dean's Office.
III) PMBA foundation class must be taken if:
- Student has never taken the undergraduate equivalent class.
- Student received below a C+ in the class, regardless of when it was taken.
In all cases, the comparable undergraduate courses must have been taken from an accredited school.
If a student is granted a waiver for any foundation requirements, the student is responsible for a satisfactory level of competency with the representative material. If necessary, the student should review and/or seek tutoring support for the waived material in preparation of advanced courses. Any appeal of a waiver decision based on previous course work must be made to the Dean's Office within the first semester of the program.
MBA Breadth Course Waivers
It is possible for students to substitute an elective for an MBA Breadth course in the following situations, so as not to duplicate course work that may have been done as undergraduates:
- Students who graduated in the last five years as marketing majors and had at least a 3.0 in their marketing courses will not need to take PMBA 8260. In its place, students must take an additional elective from the MBA or MAcc programs.
- Students who graduated in the last five years as accounting majors with at least a 3.0 in their accounting courses will not need to take PMBA 8220. In its place, students must take an additional elective from the MBA or MAcc programs.
- Students who graduated in the last five years with an undergraduate degree in Information Systems/Technology, Computer Science or Electrical Engineering with at least a 3.0 GPA in their major area courses and have at least five years professional experience in IS/IT and strategy, OR for students with a graduate degree in Information Systems/Technology, Computer Science or Electrical Engineering and over five years professional experience in IS/IT and strategy, will not need to take PMBA 8210. In its place, students must take an elective from either the MBA or MAcc program.
Courses and Descriptions
PMBA 8000 Executive Communications 3 Credits
Professionals spend about seventy percent (70%) of their work-time communicating with other people. It is therefore no surprise that, without good communication skills, it is impossible to succeed in one’s workplace. Yet, effective communication skills do not come naturally for most people.
This course aims to prepare you to speak compellingly, write clearly and concisely, listen actively and critically, and persuade others by constructing sound arguments. To that end, we will learn the key aspects of communication: audience analysis, communicator credibility, message construction, and delivery. Deliverables will include written documents and oral presentations, as well as both individual and team presentations.
Importantly, in doing so, you will enhance your leadership potential in your workplace by motivating your colleagues, team, and organization to work toward important goals.
PMBA 8210 Information Technology Management 3 Credits
This course introduces the theory and practice of Information and Communication technologies deployment in organizations. This includes planning, analysis, design, and implementation of computer-based management information systems (MIS). The course emphasizes an understanding of emergent cutting-edge technological phenomena and the effect of information systems on the practice of management.
PMBA 8220 Strategic Accounting for Manager 3 Credits
This course emphasizes the issues encountered by managers regarding performance measurement, incentives, ethics and strategic management accounting tools. Students will learn to recognize ethical issues and apply a code of conduct to those issues, understand the criteria for recognizing revenue, analyze cash flows for investment decisions, compute measures of returns on investments, and understand the uses of a Balance Scorecard in performance evaluation. This course will also cover transfer pricing issues and methods in domestic and international settings, the application of differential analysis to a variety of short-run decisions, and the application of traditional costing methods, activity-based costing, activity-based management, and target costing to products and services. Preparation of a master budget and its role in planning, control, and decision making is also discussed. This course is not open to MAcc students.
Prerequisite(s): PMBA 8020.
PMBA 8230 Managerial Economics 3 Credits
Focuses on using economic methods for making managerial decisions affecting the value of the firm. Topics include demand analysis, production and costs, employment decisions, project evaluation, profit-volume analysis and pricing strategies under a variety of settings. The course emphasizes integration between economics, accounting, and finance.
Prerequisite(s): Completion of MBA pre-program courses.
PMBA 8240 Applied Corporate Finance 3 Credits
This course is designed to further develop the students’ skills through practical application of concepts and tools taught in prior finance courses. Students will learn by solving real-world case studies and learning to communicate clearly their decisions to both sophisticated and lay audiences. The primary method of instruction is the preparation, presentation, and discussion of finance cases. Each case study session will be preceded by lectures and discussion of the main theoretical concepts. The case studies considered will cover a wide range of corporate financial problems including value creation, capital budgeting, capital structure, cost of capital, and mergers and acquisitions. Throughout the course, attention will be given to the international dimensions of the issues and problems presented and discussed.
PMBA 8250 Operations & Supply Chain Management 3 Credits
This course provides MBA students with the current knowledge and practice of operations and global supply chain management. Supply chain management has become one of the most important and talked about topics in business in recent years. Many companies have realized that they can reduce their costs, increase profits, and increase customer satisfaction by improving their supply chain practices. It is also evident that most supply chains extend beyond the borders on the U.S., and consequently, have global components and challenges. This course is designed to prepare students to meet operations and supply chain related challenges in their careers.
Prerequisite(s): Completion of PMBA 8051 and 8052.
PMBA 8260 Mkt Analysis & Decision Making 3 Credits
The purpose of the course is to provide the analytical skills required to understand complex marketing situations in order to develop and implement appropriate marketing strategies. The decision-making processes in the management of product planning, pricing practices, selection of channels of distribution and development of effective promotion programs are investigated. This involves identification and selection of appropriate target markets, the effective use of marketing research and recognition of organizational dynamics. The case approach is used to develop communication skills and further build team skills as students interact with peers in solving problems.
Prerequisite(s): PMBA 8060.
PMBA 8270 Advanced Organizational Behavior 3 Credits
A study of key individual, group, and organizational processes. At the individual level, the focus is on different personalities, job attitudes, and work motivation. The implication of individual factors is then considered in a team context focusing on the processes of communication, influence, conflict, and leadership. Finally, we examine the impact of organizational culture and change on workplace behavior. In order to integrate the individual, group, and organizational levels of study, the course emphasizes a team-based approach to learning.
Prerequisite(s): PMBA 8070.
PMBA 8290 Legal and Ethical Aspects of Management 3 Credits
The purpose of this course is to prepare students to meet the legal, ethical, and regulatory challenges and opportunities they will encounter as they conduct business as managers and entrepreneurs. To excel, managers and entrepreneurs must recognize that the law is important to firm success and that they must always consider the legal ramifications of their business decisions. Students will learn how to identify legal and ethical issues before they become legal problems and how to communicate and work collaboratively with legal counsel. The course begins with an overview of business ethics and social responsibility and goes on to cover the U.S. court system and the laws of contracts, torts, and intellectual property. The course covers corporate governance issues including the fiduciary duties of officers, directors, and controlling shareholders, public and private offerings of securities, and securities fraud. Environmental regulation, product quality, legal aspects of the employment relationship (as they relate to the liability of the corporation and managers for the acts of their employees), wrongful termination, discrimination, and sexual harassment will also be covered.
Prerequisite(s): Completion of MBA pre-program courses.
PMBA 8303 International Business Study Tour 3 Credits
This course provides a cross-cultural perspective for conducting business outside of the United States. Students will gain a better appreciation of how culture, history, and politics influence organizational dynamics, transactions and business customs.
Prerequisite(s): Completion of MBA pre-program courses.
PMBA 8312 Business Intelligence Tech-Data Mining 3 Credits
In this course, students will learn to solve problems/exploit opportunities by processing datasets, interpreting results, and deploying solutions. This course provides hands-on experience with these tasks. Upon this base of experience, students will build a robust data mining methodology that can be applied to real-world investigations. The course of study will include Online Analytical Processing (OLAP), statistical and machine learning techniques, and unstructured text analysis. Students will learn to apply these techniques through the study of payroll, procurement, and expense report fraud. Cell phone and credit card fraud, credit and bankruptcy analysis, and customer relationship management will also be covered.
PMBA 8313 Electronic Commerce 3 Credits
Electronic commerce involves the use of information technology to improve, enhance, simplify or enable business transactions. This course examines such business, social, and technical issues of electronic commerce as the technology of the Internet, effective system strategies to attract and maintain customers, security, and electronic payment systems.
Prerequisite(s): Completion of MBA pre-program courses.
PMBA 8314 Project Management 3 Credits
In our complex world of global economies and pervasive technology, change is constant. It is a persistent challenge to manage this change. It is the body of knowledge that is project management that helps managers address this change. This course will introduce students to project management for a variety of disciplines. The methods and techniques taught will be applicable not only to software development, but to any series of tasks that could constitute a project. The course content will cover the identification, approval, and management of complex projects. Various project management tools, techniques, and approaches will be covered.
PMBA 8317 Applied Data Management for Business Users 3 Credits
Learn the benefits of data sharing in a business organization , the benefits of the relational database model, how data is structured in a relational database model, and how data can be accessed in a relational database using the structured query language (SQL). The process of formatting, loading, and accessing data for data analytics will be shown as well as the interaction with data warehouse schemas such as the star schema and snowflake scheme.
PMBA 8325 Enterprise Risk Management 3 Credits
This course explores current issues and world-class practices of risk management at an organizational level. Emphasis will be placed on the overall risk management cycle of identifying, assessing, responding and managing strategic, reputational, financial and operational risks using contemporary risk management tools.
PMBA 8343 Investment Instruments and Strategies 3 Credits
Principles of investment analysis and portfolio management. Includes analysis of stocks and fixed income securities, mutual funds, international investing, margin trading and short sales, convertibles, stock options and financial futures. Hedging strategies, market forecasting and tax advantaged investments are also discussed. Makes considerable use of problems to illustrate concepts.
Prerequisite(s): Completion of PMBA 8040.
PMBA 8345 International Financial Management 3 Credits
The techniques of multinational financial management are developed for enterprises that do business in more than one country and/or have assets and liabilities denominated in more than one currency. The management of foreign exchange and country risks is applied to working capital, capital budgeting, and capital structure decisions.
Prerequisite(s): Completion of PMBA 8040.
PMBA 8349 Personal Financial Planning 3 Credits
This course provides a background and an appreciation of the fundamental concepts and processes associated with Personal Financial Management. Various technical elements that are part of the study for a Certified Financial Planner certification will be covered including risk management, investments, tax planning, retirement planning, employee benefits, and estate planning.
Prerequisite(s): Completion of PMBA 8040 or any MAcc student with PMBA 8020 completed.
PMBA 8371 Human Resource Management 3 Credits
This course is an introduction to the field of human resource management (HRM). The goal is to provide students with an understanding of current corporate HR practices. Common HR problems and the tools and procedures for dealing with them will be discussed. Contemporary topics such as strategic HR planning, international staffing, career planning, workforce diversity, work/family balance, and work motivation will be examined. EEO guidelines and their implications for human resource functions will be discussed as well. A combination of conceptual and experiential approaches include discussions, case studies, exercises, small group activities, and lectures.
Prerequisite(s): PMBA 8070.
PMBA 8383 Entrepreneurship 3 Credits
The course deals with new business venture start-up. Topics include entrepreneurship concepts and characteristics, new venture types and pros/cons, choice of products/services, market study, marketing planning, financing, and business plan preparation. Practical exercises in developing business plans for new business ventures are part of the course.
Prerequisite(s): Completion of MBA pre-program courses.
PMBA 8492 Ethical Issues in International Business 3 Credits
This course is an introduction to identifying, analyzing and resolving ethical dilemmas in both U.S. and international business, including reference to legal and regulatory issues. The course begins with a general introduction to ethics, considers ethical issues connected with the economic, legal and regulatory systems within which modern business takes place and heavily emphasizes contemporary cases that illustrate a wide range of ethical issues, including cases resulting in civil and criminal litigation. The primary focus of this course will be ethics in the international business environment. Most of the readings and discussion board topics, the group case studies and the individual research paper will have an international focus.
Prerequisite(s): Completion of MBA pre-program courses.
PMBA 8880 Strategic Management 3 Credits
This course provides an understanding of the strategic management process. Students will analyze and discuss concepts and cases relating to strategic management, make strategic decisions for a hypothetical company in the online computer simulation project, and develop a detailed action plan to resolve a hypothetical business situation. This course will cover the analysis of the strategic process of studying and forecasting the external environment of the firm, assessing the present and future enterprise strengths and weaknesses, setting enterprise goals with recognition of personal and societal goals, and evaluating performance and progress toward those goals. Provides the student with an integrated view of the functional decisions and corporate strategy.
Prerequisite(s): All other MBA breadth courses.
PMBA 8902 Independent Studies in Business Administration 3 Credits
Involves a program determined by the individual faculty member and approved by the program director. Written assignments are required as part of this rigorous academic experience. Students are eligible for a maximum of one independent elective and should have completed at least three breadth courses prior to the start of the independent study.
Prerequisite(s): Completion of MBA pre-program courses and permission of the Dean.
PMBA 8905 Internship 1-3 Credits
In order to supplement in-class learning with practical training, an internship may be taken for up to three elective credits. The internship may not be performed at a student’s current employer. An internship may only be taken if the student has been enrolled for at least one full academic year and, during the semester they receive credit for the internship, the student is taking at least three graduate-level classes (including the internship course). The course will be supervised by a full-time faculty member and will follow a structure similar to that of an independent study. Course grades will be determined by evaluations from the student's on-site supervisor, as well as the sponsoring faculty member.
Prerequisite(s): Completion of MBA pre-program courses and permission of the Dean.