MBA Programs

This is a guide by Online MBA.

The majority of MBA degree programs offers an array of subject matter as many of the students are already in the work force and need just a bit more education to meet their goals. Students from different industries and at different levels of their careers can be taking the same courses for different reasons. This in the main reason that during the first year basic general business and finance subjects are at the top of the list.

The first year curriculum offers three main core classes with a variety of topics. The topics for the first quarter include competitive strategy with topics such as strategic thinking and planning and analyzing value creation, financial reporting and analysis topics including financial statements and measurement and reporting issues, corporate finance including capital budgeting and capital structure, marketing strategy with topics such as market definition and customer analysis, and statistics for business Decisions offering topics like forecasting models and methods of quality improvement.

The second quarter of the first year, student core classes will include applied strategy business consulting project covering such topics as defining project scope and presentation skills, leading teams and organizations with topics like effective groups and leadership in organizations, microeconomic analysis topics including consumer theory and monopoly, and information for decision making and performance evaluation covering topics like relevant costs for decision making and budgeting and performance evaluation.

The third quarter of the first year has students covering classes including global strategic management with topics like sources of competitive advantage and analyzing value creation, operations and supply chain management topics like capacity planning and inventory management, decision support models covering topics such as linear programming and simulation, and leadership development topics including business communication and conflict resolution.

During the fourth quarter of the first year, students will delve into courses such as advanced marketing strategy, foundations of finance, finding your voice, foundations of international business, and foundation of entrepreneurship.

During the second year of the MBA program, students can expect only core course and the rest chosen courses in their specialized field or career. The two core courses are ethical leadership and decision making with topics such as ethical decision-making and corporate social responsibility and analysis of global economic conditions and topics being international trade and monetary and fiscal policies.

Specialization is the key during the second year in which students will chose topics in their specialized field. A few examples of the specialized fields and topics covered are below:

• Accounting: introduction to financial statement analysis, trading strategy
• Business Communications: business communications for Managers, and women at the top
• Business Economics: financial markets and international finance and investments
• Entrepreneurship: venture creation and managing growth as well as social entrepreneurship
• Finance: foundations of finance and international financial management
• Information Systems: Web 2.0 & the new economy and foundations of international business
• Management: leadership, managing effectively across cultures, and successful negotiations
• Marketing: strategies, development of new products, and research marketing decisions
• Operations Management: global logistics management, project management, and supply chain management
• Quantitative Methods: forecasting models in business and modeling with spreadsheets

Most MBA programs in order successfully complete all degree requirements require students to complete two international perspective activities and three practical experience activities.

The international perspective can be completed by studying abroad, joining an international study tour, or completing an international focused internship. The goals of the international perspective are to provide students with a global point of view.

Practical experiences are often seen in the way of summer internships, which include working with a company or organization on a specific project. The goal of the practical experience is to provide students with hands on exposure to actual company situations.