Presidents MBA Course Schedule

MBAK 611. Leadership Challenges for Company Presidents and Senior Executives (4)

This course is designed to enhance senior leadership performance. The course begins with the effective executive workshop, in which a learning community is established. Drawing on established research and theory in behavioral science, the following topics are emphasized: personal presence and self-understanding, interpersonal competence, power and influence, team formation and facilitation competencies, and organizational cultural diagnosis. Students experience interpersonal, interpersonal, and group dynamics. Leadership style as a determinant of culture, quality and productivity is addressed. Organization culture is investigated as it applies to the implementation of business strategy, making extrapolations regarding the efficacy of a culture to achieve the organization's vision and mission.

MBAK 614. Creating the Future Through Leading Organizational Change (2)

The course pursues principles and concepts of business visioning and change management methods. It addresses leadership competencies to diagnose organizational culture, design change, and create plans for implementing a desired future. It also examines leadership qualities and styles as they impact the manager's effectiveness in addressing continual organizational change.

MBAK 681. Behavior Research Project (2)

In this first integrative experience, the student must design, present, and initiate a strategic research project that continues throughout the program duration.

MBAK 617 Understanding Markets and How to Reach Them (4)

The course examines the theoretical and conceptual underpinnings of contemporary marketing practice and concludes with the student developing a marketing plan for their chosen organization. Special emphasis is placed on developing sustainable skills leading to long-term success while practicing marketing in an ethical manner in a globally competitive and rapidly evolving environment.

MBAK 684 Marketing Research Project (2)

The student continues work on the strategic research project, primarily focusing on collecting and analyzing data as part of their effort to recommend actions that will improve organizational performance.

MBAK 698 Contemporary Issues in Executive Leadership (1)

This course will provide students with the opportunity to study specific contemporary issues or topics relevant to executive business leaders. The class will be conducted seminar style and provide opportunities for reflection, problem solving and in-depth discussions. This course may be repeated as content changes.

MBAK 615 Strategic Issues in Corporate Accounting and Finance (4)

The course explores accounting data available to executives and the use of financial statements as tools for coordinating and evaluating managerial decisions. It will cover capital budgeting, ratio analysis, and other decision modeling tools. The course also examines means of raising capital in the global financial marketplace; enterprise valuation using tools such as market multiples and free cash flow and enhancement of stakeholder value; mergers, acquisitions, and other means of growth; financial ethics; and corporate compliance.

MBAK 616 Industry Analysis and Performance Forecasting (4)

The course analyzes how firms perform in different market structures and industrial settings. Students will investigate new industrial paradigms, generate alternative scenarios, and extract the implications for the development of the company’s strategic business model. The focus then shifts to the contemporary macroeconomic environment and its interface with opportunities and threats in the evolving technological, socio-cultural, political-legal-regulatory and demographic environments of global business. As the course concludes, students are expected to apply this theoretical and conceptual knowledge to the management of their organizations.

MBAK 623 International Business (3)

The course focuses on the integration of managerial decision-making skills in a global setting and includes an international visit. Preparation requires the student to draw on previous course work. Participants will meet with business, government, and community leaders as well as visit commercial and industrial facilities. The impact of diverse economic, political, social, and ethical factors on global business management is examined. In meeting a required cross-cultural academic deliverable, the students will apply integrated concepts and tools from their completed courses.

MBAK 682 Finance and Accounting Research Project (2)

The student continues work on the strategic research project, primarily focusing on collecting and analyzing data as part of their effort to recommend actions that will improve organizational performance.

MBAK 683 Economics Research Project (2)

The student continues work on the strategic research project, primarily focusing on collecting and analyzing data as part of their effort to recommend actions that will improve organizational performance.

MBAK 618 Generating and Analyzing Strategic Options (5)

The course integrates and extends what has been learned throughout the program by developing strategy formulation skills. The process occurs at business, corporate, industry, and global strategy levels of analyses, culminating in the development of the grand strategy. Topics such as strategic alliances, joint ventures, and competitive and collaborative choices inform the class discussions. The course continues by requiring that students consider the relationship between strategy and organizational structure. Students are sensitized to the design issues and dynamic processes for bringing about effective implementation of strategy. Options for organizational structures (e.g., the virtual corporation) used to build core competencies are examined as ways that organizations can intersect with the future and anticipate and prepare for change are discussed.

MBAK 624 Strategic Thinking (1)

The course provides participants an understanding of what strategy is, different approaches to conceptualizing and characterizing strategy, and ways to generate added economic value in highly competitive environments. Cases from a variety of businesses and from participant experiences are used to develop a critical sensitivity to the firm and its environment.

MBAK 685 Strategic Research Project (2)

The student continues work on the strategic research project in this course, primarily focusing on collecting and analyzing data as part of their effort to recommend actions that will improve organizational performance. The Strategic Research Project involves creating and evaluating options, selecting a strategy, and outlining the implementation plan. Students present an oral overview of a refined version of their strategic projects. Students are required to complete the research project prior to graduation. Their progress is monitored during the course.