Program Curriculum

Presidents and Key Executives MBA (PKE MBA)

The 38-unit Presidents and Key Executives MBA (PKE) is a unique MBA program that enhances leadership competencies. It will equip you with knowledge, environmental sensitivity, analytical tools and implementation skills. The program includes a four-day effective executive workshop, a two-day ethics and law session and an eight-day international session held outside the United States. See below for description on breakdown of class projects.

Effective Executive Workshop

Each PKE MBA class begins with a four-day, live-in effective executive workshop. The workshop reviews the entire program and develops working relationships with faculty and other key resources. It presents basic information on management techniques and builds a learning team by developing a shared understanding of specific communications skills. While the privacy and individuality of the students is respected and valued, students are expected to be willing to examine and learn from their own behavior and the behavior of others in the class. Classes will be held at Villa Graziadio.

Business Applications and Strategic Management Project

One of the key requirements for graduation from the PKE MBA program is completion of a series of written projects that include strategy formulation and an implementation document written for the participant's organization. Participants will complete one project in each trimester.

The integrated series of projects is expected to demonstrate the participant's mastery of program content. Students are expected to reflect a capacity in crafting and implementing the strategy. The overall exercise is expected to be multi-functional and have long-range implications for the organization's future position and image in the marketplace. Therefore, participants should have access to organizational data such as marketing, manufacturing, financial, and personnel records. The final strategy document must be data-based, they also should include a summary of relevant literature and other reference materials.

A project team of one faculty member and a class advisor will be assigned to each student during the first trimester to ensure the quality of these projects as an effective learning experience.

International Session

This session will involve eight days of travel to a foreign country and onsite company visits. It includes faculty-directed discussions and interactions with business, government, and community leaders. Following identification of the region to be visited, students will be assigned preparatory work. The students will apply integrated concepts and tools from courses in completing a required, graded cross-cultural academic project embracing conditions, strategies, and practices for global business implementation.

Ethics and Law Session

The conduct of business must be grounded in the highest ethics and in full legal conformance. The session offers firsthand experience in issues of morality, ethics, law and criminality. Although the theme of ethics is carried through all courses and activities of the PKE executive education program, the ethics and law session will provide a unique and special learning opportunity for students.

Project Seminar

Students present an oral overview of a refined version of their strategic projects. With the completion of the project and program imminent, faculty feedback in this course focuses on areas of the project that should be strengthened prior to the student's preparation of the final written version of the project report.