Emerging Leaders MBA Curriculum

 

Overview

Today, organizations don’t have time for on-the-job training. They want graduates who can hit the ground running and bring real and lasting value to the organization. Our curriculum is designed to best prepare you for the next phase of your career. 

FOUNDATION Courses (Five courses)

Waivers are available for all Foundation courses that earned a grade of 3.0 or better, taken at an approved institution within the last five years. 
 

GR521 Managerial Statistics

This course covers basic statistical techniques in a managerial setting featuring case studies and conceptual exercises. Statistical topics include effective use of numerical and graphical summaries, estimation and confidence intervals, hypothesis testing and regression. A few more advanced topics such as data mining, the Bayesian paradigm and principles of model building may be encountered during projects.

GR522 Economic Environment of the Firm

This course examines managerial decision making from an economic standpoint. The first half (microeconomics) explores how prices, wages, and profits are determined in market economies; the advantages and disadvantages of unfettered competition; and the impact of government intervention on market outcomes. The second half (macroeconomics) investigates the factors influencing Gross Domestic Product, interest rates, unemployment, inflation, and growth; the causes of the business cycle; the role of the federal government and the Federal Reserve in stabilizing the economy; the impact of technology on productivity and growth; and the influence of international trade and finance on economic activity.

GR523 Marketing Management

This course covers the processes involved in the creation, distribution and sale of products and services, and explores the tasks and decisions facing marketing managers. It focuses on market and competitive analysis, customer behavior, and the design and implementation of marketing strategies in domestic and international markets, including product, price, promotion, distribution and customer service decisions.

GR524 Accounting for Decision Making

The course highlights how managers use cost, cash flow and financial reporting information in their decisions. It will introduce the student to (a) purpose of accounting and its role in making business decisions, (b) accounting principles, procedures and judgments underlying corporate financial statements, (c) use, interpretation and limitations of financial statements, (d) use and interpretation of cost accounting data in managerial decision-making, and (e) approaches to identify problems, analyze their financial and managerial implications, and evaluate alternative solutions.

GR525 Financial Statement Analysis for Decision Making

The objective of this course is to provide an applied understanding of the finance concepts and tools of analysis used in measuring firm performance and in making investment decisions that create value. This will be achieved through instructor conferences and the use of cases. The main concepts we will cover are financial statements, ratio analysis, financial planning, the time value of money, capital budgeting, capital structure, the cost of capital and asset valuation.

CORE courses (Eight courses)

The core curriculum provides more than a basic understanding of business. You will develop skills in strategic thinking, learn the value of technology through hands-on experience in high-tech labs, and study effective communication in dynamic team projects.  

GBE790 Global Business Experience

Global Business Experiences are faculty-led, 10 day to two week courses that offer an intensive look at business or cultural practices in a country abroad. These courses are usually offered in January during semester break, in March during Spring Break or in May at the start of the summer semester. Students visit companies daily and meet with business leaders and government officials to further their global mindset and cultural awareness. Through immersion in the business practices of another region, students gain valuable professional skills and develop a stronger bond with their classmates that will benefit them throughout the remainder of their graduate study. Visit the following page for a listing of sites: http://www.bentley.edu/offices/international-education/global-business-experiences.

GR645 Law, Ethics and Social Responsibility

The course provides an overview of the legal environment of business, with an emphasis on the roles of law, ethics and corporate social responsibility in managerial decision making. The course provides an overview of traditional sources of ethics and ethical conflict. These will ground our students in the legal and ethical framework for the specific areas of law we study throughout the rest of the course. The course then covers the resolution of legal disputes, Constitutional law, torts including product liability, contracts and sales, employment law, intellectual property and environmental concerns. International perspectives on legal issues will also be included in almost every week of the course. We will examine ways in which the internet, including e-commerce and online publications, affects the legal environment of business. The course prepares students to spot legal and ethical issues in business, and to seek expert legal advice where appropriate.

GR735 Corporate Immersion

Corporate Immersion courses focus on solving current business problems with company management. Emphasizes the use of multidisciplinary skills to identify, define, and solve complex issues within the firm. Covers multiple topics including finance, accounting, management, marketing, technology and the law. Helpful to understand technology and cultural idioms. Involves significant group work and the ability to meet tight deadlines. Deliverables may be sequential, but often unrelated and with frequent changes throughout the semester. Need immense curiosity, ability to research, search capability, and experience investigating multiple industries. Emphasizes the ability to use both written and oral skills in formal business presentations to top management. Requires the ability to defend analyses and recommendations under pressure and strict time constraints. Mirrors working conditions and expectations of corporate partner’s employees.

GS601 Strategic Information Management

Provides an enterprise-wide perspective on the role of information technology (IT) in business. The course focuses on the ways that IT supports organizational strategy and enhances business processes. Students learn about internal and external information exchange technologies, management challenges and opportunities, and transnational issues. Examines how companies in a variety of industries use IT to serve customers well, manage operations efficiently, and make better business decisions. Each new IT application entails opportunities and risks. A key theme -- IT as a double-edged sword -- reflects this central challenge: how to maximize the strategic benefits of IT investments, while minimizing the accompanying technical and business risks.

GS602 Business Process Management

Provides a conceptual framework for understanding the fundamentals and characteristics of business processes. To set a solid foundation for accomplishing this aim, reviews the basics of process analysis and introduces process modeling. Included here are various methods of analyzing, measuring and evaluating processes. With these fundamentals in place, explores the concept of the value chain to offer a backdrop for understanding both intra- and interorganizational relationships and the associated dependencies that exist. The last part of the course focuses on how information technology can be used effectively in redesigning processes to improve their overall performance. Students are introduced to the enterprise resource planning system SAP. The course includes a project that focuses on an aspect of business processes.

GS603 Leading Responsibly

Examines the role of managers as ethical and responsible thought leaders, problem solvers and change agents. The complexities of, and challenges associated with, managing and leading change in a rapidly changing, international, diverse and information-based environment are emphasized. Through discussion, case analysis, role playing, decision-making simulations, and experiential exercises, students explore the responsibilities of contemporary business and the complex issues of leading and guiding organizations in a turbulent environment. Students have the opportunity to apply and develop a range of skills - analytical, problem solving, ethical decision making, interpersonal, communication, influencing, negotiation, conflict management, and change-related implementation - in a variety of leadership situations.

GS604 Global Strategy

Focuses on how multinational companies and other firms create and sustain competitive advantage in a highly competitive, networked economy. Students learn about models of competition such as Porter's Five Forces model and D'Aveni's Hyper-Competition. Strategic innovation, the resource-based view of the firm, and new business models are other important topics. Emphasis is placed on formulating strategy at the corporate and business levels and on implementing strategy at all levels of the firm. The macro global environment, ethics, risk management and government regulation are covered. Serves as a capstone course, with discussion of comprehensive, international case studies that require financial analysis. Students use the college's Trading Room for research projects.

GR605D Experiential Project

Course Description Coming Soon.

 

ELECTIVES (Five courses)

Today's young business leaders need both breadth and depth of expertise. Elective courses in the Emerging Leaders MBA program let you pursue a specialty that adds value for a future employer. Choose from eight concentrations: