MSM/ MBA

The Master of Science in Management Program is an innovative approach to educating today’s graduate business students. The curriculum has a practices-based qualitative focus.

If a student qualifies academically and desires to pursue additional graduate level business courses, upon completing the MSM program, the student may apply to take three additional upper-level graduate courses and receive the MBA degree.

  (6 weeks - 3 semester hours)

This course serves as the foundation for many of the proceeding courses in the program by providing a survey of key management theories and terminology. While contemporary conceptualizations of management are discussed, classical approaches are also examined. Special emphasis is placed on leadership, motivation, culture, team-building, and organizational communication.

  (8 weeks - 4 semester hours)

This course familiarizes students with the economic forces, institutions, and policies that govern the environment in which business operates. Changes in both the national and global economy are explored from a managerial and quality perspective. Topics include opportunity cost, demand and supply, industrial organization, antitrust, deregulation, fiscal and monetary policies, trade policies, and exchange rates.

  (6 weeks - 3 semester hours)

This course develops a conceptual model for ethical decision-making in an organizational context. It relies heavily on the case-study method as real-life business situations are examined for their ethical issues and dilemmas. It attempts to train for the improvement of clarity and consistency in ethical judgments in both personal and professional situations. Special emphasis will be given to analyzing business through the worldview of Christian values. Students write codes of ethics for their organizations and themselves.

  (6 weeks - 3 semester hours)

This course provides participants with tools and techniques to perform data analysis and hypothesis testing in order to make data-based management decisions. Data collected from students’ organizations is used throughout this course to answer practical, “real-world” research questions. Topics include basic statistics, control charts, one-sided mean tests, two-sided mean tests, variance comparison, correlation analysis, and introduction to design of experiments.

  (6 weeks - 3 semester hours)

This course emphasizes technology as a vital tool in managerial decision-making. The learner will be equipped with practical application tools, techniques and theories regarding effective management information systems (MIS) within a Total Quality Management setting. Students will be exposed to a variety of software in the areas of decision support systems (DSS), executive information systems (EIS), database management systems (DBMS), and presentation software.  Project management and systems analysis methods will be thoroughly explored as the learner develops a practical approach to the use of information technology (IT).

  (8 weeks - 3 semester hours)

This is an introductory course in financial accounting for the purpose of learning to use financial statements in the decision-making process. Topics covered include, but are not limited to the following: investments by owners, debt and equity instruments, income statements, distributions to owners, cash and accrual accounting, depreciation, inventory systems, cash flow, and ratio analysis. An annual report project is assigned as an integral part of this course.

  (8 weeks - 3 semester hours)

This is an introduction to the basics of business finance. Topics include breakeven analysis, leverage, short-term financial management, time value of money, cost of capital, capital budgeting, capital structure, bonds, preferred stock, and common stock. These topics will be covered from an introductory viewpoint and will give each student the required foundation necessary to successfully complete an advanced course in this area.

  (6 weeks - 3 semester hours)

This course analyzes the strategic role of the human resource function in relation to the company’s overall objectives. The focus is how the company builds and maintains a work environment conducive to business performance excellence while enabling employees to develop and utilize their full potential. Key topics include employment law, the labor market, human resource planning and costing, HRIS, workforce diversity and EEOC, union/management and compensation systems, health/safety/security, employee rights and discipline, training and development.

  (8 weeks - 4 semester hours)

This course teaches students how to efficiently organize and manage labor, equipment, material, and information systems resources required to deliver products that satisfy customer needs. The course provides business students with the understanding of manufacturing planning and control systems, continuous process improvement techniques, lean manufacturing methods, strategic quality management systems, and other manufacturing practices.

  (6 weeks - 3 semester hours)

This course focuses on the importance of modern organizations being market driven and globally competitive. It examines the role of the marketing function and fundamentals such as market segmentation, targeting, product life cycle, new product planning, distribution strategies, pricing, promotion, forecasting, market analysis, and competitor analysis. Students conduct marketing audits of actual organizations.

  (8 weeks - 4 semester hours)

This integrative course focuses on the formulation of overall organizational policy within a dynamic, global environment. The perspective taken is that of top management, and the key questions are, “What industry are we in?” and “How do we successfully compete in this industry given its characteristics and our strengths?” This course also examines the means by which the aforementioned strategies can be implemented and how to successfully execute the inevitable changes that will accompany them. Special emphasis is placed on motivation and compensation, training, leadership and culture. In addition to examining various theoretical conceptualizations of change, several diagnostic tools will be utilized.

(Required only for those pursuing the MBA Degree)

  (8 wks - 4 semester hrs)
  (Prerequisite: Fundamentals of Financial Accounting or equivalent)

This course is a review of managerial accounting concepts and techniques used by managers in planning, performance evaluation, and decision-making. Topics include, but are not limited to the following: classification of costs, determining costs of products, the study of cost behavior and its application in making business decisions, introduction to capital budgeting, operating budgets, standard costing, and the use of management accounting in evaluating business performance.

This course will integrate many of the financial concepts that today’s managers need to understand. These concepts include capital budgeting, break-even analysis, working capital management, financial instrument valuation, cost of capital, and the risk and return trade-off. Emphasis will be on the application of concepts and techniques in the analysis of cases.

This course provides fundamental knowledge of legal concepts and principles important to business decision-making. Topics include: the legal system, torts and product liability, contracts, agency, forms of business organization, employment law, and government regulation.