Master of Business Administration (MBA) Program

Total Credits: 30 Semester Credit Hours

Length: 12 months

Students begin a new course at each start date, completing two courses at a time, except during the first and last four weeks of the program.

Description:

The Master of Business Administration (MBA) program equips students with essential skills in business innovation and creativity, economics, finance, marketing and capstone project blending foundational theories with practical applications. Focused on strategic thinking and adaptability, the curriculum addresses current challenges and models, empowering students to lead and drive change in today’s dynamic business landscape. Ideal for those seeking advanced leadership capabilities, the program fosters impactful, practical insights for personal and professional growth.

Program Learning Outcomes

The MBA program is designed to achieve specific learning outcomes that ensure students not only acquire advanced business knowledge but also develop critical thinking, leadership, and practical skills.
The key learning outcomes are:

Strategic Thinking: Develop the ability to think strategically and make decisions that align with organizational goals.

Leadership and Teamwork: Cultivate leadership skills and the ability to work effectively in teams.

Analytical Skills: Enhance analytical and problem-solving skills through quantitative and qualitative analysis.

Communication: Improve business communication skills, including writing, presenting, and negotiating.

Effective Information Management Abilities: This competency emphasizes skills in organizing, analyzing, and applying information to make informed decisions with abilities to identify reliable data sources, synthesizing diverse data sets, and leveraging technology to access, analyze store information.

Ethical Decision-Making: Promote ethical decision-making and corporate social responsibility.

Global Perspective: Develop a global perspective on business operations and strategy.

Program Structure

The rigorous and dynamic curriculum of the MBA is designed to afford students mastery in the academic disciplines and applied functional areas critical for business success today. The program is made up of ten (10) courses, incorporating nine (9) core courses, and one (1) Capstone Project as shown in the following diagram.

Course Descriptions

Students must complete all ten (10) courses to earn the RCU MBA degree.

Strategic Management (3 semester credits)

In today’s business environment, it is critical to understand fundamental business-level strategies for deploying resources, and the role of corporate-level strategies in setting the activities and boundaries of the firm and its strategies for competing internationally, as well as the challenges associated with implementing such strategies.

Strategic management is the continuous planning, monitoring, analysis, and assessment of all that is necessary for an organization to meet its goals and objectives. The course examines how managers effectively analyze the internal and external environment in which the organization competes and identifies key resources and capabilities that can be leveraged to create a competitive advantage.

As expectations regarding the role of business in society continue to shift, managers must be aware of salient objectives that extend beyond increasingly dated notions of maximizing shareholder value. This course introduces students to these and other related strategy activities and provides them with the tools necessary to analyze the relevant elements of the business environment and develop effective management strategies.

Marketing Management (3 semester credits)

The Marketing Management course examines marketing from a value proposition perspective; helping learners understand marketing, along with the processes through which organizations analyze, plan, and implement marketing programs. Marketing is critical for the long-term success of any organization because this function ensures that it attracts, retains, and grows customers by creating, delivering, and communicating superior customer value. Students will learn about the marketing process and the range of marketing decisions that an organization must undertake to sell its products and services.

Cross-Cultural Management (3 semester credits)

Cross-cultural management is necessary to give the student exposure to definitions and concepts of culture and cross-culture interactions in an increasingly connected and global environment. It also provides an in-depth view of communication across culture, negotiation across culture, the dimension of managerial style influenced by culture, the leadership across culture, and motivation across culture, which are key areas in business management.

In this course, the student will be able to understand how to manage all differences and attempt to minimize gaps across cultures in business interactions across cultures.

Finance for Managerial Decision Making (3 semester credits)

Managers must have a basic understanding of finance to be effective. The Finance for Managerial Decision-Making course helps students to internalize the concepts and theories of corporate finance that underlie the techniques offered as aids for the understanding, evaluation, and resolution of financial management problems. This course covers the building blocks of financial management that are of primary concern to managers, and all the considerations needed to make financial decisions both inside and outside the organization. The focus is on how to read financial statements, the benefits of financial forecasting, and understand issues related to cash flows of organizations, stock valuations, securities markets, derivatives, hedging, dividend policy, and assessment of risk. Also discussed are ways to optimize an organization’s working capital, as well as the motives and implications of mergers and acquisitions.

Project Management (3 semester credits)

The Project Management course introduces students to the concepts and skills of project management. As business managers or leaders, project management knowledge and skills will contribute significantly to the competencies and performance in the context of managing and leading organizations. Students will learn how to critically examine projects to determine the applications, tools, and techniques to use in the planning process to achieve the desired outcomes. The full processes from the concept stage until project closure including documentation will be covered in this course.

Human Resource Management (3 semester credits)

Human Resource Management (HRM) is best defined as “the policies, practices, systems, and work culture that influence employee’s behavior, attitudes, and performance.” This course is designed to acquaint students with best practices for leveraging the competitive value of human resources in organizations. Students who intend to pursue a career in management must be concerned with the concepts and techniques needed to carry out the complicated “people” aspect of their jobs. HRM is an essential component of every organization’s success. This course is designed to provide both a conceptual and pragmatic understanding of the Human Resource functions including, Developing and Implementing Human Resource Plans, Diversity and Multiculturism, Recruitment and Selection, Compensation and Benefits, Talent Retention and Motivation, Learning and Development, Occupational Safety and Health.

Business Innovation and Creativity (3 semester credits)

Innovation and creativity are central to achieving business growth and competitiveness. However, success requires having good ideas, along with the capability to manage the process of innovation and entrepreneurship. The Business Innovation and Creativity course assists students in understanding how creativity and innovation promote sustainable business. Students will explore the application of creative problem-solving and the process of creativity and innovation with an emphasis on the role of team leadership and management and their influence on corporate culture. Additionally, students will become familiar with the tools and processes that businesses use to recognize opportunities, find resources, develop ventures, and create value from their business ideas through the review and analysis of relevant case studies.

Business Ethics and Corporate Governance (3 semester credits)

This course examines ethical issues and responses of enterprises to social demands and expectations about responsible business behavior. It outlines the current discussion, dilemmas, and trends regarding corporate responsibility, regulation, and corporate governance. In particular, it considers changes in regulations and societal expectations about the role of the modern corporation, outlines the need for redefining the purpose of the business, and examines strategies for aligning the enterprise with societal demands.

Business Research Methodology (3 credits)

An understanding of business research methodology is needed for sound, evidence-based managerial decision-making. Increasingly, it is becoming an essential and valuable skill for business managers and leaders. This course equips students with the skills to both prepare for and undertake business research systematically and effectively. The course covers the necessary skills and requirements for research problem identification, literature review, research processes, qualitative and quantitative data interpretation, research ethics compliance, as well as how to complete a research proposal.

Capstone Project (3 credits)

The Capstone Project bridges academic study, professional experience, and personal business and management interests in the culmination of the MBA journey. It is designed to put theory into practice, by researching a personally meaningful and strategic business question and conducting analysis using the skills and knowledge gained from the MBA program. The Capstone Project enables students to synthesize the information learned from their MBA program, serving as an opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of business principles and practices, as well as the program learning outcomes. Students are empowered to choose a personally relevant topic, conduct research, and undertake data collection and analysis. Students will submit a written report and complete a presentation of their project and findings.