Master of Business Administration

This general concentration allows you to select from dozens of different concentration courses offered within this program, enabling you to create your own focused area of study.

Students must select 9 semester hours from graduate courses that have the following prefixes and have not already been used to fulfill their degree requirements: ACCT, ANLY, BUSN, DEFM, ECON, ENTR, FINC, HOSP, HRMT, MGMT, MKTG, RLMT, RTMG, SCMG and TLMT.

This general concentration allows you to select from dozens of different concentration courses offered within this program, enabling you to create your own focused area of study.

Offers insight into public, corporate, governmental, and nonprofit accounting, as well as accounting principles used in non-accounting fields and personal life. Addresses concepts, standards, and regulations in preparing, auditing, and analyzing financial statements, budgets, and financial plans. Additional topics include fraud detection, check tampering, and the Internal Revenue Service tax code.

Upon successful completion of this concentration, the student will be able to:

• Apply accounting knowledge into any branch of the accounting profession including public, corporate, governmental, and not-for-profit accounting.
• Identify accounting concepts, standards, and regulations in preparing, auditing, and analyzing financial statements.
• Analyze financial planning, budgeting, and interpretation of financial results.
• Apply accounting principles for non-accounting fields and personal life.

Lays the groundwork to define problems, requirements, stakeholders, and resources used to round up information and break it down to reach a variety of business goals. Explores tools used to process data in various fields, including operation, finance, marketing, and management, as well as complex data models built through compiling a portfolio of templates.

Upon successful completion of this concentration, the student will be able to:

• Define problems, requirements, stakeholders, and resources.
• Use tools to process data in various fields such as operations, finance, marketing, and management.
• Build complex data models through the compilation of a portfolio of templates.

The Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Artificial Intelligence (AI) will enhance your understanding of how businesses operate, plan, and manage critical decisions using artificial intelligence (AI). The concentration is a nontechnical focus, designed for business professionals to gain knowledge in AI applications for business operations and strategies for decision making in a swiftly changing domestic and global business environment. The AI concentration aims to provide a comprehensive, holistic understanding of how AI technologies can be strategically integrated into various functions of business management. *No prior coding or technological experience is needed.

Upon successful completion of this concentration, the student will be able to:

• Apply a cross-functional approach to integration of AI applications in business.
• Implement best practices for integrating AI responsive to legal requirements and ethical practice, operational workflows, R&D innovation, and analytics-driven decision-making.
• Identify key decision points and strategies for high level decision makers tasked with implementing workplace change in a rapidly changing technological business environment.

The Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Business Project Management enhances your understanding of how businesses evolve, adapt, and maintain an enterprise through project management. Through this concentration, you will be introduced to the theories, concepts, and practices that align with project management. You will develop a skill set to track and monitor projects.

Companies depend on project management to stay competitive in developing new offerings, determining the technology needed within the enterprise, updating processes and procedures, and implementing projects for customers.

The concentration is designed for business professionals and military personnel looking to gain knowledge in project management within the business environment.

Upon successful completion of this concentration, the student will be able to:

• Evaluate how to properly monitor a project.
• Articulate why a project needs to align with the organization’s strategic plan.
• Analyze the project costs and actuals.
• Create a risk management plan.
• Build a project schedule that integrates the various parts of the project to define the critical path.
• Integrate the various parts of the project to determine the health of the project through cost/schedule metrics.
• Articulate the ethical and legal aspects of project management.
• Analyze the various business tools used to define quality control and quality assurance.

As defined by industry standards, cybersecurity is the “function of protecting the integrity of data, networks, and programs from unauthorized access, damage, and theft” and as such opens up a field of study that involves course work in areas such as data management, network management, disaster recovery, intrusion protection, computer crime, and many others. Strengthening IT infrastructures and early detection and prevention of attacks is of utmost importance. Recent efforts at cybersecurity legislation have not been as efficacious as needed to fulfill the market growth in this area, leaving a shortage of qualified candidates. Students will learn the business aspects of cybersecurity as cybercrime, cyber terrorism, cyber espionage and cyber-attacks of mammoth levels have led Cybersecurity to become a national priority.

Upon successful completion of this concentration, the student will be able to:

• Develop strategies and plans for security architecture consisting of tools, techniques, and technologies to detect and prevent network penetration, and to design effective cybersecurity countermeasures.
• Analyze network designs, topologies, architectures, protocols, communications, administration, operations, and resource management for wired, wireless, and satellite networks that affect the security of the telecommunications within a business environment.
• Compare and contrast various Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery Planning models.
• Assess vulnerabilities in telephony, short messaging service (SMS), cellular data networks, and in Voice over IP (VoIP).
• Assess the application of data mining and artificial intelligence techniques in intrusion detection and prevention.

The Master of Business Administration with a concentration in DoD Program Management enhances your understanding of the strategic process of the DoD acquisition cycles and the responsibilities of the program manager throughout that process. Through this concentration, you will be introduced to the theories, concepts, and practices to establish a federal government program. You will learn how DoD programs differ from civilian programs and projects.

The concentration is designed for federal employees and military personnel looking to enhance their knowledge of the acquisition cycle and program management within the military and federal government.

Upon successful completion of this concentration, the student will be able to:

• Analyze the fundamentals of defense systems acquisition management.
• Evaluate the diverse, interrelated and changing nature in the different disciplines of defense systems acquisition management.
• Analyze the regulations and governing structures of defense systems acquisition management.
• Define the role of projects and project management.
• Create a project charter, a scope statement, a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM).
• Explain key elements of a communication plan to keep stakeholders abreast of progress, problems, and controls.
• Describe the steps required to plan a project.
• Explain the key features of an Executive Program Manager’s role in today’s workforce.
• Demonstrate the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities to be a successful executive in today’s government contracting and acquisition organizations.
• Create an Executive level action plan for practical and measurable government contracting and acquisition policy and procedures changes.
• Create explain the role and pitfalls of ethics in executive decision making.

Provides a foundation for developing skills and knowledge related to a variety of topics related to meeting and event planning and management. Courses focus on event coordination, risk management, leadership, budgeting, financial management, and legal issues related to meeting and event planning and management.

Upon successful completion of this concentration, the student will be able to:

• Structure an event plan that identifies goals and objectives as well as potential challenges and security risks.
• Develop a budget for an event to maximize return on investment (ROI)
• Apply best practices of successful companies to an event plan.
• Identify potential risks for an event and develop a mitigation plan.

The Finance concentration covers a variety of financial subjects relevant to business management, commercial and investment banking, and government finance. Course topics in this concentration include security markets, commercial bank management, investment valuations, portfolio management, capital budgets, and the finance theory and analytical tools used to resolve financial problems and make effective judgments.

Upon successful completion of this concentration, the student will be able to:

• Apply skills and expertise in various financial areas, such as risk management, portfolio construction, financial statement analysis, new venture financing, and global finance.
• Demonstrate a deep understanding of international finance, global currencies, market data, cross-border transactions, and investment opportunities.
• Evaluate financial data and present information in an effective manner for organizational financial decision-making.

In the Global Business Management in a Digital World Concentration students examine the current and evolving practices, perspectives, and processes engaged in the global digital environment from both a macro- and micro-level. Subject matter focus includes economic, legal, ethical, technological, and operational perspectives of decision making in an ever-changing global marketplace.

Upon successful completion of this concentration, the student will be able to:

• Explore the intricacies of digital transformation on a global scale, including use of digital technologies, their impact on various industries, and the challenges and opportunities they present for businesses operating in different parts of the world.
• Analyze the strategies employed by multinational corporations and global startups to navigate the complexities of the digital landscape, considering factors such as market entry strategies, finance, digital marketing approaches, and supply chain optimization in a global context.
• Examine the ethical implications, legal frameworks, and challenges of transactions and management of cultural diversity in the international business environment, including digital business practices relating to intellectual property rights, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, personnel management, corporate social responsibility, and sustainability in an increasingly digitally connected world.
• Explore best practices for operational management in global digital environments, including supply chain management, logistics optimization, and cross-cultural collaboration, to enhance efficiency and competitiveness in the global marketplace.
• Apply theories of international finance to construct strategies for mitigating financial risk and maximizing return for businesses operating in different parts of the world.

The concentration in Global Supply Chain Management equips students with an overview of the strategic knowledge and practical skills necessary for the dynamic supply chain industry. Through a curriculum blending theory with real-world applications, students delve into the intricacies of managing risk, logistics, operations, and distribution channels to optimize organizational efficiency and enhance competitive advantage.

Upon successful completion of this concentration, the student will be able to:

• Demonstrate an overall knowledge of different supply chain management areas, including capacity planning, demand management, order management, warehouse management, and transportation.
• Identify global supply chain management best practices.
• Explain how to improve the operational efficiencies of a supply chain.
• Classify supply chain solutions using problem-solving risk management analysis.

Addresses the necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to be successful in today’s contract management industry, including government contracting within federal agencies or military and civilian defense establishments. Topics include FAR requirements, unallowable costs, new acquisition regulations, contract reforms, project management, and risk management.

Upon successful completion of this concentration, the student will be able to:

• Explain the elements of cost in overhead.
• Explain the FAR requirements.
• Explain the general treatment of unallowable costs.
• Analyze the fundamentals of defense systems acquisition management.
• Identify the provision of the New Acquisition Regulations.
• Debate whether contract reforms have increase competition.
• Interpret the nature of and justification for the professional military ethic.
• Investigate the basic ethical problems that defense contract managers must solve.
• Demonstrate the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities to be a successful executive in today's government contracting and acquisition organizations.
• Create an Executive level action plans for practical and measurable government contracting and acquisition policy and procedures changes.
• Demonstrate how executive decision making is conducted for complex major military equipment developments.
• Define the role of projects and project management.
• Assess major schedule, cost, and performance risk elements for managing risks.
• Create a project charter, a scope statement, a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), and Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM).

Discusses strategies for creating efficient and effective organized delivery systems, key metrics to monitor operations, and proper techniques for gathering and analyzing health care performance measurement data. Takes an in-depth look at the financial side of healthcare, including budgets, costs, prices, and profit margins.

Upon successful completion of this concentration, the student will be able to:

• Assess strategies for creating efficient and effective organized delivery systems.
• Create budgets for the purpose of planning.
• Compute costs, prices, and profit margins.
• Use proper techniques for gathering and analyzing healthcare performance measurement data.
• Analyze key metrics to monitor operations.

The Human Resource Management in a Global World concentration compares various managerial approaches to employment law, discussing rewards systems, measurement of employee performance, and other compensation packages. Courses in this concentration will probes policies and procedures involving legislative, regulatory, and organizational issues affecting human resource management in a global workforce. Other course topics include workplace safety and the recruitment, development, and training of human capital.

Upon successful completion of this concentration, the student will be able to:

• Evaluate various laws, rules, regulations, and policies affecting human capital in today’s global workforce.
• Recommend strategic initiatives involving the human resources department that align with the strategic direction of the organization.
• Differentiate individual and group behavior in organizations to increase awareness of the problems and opportunities in managing human resources.

Delves into successful project management for information technology (IT) projects, including evaluation of various system development life cycle (SDLC) models (waterfall, spiral, incremental release, and prototyping) and application of corresponding methods to identify critical checkpoints and reviews. Examines technologies, policies, and practices to ensure security in information systems.

Upon successful completion of this concentration, the student will be able to:

• Evaluate various System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) models.
• Examine strategies to apply technology to enhance productivity in organizations.
• Assess and mitigate risk in Information Technology initiatives.
• Appraise technologies, policies, and practices to assure security in information systems.

Analyzes supply chain management, global and electronic marketing strategies, and ecommerce business opportunities. Probes the development of business, product, and pricing strategies, as well as the creation, execution, and management of business plans for successful entry into business areas. Critical evaluations of websites, web tools, promotions, advertising, selling, and communications are also explored.

Upon successful completion of this concentration, the student will be able to:

• Analyze e-commerce business opportunities and formulate business strategies.
• Analyze global and electronic marketing strategies.
• Develop product and pricing strategies.
• Analyze supply chain management.
• Develop business plans for successful entry to business areas.
• Formulate, execute, and manage global business plans.

The Master of Business Administration degree in Crisis Management (MCM) enhances understanding of how a disaster could impact an organization’s reputation, value, and sustainability, with a focus on its employees, customers, stakeholders, suppliers, and the general public. Business sustainability and competitiveness depend on the stability of resources and the continuity of operations. A clear competitive advantage includes the availability of a business continuity strategy.

The degree is designed for business professionals and military personnel. Through the online Master of Business Administration in Crisis Management, the student will be introduced to the theories, concepts, and practices that align crisis management programs in a comprehensive business plan. Students will develop a skill set for translating problems and crises into solutions for implementation as they learn how to lead organizations through oftentimes complex transformations. Completion of this degree will build management skills at various levels of corporate, government, military, and nonprofit sectors.

Upon successful completion of this concentration, the student will be able to:

• Gain valuable insight on how businesses/organizations can be better prepared to face crises and challenges.
• Evaluate the stages of a crisis management plan and the effectiveness of sustainable initiatives.
• Articulate why any management plan needs to align with the organization’s strategic plan.
• Determine if an organization has the necessary technology and processes in place to ensure the continuity of the business in case of a crisis or disaster.
• Research policies and initiatives and develop performance goals that are strategic and ambitious.
• Build an awareness of AI and sustainability programs already in place within the company.
• Learn how public relations and media sources play a critical role in the crisis response formulation.
• Explore ethical and legal issues included in an organization’s crisis management plan.
• Conduct a post-crisis review when the crisis is no longer the focal point but still requires attention.
• Create an e-portfolio that is representative of the skills learned or enroll in comprehensive exam, to be chosen at the student’s discretion.

Illustrates managerial leadership theories and practical concepts utilized by sports industry professionals in leadership positions. Critiques sport marketing strategies and finance theory and concepts relevant to the sports, fitness, health, and wellness operations. Looks at promotions, public relations, and communications involved in the sports industry.

Upon successful completion of this concentration, the student will be able to:

• Illustrate managerial leadership theories and practical concepts utilized by sports industry professionals in leadership positions.
• Critique sport marketing strategies, economic decision making, and finance theory and concepts relevant to the sport industry.
• Analyze ethical and legal practices in today’s global sports industry.