University Of Southern Nevada

The MBA curriculum consists of six foundation courses and eleven MBA core curriculum courses, for 48 semester credit-hours total.

Students without prior business education must complete the full program of 17 courses (48 credit-hours). Students with prior undergraduate business course work, or who have an undergraduate business degree, may be able to obtain a waiver for some or all of the six MBA foundation courses. In order to graduate, students who are granted waivers are required to satisfactorily complete at least 11 courses (33 credit-hours).

• Class Schedule

  When do classes meet?

  Classes for the PharmD/MBA joint program meet Monday through Friday from 8 am until 3 pm with an hour break for lunch. Courses generally meet four to five days a week.

  Weekend/Evening courses meet Friday evening from 5:30 pm to 9:30 pm and Saturday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm with an hour break for lunch.
   

• Core Curriculum

  The MBA core curriculum consists of 11 courses. The foundation curriculum consist of six courses. Students without prior business education must complete the foundation courses before taking the core courses. A foundation course in “Leadership Communication,” which is offered at the beginning of the MBA program prepares students for the writing and public speaking skills they will need throughout the program and throughout their careers. The ”Leadership Communication” course, coming as it does at the beginning of the program, gives students an overview – as well as the experience--of the processes and assessments that will be used throughout the program.

  The MBA Program’s subject matter is easily divisible into subject clusters, each cluster focusing on creating value for the customer, developing and sustaining competitive advantage, maximizing effectiveness, and minimizing costs and risks. A capstone course in Entrepreneurship, together with three credits of faculty-supervised independent work, gives students the opportunity to undertake a business internship, to perform a business research project, or to refine a comprehensive business plan for a new product, or a new service, or a new business. The students, at the culmination of the capstone course, present the results of this work or business plan -- both in written form and orally -- to an outside business panel and faculty.
   

• Courses by Cluster

  Foundation
  - Leadership Communication
  - Foundations of Management
  - Financial Accounting
  - Legal Environmental and Corporate Responsibility
  - Statistical Methods for Decision Making
  - Managerial Economics

  Creating Value for the Customer
  - Leadership Creativity & Innovation
  - Marketing

  Developing and Sustaining Competitive Advantage
  - Organizational Behavior and Leadership
  - Management Information Systems
  - Operations Management
  - Strategic Management

  Minimizing Costs and Risks
  - Managerial Accounting and Control
  - Finance
  - Advanced Finance

  Capstone
  - Entrepreneurship
  - Independent Study/Internship 

• MBA 510 Leadership Communication

  This course prepares students with the writing, public speaking and teamwork foundation they will need throughout the program and throughout their careers. Students will be able to:

   ·         Speak effectively in various managerial situations, including:

  ­   Speaking impromptu;

  ­   Explaining difficult subject matter;

  ­   Persuading people on volatile issues;

  ­   Running meetings to reach a group decision; and

  ­   Conducting brainstorming session to generate ideas.

  ·         Enhance the ability in interactive speaking skills (such as meeting management, group decision-making, brainstorming, and generating ideas in a group);

  ·         Give feedback and analyze their own strengths and weaknesses;

  ·         Plan and write a persuasive proposal; and

  ·         Plan, prepare, and facilitate effective group (or class) meetings.

• MBA 520 Financial Accounting

  Accounting provides the primary channel of communicating information about business economic activity. Students will be able to:

  • Use accounting as a tool for communicating financial results; and
  • Understand financial statements and accounting reports.
   

• MBA 530 Legal Environment and Corporate Responsibility

  This course focuses on the legal, ethical, and social responsibilities of corporate leaders. It provides an introduction to the Anglo-American legal system and the development of substantive and procedural law. The content of the course includes, but is not limited to, product liability, consumer protection laws, and the relationship between law and ethics. It also explores how cases are brought to court. It identifies different types of law, and it surveys various non-legal means of dispute resolution. The course emphasizes two foundational substantive law topics: contracts and torts. Students will be able to describe:

  • The legal environment of business and how regulatory law or public law influences corporate strategy and decision-making;
  • How to handle challenges to career and integrity;
  • How managers are subject to liability for their own actions as well as the actions of others, including employees and independent contractors;
  • The elements of “mutual assent,” consideration, capacity, the “battle of the forms,” and unconscionable actions; and
  • Ethical concepts and processes through comprehensive and varied experiences with issues of fairness and social responsibility.
   

• MBA 540 Statistical Methods for Decision Making

  Basic statistical techniques for decision-making including frequency, probability, sampling, estimation, tests of hypotheses, regression and correlation analysis. Students will demonstrate how they:

  • Describe data frequency distributions and graphic presentations;
  • Understand discrete and continuous probability distributions;
  • Apply sampling methods for tests of hypothesis;
  • Interpret analysis of variance, linear regression, and correlation results; and
  • Interpret non-parametric method results.
   

• MBA 550 Managerial Economics

  This course focuses on the study of the economic environment and their implications for the firm. The student will understand the impact of the following:

  • Supply and demand;
  • The Theory and Estimation of Production and Cost;
  • Pricing and Output Decisions;
  • Risk and Uncertainty; and
  • Government and Industry.
   

• MBA 560 Foundations of Management

  Foundation concepts in marketing, organization-al behavior, human resource, management, management principles, operations manage-ment, business policy, and strategy. Students will be able to: 

  • Understand foundation concepts in organizational behavior, human resource management, management principles, operations management, business policy, and strategy.
   

• MBA 600 Leadership Creativity and Innovation

  This course focuses on visionary leadership and developing a culture of creativity and innovation. The student will be able to:

  • Create a vision for a company that its employees can share as a common goal;
  • Understand the subtleties of delivery, structure, and visual aids in great detail and decrease costs;
  • Use creativity techniques to develop new ideas, products and services; and,
  • Use innovation techniques to creatively implement ideas, products, and services.
   

• MBA 610 Organizational Behavior and Leadership

  This course focuses on how to become an effective leader by understanding and influencing human behavior. Students will be able to:

  • Understand organizational culture;
  • Understand individual behavior;
  • Understand group behavior and interpersonal influence;
  • Understand organizational processes; and
  • Understand organization systems.

• MBA 620 Marketing

  This course focuses on how to create and communicate value to customers. The student will be able to:

  • Create value for customers;
  • Target Market Selection and Product Positioning; and
  • Communicate Value.
   

• MBA 630 Operations Management

  This course focuses on developing student knowledge and skills to align the company’s operations with its competitive position. Students will be able to:

  • Understand the strategic importance of operations;
  • Understand operating system design;
  • Manage the supply chain; and
  • Apply quality assurance tools.
   

• MBA 640 Management Information Systems

  Using information systems for competitive ad-vantage including databases, data warehouses, decision support, artificial intelligence, electronic commerce, systems development, IT infra-structures, and security. The Student will be able to:

  • Understand how to use information technology for competitive advantage;
  • Understand the fundamentals of databases and data warehouses;
  • Use decision support and artificial intelligence systems to aid decision-making;
  • Understand the basics of electronic commerce;
  • Understand the steps, tools, and techniques for systems development; and
  • Understand information technology infrastructure and security safeguards.
   

• MBA 650 Managerial Accounting and Control

  This course covers the way in which accounting provides information for organizational decision making.

  Prerequisite: Financial Accounting.

  Students will be able to:

  • Use accounting information to assess performance; and
  • Use accounting information to improve organizational decisions.
   

• MBA 660 Finance

  This course examines how financial decisions can create value. Prerequisite: Financial Accounting. Students will be able to:

  • Apply the basic principles of corporate finance, including working capital management and long-term financial management;
  • Understand the function of financial institutions and capital markets; and
  • Apply capital budgeting, discounted cash flow valuation, and risk analysis techniques.
   

• MBA 670 Strategic Management

  This course focuses on developing strategy formulation and implementation skills. The student will be able to:

  • Generate superior customer value;
  • Develop and sustain competitive advantage;
  • Balance opportunities and risks;
  • Apply analytical tools to perform in-depth analysis of the following:
  ­          Industries and competitors,
  ­          Competitive behavior, and
  ­          Sustainable competitive advantage.
   

• MBA 680 Advanced Finance

  This course focuses on how to evaluate complex investments, how to establish firm financial policies, and how to integrate financial decisions. Prerequisite: Finance. Students will be able to:

  • Perform advanced valuation analysis of firms, projects, and options;
  • Make strategic decisions involving financing, risk management, and dividend policies; and
  • Integrate financial decisions with other strategic decisions.
   

• MBA 690 Entrepreneurship

  The MBA program’s capstone course provides students an opportunity to understand how to construct, integrate, and refine a business plan or business research project and present the results to external reviewers for evaluation. The students will be able to:
  
  • Understand entrepreneurial fundamentals and identify value-added opportunities;
  • Perform valuation and risk assessment;
  • Understand strategies for mobilizing resources, managing contingencies, and growing and harvesting products and services;
  • In conjunction with their independent project, students may choose to prepare a comprehensive business plan for a product or service, or a new business; and
  • Present the business plan to investors or senior management.
   

• MBA 700 Independent Study/Internship

  The MBA program independent project is a learn-by-doing course which offers students, under faculty supervision, an opportunity to conduct a business research project or research study, to prepare a complete business plan, or to participate in a business internship with a local organization. Students will present the results of their work to a review group consisting of business executives and faculty. The reviewers will evaluate and approve the project report and other deliverables. Students may choose to define, conduct, and present the results of a project at their place of employment. As a result of the project experience in this course, students will be able to:

  • Understand how to conduct business research and analysis in an industry, small business, or corporate environment;
  • Prepare a comprehensive oral and written business report or plan, analysis of a business research topic, or analysis of an actual business situation, and make recommendations for further research and action; and
  • Present the results of the student research, business plan, or action recommendations to external reviewers or senior management.