Curriculum

This Pass/Fail course provides new MBA students with an overview of the Saint Leo University MBA Program. Topics include: SLU history and core values; MBA program information; expectations; academic honesty; and SLU Portal sign-on, including access to eLion, eCollege, and Windows Live Student Email. Students are required to assess their current skill level in the Common Body of Knowledge (CBK) for business students. The course provides students with information and resources to enhance their knowledge in these areas. This is a required, not-for-credit course that must be completed by the end of the first term. Tuition fees will not be assessed.

This course is designed to give MBA students a tangible head start in acquiring and honing numerous core skills essential for success in the MBA program and the business world. The emphasis will be on the development of professional skills and perspectives, such as business writing, coaching and counseling, conflict resolution, effective business protocol, interviewing, intercultural awareness and sensitivity, negotiating agreement, and public speaking.

This course is an advanced introduction to the major theories and issues in the study of human behavior in work organizations. Included are the topics of perception, motivation, leadership, job satisfaction, group dynamics, stress, organizational climate, and communication processes. Organization theory and design concepts are also incorporated to give the student a more complex framework for managerial decision making.

This course is designed to focus on an in-depth analysis of the major functions of a manager dealing with human resource issues. Issues to be covered include, but are not specifically limited to, staffing, employee training and development, compensation and benefits, legal issues, union versus non-union issues, safety and health issues, and cross-cultural and expatriate issues.

This course is a comprehensive study of commercial law as it affects day-to-day business management. Emphasis is placed on development of a manager's ability to recognize the circumstances under which a legal professional should be contacted for advice and/or assistance.

This course explores the concepts of economic optimization, the estimation of demand, and cost and
pricing analysis. An introduction to economic forecasting and decision making under conditions of
risk and uncertainty is also included.

This course considers the study of decision science and its application in the business environment through the use of computers. This course is designed to provide the student with the theoretical knowledge and practical skills necessary to understand and use computerized decision support methodology in support of business requirements. The student will utilize commercial software packages (Microsoft Excel) to develop and use graphical and numerical outputs in business presentations for enhanced decision making.

This course focuses on the study of accounting concepts and standards applicable to presentation of financial information to interested users, structure, uses and limitations of financial statements, and measurement systems related to income determination and asset valuation. The course also considers the discussion of internal and external influences on accounting decisions.

This course considers the operational and strategic planning issues confronting managers in marketing. Topics include buyer behavior, market segmentation, product selection and development, pricing, distribution, promotion, market research, and international and multicultural marketing. Additional fee applies for marketing computer simulation.

This course considers the financial management decision-making role within the organization. Subjects include valuation concepts, including financial ratio analysis; short-term financial management, including the management of current assets and liabilities; management of long-term investments, including capital budgeting techniques; a discussion of leverage and its relationship to the capital structure; and an introduction to financial markets and financial institutions.

The student will develop an understanding of international/multinational management by examining the challenges and opportunities of operating globally. Emphasis will be on developing an understanding of the complexities of dealing with diverse social, cultural, economic, and legal systems. The role of business in this dynamic world environment will be analyzed.

This capstone course integrates knowledge gained in previous graduate business courses. It centers on the theme that organizations achieve sustained success when their managers have astute, timely strategic game plans and they implement these plans with proficiency. Strategic management theory is used in the analysis of case studies of companies operating in the domestic and global marketplace. This course is to be taken in the student's last term, unless otherwise approved by the Director of the MBA Program.

Entrepreneurship and the entrepreneurial process are now, and will continue to be, the major economic force driving the national economies around the world. At the heart of this movement are men and women who demonstrate the courage to undertake the creation and management of new business ventures. Across the globe, millions of new businesses are formed each year. Those individuals who possess the spirit of entrepreneurial leadership will lead the economic revolution that has proven to repeatedly raise the standard of living for people everywhere. In this class, students will be introduced to the essential components of entrepreneurship and the critical knowledge needed to start and manage a new business venture.

This course is an advanced overview of more traditional approaches to understanding the leadership process and an in-depth look at recently developed perspectives on leadership of the future. Ethical issues pertaining to leadership are also incorporated.