Course Description

Foundation courses:
Financial Accounting - 3 hrs
Microeconomics - 3 hrs
Statistics and Computers - 3 hrs
Total Foundation Course Hours: 9

The MBA Admission Committee will review each applicant's undergraduate and graduate transcripts and inform the student by letter if foundation course requirements have been met by equivalent courses which the student has already taken. In addition, a foundation course may be waived by examination. There is a non-refundable fee charged for each examination taken. If prerequisite courses are more than five years old, students must complete the two-credit MBA Foundations course (BUS 500), which is team-taught by the business and economics faculty. The course will be offered, tentatively, once a semester; it will not count toward graduation.

Conditions for waiver include, but are not limited to the following:

• Financial Accounting: successful completion of a principles of accounting course.
  
• Economics: successful completion of a principles of microeconomics course.
  
• Statistics and Computers: successful completion of a computer-based statistics course.

Academic Policies

Course Substitutions
First-level (500-level) functional core or support area courses may be waived and replaced with electives upon successful examination. An exam score of 80% is required for a waiver (no academic credit is recorded); each exam may be taken only once. There is a non-refundable fee charged for each examination taken.

Transfer Credits
Students are permitted to transfer from other graduate schools twelve (12) semester hours of appropriate graduate credit, subject to the approval of the Program Director and provided grades earned are B or better. The courses must have been completed within five years prior to admission to the Program. Any request for transfer of credits must include an official transcript and a copy of the official catalog course descriptions.

Time Limits
Students must complete all MBA course requirements within seven years from the date of enrollment in the first Wesleyan MBA course.

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
BUS 500 MBA Foundations (2 hours)

This course introduces essential concepts and applications used in business, economics, and statistics. In addition, it provides an overview of specific functional areas such as accounting, finance, management, and marketing. The overriding objective is to prepare students for the required MBA courses by reviewing fundamental vocabulary and tools. Does not count toward graduation. PASS/FAIL grading.

BUS 510 Fundamentals of Accounting (Accounting I) (3 hours)

This course includes the rationale for, and implications of, fundamental accounting concepts and accounting procedures so that students can interpret, analyze, and evaluate the financial statements.  The importance of financial statements in the managerial decision-making process is emphasized.

BUS 520 Fundamentals of Finance (Finance I) (3 hours)

This course introduces the concepts of time value of money and its effect upon financial decisions.  It also addresses the idea of risk-return trade-offs, essentials of capital budgeting, identification and estimation of relevant cash flows, and evaluation of alternatives on a comparable basis.
BUS 530 Management Theory (Management I) (3 hours)

This course introduces the fundamental concepts and practices of management and leadership.  It covers the core functions:  planning, organizing, leading, and controlling.  Topics include strategic decision-making, models of leadership, process design and control, total quality management, organizational design and structure, and project management.

BUS 540 Marketing Management (Marketing I) (3 hours)

This course emphasizes the decisions that marketing managers face in their efforts to bring together the objectives and resources of their organizations with the needs and opportunities in the marketplace.  The strategies, tactics, and administrative issues surrounding marketing decisions are addressed by integrating the four functional areas of business in a market-driven simulation.  In addition, the theoretical foundations of marketing management are explored.

BUS 550 Quantitative Methods for Management (3 hours)

This course is an introduction to statistical methods as they apply to business and economics.  Emphasis is placed on using computer tools to analyze data and the preparation of written reports as a result of the analyses.  The course is designed to assist the MBA student in learning to better understand the nature of decision-making using standard statistical tools.  Problem solving and class discussion are the primary techniques of instruction, with one additional directed assignment using computer-based research tools to conduct statistical analyses.

BUS 560 Managerial Economics (3 hours)

This course applies microeconomic concepts and decision science to managerial problems.  Topics include the theory of consumer behavior, the theory of the firm, the theory of market structures and pricing, game theory, linear programming, input-output analysis, statistical estimation, forecasting, and capital budgeting.

BUS 570 Applied Ethics for Management (3 hours)

This course is a study of ethical decision-making in a business context.  Topics include ethics and a free-market ideology, the competitive advantage of ethics-based thinking, uncovering organizational ground rules, breaking the gridlock of competing interests, frameworks for ethical decision-making, conflicts between businesses and publics, and the relationship between business culture and business ethics.  Case studies and presentations are the primary learning tools.

BUS 580-589 Special Topics (3 hours)

This is a course or seminar on a selected topic within the discipline that is not otherwise represented in the curriculum.

BUS 590-599 Independent Studies (3 hours)

Each students is permitted to take a maximum of six graduate hours of directed studies. These courses are jointly designed and developed by the student and a sponsoring faculty member to satisfy the student's need for individual applied research topics.

BUS 610 Managerial Accounting (Accounting II) (3 hours)

This course is a study of special topics in cost accounting; budgeting, profit plan control, tax planning, inventory control, and decision models.  Cash forecasting, modeling the financial requirements of the firm, and analyzing the financial statements for investment decisions are also covered.

BUS 620 Financial Management (Finance II) (3 hours)

This course advances the theoretical constructs of corporate financial decision-making.  It covers the important decisions that financial managers face as they balance such issues as capital budgeting, cost of capital, dividend policy, long-term financing and mergers, and working capital management.

BUS 630 Organizational Behavior (Management II) (3 hours)

This course covers the “people” side of management.  Emphasis is on understanding why people behave the way they do in organizations.  For this purpose, the course examines variable at the individual, group, and organizational levels.  Topics include:  individual differences, perception, values and attitudes, motivation, group dynamics, teamwork, communication, leadership, power and politics, conflict management, organizational design and structure, job design, organizational culture, and organizational change.

BUS 640 Marketing Research (Marketing II) (3 hours)

This course examines the role of marketing research in business decision-making.  It addresses both substantive and technical aspects of marketing research; problem definition, data collection, data analysis, and interpreting and communicating research findings.  The theory driving the design of this course maintains that one must carry out research in a field setting to fully understand the processes involved in designing relevant, timely, and accurate research studies.  Thus, a further objective of the course is to provide experience in applying research concepts and methods to current business problems.

BUS 680-689 Special Topics (3 hours)

BUS 690-699 Independent Studies (3 hours)

BUS 700 Business Policy & Strategy (3 hours)

This capstone MBA course is designed to integrate the functional areas of business:  accounting, finance, management, and marketing.  Patterned after the method of the Harvard Business School, this case-oriented course draws on readings, group analysis, written reports, panel discussions, and oral presentations.