2024-2025 Academic Catalog 
    
    Dec 13, 2024  
2024-2025 Academic Catalog

Business Administration, MBA


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Overview


Graduate Program


Clark University’s School of Business Master’s in Business Administration program develops competence in basic management functions, skills in managing organizations, and an understanding of the global environment. Each graduate of Clark’s MBA program is able to demonstrate:

  • competence in the functional areas of business management;
  • in-depth understanding of one of the functional areas of business;
  • skill in integrating the management functions into an effective organization, and understanding the legal, political, ethical, social, and environmental responsibilities of management;
  • appreciation of the global context in which most organizations function; and
  • the leadership and communication skills needed to formulate and implement management decisions.

 

Graduate Program Requirements


The MBA requires 12 units of coursework - nine required core courses and three elective courses. 

Students are required to complete an Economics prerequisite course prior to their start in the MBA program. An undergraduate economics course with a passing grade of ‘C’ or higher will meet the prerequisite. If students are missing the prerequisite, they will be required to enroll in the prerequisite, ECON 4004 , through Clark University prior to starting in the MBA program.

Internship Requirement


Completion of a graduate internship or experiential learning requirement is required for all full-time students in this program.  This is an additional requirement and is not for course credit.  There are several options available for students to complete this requirement.  It may also be possible to waive this requirement if students have 3+ years of professional business work experience related to their field of study; for details contact a member of the Stevenish Career Management Center for more information.

Professional Track


The Professional Track MBA is applied to directly during the application process. Students who apply for the Professional Track must have worked for three or more years in a professional position with managerial experience. The MBA program differs in the following ways:

  • Students are waived of the internship requirement.
  • Students may be waived of, at most, one unit of core MBA coursework (ACCT4101, BAN4500, FIN4200, MKT4400, or OM4600) based on extensive work experience. Waivers are granted by the Graduate Admissions Review Committee at the time of admission.

 

The total unit requirement for the program is 11 - 12 units, depending on waivers.

Concentration and Electives


In addition to the courses listed above, students must take three elective units. All elective units must be taken in one area of concentration, or the student will automatically default to a Management concentration. Students completing a dual concentration must complete three units in each of the concentration areas, with no overlap.  Students may choose from the following areas of concentration:

 

Accounting


The accounting concentration gives you a foundation in business with a deep knowledge-base and skill set that are in high demand in today’s highly competitive public accounting firms, as well as in corporate, non-profit and governmental organizations. By tailoring your management studies, you learn accounting skills that are especially valuable because of their staying power and broad applicability; accounting is a crucial part of each and every organization.

 

Students can choose from the following elective options:

Expanded Accounting


The expanded accounting concentration examines complex topics in financial accounting. It satisfies the 150-hour, postsecondary-education requirement for the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam. You also have the opportunity to prepare for the Certified Management Accountant (CMA) examination. Students pursuing this option must complete the foundation, functional and general management courses, along with 1 elective course.

ACCT 5101  , ACCT 5102  , ACCT 5103  , ACCT 5105  , ACCT 5206  , and ACCT 5104  OR ACCT 5109   (please consult program director on appropriate elective selection). MGMT 4708  and MGMT 4713  are also required.

Please note: to be in line with the CPA requirements, this concentration requires students to take additional units above and beyond the usual total units for the MBA program.

Finance


Finance is one of two STEM concentrations. With the finance concentration, you master a broad range of both managerial and financial analysis skills essential in companies of all sizes around the world. This concentration is designed to prepare you to take on any number of leadership roles in the global financial services industry.

 

Since this is a STEM concentration, all three electives must be in this area.  No exceptions.  Students can choose from the following options:

Information Management and Business Analytics


The Information Management and Business Analytics concentration is one of two STEM concentrations. Courses offer solid grounding in applied statistical methods and emphasize the use of appropriate software tools. Students are taught not only data management processes such as data collection, validation, organization, and warehousing, but also analytical techniques such as statistics, optimization, predictive modeling, forecasting, and visualization that allow for the improvement of decision-making in a business environment.  Skills and techniques are applied to both general business problems as well as discipline-specific issues.

 

Since this is a STEM concentration, all three electives must be in this area.  No exceptions.  Students can choose from the following options:

Management


The management concentration gives you an in-depth understanding of the fundamental management, leadership, and economic principles that you can immediately apply in your career. You learn the latest theories and best practices in business and study how to apply them in established business environments, entrepreneurial settings, and non-profits.

 

Students can take any of the following management courses as their elective or a combination of elective courses from the concentrations listed on this page. For example, if a student takes FIN, MGMT, & MKT courses, their concentration will default to management.

Marketing


The marketing concentration gives you an in-depth understanding of branding, advertising, product management, buyer behavior and market research. You learn analytical and leadership techniques that you can immediately apply in your career.

 

Students can choose from the following elective options:

Social Change and Sustainability


The unique Social Change and Sustainability concentration in our MBA program was created for leaders who face environmental, social and economic challenges. We help you utilize your business management and leadership skills to innovatively solve problems and effect positive change. 

 

Students can choose from the following elective options.  Students may also take courses in SSJ to count toward this concentration.  Permission is required.  Contact Laura Burgess for more information.

Talent Management


In today’s competitive global environment, talent management is an integral part of an organization’s business strategy. Employers are looking for leaders with broad-based business knowledge and specialized skills in human resources who realize the strategic importance of recruiting, developing, managing, and retaining top talent to align human resource capabilities with organizational goals.

 

Students in this concentration can choose from the following elective options:

Program Faculty


Program Faculty


Abdullah Asilkalkan, Ph.D.

Hamidreza Ahady Dolatsara, Ph.D.

Ayan Ghosh Dastidar, Ph.D.

John Dobson, Ph.D.

Alan Eisner, Ph.D.

Fei Fang, Ph.D.

Jin Fang, Ph.D.

Yue Gao, Ph.D.

David Jordan, Ph.D.

Thomas Murphy, M.B.A.

Steve Ng, M.B.A.

Will O’Brien, J.D., M.B.A.

Sitikantha Parida, Ph.D.

Jisoo Park, Ph.D.

Zhenyang Tang, Ph.D.

Zhihong Wang, Ph.D.

Vasilia Vasiliou, Ph.D.

Ruixiang Wang, Ph.D.

Zhihong Wang, Ph.D.

Da Wu, Ph.D.

Atefeh Yazdanparast, Ph.D.

Kyunghee Yoon, Ph.D.

Jing Zhang, Ph.D.

Hong Zhou, Ph.D.

Emeriti Faculty


Margarete Arndt, D.B.A.

Mary-Ellen Boyle, Ph.D.

Robert Bradbury, Ph.D.

Dileep Dhavale, Ph.D.

Priscilla Elsass, Ph.D.

Laura Graves, Ph.D.

Edward Ottensmeyer (Dean Emeritus), Ph.D.

Inshik Seol, Ph.D.

 

For a full list of School of Business faculty, including visiting and adjunct faculty, please see the faculty page on the School of Business website.

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