Master of Business Administration Program (MBA)
Based on executive education models, this MBA program offers students a unique and valuable opportunity to advance their education while continuing to work. Specialized streams of study are available in "Biotechnology Management and Entrepreneurship" and "Innovative Management". These will provide students with the theory, skills, experiential learning and research opportunities to advance their knowledge and enhance their success in these flourishing fields. Dedicated faculty, peer-to-peer learning, an integrated program approach, and an emphasis on developing global perspectives ensure that graduates are well prepared for the unique challenges of leading and innovating in an ever-changing, international business environment.
Specialization in Biotechnology Management and Entrepreneurship
In this specialization stream, students gain a valuable combination of knowledge and skills in the business of science. The program will focus on the issues of commercialization, as well as the ethical and regulatory issues that face the biotechnology industry. Graduates of this specialization stream will be well-equipped to develop and manage new ventures and small businesses or to work in the public and private sectors in the business of biotechnology/science fields.
Specialization in Innovative Management
The Innovative Management stream is designed to develop the skills and knowledge necessary to effectively manage within and for an innovative environment. Courses integrate the concepts of creativity and entrepreneurial thinking as well as real world learning and management skills such as leadership and teamwork. Global content ensures graduates have a well-developed perspective on worldly issues and decision-making. This program fits those who are interested in business from new perspectives.
A) STRUCTURE OF THE PROGRAM
The Executive-style MBA program is designed for working people. The program structure will be flexible to fit students' needs as much as possible. For example, 6-week courses with meetings on weekends and/or evenings will accommodate working students. Students will normally enroll in two courses per semester and form small, self-managed teams to work on projects, thus enabling them to learn from each others' backgrounds and experiences.
The first year of studies will focus on enhancing managerial skills and understanding functional business topics. Students will be able to take two courses in each of the semesters of fall, winter, and spring/summer.
The second year of studies will focus on the development and application of more strategic perspectives and application within a dynamic global business environment. In year two, students will be able to take two courses in each of the fall and winter semesters. The signature (project) is normally started in year one of the Program and is completed at the end of the second year.
B) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS
Students enrolled in the MBA program are required to complete a total of 42 credit hours (14 courses) comprised of required courses, specialization courses, and a signature project. Students have the opportunity to complete the MBA program in twenty-three months. They must complete all required courses within six years of being admitted to the program.
C) GRADUATE COURSES
Students in both specialization streams must complete 24 credit hours of required core courses and a signature project equivalent to 6 credit hours. The required core courses for both streams are as follows:
Business 601 Management of People and Organizations
Business 602 Financial and Managerial Accounting
Business 603 Marketing Management
Business 604 Operations Management
Business 605 Corporate Finance
Business 606 International Business for Entrepreneurship and Enterprise
Business 607 Strategic Management
Business 608 Business Research Methods
Business 801 Signature Project (6 credit hours)
Specialization Courses
Students are required to take 12 credit hours (4 courses) in one of the specializations. These four courses will normally include two required courses plus two elective courses in the chosen area of specialization. Students, however, will have the option to take one of the elective courses in the other specialization. Not all elective courses will be offered each semester. Electives may include Special Topics or Directed Studies courses.
Biotechnology Management and Entrepreneurship Courses
Business 701 Biotechnology Management and Development (required)
Business 702 Commercialization of Biotechnology and Innovations (required)
Business 703 Ethics and Governance in Biotechnology Management
Business 704 International Regulations, Law, and Policies of Biotechnology
Business 705 Growth Strategy
Business 706 Venture Financing Strategies
Business 707 Managing Biotechnology Innovation
Innovative Management Courses
Business 720 Managing In and Creating an Innovative Culture (required)
Business 721 Innovative Management (required)
Business 722 Managing Customer Value
Business 723 Creativity and Innovation for Change Management
Business 724 Governance, Leadership, and Professional Development
Business 725 Management and Government Perspectives
Business 726 Strategy and Management Consulting
Special Topics Course
Business 785 Special Topics in Business
Directed Studies Course
Business 786 Directed Studies
601 MANAGEMENT OF PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONS
This course considers concepts, knowledge, and skills related to the behaviour and management of people in organizations. Human resource management entails thinking systematically and strategically, essential for achieving meaningful outcomes through others. Included are topics such as leadership, motivation, organizational structure, recruitment, selection, reward systems, performance management, training and development, employee commitment and retention, workforce diversity, and managing people across borders and cultures.
602 FINANCIAL AND MANAGERIAL ACCOUNTING
In this course students learn to become proficient at understanding and interpreting financial statements, assessing them for decision-making purposes and supporting value-creating organizational strategies, operational tactics, and performance measurement schemes. The course employs international standards and addresses how accounting is used in decision-making. Tools for learning include guest speakers, case studies, and projects.
603 MARKETING MANAGEMENT
This course looks at marketing in technology-intensive and technology-driven markets characterized by shorter life cycles, rapid information, and uncertainty, while studying the various concepts of marketing in order to create a competitive edge in a challenging environment. Emphasis is on using marketing analysis tools to evaluate potential market size, strategic risk, and financial return, which involves an understanding of marketing globally and competitively, as well as its drivers, societal awareness, and its integration within business.
606 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND ENTERPRISE
This course identifies the challenges and opportunities of venturing into international markets. While considering the competitive advantage of international markets and the benefits of global integration versus local differences, the course explores how new ventures and small businesses manage across borders and how they implement and evaluate strategies in the field. Specific topic examples include opportunity assessment, valuation, sources of financing, business-plan assessment, financial forecasting and management, deal structuring, initial public offerings in different countries, managing under changing contexts, and managing international expansion.
607 STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
This course looks at the development and implementation of management strategies to create a sustainable advantage in new ventures and entrepreneurial activities in the fast-changing knowledge economy. Utilizing a variety of pedagogy, the course may include such topics as venture concepts, product and market development, marketing knowledge-intensive products and services, growing markets, and investor relations.
PREREQUISITE: Business 601, 603, and 605
608 BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODS
This course looks at research as a systematic, objective, and creative process. It examines how research is a significant tool of the modern manager, and provides models and frameworks for completing research, decision-making, and integrated research writing. The course utilizes concrete research projects and dissemination of results.
701 BIOTECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT (Required)
This course provides an overview of management in the biotech/sciences fields. It develops a framework for understanding and analyzing issues in the strategic management of technology and innovation in the context of taking a scientifically feasible idea and examining whether or not it is commercially viable. It evaluates opportunities and challenges in the management of growth in entrepreneurial settings and looks at funding sources from venture capital, business angels, investment banking, and commercial banking sources, and considers the potential global impact of biotechnology research, regulatory requirements, and knowledge management.
702 COMMERCIALIZATION OF BIOTECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATIONS (Required)
This course examines the theory and practice of commercializing innovation through the launching of new business ventures in the biotechnology industry. It looks at the determination of the value of an innovation; if, when, and how to commercialize an innovation; the research, development, preparation, and presentation of a business plan; how to manage cross-disciplinary teams of scientists, engineers, lawyers, and MBAs; and the strategic alliances and partnerships that are critical to a successful biotech business.
703 ETHICS AND GOVERNANCE IN BIOTECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT
This course provides a foundation for the ethical and social problems involved in running today’s biotechnology companies which may not have the advantages of deep cumulative knowledge and experienced long-term leadership. The course addresses major transitions in technology, markets, and government policy in industries such as pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, information technology, energy, and communications. It examines research collaborations between university and industry, ethical drug advertising, rules of competition, and incorporating ethics into the fabric of business decision-making. Classes feature guest speakers, venture capitalists, business executives, regulators, and others who can bring their insights and expertise to the issues.
704 INTERNATIONAL REGULATIONS, LAW, AND POLICIES OF BIOTECHNOLOGY
This course reviews current legal issues affecting the biotechnology industry and the general public. Special attention is devoted to approval processes and regulations, technology transfer, facility design, and cleaning validation, with emphasis placed on intellectual property issues involving patents, assignment and licensing of technology, and trademarks. Included are international regulations and political policies and their impact on strategic and policy development. Major theoretical and practical approaches are utilized to examine such issues as the debt crisis, trade disputes, NAFTA, and the expansion of the European Union.
705 GROWTH STRATEGIES
This course focuses on the evaluation of opportunities and the challenges involved in the management of growth. Because growth is the ultimate resource "constrainer," often stretching systems in a company to the limit and beyond, the course emphasizes management "at the limit" of what students may have already learned in other functional courses. It provides students with a series of frameworks, analytical skills and techniques, and decision-making tools used in growing businesses.
706 VENTURE FINANCING STRATEGIES
This course focuses on raising seed and growth capital from various sources such as venture capital, business angels, investment banking, and commercial banking sources. It considers financial problems unique to small and medium-sized firms undergoing rapid growth. It also examines financial management for entrepreneurs over the life of a business project, including financing start-ups, financial planning for smaller enterprises, going public, selling out, bankruptcy, and other related topics.
707 MANAGING BIOTECHNOLOGY INNOVATION
This course takes a critical look at biotech industries and the life sciences revolution, examining what major transitions in technology, markets, and government policy mean to both established and emerging players, and to the demands on management. Since biotech industries have not normally enjoyed experienced long-term leadership, it is often difficult for them to acquire a cutting edge, particularly when the playing field is being drastically altered and the rules of competition rewritten. Students leave the course with a better understanding of the global challenges facing these industries, and with a broader perspective of leadership and strategy.
720 MANAGING IN AND CREATING AN INNOVATIVE CULTURE (Required)
This course looks at how to manage a business in an innovative and entrepreneurial culture. Topics include an overview of innovation and its value for a firm, entrepreneurial thinking as an approach to general management, how the innovation process works, creating entrepreneurial companies, organizing and managing innovation within existing firms, the role of technology, and coping with the strategic challenges facing all innovators. The course utilizes real-world learning techniques such as case studies, guest speakers, and projects.
721 INNOVATIVE MANAGEMENT (Required)
This course provides a practical and theoretical understanding of innovation and entrepreneurial management through leadership, professionalism, and governance. As responsibility to and for stakeholders increases in today’s business world, companies are finding that social responsibility can have a material impact on their success as they consider the socio-economic impacts of their activities and decisions on their employees, their communities, and internationally. This course takes a comprehensive and timely look at corporate citizenship for large and small enterprises, the shareholders, and society at large. Consideration of leadership styles and methods are explored through various experiential processes.
722 MANAGING CUSTOMER VALUE
This course develops business decision-making skills that touch on customer value as a prerequisite to business success. Topics include defining the term "customer value"; how to align the company’s product or service with customer needs and to distinguish it from competitive offerings; how to provide customers with a superior total package of benefits comprising the product itself, associated services, brand image, appropriate pricing, and availability; and an intimate understanding of customers’ needs and behaviour. Particular attention is paid to the unique contexts of marketing knowledge-intensive products and services, new and rapidly growing markets, business markets, and investors. Topics such as fusion branding and value-based marketing are also explored. This course readily lends itself to real-world learning and management skills.
723 CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION FOR CHANGE MANAGEMENT
This course considers the dynamics of change in organizations and how to achieve key goals by combining analysis, creativity, and wisdom. Topics include the forces affecting the nature and rate of innovation, the advantages and disadvantages of existing organizations in pursuing innovation objectives, and the choices made at different levels in the organization which promote or hinder creativity/innovation. Teaching and learning tools include research, practice, student experience, case discussions, group work, peer consulting, teamwork, and projects.
724 GOVERNANCE, LEADERSHIP, AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
This course provides a theoretical and practical understanding of leadership, professionalism, and governance. It takes a comprehensive and timely look at social responsibility and corporate citizenship for large and small enterprises, shareholders, and society at large as corporate leaders and managers consider the impacts of their activities and decisions on their employees, communities, and international markets. Consideration of leadership styles and methods are explored through various experiential processes such as self-assessment exercises, case studies, and presentations.
725 MANAGEMENT AND GOVERNMENT PERSPECTIVES
In this course students examine the workings of various levels of government in order to understand more clearly how they, as managers and future leaders, can build knowledge of the interface between business and government into daily business operations and strategy. By developing a thorough command of how government works, students learn how executives and managers can deal more effectively with various levels of government and make better use of public affairs resources to address more astutely the public policy aspects of strategic planning.
726 STRATEGY AND MANAGEMENT CONSULTING
This course looks at the subject of management consulting, which can provide some of the most challenging and rewarding aspects in today’s business world. Topics include global strategy, game theory, management of innovation and creativity, strategy implementation, structure of global industries, strategic alliances, and building global organizations. Emphasis is placed on challenges in the consulting industry, working with clients, and preparing effective reports. This includes how to analyze cross-functional business problems and provide recommendations by applying appropriate frameworks and quantitative tools.
785 SPECIAL TOPICS
This course focuses on a number of topics judged by faculty to be current and relevant within the context of managing in a business environment.
786 DIRECTED STUDIES
In this course students pursue a specific topic or issue in business. Before approval is granted, each student must prepare a detailed outline of the topic to be studied, and obtain the consent of a faculty member to supervise the work.
801 SIGNATURE PROJECT
Upon completion of all course work, a student undertakes an independent signature project to provide him or her with the opportunity to use the management concepts and tools acquired to date. Research options include problem-solving for an existing client, creating a plan for a new business or a new venture within an existing organization, or carrying out academic business research. Products include a formal report and a presentation of findings. The project must be approved and supervised by a faculty member. The signature project is graded on a pass/fail model.
