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The general management concentration in the MBA program was designed to meet the diverse needs of students, both those seek greater flexibility in their program and those who plan to specialize in a specific functional area. First, students who wish to design a concentration to meet their unique career needs but who recognize the importance of building on a solid foundation of general management. Second, students who plan to specialize in finance or marketing but who want to complement their technical skills with general management skills. We highly recommend that students concentrating in finance and marketing also complete the management concentration to round out their skills and to increase their future effectiveness as managers.
The philosophy guiding the design of the concentration is the students entering a variety of functional areas in organizations who move up in their careers will find themselves in management positions of increasing responsibility. Thus, having a solid foundation of skills in management is critically important independent of your specific career aspirations. The concentration was also designed to provide students with a great deal of flexibility. Three courses (described below) are required in the concentration. Beyond these courses, students are required to take electives of their choice in at least two departments within the Lundquist College of Business outside the management department.
MGMT 611 Managing Competitive Organizations
This course is concerned with the long-term competitive advantages of the business organization. The focuses on identifying and analyzing factors in the industry and external and internal environment fo the firm with the goal of formulating and implementing strategies and structures. The strategic maneuvering by firms and its implications will be discussed. Operational issues around structural forms, control processes, power and politics, quasi-internal markets, managing innovation and change, and reversing organizational decline will be addressed. The perspective adopted in this course is that of the upper level manager will overall responsibility for the performance of the organization or a unit of the organization.
MGMT 612 Managing in Competitive Environments
The course focuses on the external environments facing organizations. as we face the new millennium, these environments are complex, dynamic unpredictable and, occasionally, even hostile. How can organizations survive and even prosper in such conditions? The answer lies in developing strategies to confront important elements in their environments. Among the important elements considered in this class are inter-organizational collaboration (strategic alliances), developing competitive advantages and distinctive competencies, using information technologies, and confronting the opportunities and challenges of managing societal expectations.
MGMT 615 Leadership
What distinguishes effective managers from those who are less effective? Research suggests that it is often a set of personal, interpersonal and team-based skills and competencies that determine whether managers and those in leadership positions are successful. This course introduces these skills and allows students to begin acquiring them through practice in an experiential learning environment. The skills include self-awareness, managing stress, creative problem solving, communicating effectively, gaining power and influence, motivating others, managing conflict, and delegation. Role playing, case analyses, and in-class discussions that draw on the students’ work experience are used to develop a better understanding of these skills in aleadership context. Students also complete a personal Leadership Self-Assessment and Development plan during the course.
MGMT 611 Managing Competitive Organizations
This course is concerned with the long-term competitive advantages of the business organization. The focuses on identifying and analyzing factors in the industry and external and internal environment fo the firm with the goal of formulating and implementing strategies and structures. The strategic maneuvering by firms and its implications will be discussed. Operational issues around structural forms, control processes, power and politics, quasi-internal markets, managing innovation and change, and reversing organizational decline will be addressed. The perspective adopted in this course is that of the upper level manager will overall responsibility for the performance of the organization or a unit of the organization.
MGMT 620 International Business Strategy
The primary focus of this course is on managing the business level strategic management function in globalizing industries. Advances in informationtechnologies have accelerated the pace of globalization, prompting firms to be adaptive, innovative, and competitive. There are priceless opportunities for those who recognize and play by the new rules, who position themselves correctly, and who take personal responsibility for the future. The course will focus on how firms build competitive advantages based on global scale economies, quality differentiation, time-based competition, competitive dynamics, and the coordination of worldwide networks and alliances. Class participants are expected to assess the globalization potential of an industry, develop a competitive position for firms on a global scale, analyze the different modes for international market entry, and appraise the potential and risks of strategic alliances. A variety of approaches – lectures, cases, or a computer simulation – will be used in the course.
MGMT 623 Negotiation
This course complements the technical and diagnostic skills students learn in other LCB courses by providing them with an intensive and creative environment in which they can enhance their negotiating skills. A basic premise of the course is that while a manager needs analytical skills to discover optimal solutions, a broad range of skills in negotiations is needed to ensure that these solutions are accepted and implemented. The course provides students with an introduction to negotiation theory and a variety of negotiation styles and objectives. Most importantly, the course allows participants the opportunity to develop these skills experientially and to understand negotiation within a well developed and tested analytic framework. Considerable emphasis is placed on simulation exercises, role playing, and case analyses.
MGMT 630 Service Management Advantages
With the advent of the service economy, more and more service firms are adopting changes in the way in which competitive strategies are implemented, work is organized, and resources managed to improve performance. This course is designed to increase the awareness of the general management and practices of service organizations and provide students with the analytical tools to examine the unique features of service firms. That is, organizations whose "products" have a high immaterial content such as a service, image or know-how. The course provides a comprehensive framework comprising basic and integrative elements for the study of service business problems. Topics encompass key elements of service management: developing service strategies and structures; positioning the service firm; designing high impact service delivery systems; customer-employeee satisfaction, demand and supply issues; motivating the customer-employee team. The concepts presented are relevant and accessible to anyone who deals with management at any level of a service organization and this includes the front-line personnel – the service providers who are in direct contact with the customers.
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