Through our Master of Science in Management, we encourage leadership that embraces change. We teach the critical thinking skills necessary to work flexibly and effectively in diverse environments, so that our students become respected and resilient leaders.
Today’s graduates face a globally competitive market.
This is true of both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. Students must be innovators in designing and delivering new ideas, new methods, and changes to the organization. The value of a Master of Science in Management degree is that students are trained in a practical approach to management that helps develop personal skills. These skills help students to be problem solvers and effective planners with the ability to design and implement change in the short, intermediate and long term. Not only will our students have gained exposure to cutting-edge business practices, they will improve their interpersonal communication, writing, critical thinking and presentation abilities.
- A proficiency in the areas of leadership, ethics and behavior science interventions, organizational change and development, research methods and managing information systems.
- Understanding of financial management, ethical decision making and strategic planning.
- Leadership and analytical thinking skills.
- Application to real-world issues, identifying areas of improvement in organizational practice for an industry or specific organization through self-initiated research, data gathering and literature review.
- The project management and problem resolution skills necessary to undertake complex issues by creating innovative and forward-thinking solutions.
The MSM vs. The MBA
The MSM degree differs significantly from an MBA. The MBA emphasizes coursework in the theoretical areas of business, economics and corporate finance. The MSM focuses on the discipline of management and teaches students how to enhance their ability to manage organizational resources more effectively. The value of an MSM is in its diverse applicability. It instills the skills necessary to facilitate consistent transition and growth from one managerial position/environment to the next. Since the degree provides a focus on management, it is relevant to anyone who maintains, or is assuming, managerial responsibilities.
The degree requires 36 credits (11 courses). A cumulative average of 3.0 or higher is required for a graduate degree. Courses are seven weeks, conducted throughout the calendar year, and offered in face-to-face or 100% online formats.
This course takes the traditional Organizational Behavior topics such as motivation, communication, collaboration, change, culture, the nature of groups and systems dynamics, and views them from the perspective of leadership. As well as learning how to apply this knowledge to improve organizational effectiveness, students examine the effect their own leadership approach has on organizational change. Primary skills to be gained in this course include organizational analysis and problem solving through class experiential exercises and case discussions.
Internal and external environmental forces driving organizational change face resisting forces that maintain the status quo. The leader's role as a collaborative change agent is examined, and possible individual, group and organization-wide interventions are investigated. Concepts regarding the depth of change and culturally appropriate strategies for entry and change are evaluated. Students assess models of change and plan and execute data-gathering activities. Change scenarios and qualitative research activities are evaluated for use within an organization to begin preparing for the Capstone Seminar.
Students will develop an understanding of the role of finance in the business organization. Topics include ratio analysis, creation of pro forma financial statements, sources of funds for financial operations, managing the cash flow process, the cost of capital and capital budgeting. In addition, the financial impacts of international operations will be explored.
Developing high performance teams is critical in today's organizations. Supervisory and participative leadership will be compared to team leadership with emphasis on style, versatility, trust building, facilitation, empowerment, conflict management and negotiation. The theory of transforming teams into workplace communities will be explored as a possible outcome of inter-team collaboration.
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) processes and procedures help parties to a business dispute participate in a non-adversarial, collaborative search for mutually beneficial outcomes. Students will review and critically examine significant ethical, public policy and other considerations that affect an organization's use of ADR processes and their potential impact on its operations. An analytical framework and strategies to effectively examine and address several key considerations will be developed. Students will analyze the dynamics of communication and practice fundamental conflict resolution skills, including effective oral and written communication.
Current issues in economics and their relationship to the achievement of organizational goals will be discussed. The impact of economic reality on real organizations will be analyzed.
Operations effectiveness is critical to any enterprise, including manufacturers, service providers or nonprofits. Further, quality operations require understanding of basic statistical techniques in order to measure and improve outcomes. This course provides students with an understanding of operations and data analysis techniques to support decisions. Case studies and spreadsheets will be used to apply students' understanding to a range of operations issues.
Economic, technological, demographic and environmental changes mean that today's organizations are becoming progressively more diverse. This course has been designed to allow students to explore issues of individuality and diversity in several contexts, with the goal of providing them with practical insights and tools to navigate this changing environment. During this course, we will examine how differences affect individuals, groups and leaders in contemporary organizations, including effects related to the domestic and global environments. Issues of stereotype, bias and resistance are examined from both personal and organizational viewpoints, supporting a clear insight into managing diversity. Students learn about the ethical and legal responsibilities of organizations, and will link these to culturally appropriate strategies and analytical competencies, which will create a capacity to champion ethics and diversity in the workplace and community.
This course provides students with the necessary knowledge and skills to assume leadership roles in information management, including the effective use of information for strategic planning, management control, program evaluation and outcome assessment. In addition, the course addresses oversight of information processes and evaluation of software for practitioners. This course assumes basic computer literacy. Knowledge of specific programs is not required; however, assignments will assume proficiency in word processing, spreadsheet and database applications.
Students identify strategic management areas for organizations and evaluate these in terms of changing environments. Skills are developed in strategic planning and scenario building for the alignment of mission, vision, strategies, goals and objectives. The realities of strategic management and ethical leadership are examined through current applications.
The 14-week capstone seminar allows students to integrate the management theories and organizational improvement practices mastered throughout earlier courses in the program. It is designed to synthesize these skills with research methods that are appropriate to organizational improvement in a variety of settings, both for-profit and not-for-profit. Student ability to communicate through a variety of methods, including written (as in the statement of problem and recommendations) and visual communication (choosing the appropriate tools to present data collected), will be emphasized throughout the process. The final deliverable of the capstone seminar is a report detailing the professional leadership project.
