Rockhurst University | Learning, Leadership and Service in the Jesuit Tradition

Courses (and corresponding credit hours) throughout your 21-month program focus on building business skills and knowledge as well as personal and professional development. 

Core Curriculum

Accounting for the General Manager examines accounting systems for executive decision making, including a general, theoretical description and analysis of the financial statements, how they relate to one another, and how information is presented for financial, managerial and tax reporting. The course uses current and actual companies to illustrate how theory and practice work and, at times, do not work. (3 credits)

Strategic Marketing Management examines the processes executives use to create, communicate, capture, and sustain value in their organizations. Using the case method, students analyze a variety of companies in different industries in order to gain insight into the process of value creation, and to provide them with management tools for sustaining it. Students learn how to use a market opportunity analysis in order to choose the right customers to target, find the best distribution channels for their products, price to capture value, and manage customers for profit. (3 credits)

Data Analysis for Managers introduces managers to some basic analytic tools that form the basis for data analysis in areas such as finance, operational and supply chain decision making, and competitive analysis. With an applied focus, the course will cover the concepts of basic descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation, and coefficient of variation. Also basic distribution relationships (e.g., normal distribution) and correlation. (2 credits)

Financial Management enables student to complete an accounting and finance project by assessing his or her own organization. Students also practice accounting and financial decision-making at a senior-management level, using a financial simulation, and cover the theories and tools, and develop the skills necessary to understand finance from a senior management/leadership perspective. The project and simulation will allow the student to practice and learn about all the finance functions including treasury and cash management, capital budgets, pro forma financial statements, capital structure, working capital and growth issues. (3 credits)

Supply Chain & Logistics Management addresses supply chain and logistics management and its implications, with a focus on what firms can do to maintain competitiveness in the quickly changing global business landscape. Topics will include value chain analyses, marketing business-to-business, supply chain analytics, logistical processes, the drivers of supply chain performance, and the impact on a firm's overall performance. Emphasis will be placed on global manufacturing processes and services based industries as well. (3 credits)

Leadership & Organizational Behavior studies personal, social, technological, and organizational aspects of human behavior and examines effective leadership and management processes within organizations. The student will learn to integrate the cognitive, emotional, interpersonal, physical, moral and spiritual components of effective leadership.  Competencies of leadership, communication, conflict management, and team development will be explored through experiential learning activities including simulations, cases and small group activities, and supplemented by various instruments. (3 credits)

Economics for Managers explores basic macro and micro-economic concepts that are critical for managerial analysis of business problems. Micro topics include demand and supply, forecasting, competition, cost and pricing; Macro concepts that describe issues of GDP (inputs and outputs) are among topics also covered. (2 credits)

Economic & Competitive Analysis explores the interplay of managerial economics and strategic management. It is designed to provide students with an understanding of the competitive analysis tools underlying strategy formulation. Based on an analysis of the factors shaping the industry environment, firms assess their positioning relative to their rivals, and formulate strategies in order to achieve a durable competitive advantage. The course covers various topics in strategy formulation, such as product positioning and differentiation, diversification, vertical integration, scales and slope, pricing, strategic commitments, entry deterrence, and creative destruction. (3 credits)

The Global Marketplace presents both new opportunities and new challenges, and executives must gain experience in evaluating and analyzing these new developments. This course focuses on two broad themes: the globalization of production and the globalization of markets. Participants will develop an understanding of the key cultural, legal, political, financial, and economic forces that shape how firms enter new markets and how firms manage their increasingly complex supply chains. (3 credits)

Strategy & Corporate Governance/Ethics focuses on organizational structure and the executive's ability to successfully implement an organization's mission, goals, objectives and strategies. The role of corporate governance and ethical decision making within the context of guiding values and support systems of the organization are explored. The course examines the executive function using successful and unsuccessful "real" cases to observe the decision and execution processes. both text cases and "live" cases, as well as industry information are used extensively. The course is heavily oriented to the case method, and supported by conceptual and applied readings. (3 credits)

Worldviews & Ethical Principles in Business is concerned with the general understanding and application of ethical principles in business. The aims of the course are to explain the nature of a worldview, and various philosophies of the human person, in order to provide an overall structure for an understanding of ethical approaches to business; to learn how to identify and apply these ideas both in life generally and in the business world; and, to help students to clarify, develop and support their own worldviews in order to cultivate a moral compass in business practice and decision-making. Many related issues will be discussed along the way including moral objectivism vs. moral relativism, freedom and pluralism, morality and law, issues of liability and practice, and consumerism and materialism and their effects on society, and on our understanding of the human person. (3 credits)

Business Capstone gives students experience integrating the concepts of marketing, accounting, finance, supply chain, organization behavior, communication, leadership, ethics, information analysis, and global awareness. Central to the course is a comprehensive simulation, international in scope, in which the students develop products, test-market products, develop business plans, secure venture capital, launch strategies, and monitor their performance. The simulation emphasizes the application, synthesis, and integration of all functional areas for the successful development and execution of marketing strategy. (4 credits)

Personal and Professional Development

Leadership Development: Following the premise that we must be able to lead ourselves before we can lead others the program employs various instruments, including a 360 degree survey instrument to help students assess their own personal tendencies that can impact behaviors. Leadership is explored from both personal and organizational perspectives. During semester one, students start an integrated professional development sequence where they develop action plans that become the basis for 10-12 one-hour coaching sessions spread over the remaining program (every 6 – 8 weeks). Over the course of the program students will engage in individual, group, and cohort activities/projects that give them a chance to lead change and, ultimately, make a difference in their organizations and their lives.

General Management Development: Closely connected to the leadership outcomes is management development. That is, students will learn skills for planning, thinking strategically to exploit opportunities, and working through others.  The Executive Fellows MBA program has partnered with LeaderPoint, an executive development firm, and other third party specialists to focus on specific leadership and management development skills.  In addition, students will take part in both live case projects and case study analysis to hone critical thinking required of general managers.

Change Agency: Most programs tout leadership development, but it is too often divorced from the ultimate outcome of change. In the Rockhurst program, you will experience an integrated set of activities that allow you to actually effect change in the units, divisions, and organizations where you work.  First, you will take part in live case projects that deal with real problems – these often lead to actual impact in sponsoring companies. Second, we partner with community organizations to provide consultancy on business issues they need expertise and resources. Read more about one of our consulting projects profiled in the Business Weekly section of the Kansas City Star. Finally, each student will take on individual projects aimed not just to identify opportunities and plan for them, but to actually work on implementing them.

Personal Reflection: A strong pillar of Jesuit education and a bedrock principle in the field of learning, students are encouraged to reflect on their experiences to gain lasting insight and understanding. To help facilitate this, students will create and manage an online portfolio that culminates in a final presentation portfolio featuring key reflections on main learning goals of the program.