School of Economics and Business Administration

Proposal for a Revised Executive MBA Program

Dec. 2, 2016

Faculty and Staff Task Force Members: Berna Aksu (Chair), Dave Bowen, Kim Clark, John Dennen, Craig Kaufman, Kirk Knapp, Nancy Lam, Yung Jae Lee, Andras Margitay-Becht, Mary

Alice McNeil, George Papagiannis, Tammy Soulsby

* The following faculty members have also contributed to the proposal at different times during the course of the revision: Jyoti Bachani, Barry Eckhouse, Tomas Gomez, Terrence Pitre, Kirsten Schwartz, Saroja Subrahmanyan, Sankaran Venkateswar

Introduction and a Historical Background on the EMBA Program

The Executive MBA program in Graduate Business was established in 1975 as the first Saint Mary's College offering in graduate business study and the first executive MBA program in Northern California. The program was designed for working professionals with substantial business experience and through the years the vast majority of our students have completed the program while maintaining full time mid- to high-level positions in demanding careers. In 1986, the program was first offered on Saturdays to accommodate students who needed to travel extensively for business during the week. In the mid-90s, the EMBA program was modified from a 21-month cohort-based program to its current 18-month configuration. The program was offered on the Saint Mary's College campus in a format of two, four-unit classes per week consisting of three and one half hours of instruction and a half hour dinner break each evening.

In the Lasallian spirit of service to our students we have, over time, expanded the formats and locations in which the EMBA program was offered while always maintaining the integrity of our original vision of executive management education. These modifications have allowed us to bring an educational experience of high quality to students at times and in places that are most convenient to them. In 1998 we began offering the program in San Ramon. In 2001, we recruited our first cohort in the South Bay and in 2003, we began a program in Fairfield, which was subsequently relocated to Sacramento. However, the Sacramento offering was suspended in 2009. These additional locations allowed us to bring a Saint Mary's EMBA to students in locations that lacked quality graduate level management education.

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In 2005 we began offering a Hybrid version of our EMBA program in which approximately half of the instruction takes place on-line and half takes place in the classroom. The Hybrid Executive MBA program extends our management offerings to students who find it more convenient to do part of their program from remote locations while obtaining the full benefit of a cohort-based program with face-to-face contact with professors and classmates. The Hybrid program has become the most popular choice for students over the years. The curricula for all the cohorts are identical and students take two subjects in each quarter for six 11-week long quarters.

During recent years, however, we have experienced a significant decrease in enrollments due to increasing competition and reduced general level of interest in the EMBA degree. While we only had a few competing programs in the Bay Area EMBA market until 2010, we now have many high profile schools, such as University of Pennsylvania, Cornell, and Babson, fiercely competing for market share. In addition, many working professionals have recently started pursuing specialized masters such as Business Analytics instead of general EMBA degrees.

It is against this market backdrop that we have decided on different courses of action to try and reverse the trend in our enrollments: First, due to significantly declining enrollment in the South Bay, we have recently decided to suspend our Santa Clara cohort in 2016. With the discontinuation, we now admit five cohorts a year: two hybrid, Moraga weeknight, Moraga Saturday, and San Ramon weeknight. In response to the drastically changing market conditions, the EMBA revision task force has been formed to revive the appeal of Saint Mary’s EMBA offerings.

I. Current Program Description

Saint Mary's Executive MBA Program offers a collaborative cohort-based learning environment that addresses the core knowledge used to impact organizations in ways that are practical, ethically sound, and globally aware. The program is designed to provide students with the educational opportunity and confidence needed to grow as a business leader in an environment that encourages ethical and responsible leadership with global perspectives.

Program Benefits

Small and selective cohorts create an ideal learning environment:

The ability to effectively lead and collaborate with diverse teams across and within your industry is critical in today’s professional environment. Our small class size, which averages 20 experienced managers per cohort, encourages avid and diverse discussions.

Many of our Executive MBA courses include team projects, offering opportunities to refine your analytical, presentation, collaboration and leadership skills.

We also believe that our unique Lasallian approach creates a student-centered learning environment that encourages ethical and responsible leadership.

Saint Mary’s Executive MBA immediately expands students’ business network:

Saint Mary's graduate business alumni network includes more than 4,000 business professionals and over 40,000 general alumni. With a Saint Mary’s MBA graduate at nearly every company in

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the greater Bay Area, you gain instant access to the best and the brightest in and outside of your industry or sector.

Through their cohort, students have access to a strong support system and a significant network of business connections and friendships. They immediately gain knowledge and contacts that they are able to leverage throughout your career.

As a student (and alum), students are invited to a number of mixers, panel discussions, and volunteer opportunities – all are ways to expand their network.

Multiple locations and various schedules, all tailored for the full-time working professional. You can choose which option is most suited for you:

Moraga- Evening EMBA: Monday and Wednesday evenings- Saturday EMBA: Every Saturday- Hybrid EMBA: Live web conferencing Monday and Wednesday evenings; on-campus sessions on alternating Saturdays

San Ramon: Tuesday and Thursday evenings

The Program allows students to earn a well-respected MBA degree in just 18 months —while continuing your career. Surrounded by a classroom of accomplished participants and educated practitioners, the atmosphere is interactive, collaborative, and designed to stimulate critical thinking and engage dynamic discussion.

Combine classroom and digital technology to enhance your experience:

The Saint Mary’s MBA has long been on the cutting edge of using technology to help deliver quality business education, and since its beginning, our hybrid offering has been a model for other top schools and institutions. Our approach to online classroom technology in the Executive MBA Program is aligned with the Saint Mary’s tradition—we only use technology when it enhances Saint Mary’s mission to provide a high-quality education that places students first, with emphasis on small classes and personal attention.

Preparing you to think globally, challenging you to lead responsibly:

The Saint Mary's learning environment is student-centered, interactive, focused on collaboration, and designed to stimulate critical thinking. Students join an intimate class of experienced professionals, which allows professors to actively engage everyone in the learning process—even during online sessions. Many students tell us that they learn as much from classmates as they do from professors.

The curriculum is designed to develop students’ capabilities in three broad areas:

Analysis and critical thinking

Assess organizational performance across a wide range of criteria, including financial, operational, ethical, and marketing effectiveness.

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Forecast changes and evaluate the effect on the business using quantitative and qualitative techniques and models.

Broad functional knowledge

Identify and diagnose business problems related to human resources, accounting and financial management, operations, marketing, and other functional areas.

Identify, select, and justify strategies and tactics at functional, business, and corporate levels.

Responsible leadership

Evaluate business opportunities and develop strategic implementation plans. Communicate effectively as a manager and leader, including presenting analysis, justifying

recommended actions, and gaining support from others. Negotiate and collaborate with others who have different interests and objectives. Create a committed and motivated workplace culture with a shared mission and common

values. Assess and discuss ethical and social implications of situations, actions, policies, and proposals.

II. Proposed Changes to the Program and Rationale for the Changes

The global Executive MBA market has been shrinking for half a decade now, as we have discussed in the introduction. Demand seems to have partially shifted away from the general MBA degrees to the specialized masters degrees, like our own Business Analytics, MSFAIM and Accounting degrees. For many years, this trend did not show up in our enrollment numbers, but over the past two years we have seen a rapid and drastic decline both in enrollment and interest of our MBA program.

To identify and analyze the issues, and to find possible solutions, we have used a multi-pronged approach. We have conducted multiple surveys of current and prospective students. We have conducted deep interviews of students who dropped out of the program. We have looked at our direct competitors in the SF Bay area, and even analyzed other EMBA schools that have recently managed a successful reversal of this downward trend in enrollments.

Results of the Student and Alumni Survey

We conducted a survey that was sent to all EMBA alumni and current students. 50 current students and 67 alumni completed the survey. Of the current students, 51% were female, and the overall average age of respondents was 39. Of the alumni, 31% were female, and the overall average age of respondents was 49.

The survey indicates a significant discrepancy in the number of very satisfied students versus alumni—61% of alumni said they were very satisfied with their EMBA program, while only 37% of current students said they were very satisfied. Overall, however, more than 84% of respondents in both groups indicated they were somewhat or very satisfied. Of the qualities they were looking for in an MBA program, both groups ranked the following five attributes as most important: quality of faculty, reputation of program, location, length of the program, and program rigor.

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The survey results largely supported the direction of the revision committee. In both response groups, top choices for elective areas of concentration were Entrepreneurship, Global Leadership, and Business Analytics (over other choices that included Marketing, Finance, Responsible Business, and Sports Management.) Both groups indicated a willingness to take electives in a different location or in a different format than the core curriculum courses.

In addition, about two-thirds of all respondents indicated that the inclusion of a required week-long global trip would have enhanced their EMBA experience, and more than 83% of all respondents indicated they would be somewhat or very interested in participating in a quarter-long consulting project with a social component and revenue-generating objectives.

The survey also indicated a stronger-than-expected desire for a “Designing Your Future” course which would provide students with executive-level career development—98% of current students and 92% of alumni indicated such a course would be somewhat or very useful and relevant. Ultimately, more than 87% of current students and 70% of alumni indicated they would be willing to pay $60,000 or more for a program with the proposed elements. More than 46% of current students and 43% of alumni would be willing to pay more than $70,000 for a program with the proposed elements.

Based on the feedback we have received from these multiple constituents, the following changes to the program are recommended:

Partial redesign of the curriculum to introduce a choice between three distinct concentrations.

The current program is a lock-step program: everyone takes the same courses within the same sequence. While our proposal maintains the core courses at the beginning of the program, we propose to offer a choice to students of a concentration in a specific area in the latter part of the program. This will make the EMBA program attractive to those students who do want (and need) the broad overview an EMBA offers, but would also like to gain some technical skills or go deeper into a particular area. The proposed Entrepreneurship concentration will empower our students to start and manage their own ventures, giving them the skills to turn an idea into a viable business. The Business Analytics concentration will teach students the robust analytical skills to better manage today's data-centric corporate entities. The Global Leadership concentration will give students a deep and functional understanding of leadership challenges in today’s global business environment and equip them with strategic thinking skills.

Offer an optional travel component

Many of our current EMBA students would like to have a travel component in the program; some take part in the trips organized for our PMBA students. Offering this option to our EMBA students will enable us to tailor the content, format, and logistics specifically to the executive-level participant.

Final project in the community

As a capstone experience a course-long project involving a real organization in the East-Bay community reinforces program-long learning by giving the students an opportunity to practice the theories covered in the classes. Our community partners will be chosen among organizations that would otherwise not have access to this level of consulting, those operating in underprivileged communities as well as minority-owned businesses. This setup fully embodies our Lasallian mission of “entering to learn, leaving to serve”.

Enhanced student services

This will be detailed in further sections but the central theme here is to offer improved and expanded

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services to students in order to increase their perceived value of the program. Examples include dedicated faculty advising, mentoring, career counseling, updated and well-maintained facilities. We believe the current condition of our facilities is actually creating a negative effect the student experience that is diminishing the perceived quality of our program.

Letter grade system

We are currently using a Pass/Fail grading system in the EMBA Program that is creating many complexities for students, faculty, and administration. For one thing, students perceive the system as “unfair” since the range of Pass is very broad and it does not differentiate much between a Marginal Pass and Honors. This perception creates an unnecessarily high number of student complaints about grades, which are seen as subjectively determined. Over the years, we have tried many things to alleviate these concerns, none of which has proven successful. It is time for us to abandon the Pass/Fail system, and move on to a letter grade system.

III. Target Market and Admissions Criteria

Executive MBA admission standards are consistent with SEBA’s and each Graduate Business Programs mission of educating business professionals in a globally aware and socially, environmentally, ethically and performance-oriented manner. The admissions requirements are also consistent with the Lasallian principles that underlie a Saint Mary’s College education, namely: quality education, concern for the poor and social justice, inclusive community, respect for all persons and faith in the presence of God. Graduate Business with its Lasallian tradition, going back to the foundation of SMC in 1863 in San Francisco with a commerce degree at that time, seeks broad diversity in its student population.

The Graduate Business admission team focuses on high touch customer service in an effort to recruit high caliber students. The team works to ensure that individuals meet admissions standards as well as embody the maturity and ability to successfully contribute and work well in an intimate classroom environment. Our recruitment process is a high-touch process where multiple contact points are established with the prospect and the process is facilitated by a series of decision points where the prospect is qualified and moved on to application submission by the Graduate Business Programs recruiting staff.

Admission Requirements

● Online Graduate Application ● Non-refundable $50 Application Fee● Complete the Personal Statement within the Online Application - the essay helps determine

whether the candidate’s goals align with the school and program mission. Additionally, also the admissions committee to assess whether the candidate can write at a graduate level.

● Official transcripts of all colleges and universities attended - candidates are expected to have a minimum GPA of 2.80 or higher. If their GPA falls below this standard, candidates may be asked to complete Harvard Business Review’s Quantitative Methods online course as a condition to their admission. Quality of students has been an issue in the program as of late. We would like to strongly encourage the GPC to consider perhaps a higher GPA requirement, or to require a certain level of quantitative skills from all students. Students could be required to take the HBR test in order to be able to waive the requirement of the HBR Quantitative Methods course.

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● Copies of all degrees, diplomas, certificates or professional qualifications - candidates are expected to submit official transcripts from their undergraduate degree granting institution. If additional course work is relevant, we will request those transcripts for consideration during the admissions process.

● A resume of relevant business experience● Two letters of reference from individuals who can discuss the applicant's professional and/or

academic experience● Admissions Interview - Candidates must participate in and admissions interview. This process

evaluates a candidate’s: management/ professional experience; ability to contribute to the intimate class size experience and work well with others; and quantitative abilities

● International students are also required potentially to submit a TOEFL score

Target Audience

Our Executive MBA students typically have been mid- to high-level managers looking to broaden their knowledge base and skillset, or those individuals in a technical position looking to advance into management. They have more work and managerial experience. Their years of professional experience allow them to add depth to class discussions by sharing work challenges and solutions. Thus, our Executive MBA Program normally attracts successful, experienced professionals who thrive in a collaborative learning environment. The typical candidate for the Executive MBA program has a minimum of five years of management and leadership experience, and they come from a variety of industries, academic preparation, and companies. With the proposed changes in the curriculum, we would also like to expand our target to include those who are interested in starting their own ventures or working for a startup, as well as better serve the needs of our current target population.

Sample EMBA Class Profile Demographics

Average Age: 39Average Years of Work Experience: 16Average Years in Management: 10Middle 80% Age Range: 28-50Women: 49%

IndustryTechnology: 20%Biotechnology/Healthcare: 18%Not-for-Profit: 16%Energy: 9%Financial Services: 9%Manufacturing: 9%Real Estate: 5%Consulting: 2%Government:2%Media/Entertainment: 2%Other: 8%

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Undergraduate MajorBusiness/Economics: 37%Science/Math/Engineering: 42%Social Science: 17%Other: 4%

IV. Competitive Analysis

Competitive Landscape . To better understand the current EMBA market, we have reviewed other Executive MBA, or equivalent, offerings available in the Bay Area. We have looked at the programs offered by University of San Francisco, Santa Clara University, San Francisco State University, SCU Monterey Bay, Babson College, Pepperdine University, Sacramento State University, Sonoma State University, Golden Gate University, UC Berkeley/Haas and Cornell. Aside from analyzing their curricula, we also compared the programs based on length, price, AACSB accreditation, GMAT requirement, and the availability of a Hybrid format.

Program Length . Among Bay Area schools, the program length varies from 15 months (Sacramento State) to 24 months (Wharton and CSU Monterey Bay). With our 18-month long program, SMC falls somewhere around the middle of the pack. We have considered the possibility of shortening the program, but found it logistically impossible. As long as we remain on a quarterly calendar1, shortening the program would have meant dropping it down to 15 months, directly competing with Sacramento State in length. At this point, we do not feel that the sacrifices in the curriculum would be justified by such a change, so we recommend maintaining the current length of the program.

Price . There seems to be three groups of schools with respect to price. The budget solutions offer an EMBA degree starting at $36,000 (Sacramento State), and stay below $50,000. The good value options

1 The committee seriously considered converting from the quarter system to a 7-week cycle, among other options, that would have been more in line with the SMC undergraduate calendar. We eventually abandoned the idea because of significant content, staffing, and scheduling concerns.

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charge between $90,000 and $100,000, while the premium schools charge over $150,000. The current SMC pricetag of $65,000 falls halfway between the budget and the value options. Based on a market survey conducted, it does not seem realistic to be able to go up into the $90,000 group, and dropping the price is not necessarily a move that will fit our business model. A lower price would also not allow us to generate a decent margin. However, a slight increase in our tuition, assuming all the proposed changes are undertaken and the issues (such as facilities) are resolved, is not out of the question.

AACSB Accreditation. Aside from CSU Monterey Bay (who is in the process of getting accredited) and Golden Gate University, all of our competitors are AACSB accredited.

GMAT Requirement . Roughly half the schools do not require GMAT, while the other half do. If we have to generalize, the more expensive programs seem to be more focused on requiring the GMAT.

Hybrid Format . Since the inception of our Hybrid EMBA program, we have multiple new entrants into this segment. Babson College, Sacramento State and Cornell all offer hybrid options, while CSU Monterey Bay offers a fully online format.

Curriculum . We have analyzed each competitor’s curriculum to see whether trends and patterns emerge. We wanted to make sure that the redesigned EMBA will be attractive on the curriculum side, offering core classes that are competitive, while retaining and strengthening the unique flavor of Saint Mary’s.

Of the 36 distinct categories of classes investigated, only five appear in at least 10 of the 12 programs analyzed: Accounting, Economics, Marketing, Strategy, and some form of Technology management. Other frequent offerings are Finance, Innovation management, Leadership, Statistics, Operations Management, Global Business and Organizational Behavior. Communication, a course that both faculty and students feel strongly contributes to their success, only appears in the curricula of 4 schools, making it an ideal differentiator for the Saint Mary's program.

V. Curriculum and Sequencing

The Program consists of a Core Sequence as well as a Concentration sequence to follow. Students can choose to take four classes in one area, a sequence at the end of which they will receive a certificate in addition to their EMBA degree. They may also choose not to concentrate, in which case they will receive their general EMBA degree. The length of the program remains 18 months. Once the Program Core is completed in the first four quarters with all students working together in a cohort in the same courses, students can choose electives in the next two quarters that focus on important and timely topics in today’s economy including Global Leadership, Business Analytics, Entrepreneurship, and a global business travel course. The program ends with a hands-on capstone experience that spans the final quarter.

Since the responsible business course has a much smaller presence in the revised core, the committee recommends that responsible business topics be integrated into each course, in much the same way as global topics are, since these two areas (i.e. global and responsible business) are SEBA’s foci. During our deliberations, in consulting with faculty in different areas, it has become apparent to us that many of our faculty are not equipped to teach responsible business; therefore, our Committee suggests a training program for all SEBA faculty in order to be able to integrate responsible business into their courses.

The revised program offers more choices to busy professionals in terms of content, location, and program start times. We will have two start times during the year, fall and spring, with two locations

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including Moraga and San Ramon, classes either on weeknights and/or weekends, and classroom formats with a choice of either full face-to-face classroom sessions or the hybrid format combining weeknight sessions on-line (available anywhere) with weekend face-to-face classes. In the Fall, we will have three distinct formats, all based in Moraga: TTh Evening, Saturday, and MW, Sat Hybrid. In the Spring, we will have another hybrid cohort, in addition to a TTh evening San Ramon offering. All electives in all concentrations will be offered in the hybrid format.

Courses are sequenced as follows. The core consists of the first 4.5 quarters – core courses are designated with their titles in the below sequence, and electives are clearly identified as such. In Quarter 5 and 6, students choose one of four options: either to concentrate in one of the three areas or to not concentrate. All core courses in Qs 1-4 are a full quarter long (11 weeks); in Qs 5 and 6, all courses (core and electives) are half quarter long (5 weeks). The travel course is also equivalent of a full quarter course, mandatory for the Global Leadership focus, and optional for others. The actual travel takes place between Qs 4 and 5. The content for core courses have remained largely the same, with minor revisions in only a few of them: The Strategy course is decoupled from the Capstone and is being offered as a half course on Competitive Firm and Corporate Strategy. Industry Analysis will be removed from the Strategy course and integrated into the Econ and Marketing classes.

Quarter I:

Managing & Leading Organizations. The course provides you with theory-based knowledge of managerial and organizational processes from a behavioral point of view, along with the necessary tools to enable you to design those processes prudently and optimize their uses. You will develop leadership skills that promote, in yourself and others, ethically and socially responsible behavior as you engage others in areas such as motivation, job satisfaction, commitment, positive team dynamics, effective negotiation, and cross-cultural understanding. You will emerge from the course with a solid understanding of organization structure and the key principles of organizational design, as well as gain not just theoretical approaches to organizational change, but practical methods useful for building momentum around the need for change and widespread acceptance of change objectives.

Leadership Communication. This course is designed to evaluate and sharpen your business writing and speaking skills and to show you how language can be used as a tool to identify issues solve problems and communicate policy. You will be introduced to argumentation as an advanced form of communication that is crucial for effective managerial performance. You will also gain expertise in the various forms of professional writing, oral presentation, audience analysis, and copy editing.

Quarter II:

Applied Economics. This course introduces the requisite micro and macroeconomic tools needed to analyze business problems. The emphasis is on establishing a practical link between basic economic concepts and a wide range of contemporary business problems, including economic data analysis for business decision-making, forecasting, demand analysis, pricing and cost analysis. Topics include market structure, cost and production, international trade and finance, national income determination, and monetary and fiscal policy.

Data Analytics for Executives. This course arms you with knowledge of probability theory and inferential statistics and demonstrates their uses in business decision-making. You will become skilled in the many uses of data as critical components in organizational decision processes. In particular, you will learn

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quantitative tools such as data visualization, probability models, interval estimation, hypothesis testing and regression analysis which you will use as the analytical foundation for other courses in the program.

Quarter III:

Supply-Chain Management. The course provides you with a broad overview of operational issues in manufacturing and service organizations, and equips you with an assortment of quantitative and qualitative techniques for analyzing and optimizing business processes. Your managerial tool kit will be considerably enhanced by learning how to make use of time series analysis, process analysis, queuing theory, models of inventory management, total quality management and the six sigma approach, and global supply chain management.

Accounting for Executives. We begin our comprehensive approach to accounting by sharpening your understanding of the accounting concepts, principles, and conventions underlying financial statements, and what motivates a manager to select a particular accounting treatment, and how this choice affects financial statements as well as how it affects the analysis of those statements. We then move on to demonstrating how you can use accounting information for best-practice organizational planning, control, and decision-making. You will develop skills in such areas as cross driver analysis, budgeting, variance analysis, cost-volume-profit analysis, capital budgeting, differential cost analysis, and optimal performance evaluation schemes which incent ethical managerial behavior rather than the reverse. Much of what you learn is also applicable globally.

Quarter IV:

Goal-Centered Finance . In this course, you will learn how to apply the key principles of finance in managing contemporary organizations. Centered on the measurement and creation of value, this course will make you adept at analyzing financial statements and financial markets responsibly, in both domestic and global contexts, and will give you considerable expertise in present value analysis, the theory of risk and return, portfolio theory, asset pricing models, and cost of capital, capital budgeting, and capital structure.

Global Marketing. Here is where you will acquire the analytical tools and frameworks that will enable you to make effective and responsible marketing decisions in support of your organization’s overall strategy and in service to the organization’s economic and social objectives. You will learn how to investigate consumer behavior, analyze industries, segment and target markets, create customer value through product policy, position brands, design channels of distribution, as well as how to develop communication channels and pricing policies. Through practical case studies you develop a keen appreciation for how global markets function.

Quarter V:

Firm Governance and the Regulatory Environment. This course introduces the student to think critically about business ethics, corporate social responsibility, and corporate governance concepts. The course addresses how the regulatory environment affects business operations and management. The subjects covered include employment law and relevant federal regulations, including civil rights, and equal employment opportunity legislation affecting employer/employee relationships; intellectual property and unfair business practices; and how contract law affects various business transactions and relationships, focusing on compliance and responsible business strategies that are preventative rather than reactive.

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Competitive Strategy . This course builds upon and integrates the core functional areas of business as it delves deeply into the rich variety of strategies which enable firms to achieve sustainable competitive advantage in domestic and global markets, while upholding and promoting organizational values characteristic of a responsible corporate citizen. We equip you with concepts and models in areas essential to the formulation, analysis, and implementation of business unit and corporate strategies.

Elective

Elective

Quarter VI:

Capstone/Project. This is a project-based course that aims to provide students with the strategic tools to address a specific problem or opportunity faced by a local organization – primarily a small business, a startup, or a non-profit in an underserved local community, or owned by a minority owner. Students will work in small teams to develop implementable recommendations to the client organization and the instructor and address the issues or leverage the opportunity the organization is facing. Final deliverables will include a presentation and a written report.

Elective

Capstone/Project. See above.

Elective

Proposed Concentration Courses:

Entrepreneurship courses:

Think Like an Entrepreneur . This course will introduce you to the field of entrepreneurship with a main focus on helping you differentiate between an idea and an opportunity, increasing your awareness of the risks and rewards of entrepreneurship, as well as developing your skills in problem solving with inadequate information and in decision making under uncertainty. The course will include topics of market assessment, developing the business plan, and forming and leading the executive team.

Creativity and Innovation . In this course, students develop their creativity thinking, sharpen their idea generation process, and learn to stimulate creativity in more meaningful and manageable ways. Students will also gain a better understanding of the appropriate context to cultivate and implement creativity in the workplace. The purpose of the course is to help students acquire skills to form novel, useful, and fresh solutions to new and unfamiliar problems. In addition, we focus on various types of innovations, the trajectories of emerging technologies, and the distinctions between standards and dominant design.

New Venture Financing . This course supports the study of raising capital for new ventures involving start-up businesses, financing a new strategic unit or project within an existing company, and solving financial problems unique to small-and medium-sized firms undergoing rapid growth. Topics for the course include raising seed capital from family, friends, and angel investors; raising later-stage capital from venture capitalists, private equity, business angels, investment banking, and commercial banking sources; legal and regulatory issues that arise in new venture financing; strategies for growth and exit; and financial modeling to determine the financial health of companies and strategies for their growth.

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New Venture Creation and Growth . This course will teach you to think strategically about creating and growing a venture through the initial fast-paced stages. We will discuss managing rapid growth with limited resources, and exit/harvest strategies for new ventures, as well as effective market positioning. We will provide you with sophisticated views on the role of intellectual property, the timing of market entry, and the latest business models, including social innovation, for bringing innovations to market.

Analytics courses:

Business Analytics . This course is designed as an introduction to Business Analytics, with an emphasis on basic programming concepts. It covers the fundamental concepts of computer programming using a standard programming language such as Python. Topics include data structures, control structures, data input/output, and debugging. Concepts and methods introduced in the course are illustrated with simple data analysis examples.

Advanced modeling . This course teaches you to recognize and translate managerial decision scenarios into structured mathematical models and find optimal solutions using Excel solver. Upon completion of this hands-on interactive course, you will enhance your problem-solving capabilities and spreadsheet skills. Topics include linear programming, integer programming, and simulation.

Customer analytics . This course will provide students with methods for calculating customer lifetime value, the analytical skills that are needed to judge the appropriateness, performance, and value of different statistical techniques that are related to customer acquisition, development and retention. The course content includes forecasting the adoption of new products, projecting customer retention rates, and targeting marketing activities. Examples of statistical techniques include logistic regression analysis and cluster analysis.

Data Visualization and Story Telling . This course prepares students to create compelling narratives to effectively present the results of their data driven analysis. Students learn various techniques and tools to present analytical results visually, communicate information clearly, and articulate the business insights effectively. Students learn data visualization software packages (e.g. Tableau) to present data effectively and dynamically.

Global Leadership courses:

Institutional Context of Global Business (travel course). This experiential international immersion course features a study trip to key countries with economic significance. The objective of the course is to learn about a selected country’s dynamic cultural, economic, and business environment through hands-on learning such as lectures by the world-class hosting university faculty, company visits, and interactions with local managers. Through this course, students will raise awareness about broader social, cultural, political, economic, business and strategic factors when evaluating companies and organizations in visiting countries.

Effective Cultural Competence for Managers. This course focuses on issues managers face when managing across cultures, developing global understanding, and developing competency in global management. The course introduces theories and practices that are essential to managing successfully in a global landscape. It aims to enhance understanding on the effect of cultures on workplace processes and offer solutions to effective resolve challenges that may arise from cultural influences.

Global Strategy. The objective of this course is to understand the strategic management of multinational corporations (MNCs). We will examine how, and why, firms decide to develop

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operations in foreign countries, and how firms can become successful once their operations cross national boundaries. Through this course, students will understand the strategic issues and tradeoffs in a multinational context and assess the strategic performance of MNCs.

Visionary Leadership Across Cultures. This course addresses key challenges to leading across cultures and developing change in intercultural contexts. It provides students with skills and competencies that leaders require for guiding their organizations through global change. Further, students will learn tools for engaging others to effectively collaborate. The course examines frameworks of leadership, power and power dynamics, influence, and the role of culture in a work place context.

VI. Student Services

Facilities. The most urgent issue that needs immediate attention from the College is resolving our facilities concerns. EMBA students are, by definition, executives. They are used to certain minimum acceptable standards regarding facilities. If we want to increase enrollments, we need to improve the quality of the facilities we are able to offer our students. The condition of our facilities is currently working against us by failing to provide a minimum level of functionality and comfort to our students (and faculty). Specifically needed are, among others:

Janitorial service on weekend. EMBA classes on Saturday have to endure the dirty classrooms and bathrooms as there is no service provided during the weekend. This is a basic hygiene factor that has to be in place. Sufficient electrical outlets. Students need access to electrical outlets for their laptops. EMBA classes are four hours long; they need to charge their laptops, which they frequently use for reference, research, data analysis, and notetaking, etc.Room temperature control. Classroom temperatures need to be checked and controlled. Currently, they do not even seem to be adjustable.Flexible lighting levels. On/off lighting is not sufficient for the needs of the 21st-century classroom. Lighting levels that adjust to a wide range of learning activities better accommodate today’s realities. Lights must be easily dimmed or enhanced according to the needs of the moment. Collaborative classroom furniture. Collaboration is an important part of the EMBA program and current classroom furniture is not suitable for collaborative work. Problem-solving and group projects require furniture that adjusts to multiple learners, then quickly reconfigures to individual mode or seminar mode.

Lunch on Saturdays . Nearly all our competitors offer this option. Our students spend 9 hours with us during the weekend - providing them with a shared lunch will not just improve the perceived value of the program, but will provide an invaluable networking opportunity amongst the different cohorts. This is a fairly inexpensive addition that is likely to create a disproportionate increase in convenience and value for the students.

Mentoring, Advising, and Career Counseling . Many of our students enter the EMBA program because they are looking for a change of career. Enhancing our career counseling, establishing advising by faculty, providing mentoring by alums and other affiliates will help us serve students’ needs better.

VII. Professional Development

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The program currently provides professional development for our students in the form of workshops and career services. SEBA Graduate Career Services supports their professional advancement through training and development programs aligned with their professional goals and strategic priorities. Students are provided an opportunity to build their leadership skills and strengthen their organizational effectiveness, focusing on the following areas: Time Management, Stress Elimination, Negotiation Skills, Networking Within, Self-Promotion, Creating Your Personal Career Map, C-Suite Speaker Series.

Our current co- and extra-curricular programming includes Career Advantage Series, Monthly webinars, Executive Speaker Series, and Alumni Networking. We would like to expand our current programming by offering alternative times such as Friday evenings or Saturday afternoons. In terms of content, one exciting new series of workshops we plan to offer is titled “Designing Your Future.” This workshop utilizes the design-thinking framework to help students examine their life goals, integrate their perspectives of the world and work place, and “design” a meaningful personal and professional plan. We plan to offer this workshop toward the beginning of the program and to incorporate parts of it into the capstone course toward the end of the program. The aim is for the students to enter the program with a fresh perspective of their life goals and to leave the program with reinvigorated motivation to achieve those goals.

VIII. Additional Resources Needed

We do not anticipate a need for additional faculty; however, we believe there will be a need for additional staff time to 1) coordinate the international trips, and 2) coordinate and manage the capstone projects and clients.

IX. Library Review

TBD – anticipated on Dec. 5, 2016.

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