Full-Time MBA Core Curriculum

The Rady Full-Time MBA core is the foundation of your education. We have chosen a more extensive core curriculum than you will find in many programs. A comprehensive core provides the underpinning for the business decisions and challenges you will face. In the Rady core, you will see an emphasis on innovation-driven organizations and on the life sciences and technology sectors evident in topics, class projects and discussions.

The Result?

Your ability to make the business decisions that innovation requires is significantly improved - and your confidence in your decisions soars. Full-Time MBAs see results immediately in their effectiveness at work. You know how to gather and analyze the best information possible, to judge when you have reduced risk as much as you reasonably can - and then to make decisions, take risks, form teams and make something happen.

Core courses include:

Quantitative Analysis

Introduces key techniques for using data to make informed management decisions. Covers probability, statistics, decision analysis and optimization techniques. Emphasizes managerial applications in such areas as operations management, marketing and finance.

Managerial Economics

Uses the tools and concepts of microeconomics to analyze decision problems within technology-driven firms through the coverage of microeconomic concepts relevant to managerial decision-making. Topics may include demand and supply analysis; consumer demand theory; production theory; price discrimination; perfect competition; partial equilibrium welfare analysis; externalities (including network externalities) and public goods; risk aversion and risk sharing; hidden information and market signaling; moral hazard and incentives; rudimentary game theory; oligopoly; reputation and credibility; and transaction cost economics, stressing relational contracting.

Leadership, Values and Team Management

To realize his or her goals, a manager must be able to access information and resources, communicate clearly, find effective ways of working with others and have a strong understanding of the personal choices facing managers in an organization. Through case discussion, presentations by technology entrepreneurs and executives and theoretically informed readings, this course provides communication and presentation skills, the principles of effective team work and an introduction to representative ethical issues confronting managers of technology-driven firms.

Accounting

Introduces the basic concepts and methods used in financial statements. Readings, problems and cases are used. Major topics included are the accrual model, analysis of transactions, balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement. The course also analyzes cases and actual financial reports and the application of basic concepts and methods of financial accounting such as long-term assets, inventory, sales, receivables, debt securities, corporate ownership, international operations and analysis of financial statements. The course highlights the linkages between accounting information and management planning, decision making and control.

Marketing

By taking an analytical approach to the study of marketing problems, this course is designed to provide an understanding of customers and competitors - both existing and potential - as a basis for developing, pricing, promoting and distributing goods and services that satisfy customer and organizational objectives. Differences between marketing established and innovative products (and between employing established and new sales channels) will be considered. Efficiency and effectiveness in decision-making from this marketing perspective is an important foundation for creating, achieving and maintaining competitive advantage.

Finance

Focuses on basic business financial concepts including valuation techniques, the relation between risk and return, U.S. capital markets, investment decisions, issuing new securities, dividend policy, share repurchases and capital structure decisions. Specific topics include net present value, the capital asset pricing model, option pricing theory, efficient market hypothesis and the interaction between investment and financing decisions. Special reference is made to the particular challenges of finance in start-up and small- and medium-sized enterprises.

Organizational Strategy

After identifying characteristics common to technology-driven firms, the implications of living in, managing, and leading such an organization are explored. The course covers skills such as leadership of project teams and negotiations.

Strategy

Explores the strategic management of technology-driven firms focusing on the analytical tools and techniques that support strategy formulation and the related managerial skills and decision processes that foster strategy implementation.

Operations Management

Focuses on managerial issues arising in the operations of both technology manufacturing and service industries. The course familiarizes students with the problems and issues confronting operations managers and introduces language, conceptual models, and analytical techniques that are broadly applicable in confronting such problems. The spectrum of different process types used to provide technology goods and services is developed and applied to such problems as production planning and quality assurance.

Lab to Market (L2M)

Provides an integrated experience for students in regard to all facets of innovation, production, marketing and competition in a technology firm. By working through in-depth cases students will deepen their analytic skills and begin to think systematically about how they fit together. Topics include evaluating the commercial potential of a new technology; what venture capitalists want; characteristics of high-growth, high value opportunities; typical funding stages and issues at each stage; recruiting and managing the founding team; intellectual property strategy; sales and marketing for new products.