Master of Business Administration
SF State's Lam Family College of Business MBA for Executives program is delivered part-time over six consecutive semesters, and is specifically designed so that students who maintain full-time careers can earn a Master's in Business Administration in 24 months. Students enroll in a specific cohort to actively engage as a learning community with the aim to accelerate and advance their careers while preparing to become tomorrow's business leaders.
Exceptional and talented College of Business faculty members teach a set curriculum of courses that blend teaching, research, and business experience into an exciting and inviting learning environment.
As a cohort, students take all courses with the same classmates, thus strengthening both personal and professional connections. Our cohorts are comprised of highly motivated, working professionals from diverse work and life backgrounds, which enhances the overall learning experience as students share practical insights and learn from each other.
For more information, see the Lam Family College of Business MBA for Executives program page.
Program Learning Outcomes
- Functional and enterprise knowledge – Each student will demonstrate competence in each of the major business disciplines as well as an understanding of:
- The enterprise as a whole.
- The interrelationships of the disciplines within a strategic business framework.
- Emerging knowledge in business disciplines, technologies, and markets.
- Ethical, global and social awareness – Each student will be aware of ethical, global and social issues surrounding key business decisions, act responsibly and:
- Identify, articulate and disseminate the core organizational values.
- Evaluate the ethical, global and social issues of each business option for every stakeholder group.
- Make business decisions consistent with stakeholder needs and organizational values.
- Problem-solving and critical thinking skills – Each student will demonstrate effective use of the following skills in business situations:
- Master qualitative and quantitative techniques to gather and analyze relevant data and derive appropriate conclusions.
- Exhibit critical thinking and analytical ability in solving in solving problems within and across organizations.
- Apply current and emerging business knowledge and technology to make strategic decisions in complex and changing environments.
- People skills – Each student will be able to demonstrate effective intra and interpersonal skills especially in dealing with diversity of thought and opinion, and:
- Exhibit leadership when appropriate.
- Demonstrate the ability to work effectively in teams.
- Understand the perspective of others and treat them in a culturally appropriate and respectful manner.
- Communication skills – Each student will demonstrate effective oral and written communication skills. In particular, each student will be able to:
- Create and deliver effective business presentations to diverse audiences.
- Organize and write professional documents appropriate for the audience.
Prerequisite Courses
Prerequisite courses offer students, without a recent Business undergraduate degree, the opportunity to learn or refresh knowledge in the basic elements of business. Depending upon a student's previous academic background, the prerequisite courses may range from 0 to 24 units. The program requirements are met by taking the eight business prerequisite courses below or by waivers of individual courses based on previous equivalent coursework.
Students who have earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration within the past seven years from an Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)-accredited university, with a 3.0 GPA or better in the last 60 semester units or 90 quarter units of coursework, are eligible to waive all M.B.A. program prerequisite courses. An up-to-date listing of AACSB schools around the world can be found on the AACSB International website. Students who have taken and completed coursework equivalent to any of the prerequisite courses at other institutions within the last five to seven years may be able to waive individual prerequisite courses. Each equivalency is determined by course content, grade received, and the amount of time elapsed since the course was completed.
For students who completed their undergraduate degree in Business over seven years ago, the program prerequisite courses offer an opportunity to refresh their knowledge and catch up on advances that have taken place in the different disciplines.
Master of Business Administration — 30–57 Units
Prerequisite for Conditional Admits (0-3 Units)
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| BUS 714 | Elements of Graduate Business Writing | 3 |
Prerequisite Courses for M.B.A. Program (0–24 Units)
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| ACCT 780 | Financial Accounting | 3 |
| DS 776 | Data Analysis for Managers | 3 |
| DS 786 | Operations Analysis | 3 |
| ECON 783 | Economics for Managers | 3 |
| ISYS 782 | Information Systems for Management | 3 |
| FIN 785 | Financial Management | 3 |
| MGMT 788 | Management Principles and Organizational Behavior | 3 |
| MKTG 787 | Marketing Management | 3 |
Advanced Requirements for M.B.A. Program (12 Units)
Select one course from each category:
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| Accounting/Quantitative Methods | ||
| ACCT 831 | Financial Statement Analysis | 3 |
| or FIN 819 | Financial Analysis and Management | |
| Ethics/Management | ||
| BUS 884 | Business Ethics, Society, and Sustainability | 3 |
| or MGMT 842 | Seminar in Organization Design and Change | |
| Business Decision-Making | ||
| DS 852 | Managerial Decision-Making | 3 |
| or ISYS 814 | Information Systems for Strategic Advantage | |
| Marketing/Globalization | ||
| MKTG 860 | Strategic Marketing | 3 |
| or IBUS 815 | Seminar in International Business | |
Electives (15 Units)
Advisor-approved electives (at least three must be 800-level courses offered by the College of Business, up to two may be graduate-level courses within the University with prior advisor approval.) A maximum of two prerequisite courses taken at SF State (ACCT 780, DS 776, DS 786, ECON 783, ISYS 782, FIN 785, MGMT 788, MKTG 787) may count as electives.
Culminating Experience (3 Units)
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| BUS 890 & BUS 896EXM | Strategic Management and Culminating Experience Examination | 3 |
Advancement to Candidacy
Before being considered for Advancement to Candidacy, the applicant must meet all general University requirements, attend all professional development workshops at orientation, satisfy all prerequisite courses, earn an overall SF State GPA of 3.0 or better, and complete at least 12 units of College of Business advanced requirement courses.
When requirements have been satisfied, the graduate advisor may recommend to the Dean of the Division of Graduate Studies that the applicant be advanced to candidacy for the degree by filing the Advancement to Candidacy (ATC) form.
Elective Areas
Accounting
Graduate Advisors: Hammond, Hetherington, Hsieh, Kim, Sopt
Decision Sciences/Operations Research
Graduate Advisors: Bollapragada, Cholette, Cheung, Miyaoka, Saltzman, Soorapanth
Finance
Graduate Advisors: Feldman, M. Li, Liu
International Business
Graduate Advisors: Heiman, Yang
Hospitality and Tourism Management
Graduate Advisors: Johnson, Roe, Yang
Information Systems
Graduate Advisor: Sayeed
Management
Graduate Advisors: Baack, Desa, Stewart
Marketing
Graduate Advisors: Bhat, Hussain, Sengupta, Sinapuelas