Curriculum

The IBEAR MBA curriculum consists of 19 credit courses delivered its August Transition Program and five 8-week terms. Sixteen courses are required of all participants. These 16 courses include internationalized "core" MBA courses and other courses that we consider fundamental for global managers.

Three IBEAR courses are optional and can be replaced by MBA electives of the participant's choice. Electives are taken with students in two-year Marshall MBA program or MBA.PM program.

Thus, the IBEAR MBA program is largely "lock-step" like an EMBA program, wherein participants study together throughout the year. You can take all 19 courses within IBEAR or you can take up to three MBA electives outside of those offered by IBEAR to emphasize an area of personal interest.

Catalog descriptions of IBEAR courses can be found below. The flow of courses during the year can be found at a "Calendar."

See the USC Catalog for full details

Graduate School of Business Administration (GSBA)

510 Accounting Concepts and Financial Reporting (2.5, 3, Fa) Information systems for public reporting and for management decision-making; theory of asset and income measurement; interpretation and uses of accounting data and financial statements; analysis of cases.

511 Managerial Economics (2.5, 3, Fa) Microeconomic theory with business applications; consumer demand, production theory, cost theory, and market theory; decision-making within the firm under different market and regulatory environments.

518 Accounting Control Systems (3, Sm) Accumulation and interpretation of accounting data by management; profit planning; analysis of operations; systems for control of production and distribution costs; cost and profit centers for decentralized control. (Duplicates credit in former GSBA 517ab and GSBA 536.) Recommended preparation: GSBA 510.

523 Communication for Management (2-3, FaSp) Internal and external communication, research methods; reports for decision-making; oral presentations and briefings; strategies to assure communication; field studies. (Duplicates credit in GSBA 502 and GSBA 542.)

524 Data and Decision Model>s (2.5, 3 Fa) Principles of probability theory and classical statistics applied to business decision problems; survey analysis, estimation and prediction methods, evaluation, and control techniques. (Duplicates credit in GSBA 506ab.)

528 Marketing Management (3, Sp) Marketing is treated as a managerial decision-making process. Emphasis is given to understanding the concepts, tools, and techniques that comprise a comprehensive marketing strategy. (Duplicates credit in GSBA 509.)

529 Strategic Formulation for Competitive Advantage (3, FaSpSm) Analyses of environments and competition, the bases of competitive strategy, strategy models, and the achievement of sustainable competitive advantage. (Duplicates credit in GSBA 519ab and GSBA 540.) Recommended preparation: completion of first year courses.

534 Operations Management (2-3, Sm) Formulation, modeling, analysis, and optimization of business decision problems; survey of concepts and techniques necessary to manage the operations function of the firm. (Duplicates credit in GSBA 504 or former GSBA 547ab.) Recommended preparation: GSBA 506b or GSBA 524.

548 Corporate Finance (3, Sp) Modern theory of corporate investment and financing decisions. (Duplicates credit in GSBA 521.) Recommended preparation: introductory finance course.

549 The Firm in the National and International Economy (3, Sp) The economic environment of business and international forces influencing the firm. (Duplicates credit in former GSBA 526 and GSBA 544.)

584ab International Business Consulting Project (3-2, SpSm) a: IBEAR team consulting projects addressing international business problems. Projects culminate in written and oral presentations to corporate clients. Graded IP. b: continuation of a.

Finance and Business Economics (FBE)

563 Theory of International Trade (3, Sp) Comparative advantage and gains from trade; factor proportions and efficiency; factor price equalization; terms of trade; tariffs, customs, unions and trade agreements. Prerequisite: GSBA 511; GSBA 544 or GSBA 549.

564 International Financial Management (3, FaSp) Financial management of the multinational firm; legal entities and taxation abroad; risk in foreign operations; strategies in foreign exchange, money and capital markets and institutions. Prerequisite: GSBA 521 or GSBA 548.

Information and Operations Management (IOM)

551 Managing Global E-Business (3, Sp) Global e-business practices; e-business value propositions and business models; managing e-business processes and transformation; e-business technology infrastructure evaluation. Cases, readings, technology briefs, and speakers. Open to IBEAR students only.

Marketing (MKT)

565 Global Marketing (3, FaSp) Variations in markets and trade patterns around the globe; product development and adaptation, pricing, promotion, and distribution issues across national cultures and international markets. Recommended preparation: GSBA 509 or GSBA 528.

Management and Organization (MOR)

542 Strategic Issues for Global Business (3, Fa) Globalization strategies from entry to maturity; alternative approaches from going alone to alliances; strategy implementation issues in different cultures and political systems. Cases, videos and speakers.

569 Negotiation and Deal Making Theory and processes of negotiation as it is practiced in a variety of settings. The course is designed to be relevant to the broad spectrum of negotiation problems that are faced by the manager and professional.