First year students start with the Core – foundational business learning compressed into five terms over the course of the first year – that cover the all-important basics: accounting concepts, data analysis and modeling, operations management, strategy, marketing, communications, and finance. In Term 4 students undertake a seven-week consulting assignment with a Los Angeles-based client, who expects real results.
In Term 5 you begin your GSBA-580 course: The Global Context of Business. This key component of the USC Marshall full-time MBA experience trains students as global managers by enabling them, through granular study and travel abroad, to compare and contrast the U.S. business experience with that in select countries. Taken in conjunction with Contemporary Issues in Global Strategy, students greatly improve their awareness and understanding of institutional and cultural issues pertinent to a global economic perspective.
A unique element of GSBA-580 is PRIME International Experiential Learning, a mandatory 10-day overseas experience that puts classroom theory to a real-life test. Students visit selected companies, both domestic and multi-national, and governmental institutions. Teams complete industry oriented recommendations in projects that draw upon the insights and skills they have acquired throughout the first year curriculum.
Summary of Full-Time MBA Curriculum
(First semester is made up of Terms 1-3; Second semester is made up of Terms 4-5)
Term I
- GSBA-511: Microeconomics for Management
- GSBA-540: Contemporary Issues for Competitive Strategy
- GSBA-542: Communication for Management
Term 2
- GSBA-542: Communication for Management (Cont’d)
- GSBA-510: Accounting Concepts and Financial Reporting
- GSBA-524: Managerial Statistics
- GSBA-548: Corporate Finance
- GSBA-599: Special Topics: Structured Analysis for Unstructured Problems
Term 3
- GSBA-510: Accounting Concepts and Financial Reporting (Cont’d)
- GSBA-524: Managerial Statistics (Cont’d)
- GSBA-548: Corporate Finance (Cont’d)
- GSBA-509: Marketing Management
- GSBA-541: Foundations of Your Professional Value
Term 4
- GSBA-504a: Operations Management
- GSBA-533: Organizational Behavior and Leadership
- GSBA-552: Problem Solving and Decision Making: An Integrated Approach
- Electives
Term 5
- GSBA-515: Contemporary Issues in Global Strategy
- GSBA-580: The Global Context of Business
- Electives
2nd Year Fall Semester:
- GSBA-588: Capstone course
- Electives
2nd Year Spring Semester:
- Electives