MBA Areas of Emphasis

The advanced Elective Courses enable you to develop in-depth experience and expertise in a particular field of study. Although an elective emphasis is not required, you may choose an emphasis in one of six elective concentrations: Entrepreneurship, Finance, International Business, Management, Marketing, and Communications Technology. A wide range of additional electives are available for advanced study. Three out of the four required electives must be taken in the respective functional area in order to matriculate an area of emphasis. A list of elective courses that correspond to the areas may be obtained from the MBA office. Up to six units of Directed Study with a professor may be arranged for elective credit. All Directed Study proposals are subject to approval by the Graduate Program Committee and the Assistant Dean for MBA Programs.

Entrepreneurship

The San Francisco Bay Area, located in the global heart of Venture Capital and Technology Innovation, provides the ideal location for MBA students that wish to prepare themselves for an entrepreneurial career. USF was rated among the TOP 25 Most Entrepreneurial Campuses by Forbes and Princeton Review, and the USF Entrepreneurship Program was rated TOP TIER in the nation by Entrepreneur Magazine.

The USF MBA Entrepreneurship Concentration is designed to prepare students to design, launch, and grow new business ventures, either stand alone or within an existing corporation. All USF MBA students with an emphasis in Entrepreneurship will draft a comprehensive business plan and participate in the USF International Business Plan Competition, one of the premier Graduate-level University Business Plan Competitions. Students will be able to tailor their Entrepreneurship Emphasis with course selections in Entrepreneurial Management, Venture Capital and Investment Banking, Product Development, and Small Business Ventures, among others. Graduates will have the skills to launch New Businesses, or take on Business Development and other Leadership Roles at Growth-oriented Organizations.

Finance

The purpose of the finance concentration is to provide specific course work in the specialty fields of finance. Building from an understanding of capital markets and how they affect managerial decision-making, courses in investments, speculative financial instruments and markets, financial institutions, treasury management, and corporate financial management are designed to encourage students to investigate these topics in greater detail.

Graduates of our finance program currently work as investment and/or commercial bankers, venture capitalists, financial analysts, chief financial officers, controllers, and consultants. Many of our alumni work for multi-national firms where their expertise in international financial management is especially valuable.

International Business

A concentration in International Business will provide the student with a broad introduction to the field of international business and an opportunity to gain knowledge of the international aspects of one of the functional fields of study within the MBA program (e.g., international marketing).

Graduates of the International Business program work in the fields of import/export trade, finance, marketing, consulting, and management. With a student body representing over fifty countries worldwide, students gain both academic and personal experience in international business issues.

Management

The management curriculum is designed to develop a new generation of leaders with the skills, knowledge, and perspectives to successfully manage and lead organizations of the 21st century. Students learn to use and integrate quantitative models with qualitative and intuitive approaches to decision making and to examine the ethical and moral dimensions to decision making, Students learn how to guide the implementation of specific strategies and programs.

Graduates of the management program have taken a wide variety of positions in domestic and international firms ranging from small start-up companies to multinational corporations and management consulting firms.

Marketing

The marketing curriculum is designed to give students a broad-based understanding of how customer-driven organizations operate. The course work focuses on determining product markets in which a business should compete, developing pricing strategies, creating public relations and advertising campaigns, designing appropriate distribution channels and achieving sustainable competitive advantages in the global marketplace.

Graduates of the marketing program have taken a wide variety of high level positions in many industries in the areas of marketing research, sales, advertising, brand management, and general management.

Communications Technology

USF is located in one of the world's leading centers for the development of new communications technologies and services. Silicon Valley is the birthplace of high tech entrepreneurship. San Francisco is a major international communications hub and electronic gateway to the Pacific Rim.

The Communications Technology Management Program is designed to prepare students for Information Age careers. Information and telecommunications technologies and services are the enablers of the transition to a global information economy. The Telecommunications Program is intended to meet the need for professionals who understand the importance of telecommunications as a strategic resource, and who can combine business skills with knowledge of information and communications technologies and services.

The curriculum prepares students for careers including telecommunications and high tech marketing, network management, strategic planning, policy analysis, and consulting. No technical background is required, but students must be prepared to learn basic technical concepts. Those who already have a technical background may choose electives that enable them to integrate technical knowledge with strategic and policy analysis.

The Communications Technology Program offers students opportunities to learn from industry leaders and gain practical experience during their graduate studies. Features of the Program include:

• An Advisory Board composed of executives and professionals from many sectors of the telecommunications industry;
• Adjunct faculty and guest speakers from leading Bay Area telecommunications and high tech firms
• A Telecom Club that organizes career forums and site visits to Silicon Valley companies
• Opportunities to attend industry exhibitions and professional conferences
• Internships with Bay Area companies
• An active research program including colloquia, visiting scholars, and opportunities for research assistantships

McGowan Scholarships are awarded to top students in Telecommunications, with support from the William G. McGowan Charitable Fund, in memory of Bill McGowan, founder of MCI. Additional scholarship support is available from several sources on a competitive basis.

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