MBA in Innovation Leadership

Why this program is needed

In today's global business environment, every part of an organization must run in perfect alignment and at peak efficiency in order to meet the demands imposed by relentless global competitors. However, the same organization must also be able to regenerate itself (and possibly cannibalize itself), to seek bold new directions that offer new opportunities for motivation and growth, be they new product categories, new markets, new partnerships, new processes, or new organizational structures. Think of Apple's foray into portable MP3 music players with their famous iPod, which represented a substantial departure from their main lines of computer hardware and software; yet which, successfully done, garnered over 90% share of the MP3 market within three years of its launch, at premium prices.

For whom this program is designed

Our MBA with a focus in Innovation Leadership is designed for early-career professionals and managers in medium to large sized companies who aspire to lead their companies towards much higher performance. We focus on developing managers who are ready and able to identify a bold new venture, to convince other leaders of its merits and gain their commitment, and to ensure that the venture is successfully accomplished.

A brief program description

Our goal is to prepare advanced-career professionals and managers for senior managerial positions, and to prepare them for success, all without interrupting their career momentum. To accomplish our educational goal we provide a highly-qualified faculty, a variety of educational tools and techniques, some of the most advanced online teaching and learning applications available, and a carefully designed suite of courses delivered in a focused and flexible schedule. MBA program students are exposed to additional per-course-credit hours to allow for broader and more detailed instruction.

There are fourteen courses: eight foundation courses, five specialization courses including one elective, and one capstone integration project (see Curriculum below). Courses are completed in an eleven-week fixed-agenda format.

To maximize the global learning experience throughout the program our students will participate in "live" seminars and/or conferences with experienced leaders from global organizations. Our students and faculty are not limited by geographical boundaries, providing a new educational experience that allows learners to think with a global perspective while working on case studies and projects with other colleagues from around the world.

The program is also designed to integrate knowledge across subject areas. Students keep a journal/portfolio throughout their program, accumulating projects and assignments as they progress through the program and using this prior work as resource material for their final project. There are also specific portfolio activities and assignments throughout the program where learners are asked to combine or compare knowledge across courses.

Individuals wishing to gain admission to the MBA in New Venture Leadership degree program will have an undergraduate degree and one year of work experience. For further information, please visit the University of Fredericton MBA Admission Requirements and Application Procedures.

Program Curriculum (58 credits)

MBA 499	Orientation
MBA 600	Managerial Accounting (4 cr.)
MBA 601	Managerial Finance (4 cr.)
MBA 602	The Global Economic Environment (4 cr.)
MBA 603	Strategic Marketing Planning (4 cr.)
MBA 604	Corporate Governance, Strategy and Structure (4 cr.)
MBA 606	Strategic Operations Planning (4 cr.)
MBA 608	Strategic Information Systems Planning (4 cr.)
MBA 650	Strategic Human Resource Planning (4 cr.)

 

Level B - Required Courses (18 credit hours):

MBA 615	Corporate Lifecycles (3 cr.)
MBA 710	Theories of Leadership (4 cr.)
EMBA 730	Best Practices from the Executive Perspective (3 cr.)

EMBA 731	Best Practices from the Intrapreneur’s Perspective (3 cr.)
EMBA 797	Proseminar in Innovation Leadership (1 cr.)

Plus one Elective:

MBA 622	Global Strategy (4 cr.)
MBA 625	Strategic Sustainability Planning (4 cr.)
MBA 720	Leadership Values and Ethics (4 cr.)

Level C - Integration (8 credit hours):

EMBA 798

Innovation Leadership Integration Project (8 cr.)

Course Descriptions

Level A Foundation Courses
 

Course Code(s):	MBA 499
Course Name:	Orientation
Course Weight:	0 credits
Course Description
The purpose of this course is to provide students with an overview of the online collaborative learning environment and course delivery methods.

Course Code(s):	MBA 600
Course Name:	Managerial Accounting: Become more competent in the understanding and use of accounting information
Course Weight:	4 credits
Course Description
This course offers a comprehensive, graduate level exploration of managerial accounting. The course utilizes case studies and audit reports to focus on the use of appropriate accounting systems and the application of accounting data in the management of an organization. In conjunction, what accounting data are interesting or relevant-to-task, and how such data might be used is dependent upon what the manager is seeking to accomplish and what other information may or may not be available.

Course Code(s):	MBA 601
Course Name:	Managerial Finance: Better understand how to source and use financial resources
Course Weight:	4 credits
Course Description
All managers are required to possess a basic understanding of financial concepts. This course explores the principle role of finance via its concepts, calculative applications, and capital market analyses. In addition, the basic concepts of the time-value of money, rates of return, and valuation are covered. Students will learn how capital markets function, what different securities exist, and how to manage cash flow. Credit, risk, working capital, and analysis of financial statements receive particular attention. Cases are used throughout the course to provide students with hands-on experience in the use of financial tools. Unlike other finance courses, this consists of half concept and half mathematics. Besides providing basic math skills, this course should provide students with an excellent introduction to financial management concepts.

Course Code(s):	MBA 602
Course Name:	The Global Economic Environment: Apply economic reasoning to business leadership concerns
Course Weight:	4 credits
Course Description
Systematic understanding of the internal and external economic environments of an organization, and the ability to analyze them as a basis for sound decisions, are core pre-requisites of sound leadership. This course reviews basic macro and micro-economic concepts (e.g. supply and demand, elasticity, production function, competitive environments, pricing, etc.), and illustrates their impact on decision making and strategy formulation. Students will learn how to think through economic challenges and opportunities presented to their organization.

Course Code(s):	MBA 603
Course Name:	Strategic Marketing Planning: Better define and implement effective marketing strategies
Course Weight:	4 credits
Course Description
This course focuses on the strategic marketing planning process from the perspective of two key roles in the organization, i.e., the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and the Brand (or Product) Manager. Leaning heavily on external and internal analyses and the CEO's strategic guidance, we examine how these managers refine the company's long-term go-to-market strategy, at both the corporate level and the product level. We also briefly examine which leading edge digital applications are most useful with respect to intelligence gathering, analysis, decision-making and/or implementation.

Course Code(s):	MBA 604
Course Name:	Corporate Governance, Strategy and Structure: Better understand an organization's superstructure, its visioning, its corresponding form
Course Weight:	4 credits
Course Description
This course examines an organization's top-level constitution and processes, i.e., how its Board of Directors is selected by, and interacts with, its owners; how the Board appoints, and interacts with, the senior management team; how the Board and senior management team jointly determine the strategic direction of the organization; and finally, how the organization itself may be structured to most effectively and efficiently accomplish the strategic directive.

Course Code(s):	MBA 606
Course Name:	Strategic Operations Planning: Better define and implement effective operations strategies
Course Weight:	4 credits
Course Description
This course focuses on the operational planning process from the perspective of the Chief Operating Officer (COO). Leaning heavily on external and internal analyses and the CEO's strategic guidance, we examine how the COO develops the company's long-term operations strategy, comprising decisions about supply-chain logistics, production, customer service, quality assurance (QA), distribution and field support. We also briefly examine which leading edge digital applications are most useful with respect to intelligence gathering, analysis, decision-making and/or implementation.

Course Code(s):	MBA 608
Course Name:	Strategic Information Systems Planning: Enhance performance with comprehensive, effective and efficient management information systems
Course Weight:	4 credits
Course Description
In today's 24/7 global operating environment, the possession of sufficient and correct information about the relevant external and internal environments, obtained and circulated to the right decision-makers in a timely fashion, can spell the difference between success and failure. This course introduces the main concepts of management information systems (MIS), examines how the design of MIS can affect the performance of an organization, and explores the process of Information systems planning from the perspective of the CIO.

Course Code(s):	MBA 650
Course Name:	Strategic Human Resource Planning: Develop world-ready personnel and build change-ready organizations
Course Weight:	4 credits
Course Description
In today's global context the rate of change is accelerating, and personnel have to be world-ready, and organizations have to be change-ready. This course examines the human resource recruiting and development function and the organizational design function within a global and organizational lifecycle perspective, emphasizing how personnel and designs must change as projects and divisions evolve. This dynamic approach to organizational development prepares students to diagnose mismatches between existing personnel and designs versus changing demands, and to develop personnel and designs to accommodate new realities.

Level B Courses:
 

Course Code(s):	MBA 615
Course Name:	Corporate Lifecycles
Course Weight:	3 credits
Course Description
This course provides the tools and concepts needed to identify corporate lifecycle needs and problems, and the opportunity to collaborate with other managers in addressing them.  Some solutions involve well-timed changes in organizational/structural design, some involve changes in business strategy, and some involve changes in leadership strategy.  Students will learn how to analyze and reconfigure these elements to prevent or remove organizational barriers to growth at different lifecycle stages. In addition, students will learn how to create and preserve constructive collaborative relations across the organization as it grows and changes.  Leadership theory and organizational design come together in this course to illustrate how leadership team behaviour must change as the organization grows.

Course Code(s):	MBA 710
Course Name:	Theories of Leadership: Build foundational knowledge about leadership concepts
Course Weight:	4 credits
Course Description
This course gives students the foundational knowledge they need to critically assess leadership concepts and their utility. Students survey the leadership theories of key thinkers and practitioners in the field, learning about the empirical, theoretical and pragmatic strengths and limitations of each approach. Through case studies and exercises, students develop an understanding of organizational leadership. They will also learn a comprehensive set of leadership practices that will have immediate value for application at work.

Course Code(s):	EMBA 730
Course Name:	Best Practices from the Executive Perspective
Course Weight:	3 credits
Course Description
As essential as new ventures are for long-term health of a corporation, it remains a profound challenge for the corporate executive team to optimize the effectiveness and efficiency of an ongoing operation while trying to cultivate and integrate potentially disruptive products and processes, or any requisite mergers, acquisitions and/or spinouts. In this course, we will examine the theoretical foundations and field-tested best practices for organizing new venture units (NVUs), evaluating and selecting new ventures, implementing mergers, acquisitions and/or spinouts, managing corporate conflict and change, and rewarding success (or failure).  Readings, videos and case studies will be drawn from diverse fields such as Innovation Management, Mergers and Acquisitions, and Change Management, and students will be expected to share personal experiences during the seminars. (Prerequisite EMBA 710)

Course Code(s):	EMBA 731
Course Name:	Best Practices from the Intrapreneur’s Perspective
Course Weight:	3 credits
Course Description
A corporation depends on intrapreneurs to conceive and champion significant new avenues for the corporation to continuously revitalize itself, be they major new product categories, new technologies, new markets, new operational processes, new IS/IT technologies, new HRM initiatives, and/or new partnerships. In this course, we will examine the theoretical foundations and field-tested best practices for formulating new venture ideas, developing the business case, gaining senior management and resource commitment, minimizing resistance, and ensuring successful execution. Readings, videos and case studies will be drawn from diverse fields such as Intrapreneurship, Innovation Management, Change Management, and/or Technology Management, and students will be expected to share personal experiences during the seminars. (Prerequisite EMBA 710 and EMBA 730)

Course Code(s):	EMBA 797
Course Name:	Proseminar in Innovation Leadership
Course Weight:	1 credit
Course Description
The purpose of this Proseminar in Innovation Leadership is to provide students with a current view of strategic issues and experiences in the management of corporate new ventures. The seminar will offer presentations and discussions led by experienced consultants and industry observers who will provide their perspectives and tell their stories relating to selected topics and/or case studies. Students will gain a practical perspective on the strategic role and issues pertaining to the management of corporate new ventures, particularly as drivers and enablers of business transformation, and as an underlying infrastructural resource for all businesses. (Prerequisite CNVL 730 and EMBA 731)

Level B Elective Courses:

Course Code(s):	MBA 622
Course Name:	Global Strategy
Course Weight:	4 credits
Course Description
This course makes use of cases, lectures and assignments to help students identify and understand the operating and competitive environment of an organization, to use this information to define its strategy and market positioning, and to implement by reorganizing its resources, its competitive ability, and its operating efficiency. We'll also examine issues related to the collaborative management of relationships with global alliance partners that become essential for implementing a successful global strategy.

Course Code(s):	MBA 625
Course Name:	Strategic Sustainability Planning
Course Weight:	4 credits
Course Description
This contemporary topic of study lends an important level of understanding the challenges; and, in developing the strategy skills that are important for business leaders and managers facing the pressures to meet higher accountability levels of social and environmental responsibilities in their operational policies and practices. 1. This course will provide students with the opportunity to assemble "briefing materials" that can make the case for sustainability in a business organizational perspective. 2. This course will strengthen skills in the management of strategic program planning processes. 3. This course will contribute to an objective understanding of contemporary needs and responsive methodologies that stakeholders in business communities must consider within the context of their corporate responsibilities.

Course Code(s):	MBA 720
Course Name:	Leadership Values and Ethics: Exhibit values and make ethical choices which enhance stakeholder trust
Course Weight:	4 credits
Course Description
Organizational leaders convey values and ethics that affect public trust, stakeholder trust, and trust within the organizational team. This course teaches students how to enhance this value-laden ethical capital. Classic moral philosophies are reviewed, and we explore their application to cases in community relations, environmentalism, marketing, operations, accounting, information technology and human resource management. Learners will gain an enhanced understanding for and respect of the different managerial values of their colleagues, and concepts for analyzing ethical issues.

Level C Integration (8 credits):

Course Code(s):	EMBA 798
Course Name:	Integration Project in Innovation Leadership
Course Weight:	8 credits
Course Description
The Integration Project is a capstone course involving student teams and business organizations. Under the supervision of faculty members, teams (of 3 or 4 students) will approach and establish a formal project relationship with an existing business organization to: 1) identify a new venture in the realm of marketing, operations, HRM or IS/IT that the organization wants to be analyzed and/or resolved; 2) design and execute a feasibility study which involves the integration and synthesis of relevant knowledge acquired in the EMBA program; 3) draft a report presenting their analysis and conclusions; and 4) present its final report to the participating business organization. Feedback from the client organization will be incorporated into the students' final grades.  (Prerequisite EMBA 730, EMBA 731, and EMBA 797)

 
 
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