Success in business comes from knowing which questions to ask in any given situation. By asking the right questions, businesses can avoid costly mistakes. The BYU MBA prepares its students to recognize problems and ask the right questions to get to correct solutions quickly.
The BYU MBA provides a comprehensive management education that prepares students for professional managerial and leadership positions in a changing world. The program offers a curriculum which exposes students to the underlying disciplines and then reinforces those principles with practical field-study projects—an interactive approach to management education, binding knowledge with experience.
One unique strength of the BYU MBA is the intimate class setting. Small class size becomes a considerable advantage in a program that takes a team-oriented approach to solving business problems. This team emphasis begins immediately.
New students are introduced to each other and to the program through participation in a series of outdoor activities in the beautiful Wasatch Mountains. They develop a sense of cooperation and trust by solving problems and achieving personal and group goals. The bonding and support established in this experience continues to grow as students pursue their course work together, helping each other achieve success.
For more program details, please click on a heading below.
All entering MBA students are required to be enrolled in the management core classes during the first year (two 15-week semesters) of study. The BYU MBA follows a strict lockstep format wherein first-year students enter the program in the fall, then take all their classes together during the first year. Because of the intensity of the courses and the number of hours spent in group work outside the classroom, students cannot work during the first year of the BYU MBA.
The required courses, though challenging for most first-year students, provide vital tools, concepts, and techniques for analysis in the basic functional areas of business.
Instruction in the management core enables students to apply the tools learned in one course to the solution of problems encountered in another. Often, a case discussion will be led by a group of faculty members from several of the functional areas, providing an environment that encourages students to analyze issues from multiple perspectives.
Team Work
Entering MBA students are divided into three sections of approximately 50–55 students each. A section is then organized into smaller study teams of approximately five students. Group assignments are made according to such factors as undergraduate major, academic background, language background, and previous work experience.
The team experience is critical. Much of students’ learning takes place in their groups and outside the classroom as they learn to work together to deal with the pressures and uncertainties of management positions.
Courses
In order to establish a solid background in the essential business disciplines, all students take the required core classes. The following is the list of first-year core classes for fall and winter semesters:
Fall Semester Core
- MBA 501: Corporate Financial Reporting
- MBA 505: Leadership
- MBA 520: Business Finance
- MBA 530: Operations Management
- MBA 548: Strategic HR Management
- MBA 550: Marketing Management
- MBA 593R: Major Professional Seminar
Winter Semester Core
- MBA 502: Managerial Accounting 1
- MBA 580: Business Strategy
- MBA 584: Intro to Global Management
- MBA 604: Business Ethics
Summer Internships
Following the second semester of the program, students are strongly encouraged to spend the summer in independent work experiences or internships that further their professional interests. As students return for their second year, they bring back professional experiences that enrich their academic work.
Courses
The largest part of the second year consists of electives that fulfill major requirements. Students can emphasize in one of five majors:
- Entrepreneurship
- Finance
- Operations and Supply Chain
- Marketing
- Strategic Human Resources
Students supplement their major classes with additional courses to help them acquire more general management education or to obtain a minor or certificate.
The BYU MBA offers a series of classes, competitions, and other off-campus opportunities to help students gain hands-on learning experience in global management, investment banking, real estate development, entrepreneurship, venture capital, ethics, international human resources, marketing management, and social enterprise.
There are also joint degree programs in law and engineering.