Program Requirements

Students are required to complete 36 hours of graduate study, including nine required courses and three elective courses. A maximum of two courses (6 hours) may be transferred in from an approved MBA program at another institution.  A maximum of six credit hours for graduate courses from a regionally accredited institution (including consortia and AACSB International-accredited institutions) may be approved for transfer (except BADM-740), provided: (1) those courses are determined to be equivalent to one of the advanced or elective  courses at The Citadel, (2) grades of “B” or better were received in the courses being considered, and (3) credit was earned within the five years prior to admission into The Citadel MBA program.

Students who do not hold an undergraduate degree in business will be required to take an additional 15 hours (5 courses) of foundation courses in the Pre-MBA Program. The five foundation courses are listed in the Pre-MBA program section.

Students are expected to complete all degree requirements within a six-year period from the time of registration in their first graduate course.

Course Load:

A student typically takes no more than two courses per semester and no more than one in each summer session. Any student planning to take more than three courses in the fall or spring or more than one course in a summer session must secure advance permission to do so from the MBA Program Director.

Required Courses:

Communication for Leadership:  This course provides insight on the role of organizations as communication systems in which effective writing and speaking are crucial. Emphasis is on developing awareness of verbal and written styles, interpersonal skills, and creating a repertoire of writing and speaking strategies. 
 
Legal and Ethical Environment for Decision Makers:  This course introduces the framework of law and ethics within which businesses operate and provides the student with a broad understanding of common law (contract, tort, and property) as well as statutory, administrative, and Constitutional law.

Information Technology Management:  This course introduces the student to the vocabulary of Management Information Systems (MIS) and explores how organizations are using information technology for a competitive advantage and redefining the way in which they interact with their stakeholders. 
 
Leadership in Organizations:  This required, core MBA course is a seminar that focuses on the understanding and application of organizational theory and leadership principles. In addition, the course will include components on developing individual leadership skills and different theories of organizations. The applications component of the course will include a variety of approaches such as cases, films, guest speakers, individual self-assessment, role play, team building exercises, and a leadership portfolio. 
 
Accounting for Executives:  This course is designed to provide students with a knowledge of the basic tools and concepts used in managerial accounting and to provide an opportunity for students to employ their knowledge of financial and managerial accounting projects. It emphasizes identifying and interpreting relevant accounting information for decision-making by internal and external users. The focus is on the use of accounting information for decision-making, including behavioral and ethical aspects.  

Quantitative Methods for Operations Management:  Students explore the role of operations management in building the competitive strength of the firm and in pursuing the firm's goals of customer satisfaction, profit, service delivery, quality and shareholder wealth. The course integrates classical and modern operations management methodologies with both hypothetical and real-world business cases. Students learn concepts and quantitative algorithms involved in designing and managing operations. 
 
Financial Problems:  This course provides students with a venue for applying the concepts and techniques from the Foundations of Finance course to complex business problems. The course content will be delivered primarily using the case method of analysis. Emphasis will be on teamwork and group analysis of directed and non-directed business finance cases. Students will be responsible for identifying relevant financial issues, offering alternative solutions, and making, justifying and critiquing recommended courses of action. A portion of the course will be devoted to analyzing cases with a significant international component. The course may also utilize simulation as a part of the course content. 
 
Strategic Marketing:  This course examines how organizations gain and maintain a competitive advantage in a dynamic era. The course emphasizes the analysis of marketing decisions involving product, price, promotion, and distribution variables. Global opportunities are investigated. 

Global Business Strategy:  This comprehensive and integrative MBA capstone course pulls together the concepts, tools, and approaches taught in all the required courses. This course uses a combination of cases which place students in diverse managerial positions and a business simulation which requires the student to act as a senior executive responsible for the strategic decisions of an organization, the course emphasizes the application, execution, and resolution of multi-dimensional problems. The course emphasizes the strategic management of the business unit and the development of a paradigm for strategic analysis, as well as matching internal processes with the implementation of diverse objectives. The focus is on business-level strategy and the role of leadership in improving performance.

Exempting Foundation Courses:

Students with an undergraduate degree in business may exempt Foundations of Accounting (BADM 701), Foundations of Economics (BADM 704), Foundations of Marketing and International Business (BADM 707), Quantitative Methods (BADM 710), and Foundations of Finance (BADM 725), based upon prior appropriate undergraduate or graduate course work in which the applicant made a grade of "B" or better. Exempted courses do not require replacement with other courses. The MBA Program Director determines the exemption credit that an MBA applicant qualifies; the MBA Program letter of acceptance sent to the applicant and will list any courses which the applicant was exempted.