2019-2020 Graduate Catalog 
    
    Nov 21, 2024  
2019-2020 Graduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Master of Business Administration, Finance Concentration, M.B.A.


Master of Business Administration, M.B.A.


Park University’s Master of Business Administration degree program was founded in 1998. Park’s MBA program offers a studentcentered learning environment to produce responsible, innovative business leaders in an ever-changing global environment. It prepares students as entrepreneurial thinkers to enhance business competitiveness in a global environment. Significance is placed on applying business knowledge and techniques to implement decisions.

Park’s MBA faculty and students come from all continents and have diverse professional backgrounds, enriching the educational experience. Whether advancing through the ranks of a multinational corporation, joining a small nonprofit organization or re-entering the workplace, business applications and tools acquired in the MBA program are vital to student success in today’s fast-paced global business environment.

To meet students’ personal and professional needs, the MBA degree may be earned entirely through the blended faceto- face delivery method, through online delivery or through a combination of these methods. Face-to-face courses are offered as evening courses one night a week at our campuses in the Kansas City, Mo., area, Lenexa, Kansas, Austin, Texas, El Paso, Texas, Camp Pendleton in California, and Defense Supply Center Columbus (DSCC), Ohio. Online courses offer flexibility, without sacrificing rigor and academic excellence.

The MBA program offers a combination of eight-week and four-week sessions, allowing completion of the program in as few as 15 months (or 11 months for the Executive Master of Business Administration degree), enabling graduates to take advantage of current market demands.

The MBA curriculum is designed with the working professional in mind. Students are expected to engage in team assignments and are given the opportunity to obtain handson knowledge through projects and case study analysis. Each concentration is designed to meet the educational needs of the growing and varied business sectors.

Vision Statement

The vision of Park University’s Master of Business Administration program is to use a student-centered learning environment to produce responsible, innovative business leaders in an ever-changing global environment.

Mission Statement

The mission of Park University’s Master of Business Administration program is to prepare business leaders as entrepreneurial thinkers who enhance business competitiveness in a global environment.

Program Learning Outcomes

  • Formulate a personal communication strategy that will help them cultivate professional relationships with diverse stakeholders to achieve cooperation, promote teamwork, demonstrate respect, and maintain a competitive advantage.
  • Assess the level of professionalism needed for success in a highly dynamic and demanding environment by maintaining personal and professional accountability, engaging in ongoing professional development, and demonstrating a commitment to the welfare of the facility/organization, surrounding community and the profession. Demonstrate the ability to function autonomously and take responsibility for managing a culturally and geographically diverse group of professionals within a highly complex and changing business environment.
  • Develop a clear and achievable organizational vision for the future which promotes the entrepreneurial spirit and contributes to the formation of a culture and climate that embraces change in order to achieve excellence in product and service delivery.
  • Assess the business environment and its components in order to identify opportunities and threats, and then actively contribute to viable strategy formulation that effectively leverages internal competencies to achieve organizational success on a domestic and global scale.
  • Synthesize relevant internal and external data in order to position complex organizations for fiscal and operational success, despite existing barriers, in order to maintain a strong competitive advantage within a dynamic economy.
  • Demonstrate advanced problem solving skills that result in viable and ethical solutions to complex issues that may impact product and service delivery.

Admission Requirements

  • A bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university in the U.S., or from an accredited foreign institution of higher learning.
  • Minimum 2.75 cumulative grade point average on a 4.0 scale from all colleges and universities attended.
  • Students with a cumulative grade point average below 2.75 may be considered for conditional admission. Submission of additional documentation may be requested by the Program Director.

Admission to Park University’s Master of Business Administration program is open to graduates of all fields of undergraduate study.

Types of Admission

Students will be admitted to the Master of Business Administration program with one of the following admission statuses:

  1. Full Admission – Applicants who meet all admission requirements and the Graduate Admissions office has received all necessary documents, are granted full admission.
  2. Provisional Admission – Students may be admitted to a program on a provisional basis and their admission status will be classified as “provisional.” The provisional status will be removed when applicants submit test scores or other required documents. Students accepted provisionally must submit complete and satisfactory records before completing 12 credit hours in the graduate program.
  3. Conditional Admission – In certain exceptional cases, a student who does not meet the minimum grade point average requirement, but who presents other evidence of ability to succeed in a graduate program, may be granted provisional admission by the director of the graduate program in which the applicant is applying, in concurrence with the dean or designee. The probationary status may be removed after the student has demonstrated academic ability by maintaining a “B” average for the first six credit hours of graduate courses, with no grade lower than a “B”.

Sequential Degree

The MBA program is a participant of the Sequential Degree option. This provides the opportunity to graduate alumni of the College of Management at Park University to receive up to 12 credit hours in course substitutions towards the completion of the MBA degree. Alumni from Park graduate programs that are not aligned under the College of Management are not eligible to participate in the sequential degree options. They may receive up to 9 credit on transfer credit.

Requirements For: Master - 33 Hours, 3.0 GPA


Concentrations


All students complete all core courses to provide a common foundation; therefore, the program’s policy is not to waive any of the core courses.

The general MBA program offers the flexibility to tailor electives to the student’s professional interests. Ample choices allow a broad choice or a focus, such as finance, entrepreneurship, global business or information systems. Alternatively, the student may select one of the following formal areas of concentration:

  1. Business Analytics Concentration   
  2. Disaster and Emergency Management Concentration  
  3. Finance Concentration  
  4. Global Business Concentration  
  5. Homeland Security Concentration  
  6. Human Resource Management Concentration  
  7. Management Accounting Concentration  
  8. Management Information Systems Concentration  
  9. Marketing Concentration 
  10. Project Management Concentration  
  11. Public Accounting Concentration  
  12. Quality and Innovation Management Concentration  

Finance Concentration


The MBA Finance concentration provides graduates with broad professional competence and skills for careers in executive positions at financial institutions and other organizations. This concentration offers students extensive understanding of core skillsets in financial modeling, debt and equity issues, valuation, mergers and acquisitions, financial planning, risk management, financial reporting and analysis, and taxation necessary for modern corporate finance positions and consulting. By incorporating critical strategies and techniques in areas such as investment and commercial banks, financial, general management consulting, venture capital and private equity firms, and corporate finance within 500 large-cap companies, graduates are primed for financial challenges in national and international arenas. This concentration allows students to tailor their program to their professional goals and prepare them for career opportunities such as:

  • Investment Management. Prepares candidates for a career as a security analyst, money manager, brokerage firm analyst, insurance company representative or other financial job function.
  • Corporate Financial Management. Prepares candidates to be financial managers with responsibilities in risk management, strategic planning, budgeting, financial forecasting, cash management, credit administration, investment analysis and funds procurement.