Master of Business Administration (MBA)
Complete List of Course Descriptions and Learning Outcomes/Objectives
ADM 5000 – Masters Level Success 1 CREDIT
To be successful in the online, masters level degree programs at Apollos University, students need to possess a core set of skills. This course provides new students with an overview of these core skills, focusing on 4 specific items: navigating the AU systems and expectations; AU policies and procedures; AU student services and resources; and the LIRN Library Database.
Course Learning Outcomes (CLO)
CLO1. Assess the core set of skills individuals need to be successful in a Masters level, online degree program
CLO2. Complete a practice, essay exam
CLO3. Conduct academic research and reporting
CLO4. Examine the Apollos online systems including ATLAS, Moodle, and the LIRN Library database
Course Learning Objectives (LO)
LO1. Examine the online learning systems at Apollos University and practice basic navigation techniques
LO2. Differentiate between the various types of classroom assignments and requirements one will encounter during their studies and identify the university expectations for students in relation to each type of activity
LO3. Examine Apollos University policies and procedures that relate to student progress, classroom activities, and degree completion
LO4. Evaluate the various student services and resources available to students 24 hours a day through the Apollos University Online system.
LO5. Rate the importance of emailing for questions and support
LO6. Assess the LIRN Library Database and practice selecting peer-reviewed articles from the database
LO7. Assess academic writing style and techniques
ADM 5020 Comprehensive Examination 0 CREDITS
This course is taken after the student has successfully completed all core courses. The examination is a comprehensive review of the course material taken during the master’s program and is designed to demonstrate the student’s academic and professional proficiency and mastery of the material. The examination will be taken online and consist of two sections, a multiple choice section that measures knowledge of the material and the written part that measures application of the material.
BUS 5301 - Research Methods 3 CREDITS
The course presents the student with an overview of the general approaches to research methodology. The student learns to investigate the quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methodology approaches to rigorous scholarly inquiry in their field. Emphasis is placed on reliability, validity, dependability and ethical considerations for developing relevant, appropriate, and professional research methodologies.
Course Learning Outcomes (CLO)
CLO1. Assess general approaches to research methodology
CLO2. Examine quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methodology approaches to scholarly research
CLO3. Interpret the relationship between reliability, validity, dependability, and ethical considerations to the development of relevant, appropriate, and professional research methodologies
Course Learning Objectives (LO)
LO 1. Appraise the science of research in business and how it affects the business environment.
LO 2. Compare the methods of business research and how and when to use each method.
LO 3. Appraise research and operationalize problems.
LO 4. Construct problem statements, research questions and hypothesis.
LO 5. Analyze and assemble an appropriate research design and sample design.
LO 6. Choose an appropriate measurement and scaling design.
LO7. Create an appropriate coding system for the collected data
LO 8. Select the appropriate methods to test the data and address the research questions/hypotheses
LO 9. Analyze data and create an appropriate business report
BUS 5310 Survey of Business Topics 3 CREDITS (Prerequisite course and does not count toward degree credit requirements)
This course is designed for the student that does not hold a bachelors or masters degree in business. It explores the various disciplines of today’s business environment and provides the student with a detailed overview of the field of business management and how each one is related to the other. The disciplines that are surveyed include: management, finance, accounting, economics, marketing, business law, procurement/contracts, human resources, and international business. The course is required for students that did not major in business in their applicable undergraduate or graduate programs.
Course Learning Outcomes (CLO)
CLO1. Assess general approaches to areas of today’s business environment.
CLO2. Compare various disciplines of today’s business environment including management, finance, accounting, economics marketing, business law, procurement/contracts, human resources, and international business.
CLO3. Analyze leadership, motivational styles, and leadership best practices at all levels of the organization
Course Learning Objectives (LO):
LO1: Analyze the nature of present day business organizations and the environment in which they operate
LO2: Compare the roles of entrepreneurs, managers, and employees within the local, national, and global business environments
LO3: Examine the problems facing today's businesses in the fields of international trade, government regulations, and societal issues
LO4: Analyze the ethical and legal nature of business practices and the cultural expectations and barriers associated with such practices
LO5: Assess the fundamentals of organizations and explore the relationship of organizations to their business environments
LO6: Compare and contrast various best-leadership practices
LO7: Compare and contrast the operations of the various functions of business and how these functions are interrelated
LO8: Evaluate the management implications of business strategy and operations
LO9: Assess the importance of timely and accurate information in decision making
LO10: Examine e-commerce systems and information technology management techniques and practices
LO11: Examine various human resource management practices and techniques
LO12: Analyze managerial accounting concepts and their relationship to creating value and profit in organizations
LO13: Evaluate the relationship between risk and return and how organizations increase profitability through sound financial decision making.
BUS 5313 - Production and Operations Management 3 CREDITS
The course provides the student with a practical understanding of production and operations management concepts and tools and focuses on effective management within today’s competitive, global environment. It addresses concepts and methods to support the management of operations in both service and manufacturing environments. Understanding the organizational processes and how production and operations management is embedded into the overall strategy of the organization is paramount to the success of the organization. Some of the concepts and tools studied in the course are: linear programming, queuing theory, PERT/CPM, decision theory, Kaizen, and lean manufacturing.
Course Learning Outcomes (CLO)
CLO1. Assess general approaches to production and operations methodology.
CLO2. Design and analyze production and operations facilities.
CLO3. Analyze and recommend supply chain best practices.
Course Learning Objectives (LO):
LO1: Apply the concepts of productivity and production.
LO2: Estimate the measurements and assessments of a firm's operational performance.
LO3: Analyze forecasting as a basis for supply chain planning.
LO4. Compare the four process strategies and judge the competitive advantage of manufacturing firms and service firms related to these strategies.
LO5: Differentiate the contributions to operations management of Frederick W. Taylor, Walter Shewart, W. Edwards Deming, and Eliyahu Goldratt.
LO6: Construct aggregate plans that employ different strategies for meeting demand.
LO7: Describe what MRP is and determine where it is best applied.
LO8. Create fixed-order quantity and fixed-time period models, including ways to determine safety stock when there is variability in demand.
LO9: Design an effective supply chain for an enterprise.
BUS 5321 - Managerial Accounting 3 CREDITS
The course covers the use of accounting information by managers for decision-making purposes. Topics include: analyzing and interpreting financial statements (including cash flow analysis), overhead allocation and product costing, budgeting, accounting, and capital budgeting. Case studies based on actual management decisions are the central method used in this course to enhance student learning of key accounting concepts.
Course Learning Outcomes (CLO):
CLO1. Assess the use of accounting information by managers in the decision making process
CLO2. Analyze financial statements in relation to overhead allocation and product costing
CLO3. Compare actual management decisions based on accounting concepts using real-world case studies
Course Learning Objectives (LO):
LO1. Appraise the significance that managerial finance and accounting plays in the strategic decision making process of a corporation
LO2. Categorize the roles managers perform, within the corporation’s accounting process and how their daily decisions affect the organization’s profits and losses
LO3. Synthesize the need for ethical decisions within an organizations accounting and reporting process
LO4. Debate the role of management accountants in an organization and the importance of them upholding ethical standards
LO5. Evaluate the elements of cost terms, concepts, and classifications
LO6. Propose the significance of profit planning and how to plan and prepare budgets
LO7. Categorize how a balanced scorecard fits together and how it supports a company’s strategy
LO8. Apply the concepts of flexible budgets and overhead analysis
LO9. Estimate the elements of relevant costs for decision making
LO10. Choose financially sound business capital budgeting decisions
LO11. Apply the activities required for allocating service department costing
LO12. Determine how to answer the question of “how well am I doing” in regards to statements of cash flows
LO13. Determine how to answer the question of “how well am I doing” in regards to Financial Statement Analysis
LO14. Analyze and interpret a cost-volume-profit (CVP) graph and a profit graph.
LO15. Compute the margin of safety and explain its significance.
BUS 5322 - Managerial Finance 3 CREDITS
The course provides the students with the tools and techniques to meet the financial and budgeting challenges they will face in the professional environment. The course provides the student without financial and accounting credentials practical tools and concepts for corporate financial management. (Prerequisite: BUS 5321 or Permission of the Instructor)
Course Learning Outcomes (CLO)
CLO1.Create skills in financial and budgeting management to meet the challenges of the professional environment
CLO2. Assess practical tools and concepts for corporate financial management
CLO3. Interpret financial statements and design strategies for effective costing, budgeting, accounting, and capital building
CLO4. Compare key financial management concepts through real world case studies and actual management decisions
Course Learning Objectives (LO)
LO 1. Debate the significance that ethical managerial finance plays in the strategic decision making process of a corporation
LO 2. Categorize the roles managers perform, within the corporation’s financial process
LO 3. Evaluate how the manager’s daily decisions affect the organization’s profits and losses
LO 4. Propose the need for ethical decisions within an organizations financial reporting process
LO 5. Appraise the role of financial management in an organization
LO 6. Synthesize the importance of upholding high ethical standards in developing and reporting financial data
LO 7. Propose the necessary steps to maximize profits within their organization
LO 8. Compare and contrast company financials against industry norms
LO 9. Choose financially sound business decisions
BUS 5323 - Managerial Economics 3 CREDITS
This course provides students with an integrated understanding of the concepts of economics. The emphasis is on the application of economics and the use of actual economic events to encourage the study of the principles of economics and to show how these concepts can help the students understand the complex and dynamic international economy.
Course Learning Outcomes (CLO)
CLO1. Formulate an integrated understanding of the concepts of economics
CLO2. Apply economic principles and theories to actual economic events
CLO3. Assess the complex and dynamic international economy and the influence this has on management decisions
Course Learning Objectives (LO)
LO1. Apply the fundamentals of managerial economics.
LO2. Contrast the market forces of supply and demand.
LO3. Estimate how incentives affect behavior
LO4. Measure the application of elasticity to managerial decision making
LO5. Relate marginal analysis to the decision making process
LO6. Evaluate how transactions cost affect the buy/sell decision
LO7. Appraise how prices are determined using different pricing strategies.
LO8. Assess the role of public policy in the economy
LO9. Analyze firm behavior using the principles of strategic interaction among firms
LO10. Evaluate organizational architecture to analyze and explain firm behavior
LO11. Examine the science of quantitative demand analysis.
LO12. Evaluate management decisions in today’s competitive monopolistic and monopolistically markets.
BUS 5324 - Business Statistics and Decision Making 3 CREDITS (Prerequisite course and does not count toward degree credit requirements)
The course familiarizes the student with the use of business statistical procedures for the purpose of generating decision-making information. Understanding the conceptual basis of the methods will be emphasized, which enables students to identify and apply the appropriate statistical procedure to the decision problem.
Course Learning Outcomes (CLO)
CLO1. Develop and apply the ability to effective business statistical procedures for the purposes of making appropriate business decisions.
CLO2. Identify and apply the appropriate statistical procedure to the decision problem
Course Learning Objectives (LO)
LO1. Compare the relationship between statistics and business
LO2. Analyze types of data, samples, and populations
LO3. Differentiate diverse sampling methods
LO4. Appraise and utilize measurement scales
LO5. Propose descriptive statistics in order to describe data sets
LO6. Debate ethical issues related to reporting statistical findings
LO7. Determine the normal probability distribution
LO8. Compute probabilities under the bell curve
LO9. Construct confidence intervals for population proportions and normally distributed data
LO10. Perform hypothesis testing
LO11. Propose hypothesis testing to test the validity of a proportion or mean
LO12. Assess the various risks associated with hypothesis testing
LO13. Perform a hypothesis test using a one-sample hypothesis
LO14. Perform a hypothesis test using a two-sample hypothesis
LO15. Perform a chi-square test for qualitative data
LO16. Propose Excel and Mega Stat programs as statistical tools to process and interpret data and to draw effective conclusions
BUS 5331 - Ethical Issues in Business 3 CREDITS
The course provides the student with information on the legal and ethical challenges found in today’s business environment. The course is an analytical exploration of the global, organizational, and personal factors of making legal and ethical decisions. It includes an introduction to the western legal system and its effect on current business entities and practices. The student explores current issues and trends in the ethical dealings of the business environment and provides the student with the opportunity to explore their own company’s legal and ethical dilemmas.