M.B.A. concentrations
You can customize the M.B.A. program to your individual interests and goals by choosing from 11 optional concentrations. Most concentrations require completion of three courses, allowing you to choose up to two concentrations while meeting the elective credit hour requirements.
To request an M.B.A. concentration, you must submit the M.B.A. concentration request form (PDF) prior to applying for graduation. M.B.A. concentrations cannot be added once your graduation audit has begun. Concentrations are not listed on your degree but do appear on your transcript.
All courses listed below are three credits.
- Accounting Systems
Equips students with the analytical and technical skills necessary for sound professional judgment in financial decision-making. Courses cover many topics, including financial and managerial accounting, accounting systems, ERP systems, and more.
To complete the Accounting Systems concentration, choose three of the following courses:
- ACC 7040: Intermediate Financial Accounting I
- ACC 7130: Intermediate Managerial Accounting
- ACC 7145: Accounting Systems: Design and Controls
- ACC 7148: ERP Systems: Concepts and Practice
- ACC 7280: Accounting Data Analytics
- ACC 7290: Blockchain: An Accounting and Business Perspective
Please contact Accounting Department Secretary Demetria Smith at 313-577-4640 or mscrowell@wayne.edu for additional information on this concentration or meeting CPA requirements.
- Entrepreneurship and Innovation
The Entrepreneurship and Innovation concentration emphasizes concept and application, focusing on the successful formation and management of new ventures. The concentration is designed to equip students with the understanding, skills, and experiences needed to translate ideas into reality and develop an understanding of the commercialization potential of their ideas, inventions, and discoveries. Students will learn how to solve unique problems associated with innovation, think creatively and critically as they acquire and manage financial and human resources required to sustain the effort to develop, launch and grow a new venture. The emphasis is on the special knowledge and skills required of an entrepreneurial manager and leader.
The concentration requires a total of nine credit hours of course work.
Required course:
Choose two electives from the following:
Entrepreneurship and Innovation Courses (EI 7000 or MGT 7660 is a prerequisite for all other EI courses)
- EI 7200: Startup Financing and Profitability
- EI 7400: Management and Leadership Issues in Entrepreneurship and Innovation
- EI 7600: Marketing New Ventures
- EI 7800: Special Topics in Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Other Mike Ilitch School of Business elective courses (prerequisites may apply):- FIN 7280: Entrepreneurship Finance and Venture Capital
- ISM 7505: Information Analytics: Inbound Information Technology
- MGT 7700: Leadership and Management of Innovation and Technology
- MKT 7950: (or MGT 7950) Business and Sustainability
Other Wayne State elective courses (prerequisites may apply):- BMS 7100: Introduction to the Business of Biotechnology
- IBS 7110: Introduction to the Business of Biotechnology
- SW 6991: Social Entrepreneurship
Please contact Director of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Jeff Stoltman for additional information on this concentration.
- Finance
Provides students with a deeper understanding of the management of money and other assets, such as stocks and bonds, for organizations and/or individuals. Course topics include investment policies, money, and capital markets, international finance, and more.
Students have the option of completing all six of their required M.B.A. electives from the concentration list below. Individual concentration requirements must be met to graduate with this distinction on your transcript.
To complete the Finance concentration, please complete the following course:
and at least two of the following:
- FIN 7000: Applied Financial Analysis
- FIN 7090: Money & Capital Markets
- FIN 7220: Advanced Managerial Finance
- FIN 7229: Corporate Valuation
- FIN 7270: Entrepreneurs' Ecosystem
- FIN 7280: Entrepreneurial Finance and Venture Capital
- FIN 7290: Topics in Finance
- FIN 7340: Futures & Options
- FIN 7870: International Finance
- FIN 7900: Mergers and Acquisitions
- FIN 7990: Portfolio Management/Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF)
- Financial Accounting
Prepares students to synthesize financial information and create financial reports for an organization's stakeholders. Course topics include financial statement analysis, governmental and not-for-profit accounting, accounting systems, and more.
Students have the option of completing all six of their required M.B.A. electives from the concentration list below. Individual concentration requirements must be met to graduate with this distinction on your transcript.
To complete the financial accounting concentration, please complete the two following courses:
and at least one of the following:
- ACC 7115: Financial Statement Analysis
- ACC 7122: Advanced Accounting I
- ACC 7145: Accounting Systems: Design and Controls
- ACC 7155: Forensic Accounting
- ACC 7170: International Accounting
- ACC 7180: Auditing
- ACC 7188: Governmental and Not-for-Profit Accounting
- ACC 7190: Advanced Auditing
Please contact Accounting Department Secretary Demetria Smith at 313-577-4640 or mscrowell@wayne.edu for additional information on this concentration or meeting CPA requirements. - Global Supply Chain Management
Prepares students with in-depth knowledge about global challenges and the critical links in the value chain of goods. The concentration covers subjects such as strategic procurement, ERP systems, and quality management.
Students have the option of completing all six of their required M.B.A. electives from the concentration list below. Individual concentration requirements must be met to graduate with this distinction on your transcript.
To complete the Global Supply Chain Management concentration, M.B.A. students must complete the two following courses:
- GSC 7620: Global Supply Chain Management (offered in fall and winter)
- GSC 7650: Strategic Procurement (offered in fall and winter)
NOTE: GSC 7650 may be taken during the study abroad program in China, offered each May.
PLUS at least one of the following:- ACC 7148: Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems & Business Integration (strongly recommended)
- GSC 7010: Supply Chain Decision Tools (strongly recommended)
- GSC 7260: Theory of Constraints: Breakthrough Solutions (strongly recommended; offered in spring)
- GSC 7670: Special Topics in Supply Chain Management
- GSC 7680: Manufacturing Planning and Control
- GSC 7910: Managing Automotive Supply Chain Sustainability
- GSC 7920: Supply Chain Process Analysis and Costing
- GSC 7930: Managing Risk in Automotive Supply Chains
- GSC 7960: Lean Six Sigma (strongly recommended: offered as a five-day course in January and May, eight hours per day)
- GSC 7991: Principles of Quality Management (strongly recommended; offered in fall and winter)
- GSC 7992: Methods of Quality Management: Greenbelt Certificate Preparation (strongly recommended; offered in spring)
- GSC 7995: Directed Study: Supply Chain Management Study Abroad (strongly recommended)
NOTE: Two-week, three-credit study abroad programs in Global Supply Chain Management are offered in China, Central Europe, Brazil, and Italy. In China, students may opt to stay an additional two weeks and complete the required course GSC 7650 in addition to GSC 7995, for a total of six credits. Travel costs range from $2,300 to $3,200, plus tuition. - MKT 7950 (or MGT 7950): Business and Sustainability
- Human Resources
Emphasizes concept and application, focusing on long-term goals and managing individual issues. The concentration teaches skills to identify and solve problems in the management of human resources.
Students have the option of completing all six of their required M.B.A. electives from the concentration list below. Individual concentration requirements must be met to graduate with this distinction on your transcript.
One course is required:
Two other courses are required from the following:
- ELR 7010: Healthcare, Retirement, and Employee Benefit Plans
- ELR 7450: Employment Relations Law in North America
- MGT 7650: Strategic Human Resource Management
- MGT 7750: Labor Relations and Collective Bargaining
- MGT 7790: Compensation Administration
The Human Resources concentration focuses on current policies and practices regarding the management of human resources in various organizational contexts. Students will have the opportunity to join the recently formed Wayne State University Student Chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). SHRM is an important credentialing body in the field. - Information Systems Management
Emphasizes a managerial approach to information systems. Students learn about business information systems, telecommunications and networks, data mining, and more.
Students have the option of completing all six of their required M.B.A. electives from the concentration list below. Individual concentration requirements must be met to graduate with this distinction on your transcript.
To complete the Information Systems Management concentration, students must complete at least three of the following courses:
- ACC 7148: ERP Systems and Business Integration
- ISM 7290: Blockchain: An Accounting and Business Perspective
- ISM 7505: Information Analytics: Inbound Information Technology
- ISM 7510: Database Management
- ISM 7520: Information Systems Design
- ISM 7530: Societal and Ethical Issues in the Information Age
- ISM 7560: Survey of E-Commerce
- ISM 7570: Data Mining
- ISM 7575: Corporate Computer Networks and IT Security
- ISM 7900 / MGT 7900: Project Management
- ISM 7994: Digital Content Development
- ISM 7996: Principles for Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
- ISM 8000: Seminar in Information Systems and Management
- International Business
Prepares students to evaluate the challenges and opportunities of business practices occurring across national borders. Students learn about international marketing strategy, global perspectives, global supply chain management, and more.
Students have the option of completing all six of their required M.B.A. electives from the concentration list below. Individual concentration requirements must be met to graduate with this distinction on your transcript.
To complete the International Business concentration, please complete the two following courses:
and at least one of the following:
- Management
Equips students with leadership skills needed to effectively direct a variety of business functions in a fast-paced, constantly changing business environment. Course topics include organizational change and development, managing human resources, and more
Students have the option of completing all six of their required M.B.A. electives from the concentration list below. Individual concentration requirements must be met to graduate with this distinction on your transcript.
To complete the Management concentration, please complete at least three of the following courses:
- MGT 7620: Complex Organizations
- MGT 7630: Organizational Change and Development
- MGT 7640: Management of Human Resources
- MGT 7660/EI 7000: Entrepreneurial Management
- MGT 7780: Concepts and Processes of Dispute Resolution I: Negotiating Theory and Practice
- MGT 7815: Strategic Leadership
- MGT 7816: Leading in Organizations
- MGT 7850: Management through Constructive Persuasion
- MGT 8000: Seminar in Management
- MGT 7900 (or ISM 7900): Project Management
- MGT 7950 (or MKT 7950): Business and Sustainability
- Marketing
Prepares students to plan strategies for increasing an organization's competitiveness and satisfying consumer needs. Courses explore a wide range of topics including market strategy, advertising management, consumer behavior, and more.
Students have the option of completing all six of their required M.B.A. electives from the concentration list below. Individual concentration requirements must be met to graduate with this distinction on your transcript.
To complete the Marketing concentration, please complete the two following courses:
and at least one of the following:
- EI 7600: Marketing New Ventures
- MKT 7150: Global Automotive Marketing Strategy
- MKT 7430: Advertising Management
- MKT 7460: International Business
- MKT 7500: International Marketing Strategy
- MKT 7700: Management of Retail Enterprises
- MKT 7860: Social Media and Digital Marketing Analytics
- MKT 7950 (or MGT 7950): Business and Sustainability
- Sport and Entertainment Management
Emphasizes concept and application, focusing on the business of sport and entertainment organizations. The concentration is designed to underscore management fundamentals learned in the M.B.A. program to equip students with the knowledge, experience and skills to work in the world of elite sport and entertainment.
Critical questions such as how to attract and retain the elusive entertainment consumer, how to build a franchise to be win- and profit-maximizing, and how to manage events that highlight an organization's core mission will be explored.
To complete the Sport and Entertainment Management concentration, please complete the following course:
and two to five of the following:
