M.B.A. concentrations
You can customize the M.B.A. program to your individual interests and goals by choosing from 13 optional concentrations. All M.B.A. concentrations require completion of three courses. Although students may initially select a concentration at the time they complete their application for admission, any further changes to the concentration, including adding a new concentration or changing a concentration, will not be possible until the student has completed at least one semester of their graduate studies.
To request an M.B.A. concentration, you must submit the M.B.A. concentration request form prior to applying for graduation. M.B.A. concentrations cannot be added once your graduation audit has started. 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 7100: Financial Accounting for Decision Making
- ACC 7130: Intermediate Managerial Accounting
- ACC 7145: Accounting Systems: Design and Controls
- ACC 7148: ERP Systems and Business Integration
- ACC 7280: Accounting Data Analytics
Please contact Cheol Lee, Chair and Professor of Accounting for additional information on this concentration or meeting CPA requirements.
- Digital/Business Analytics
Provides digital and business analytic competencies so students have sufficient technical skills and understanding required by firms to generate insights into structured and unstructured data. This concentration focuses on data management, decision-making support, qualitative and quantitative analysis, applied technology and mobile delivery. The concentration can be completed entirely online.
Courses are categorized based upon understanding the principles associated with digital/business analytics, gaining skill utilizing insight generation tools and delivering the content to the end-user or decision maker. Students have the option of completing all six of their required M.B.A. electives from the list below.
To complete this concentration, students must complete at least three of the following courses:
- 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 7400/MGT 7700: Management and Leadership for Entrepreneurs
- 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 7200: Startup Financing and Profitability
- FIN 7270: Entrepreneurs' Ecosystem
- FIN 7280: Entrepreneurship Finance and Venture Capital
- MGT 7700: Leadership and Management of Innovation and Technology
- MKT 7860: Social Media and Digital Marketing Analytics
- MKT 7950: (or MGT 7950) Business and Sustainability
- ISM 7505: Information Analytics: Inbound Information Technology
- ISM 7560: 7560 Survey of E-Commerce
- ISM 7994: Digital Content Development
- ISM 7996: Principles for Customer Relationship Management
Please contact an advisor 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 7220: Advanced Managerial Finance
- FIN 7270: Entrepreneur's Ecosystem
- FIN 7280: Entrepreneurial Finance and Venture Capital
- 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 following course:
and at least two 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
Please contact Cheol Lee, Chair and Professor of Accounting 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, logistics, and quality management.
Students have the option of completing all 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 following two courses:
PLUS at least one of the following:
- ACC 7148: Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems & Business Integration
- GSC 7000: Consultative Analysis and Executive Presentation
- GSC 7100: Study Abroad
- GSC 7670: Special Topics in Supply Chain Management
- GSC 7680: Manufacturing Planning and Control
- GSC 7920: Supply Chain Process Analysis and Costing
- GSC 7960: Lean Six Sigma
- GSC 7991: Principles of Quality Management
- MKT 7950 (or MGT 7950): Business and Sustainability
- Healthcare Supply Chain Management
Provides students with an overview of the healthcare industry and key disciplines within healthcare supply chain management, including medical device/pharma production, quality management, lean six sigma, healthcare purchasing, logistics, warehousing, hospital materials management, and disaster preparedness.
The concentration requires a total of nine credit hours of coursework.
Two required courses:
Choose one additional required course:
- GSC 7000: Consultative Analysis and Executive Presentation
- GSC 7100: Study Abroad
- GSC 7620: Global Supply Chain Management
- GSC 7650: Strategic Procurement
- GSC 7670: Special Topics in Supply Chain Management
- GSC 7920: Supply Chain Process Analysis and Costing
- GSC 7991: Principles of Quality Management
- 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 7730: People Analytics
- MGT 7750: Managing Employee Relations
- MGT 7780: Workplace Negotiations
- 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.
- Technology, Information Systems and Analytics (TISA)
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 Technology, Information Systems and Analytics (TISA) concentration, students must complete at least three of the following courses:
- ACC 7148: ERP Systems and Business Integration
- ISM 7290/ACC 7290: Blockchain: An Accounting and Business Perspective
- ISM 7510: Database Management
- ISM 7530: Societal and Ethical Issues in the Information Age
- ISM 7560: Survey of E-Commerce
- ISM 7570: Business Analytics
- ISM 7575: Corporate Computer Networks and IT Security
- ISM 7900 / MGT 7900: Project Management
- 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 7730: People Analytics
- MGT 7780: Workplace Negotiations
- 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:
- 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 at least two of the following:
- SEM 7110: Sport & Entertainment Marketing Communications
- SEM 7120: Event Planning and Management
- SEM 7130: Managerial Finance in Sport & Entertainment
- SEM 7140: Sport & Entertainment Economics
- SEM 7995: Directed Study in Sport and Entertainment Management
- SEM 8000: Special Topics in Sport & Entertainment
