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CORE CURRICULUM
The core gives you a comprehensive grounding in business fundamentals. It develops your critical-thinking skills, teaching you how to frame questions, weigh alternatives, manage risk and solve complex problems.
The Olin MBA curriculum offers a comprehensive set of required and elective courses built upon a foundation of critical-thinking and leadership skills. The degree requires completion of 66 credit hours, nearly two-thirds of which are elective courses selected by the individual student. Olin MBAs, therefore, are able to shape the curriculum to meet their unique personal objectives.
The fall semester of year 1 focuses on critical thinking, leadership, career strategy and the major functional areas of business. During the spring semester of year 1 and throughout year 2, students take mostly elective courses of their choosing, often following the guidelines of concentration areas that help students navigate the curriculum toward their career goals. Elective courses include semesterlong (3-credit) courses, six-week “mini” (1.5-credit) courses and experiential learning opportunities. Olin MBAs can also take up to nine credits of approved course work from other graduate programs at Washington University.
Transfer of Credit
Olin Business School will accept up to nine credits of course work taken at another AACSB accredited institution, if the grades you earned are "B" or better, and the Academic Review Committee judges the courses to be equivalent to Olin MBA classes in quality and content. Submit the course syllabus and transcript to your business advisor. The review process usually takes at least two weeks to complete.
| First Year |
| GO! Program |
Fall Term A |
Fall Term B |
Spring Terms A & B |
| Students build a foundation for learning during the Gateway: Olin (GO)! Program. Course work begins while students learn about the Olin environment and how to make the most of their two-year experience. |
In the first term of the first year, the faculty introduces many of the key models and tools needed to frame and analyze the fundamental issues of management. |
The second mini-semester introduces the major functional areas of the firm: finance, marketing and operations. It culminates with "ICE Week." |
While completing the last required course in the first year, students begin to round out their curriculum with elective courses. Both full and mini electives are available, as are experiential learning programs. Students prepare for internship opportunities in their chosen functional area and develop the needed tools to be immediately effective on the job. Elective offerings include both "mini" and semesterlong courses. |
Critical Thinking for Leaders
(1 credit) |
Financial Accounting
(2 credits) |
Marketing Management
(3 credits) |
Strategic Cost Analysis
(2 credits) |
Managerial Economics
(3 credits) |
Financial Management
(3 credits) |
Electives
(12-18.5 credits)
In the final term of the first year, students enroll in elective courses of their choosing. These electives prepare the students to discuss internship opportunities in their chosen functional areas and provide the needed tools to be immediately effective on the job. Elective offerings include both "mini" (1.5-credit) and semesterlong (3-credit) courses. |
Managerial Statistics
(2 credits) |
Operations Management
(3 credits) |
Introduction to Management and Strategy
(2 credits) |
OlinProDev
(0 credits) |
Foundations for Leadership Effectiveness
(2 credits) |
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Integrative Case Experiences (ICE)
(1 credit) |
| Second Year |
| Fall Term A |
Fall Term B |
Spring Term A |
Spring Term B |
| Students reflect on their professional development plans, first-year learning and summer internship experiences. While the first year of the program builds team skills and a common body of knowledge, the second year builds individual confidence and competence. |
Students complete their final required course during the first spring term and round out their studies with their final electives and experiential learning programs. |
Leadership Development Workshop
(1 credit)
Electives |
Electives
Electives from many different disciplines are offered, including: accounting; finance; management; managerial economics; marketing; operations and manufacturing management; organizational behavior; strategy; entrepreneurship; and international management. |
Strategic Management
(2 credits)
The final required course is taken in Spring Term A. |
Electives
(10-16.5 credits in addition to Term A required course.) |
MGT 5000. Olin Professional Development Program (Olin PRODEV) – Mastering the Art of Career Readiness
Olin Professional Development Program (Olin PRODEV) – Mastering the Art of Career Readiness is a fully-integrated program with a practical application of skills necessary to compete at the highest level. The innovative approach will begin with summer pre-work assignments in self-assessment (CareerLeader) and resume development and spans across your time at Olin to reflect the important evolution and skill building required for a successful internship and job search. In collaboration with core faculty, alumni, business professionals, career center staff and recruiters, this course will provide intensive, interactive activities specifically designed to develop competencies in leadership, relationship-building and communication skills that are critical in today’s global marketplace. In tandem with the rigors of the MBA curriculum, the Career Management and Professional Development program and experiential learning components will prepare you for a life-long process of fine-tuning your career strategy, devising realistic tactical plans and successfully implementing them, to maximize career success. 0 credits.
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ACCT 5011. Financial Accounting
In this course we will study the three fundamental financial accounting issues, which are 1) recognition, 2) measurement/valuation and 3) classification/disclosure, and consider how business transactions are reflected on the financial statements using generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). We will cover the four primary financial statements (balance sheet, income statement, statement of stockholders’ equity and statement of cash flows), the supporting footnotes to these statements, and several reports (annual reports, proxy statements and press releases). The course incorporates both a preparer’s perspective (e.g., how to apply GAAP requirements for recording and presenting financial information) and a user’s perspective (e.g., how an investor or analyst can interpret and use financial statement information). 2 credits.
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ACCT 5012. Strategic Cost Analysis
This course provides an introduction to cost concepts, cost behavior and cost systems. Understand how strategy, technology and the environment affect a firm's choice of cost system type and system design alternatives. Discuss how cost system choices, in turn, influence tactical and strategic managerial decision making. Tools such as cost-volume-profitability analysis, customer profitability, value chain analysis and relevant-cost analysis are presented. Case discussions illustrate the application of course topics. Prerequisite: Fall A required MBA course work or equivalent. 2 credits.
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FIN 5302. Financial Management
Students will learn in this class how the decisions of a company affect shareholder value and what decisions can increase it. To understand the perspectives of shareholders, we will study basic principles of investing: time value of money, valuation of debt and equity securities, discounted cash flow as a foundation for stock prices, the impacts of diversification and leverage on portfolio risk, the relationship between risk and expected return in securities markets, and capital market efficiency. We will use these principles to analyze capital investment decisions by estimating cash flows and discounting them at the appropriate cost of capital. We will also study how shareholder value is affected by a firm’s financing decisions, such as the choice of using debt or equity capital. Prerequisite: Fall A required MBA course work or equivalent. 3 credits.
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MGT 5302. Strategic Management
This capstone course provides an opportunity for students to integrate concepts from prior functional courses (marketing, operations, finance, accounting, managerial economics) through the development and implementation of a business strategy. The centerpiece of this course is an intensive, global business simulation. The exercise requires students to acquire, operate and develop strategy for a simulated firm within a high-technology industry. The course is designed to deepen students' understanding of strategy formulation, competitive advantage, rivalry and competition, negotiation, and global management. To prepare students for the simulation game, the course will examine topics of strategy formulation, industry analysis, global strategy and management in technology-intensive industries. 2 credits.
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MGT 5303. Integrative Case Experiences (ICE)
Throughout the fall semester of the first year, all MBA students will have the opportunity to develop certain skills, demonstrate those skills, and integrate those skills through a series of case experiences designed to both “pull together” and to “cap off” the core semester of the program. The case experiences that make up this course (commonly referred to as “ICE”) could be assigned as individual or group projects, and they may begin as soon as Orientation week. Other case studies will follow, culminating with the intensive “ICE Week” at the conclusion of the fall semester. During “ICE Week” students work in their core study teams and prepare and deliver analyses of a series of comprehensive, interdisciplinary cases designed to challenge them to integrate the concepts developed during the core semester of the program. Presentations are reviewed and evaluated by a panel that may include members of the faculty, staff, second-year students, alumni and Olin MBA recruiters. This course is required for all students enrolled in the full-time MBA program, and there are no waivers or substitutions. 1 credit.
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MGT 5310. Critical Thinking for Leaders
Critical thinking is the cornerstone of effective decision making. In order for Olin’s MBA students to interact in class, learn fundamental concepts, interview well, and perform at high levels of excellence in their chosen careers, they must develop their critical thinking skills. This course focuses on laying the cornerstone of critical thinking during the MBA Gateway: Olin (GO)! Program, held prior to the start of the fall semester core courses. The goal is to establish the elements, process and assessment of critical thinking that will then be used during many of Olin’s core curriculum courses as well as later electives. 1 credit.
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MGT 5311. Introduction to Management and Strategy
This course focuses on the job, perspective and skills of the general manager – an individual charged with developing and implementing the long-term strategy of a business organization. The course helps students develop skills in identifying and analyzing past and current strategies and with formulating and implementing new ones. During the course, students are introduced to concepts around strategy formulation, resource and capabilities assessment, and industry and competitor analysis. 2 credits.
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MEC 5400. Managerial Economics
This course introduces the basic principles of economics and their applications to managerial decision making. The course begins with analysis of the decision making of individual consumers and producers. The course then examines how consumers and producers interact with each other in a variety of market settings ranging from situations in which firms have many competitors and few tactical options to those in which there are a small number of firms competing vigorously along several strategic dimensions. Applications covered include decision making in risky situations, pricing policies in firms, and the relationship between market structure and the strategic choices that are open to the firm. 3 credits.
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MEC 5410. Managerial Statistics
Introduces the statistical methods for analysis of business and economic data. The role of probabilistic concepts such as independence, conditional probability, expectation and variance, and probability models such as the Bernoulli, binomial, Poisson and normal are examined. Particular emphasis is placed on topics that relate to model formulation, estimation of model parameters, hypothesis testing, and simple and multiple regression. 2 credits.
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MKT 5503. Marketing Management
The purpose of this course is to familiarize students with the foundational elements of marketing strategy and execution in various managerial contexts. Class sessions emphasize customer/market focus and competitor analysis to coordinate marketing tactics in a manner that drives growth in revenues and earnings. The course primarily uses case discussions, with lectures where appropriate. The cases provide students an opportunity to develop their oral and written skills in formulating and defending their marketing proposals. Recent developments in theory and practice are integrated into the course as appropriate. Prerequisite: Fall A required MBA course work or equivalent. 3 credits.
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OB 5620. Foundations for Leadership Effectiveness
As part of the MBA Gate: Olin (GO)! Program held prior to the start of the fall semester core courses, this course examines leadership from the perspective of how individuals add value to organizations through the distinctive assets they contribute. The course begins with assessments that offer students and accurate evaluation of their individual assets and liabilities in their ‘leadership portfolio. It then shifts to teams, introducing techniques to enhance collaborative problem solving by applying rubrics for critical and creative thinking. Finally, the course includes four 1.5-hour sessions interspersed throughout the fall semester of year 1 that features a series of case-based workshops dealing with leadership issues in organizations. 2 credits.
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OB 5621. Leadership Development Workshop
In this course, during the fall semester of year 2, participants complete leadership assessments and interpret the results in light of critical incidents in their summer internship experiences through peer coaching and leadership development. The course culminates in the preparation of a Leadership Development Portfolio. Prerequisite: OB 5620. 1 credit.
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OMM 5704. Operations Management
This course discusses the main principles and concepts in managing operations for competitive success. Among the topics covered are: operations strategy, capacity analysis and organization, queuing theory, service management, quality management, inventory management, and a brief introduction to supply chain management. Students learn the basics of how to manage the operations of a firm and how operational issues affect and are affected by the many business decisions they will be called upon to make or recommend in their careers. Most sessions consist of in-depth case discussion integrated with theory. Prerequisite: Fall A required MBA course work or equivalent. 3 credits.
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We were one of the first business schools to establish a Center for Experiential Learning (CEL) that links students with corporations, nonprofit organizations and entrepreneurs – from multinational firms to local startups. Organizations bring their strategic issues to the business school for discussion and analysis. Our MBAs provide cost-effective management and consulting expertise. As an MBA student, you write business plans, research products and services, investigate intellectual property, analyze marketing strategies, and evaluate the effectiveness of manufacturing processes. By selecting programs in your field of interest, or by using CEL courses to explore new career options, you gain industry and functional expertise that increases your value to prospective employers.
The Practicum
Student teams provide management expertise for local, national or international firms. An Olin faculty member serves as a mentor for each team. At the end of your project, your team makes a formal presentation that includes analyses, strategies and recommendations for change.
Investment Praxis
Learn the day-to-day responsibilities of professional investment portfolio managers by managing a portion of the school’s endowment fund.
The Taylor Community Consulting Program
Spend six weeks helping an organization perform more effectively by providing it with short-term, pro bono business counseling and expertise.
Global Management Studies (GMS)
Travel abroad to get firsthand experience of international cultures and economies. In 2008, faculty-guided GMS student teams traveled to China, Peru, Colombia and the United Arab Emirates and explored the challenges and opportunities for U.S. firms in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. For more CEL information, visit Center for Experiential Learning.
Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial Studies (SCES)
SCES serves as an umbrella organization for a variety of entrepreneurial initiatives and offers numerous opportunities for our MBA students, such as The Hatchery and the Olin Cup Competition.
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