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THE EXECUTIVE MBA FORMAT
The Core Course Curriculum of the Executive MBA
The required curriculum is a cornerstone and hallmark of the MBA Program. The Core Course Curriculum of the Executive MBA at the Darden School is designed and delivered in accordance with the School’s mission of producing action-oriented graduates through the use of student-centered learning and an integrated and innovative curriculum.
Purpose
The purpose of the Core Course Curriculum is to equip students with the foundational skills, judgment, and inspiration necessary to lead a global business.
Vision
Each student will complete the Core Course Curriculum with confidence that they have mastered the fundamentals of leading a successful global business. The Darden School’s Core Course Curriculum in the Executive Format Program will be recognized as occupying a permanent place among the top 10 core-curriculum programs in the world.
Values
The Core Course Curriculum endorses, employs, and seeks to model the core values of the School:
- Action orientation
- Global and enterprise perspectives
- Leadership imbued with integrity, vision, judgment, determination, and social responsibility
- Outstanding, current, student-centered teaching
- Integrated and innovative curriculum and course materials
- Supportive and equitable learning climate
- Mutually strengthening partnerships
Strategy
The Core Course Curriculum seeks to accomplish its vision through excellence in its curriculum content, a collaborative learning environment, and unsurpassed teaching effectiveness.
- Core Course Curriculum Content
- Focusing on the fundamentals of business management
- Valuing integration across disciplines
- Using contemporary issues, problems, and processes as the basis for class discussion and relating them to the students’ current work environment
- Teaching the analytical frameworks and methods of analysis useful in reaching economically sound and socially responsible business decisions
- Emphasizing global, enterprise, and leadership perspectives and stressing effective written and oral communication skills throughout the curriculum
- Continuously reviewing and renewing the content of the curriculum for currency and exigency
Learning Environment
- Assigning all students to learning teams so they can become effective and valued team members
- Assigning students to sections that remain intact for at least two contiguous quarters
- Grading classroom contribution as a significant proportion of the final grade in all courses
- Requiring on-time attendance, preparation, and participation to develop professional maturity and decisiveness
- Emphasizing the quality of the learning environment by assigning term faculty leaders.
Teaching Effectiveness
- Modeling and promoting integrity and enthusiasm as essential characteristics of business leadership
- Hiring and rewarding faculty committed to teaching excellence, course leadership, and materials development
- Encouraging faculty team meetings to strengthen class delivery and share teaching skills and techniques
- Conducting periodic teaching-development seminars to hone the instructors’ craft
Core Course Requirements and Courses
The Executive MBA’s core curriculum requires 25.5 credit hours of coursework.
Twenty-eight session courses receive 3 credit hours; 14 session courses receive 1.5 credit hours. The Core Course Curriculum for the Executive MBA will be designed and delivered based on the Full-Time Format of the FY Program core course descriptions presented in the Registrar’s course directory.
Class-Session Allocations and Credit Hours by Course
The core curriculum will have 10 content areas with the credit hours as specified below. Normally, the core-course class-session allocation for each content area will be as follows:
|
Core Courses
|
Class Sessions
|
Credit Hours
|
|
Accounting for Managers
|
28
|
3.0
|
|
Global Economies and Markets
|
28
|
3.0
|
|
Business Ethics
|
14
|
1.5
|
|
Financial Management and Policies
|
28
|
3.0
|
|
Leadership Communication
|
14
|
1.5
|
|
Marketing
|
28
|
3.0
|
|
Operations Management
|
28
|
3.0
|
|
Leading Organizations
|
28
|
3.0
|
|
Decision Analysis
|
28
|
3.0
|
|
Strategic Thinking and Action
|
14
|
1.5
|
|
|
238
|
25.5
|
The Executive MBA Program Committee is charged with the responsibility for planning and delivering the core courses deemed necessary to attain the core program vision stated in Section II-E-1-b.
Other Required Courses in the Executive MBA
Other Required Courses in the Executive MBA (see the Registrar’s course directory for full descriptions) include:
|
Other Required Courses
|
Credit Hours
|
|
Business Fundamentals
|
1.5
|
|
Leadership Residencies
|
6
|
|
Global Residency
|
1.5
|
|
Experiential Learning
|
6 |
|
Professional Advancement
|
1.5
|
|
16.5
|
Electives in the Executive MBA Program
Objectives
The overarching objective of the electives curriculum for the MBA Program (Full-Time Format and Executive Format) is to reinforce the mission of the School as captured in its Mission Statement.
The following are the specific objectives of the electives curriculum of the Executive Format:
- Enable students to pursue several areas of interest in greater depth;
- Offer an innovative, relevant, leading-edge MBA elective curriculum; and
- Foster the exploration of ideas, concepts, and themes that prepare students for lifelong learning and continued professional development.
Electives Course Requirements
The electives curriculum in the Executive MBA requires 16.5 credit hours of coursework.
