The MBA program provides a strong foundation of business concepts, models, skills and methods with which to face immediate and future career challenges. The basic program aims at creating a general management (rather than a functional specialist) perspective. Pragmatic in perspective, the focus is on problem analysis and synthesis, decision making, action taking throughout the functional areas of business and understanding the international context of business.
The educational objectives of the Donald and Sally Lucas Graduate School of Business MBA are threefold: to provide a solid base of interdisciplinary business theories and techniques; to apply theory and analytic tools to the practical improvement of organizational performance; and to explore personal beliefs and values as they affect ethical and economic organizational practices. Key processes involve: investigating opportunities and problems; defining causes or contributing factors to problems, including those that cut across organizational units; generating alternatives from which feasible programs of action are selected and implemented; and monitoring and changing where necessary, the progress of enacted decisions.
These skills are developed using a combination of approaches including: the case method, experiential exercises, computer simulations, team projects and problem sets. Students are expected to develop competencies both as action-oriented leaders and as logical decision makers.
The program is geared to the professionally oriented person who aspires to move into middle management or to undertake greater managerial responsibility. It is designed to aid those who have the capabilities or potential to be action initiators rather than those who prefer to develop reports and recommendations for decision makers. The MBA program accommodates students with a variety of educational and work backgrounds. Entering students who have an extensive and recent business education move quickly into the required advanced management courses. Those who are educated in fields other than business (such as engineering, science, arts or humanities) or whose undergraduate business education is more than seven years old, must first complete the three prerequisite courses to develop basic business competencies. Business development projects are available to MBA students. Donald and Sally Lucas Graduate School of Business has alliances with business incubator partners in Silicon Valley. Students have an opportunity to work with international businesses and Silicon Valley entrepreneurial start ups.
To be fully accepted into classified standing, an applicant must:
1. Be a baccalaureate graduate of an accredited four-year college or university;
2. Have a grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or better (on a 4.0 scale) in the last 60 semester/90 quarter units of course work;
3. Have obtained a score of 500 or better on the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), including scores above the 50th percentile in both the quantitative and verbal sections.
4. Applicants who do not possess a bachelor's degree from a postsecondary institution where English is the principal language of instruction must take and pass the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) with a paper score of 550 or better; a computer score of 213 or better; or an internet-based score of 80 or better.
5. The completion of three undergraduate prerequisites. These classes are: Introduction to Microeconomics, Introduction to Macroeconomics, and Business Statistics. A student may be admitted prior to completion of these three classes, but will need to provide the Donald and Sally Lucas Graduate School of Business Program Office proof of completion by the end of their first year of study. If proof of completion is not provided by the end of the first year of study, either in the form of an official transcript from another institution, or notification of the grade from SJSU, the student will not be allowed to continue taking MBA classes.
To earn the MBA degree, all students must satisfy the following requirements:
Ten advanced graduate courses (30 units) are required of all students. These courses ensure breadth in general management knowledge and help the student to develop mastery in applying essential business skills.
Beyond the ten required courses (and three prerequisite courses), a minimum of four electives (12 units) provide student choice for additional breadth.
The comprehensive project is incorporated in the Strategic Thinking course (BUS 290). The comprehensive project is a culminating experience integrating business functional and interdisciplinary areas. An individual written project report is required and an oral examination may be included. The project may take the form of a field study, research project or business simulation, as assigned by the Business 290 instructor. Students must receive an overall equivalent grade of "B" or better on the comprehensive project, and may be given a maximum of two opportunities to satisfy requirements.
The University requires that all graduate students demonstrate competency in written English as a condition for advancement to candidacy. Please refer to the SJSU catalog section titled “Competency in Written English” for details. For graduate courses that meet the competency in written English requirement, please refer to the Graduate Studies and Research website at www.sjsu.edu/gradstudies.
Students must maintain a grade point average of 3.0 or better on all graduate level course work. Students who receive grades of "C-", "D", "F" or "U" in any business graduate course must repeat that course to achieve a grade of "C" or better. In addition, any student whose overall GPA falls below 3.0, regardless of the number of units completed, may be disqualified from the MBA program. It is the policy of the Donald and Sally Lucas Graduate School of Business not to readmit disqualified graduate students after a second disqualification.
Subject to the approval of the Donald and Sally Lucas Graduate School of Business Program Coordinator and validation by the Associate Vice President for Graduate Studies and Research, students may transfer a maximum of six semester units of business graduate coursework from another AACSB-International accredited institution. Grades in the transfer courses must be "B" or better.
Students must comply with all other graduate requirements contained in this catalog.
| Course Requirements | |||
| Business Prerequisite Courses | 0 | ||
| Any of the three prerequisite courses may be waived through evidence of recent prior equivalency (within the last seven years with a grade of "B" or better). | |||
| Introduction to Microeconomics, Introduction to Macroeconomics, Business Statistics | |||
| Advanced Management Courses (Breadth Requirements) | 30 | ||
| BUS 200W, BUS 202, BUS 210, BUS 220, BUS 230, BUS 250, BUS 260, BUS 270, BUS 280 and BUS 290 (includes comprehensive project) | |||
| Elective Courses | 12 | ||
| Four elective courses must be taken to achieve a total of 42 semester units beyond foundation-level work. Subject to prior approval by an MBA advisor, up to six elective units (two classes) may be taken outside the College of Business. | |||
| Total Units: | 42 | ||
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