Curriculum

Manderson offers one of the few graduate business programs to prepare students for certifications in SAS, the premier software for the data mining industry. By detecting hidden patterns and relationships among massive amounts of raw information, data mining produces knowledge that reveals how organizations can improve performance.

Data mining and analysis require application experience and specialized data skills. Within this focus, you will gain a unique combination of knowledge, skill, and experience that qualifies you to work for major players in business industries. This focus also features an optional international trip during the summer.

The Finance focus offers a comprehensive understanding of financial markets, banking, personal finance, and corporate finance, in addition to the strategic implications of each. This challenging focus will give you a broad understanding of corporate finance, financial restructuring, securities analysis, portfolio management, and financial institutions and markets. You will gain the expertise necessary to make important financial decisions pertaining to all types of firms.

Put simply, business is risk. Any business or nonprofit organization can be exposed to a variety of risks. Financial risk management is a complex, dynamic process requiring quantitative measurement. In recent years, there has been explosive growth in the need to manage financial risk and the firms that provide it. People managing financial risk must be quite comfortable with quantitative concepts and must have the ability to handle large amounts of information. As a graduate with a Financial Risk focus, you will be prepared to effectively manage risk for your companies.

Cybersecurity is a burgeoning discipline requiring skills and knowledge across multiple dimensions, including technology, human behavior, and organizational policies. The Cybersecurity/Management Information Systems (MIS) focus in the traditional MBA program keys on these skills and knowledge, providing you with a general introduction to the principles and practices of cybersecurity in business and organizational settings.

Through this focus, you will gain the skills necessary to participate in the full spectrum of security program planning, including security policy development and planning for incident response, business continuity, disaster recovery, and crisis management. You will also gain skills required for the more applied practices of threat detection, analysis, prevention, and remediation. Cybersecurity professionals are in great demand and are experiencing unprecedented job market advantages. The Cybersecurity/MIS focus provides the background needed to be a part of this fast-growing profession.

The Real Estate focus continues The University of Alabama’s real estate legacy that began over 80 years ago. Designed to provide students with a background in real estate fundamentals and decision making, the Real Estate focus combines many different academic disciplines including economics, finance, sales, management, and law. You will have a unique opportunity to be eligible to take the Alabama Real Estate Salesperson License exam after completing two real estate courses, and the Real Estate focus qualifies graduates for the Institute of Real Estate Management’s Certified Property Manager (CPM) fast track program. Another benefit is the Alabama Center for Real Estate’s (ACRE) Collegiate Career Assistance Program (CCAP). Housed within the Culverhouse College of Business, CCAP provides student support and resources for professional development and real estate internship/employment opportunities.

As organizational needs become increasingly dynamic, there is a growing demand for problem solvers who can deliver across industries. The Strategic Management and Marketing focus provides an opportunity to study in the management, marketing, healthcare or entrepreneurship fields. This area of focus covers an organization’s internal operations and includes business partners, appraisal of present and future partners, and strategic implementation.

Supply Chain and Operations Management (SCOM) is a discipline focused on activities that aim to improve the efficiency and productivity of firms that compose a complex supply chain. Activities falling within the scope of SCOM include the planning and management of logistics, sourcing, procurement, and production. SCOM also addresses the coordination and collaboration among partners, which can be suppliers, customers, and everything in between. The SCOM focus prepares you to make optimal decisions about a firm’s operation, both internally and as part of a modern and complex global pipeline, from the time a need arises until it is satisfied.