Kansas State University

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Kansas State University
College of Business Administration

101 Calvin Hall
Manhattan, Kansas 66506
United States

In the school's own words...

The MBA program at K-State University provides a sound background in all business functional areas (accounting, finance, management and marketing), and it also pushes students to think beyond the “profit model” through required coursework in legal and ethical business models and international business environments, as well as a 9-hour concentration. Through these classroom experiences, students should gain a broader understanding of the complexities of managing businesses ethically and productively in a global context.

For the internationalization requirement, students select from a group of graduate level courses in international business, international management, international economics, international marketing, and international finance so that students can view business from a global perspective rather than an ethnocentric one. One course, International Business, was offered as a 10-day study abroad tour in China during the winter break of 2007. Based on the success of this trip, it is likely that an international study tour will be added to the curriculum in the coming years.

In their final semester in the MBA program, students are required to take the capstone course in Legal, Ethical and Public Policy Issues in Business, as well as complete a practicum project. The Legal, Ethical and Public Policy course (MANGT 860) is designed to educate students in issues related to business ethics, corporate social responsibility, and the stakeholder model of corporate governance. Students’ semester projects examine high profile cases of corporate mismanagement of social issues as well as exemplary cases of morally responsible management.

The practicum projects are semester-long team projects which require students to integrate learning from across all areas of study. Projects are selected from a variety of areas, including corporate partners, small businesses, and non-profit organizations. The goal is that students gain a clear understanding of not only ways to manage businesses to be profitable, but also what it takes to be responsible partners with local communities and society at large.

The MBA progam also has a 9-hour concentration, designed by students, that can be focused on finance, management, international business, or non-business coursework. The concentration provides an opportunity for students to focus on a specific area of interest. While most MBA students take electives within the College, some design concentrations that extend beyond the business school into such areas as Industrial Psychology, Public Administration, and Communication. Additionally, one of the graduate-level electives offered within the College is a seminar in Professional Ethics. This is generally listed under the “Topics in Management,” and it has been taught for the past four years. Other special graduate elective courses offered under the Topics in Management course (MANGT 897) in the past have included “Leadership for Practitioners” and “Character-Based Leadership.”

With these additional aspects, the MBA program creates additional “layers” of academic experiences for students, particularly in social, ethical, cultural and global areas, so that they will be equiped to understand how to contribute constructively to the future of business and society.

School Demographic Information