Oct 11, 2024  
2024-2025 Graziadio Academic Catalog 
  
2024-2025 Graziadio Academic Catalog

Online Master of Business Administration


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The Online Master of Business Administration (MBA) program is designed for individuals who possess business or managerial experience, need or desire a highly flexible educational delivery modality, and are interested in developing their functional competencies and leadership potential. Students gain a solid foundation of current business management concepts within a 52-unit curricular framework that is global, values-centered, and entrepreneurial. A significant amount of students’ class assignments will require ongoing integration and application of acquired knowledge and skills from their professional lives.

The program has the following learning outcomes:

  • Students will have the skills to analyze business situations in an integrated, multidisciplinary way and recommend solutions.
  • Students will have the communication skills to persuasively and professionally articulate their thinking.
  • Students will understand team dynamics and be effective team members and leaders.
  • Students will incorporate ethical considerations when making decisions.

The program follows a trimester-based academic calender, and typical course-load consists of 4-8 units per trimester. For graduate-level students, the completion of 4 or more units per trimester is considered standard academic progress. 

OLMBA program learning goals and outcomes state the educational expectations of student achievement for each degree program. These goals are defined by faculty members to clarify how they intend for graduates to be competent and effective as a result of successfully completing the program. 

Students enrolled in a program that is billed per-unit tuition may not enroll in courses that do not meet or exceed the degree completion requirements as outlined in the catalog.

Immersion Experience

During the first trimester of study, all members of the class are required to participate in a 3-day Personal and Leadership Development Workshop (BSCI 650 ). The workshop is designed to build a cohesive learning team for the class as well as explore the dynamics of interpersonal communication, personal ethics and values, and team development. This course is graded on a credit or no credit basis.

Global Business Intensive Courses

Two units of credit may be earned by completing one of the Global Business Intensive (GBI) courses offered at locations such as Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, and North America. The short-term intensive courses occur during trimester breaks. At the time of registration for the GBI course, students must have completed a minimum of 8 units at PGBS with a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.70.

Study Abroad Program

Students may spend a trimester abroad as a full-time student at one of the Graziadio School international partner business schools. Upon approval by the appropriate academic discipline(s),12 units of course work of comparable scope and content may be taken at the international partner school to satisfy elective requirements. Students will enroll at the Graziadio School in the appropriate number of PGBS Study Abroad course units. When the courses are completed at the international partner university, their course designation will be added to the enrollment record so that they will appear on the student’s transcript. These courses will be graded credit or no credit only.

Attendance 

Students are responsible for all synchronous or asynchronous instruction.  Live (synchronous) sessions are required instructional elements of every online class, and real-time attendance and engagement is expected of students on a consistent basis.  To ensure the fulfillment of all course objectives and deliverables, faculty may require attendance at certain live sessions without exception. Failure to attend the first class session may result in being permanently dropped from the course. In cases where an absence from a session has been approved by the instructor, the student will be assigned work to demonstrate mastery of the required content. Failure to complete this work will impact a student’s grade.

Access to On-Ground Courses

Online students who wish to enroll in an Online MBA relevant, on-ground course may submit a request for consideration on a space-available basis. Prior to the formal submission of the request, students should consult with their advisor to understand the potential impact of taking the desired on-ground course on their overall program completion plan and timeline. Requests are individually reviewed by the Program Office, and approval is not guaranteed. 

Change in Program Modality

Students are generally expected to complete their program coursework in the same modality they had chosen upon program entrance. Under compelling and verifiable circumstances, a student may formally petition for a permanent change in program modality (i.e., from online to on-ground). Petitions should be directed to the Program Office, detailing the nature of the circumstances and providing relevant documentation. 

Transfer of Graduate Credit

Students who have completed equivalent graduate-level courses at other AACSB and regionally accredited institutions may, upon the approval of the Program Committee, transfer up to 12 units into the Online MBA Program. However, certain courses in the curriculum - specifically BSCI 650 Personal and Leadership Development Workshop (1) BSCI 651 Behavior in Organizations (4) , STGY 612 Competition and Executive Decision-Making (1) , and  STGY 659 Strategic Management (4)  - may not be satisfied through transfer credit. 

To be considered for a transfer, courses must have been taken within five years prior to the student’s start of enrollment in the Online MBA Program at the Graziadio School. Only courses in which grades of “B” or better were earned will be accepted. Accepted transfer courses appear on the student’s Pepperdine transcript as “credit” only and are not factored into the cumulative grade point average.

Requests for the consideration of transfer coursework must be submitted in writing to the Program Office within the first trimester of enrollment and accompanied by the following:

  • Syllabus and catalog description of the previously taken course as the basis for requesting the waiver
  • Official transcript from the institution at which the course was taken, indicating successful completion
  • Any other information that the MBA Program Committee may require to evaluate the equivalency of the previously taken course

Decisions regarding transfer credit requests will be communicated to students in writing by the Program Office.

Fast-Track Online MBA Option

The Fast-Track degree completion plan within the Online MBA Program is available for candidates who have earned an undergraduate degree in business from an AACSB accredited program and meet the following additional criteria: (a) minimum grade point average of 3.5 in their undergraduate major (business) related coursework;  and (b) minimum of two years of professional work experience. The Fast-Track option allows for the waiver of up to 12 units of MBA core courses, excluding the course associated with the student’s intended concentration. The only exemption to this policy may apply to students who have earned an undergraduate degree in the same discipline as their intended Online MBA concentration (e.g., Accounting, Finance, Marketing, etc.). 

In addition to meeting the criteria above, Fast-Track candidates must have earned grades of “B+” or better in their undergraduate upper-division courses that correspond with the MBA core courses to be waived. The upper division undergraduate coursework must have been completed within seven years of their initial term of enrollment in the Online MBA Program. 

Pathway to Online MBA Program

To support the academic pursuit of an MBA degree, upon successful completion of the BSM program and acceptance into the Pathway MBA program, students may be eligible for pathway course transfers. Students need to earn a grade of “B” or better in all of the relevant BSM courses to be eligible for a course transfer according to the outlined chart. Only courses completed in the BSM program at PGBS are eligible to transfer towards the MBA program. MBA courses not specifically listed below are ineligible for transfer consideration.

BSM MBA Graduate Transfer Units
BSCI 468 Organizational Behavior (4) OTMT 481 Managing Organizations (2) , and OTMT 483 Managing Diversity in Organizations (2)   BSCI 650 Personal and Leadership Development Workshop (1)  and BSCI 651 Behavior in Organizations (4)  for OLMBA or BSCI 652 Organizational Behavior and Personal Development (4)  for PTMBA 5 units
ACCT 472 Accounting (4)  and FINC 474 Managerial Finance (4)   ACCT 606 Accounting: The Language of Business (4)   4 units
DESC 471 Statistical Methods for Business (4)  and DESC 475 Production and Operations Management (4)   DESC 607 Analytics for Business Decisions (4)   4 units
ECNM 469 Managerial Economics (4)  and ECNM 477 National Economic Markets (4)  or ECNM 478 International Business (4)   ECNM 657 Prices, Profit, and the Market Economy (4)   4 units
MKTG 473 Marketing Management (4)  and STGY 479 Business Strategy (4)   MKTG 603 The Art and Science of Marketing (4)   4 units
STGY 479 Business Strategy (4)   STGY 612 Competition and Executive Decision-Making (1)   1 unit

Required Courses


The OLMBA program requires 52 units of coursework comprised of 38 units of core and 14 units of elective courses. BSCI 650  and BSCI 651  are to be taken concurrently and are generally completed in the first trimester. STGY 612  is a summative experience, requiring students to integrate and apply knowledge acquired through the foundation curriculum. To be eligible to enroll in STGY 612  the following prerequisites must be satisfied: ACCT 606 , BSCI 651 , DESC 607 , and ECNM 657 . The STGY 659  capstone course may only be taken upon successful completion of all foundation courses.

Below is a list of the core course requirements for the OLMBA program (38 units):

Electives


As part of the Online MBA degree requirement, students will complete 14 units of elective coursework.

Elective course availability will vary per term and year based on instructor availability, enrollment, and program needs. Although elective courses are not guaranteed to be scheduled on a regular cycle, students will be provided a choice of relevant options from the program’s elective list during course registration.

Concentrations


Students need to earn 12 of the 14 units in a selected concentration area. The remaining 2 units of electives can be fulfilled from the chosen or another OLMBA concentration area. The following concentrations are available online:

*The concentration is on pause and not available to new, incoming students. 

Healthcare Management Specialization


To earn a Specialization in Healthcare Management, students complete a total of 6 units: 4 units of core specialization courses and 2 units of elective specialization courses in a hybrid modality. The remaining 8 units of electives are fulfilled from the OLMBA concentration courses. 

Required specialization core course (4 units):

Elective course options (2 units required):

*Offered in the hybrid format

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