The College of Business offers an MBA designed and taught by business leaders and educators to prepare ethical leaders for the global marketplace. Our MBA students are empowered to create their own leadership story to lay a path for their future. Courses are taught by passionate and experienced professors who care about their students. Small classes allow for classroom relationship building with peers and faculty that help build a network that will last a lifetime. Students can finish their program with an MBA or choose to add a specialization. The degree track is flexible yet rigorous to accommodate students while preparing them for today’s business world and that of tomorrow.
Our Mission
The mission of the College of Business is to develop ethical leaders who think critically, communicate effectively and promote socially responsible business practice that is grounded in Christian faith, and is innovative and entrepreneurial in spirit. We strive to prepare students who positively impact the global society they serve through an academically rigorous and relevant business education.
Our Vision
We seek to be a globally recognized Christian-based business college that creates authentic, innovative leaders who transform the lives and organizations they serve.
Our Values
As part of a university that values Christian faith, the individual, excellence, integrity and service, the College of Business at Concordia University Chicago values our Lutheran heritage of teaching excellence, leading by serving, innovative and entrepreneurial thinking, ethical decision making, intellectual and individual diversity, and sustaining a dynamic curriculum based on the needs of our students, community and stakeholders.
Program Objectives
Students will use the following four pillars to make excellent decisions in a global environment of complex problems and situations:
Ethics & Social Responsibility
We go beyond offering one course in ethics. We integrate ethics and social responsibility throughout our coursework. This is a distinct advantage. Leaders must understand that the success of their organizations is inextricably linked with broader ethical and social issues, not just within their local communities but also on a global scale as well. We prepare business students to serve and lead with integrity, demonstrating ethical and social responsibility to their community, organization, country and the planet.
Critical Thinking & Entrepreneurial Mindset
The themes of critical thinking and entrepreneurial mindset are threads within the curriculum that help develop a career advantage. We believe it is vital that students possess the ability to develop an entrepreneurial mindset to solve business problems. We believe that with a solid foundation of critical and creative thinking skills, students can learn to think entrepreneurially whether they plan to start their own business, work within a family-owned business or climb the corporate ladder. The ability to think critically and creatively, in order to evaluate opportunity, manage risk and learn from outcomes is integral to sustaining success.
Communication & Human Relations
We believe that preparing for a career in business goes beyond learning functional business skills. We are committed to your journey as you prepare to be an ethical leader and learn how to communicate with those inside and outside your day-to-day business environment. We designed our program as a cohort system so you can begin and end your program with the same group of people. This system aids in the formation of strong bonds with your fellow students as well as professors.
Global Interconnectedness & Inclusiveness
We believe that embracing diversity and promoting inclusivity in all forms supports good organizational practice and decision-making. While global business is reflected in the curriculum, the diversity of our student body is a better representation of our understanding and commitment to global interconnectedness. With students from 14 different countries, the College of Business is a global marketplace. Our partnerships with academic institutions and multinational corporations across the globe extend our reach well beyond the borders of Chicago, the Midwest and the United States.
Our MBA students will develop skills that allow them to communicate effectively in a variety of situations, including:
- Group work and presentation format
- Written and technology-based forums
Students will develop management and leadership skills, including:
- Use of social structure to identify opportunities to create value, mobilize resources and organize to deliver successful results
- Manage and lead through high-performance teams, corporate culture, strategic change, informal organization and across business units
- Assess influences of globalization and diversity
Degree Requirements
MBA-BUS (General Business Administration concentration): Completion of 36 hours of coursework including the Capstone Experience. All other concentrations* require the core courses plus additional concentration courses.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Required Core Courses | ||
| MBAC-6000 | Leading & Managing Effective Organizations 1 | 3 |
| MBAC-6050 | Ethics, Law & Communication in Decision Making | 3 |
| MBAC-6100 | Global Marketing in a Digital Era | 3 |
| MBAC-6155 | Organizational Behavior for Competitive Advantage | 3 |
| MBAC-6200 | Economics for Managers | 3 |
| MBAC-6250 | Strategy for Entrepreneurship & Innovation | 3 |
| MBAC-6300 | Accounting for Decision Making | 3 |
| MBAC-6350 | Managing Human Capital | 3 |
| MBAC-6400 | Statistics Applied to Managerial Problems | 3 |
| MBAC-6450 | Financial Management | 3 |
| MBAC-6500 | Global Management | 3 |
| MBAC-6990 | Capstone 1 | 3 |
| Total Hours | 36 | |
| 1 | Courses require Peregrine leveling exams as requirement. |
| * | The MBA with CSBO concentration requires completion of a modified core. |
Common Professional Component (CPC)
All MBA students will take a Common Professional Component (CPC)-based comprehensive exam as part of their coursework in their first MBA course. The exam contains 10 questions for each business topic, 40 questions total. The business topics include Accounting, Finance, Macroeconomics/Microeconomics and Statistics. The CPC exam is used to identify if there is a need to develop your foundational business knowledge so that you will be successful when taking the graduate-level courses that comprise the common body of knowledge (CPCs) within the MBA program. If a need is identified in a specific area, you will be requested to take an academic leveling course (ALC) in that specific academic area. The ALC self-paced module is a 20-question pre-test, then 4-6 hours of online instructional material, and a 20 question post-test. The assessment test is approved by Accreditation Council of Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) as a method to ensure quality in education, and is a requirement for accreditation. Assessment fees are not part of the tuition and are paid directly to the service provider.
CUC MBA Course Waiver
The following MBA courses (MBAC-6350 and MBAC-6500) may be waived for CUC undergraduate business alumni (with a BS or BA in business) who enroll in the MBA program within five years of graduation from CUC and earned a B or higher in the equivalent course(s).
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| MBAC-6350 | Managing Human Capital (HR, HCM, Global Teams) | 3 |
| Human Resource Management (Undergraduate Equivalent) | ||
| MBAC-6500 | Global Management | 3 |
| Leading Teams and Groups in a Global Environment (ADP Equivalent) | ||
| Leadership-centered Management (Undergraduate Equivalent) |
Students may elect to complete one or more specializations to add to the core MBA degree program.
How This Works
- Complete the 36 hour core for a MBA-BUS degree*.
- Students may also choose to complete additional hours in a specialization (42 to 60 hours total) which will result in a MBA with a specialization of their choice. Students may complete one or more specializations.
- Students may take their specialization courses while they are taking your core courses or they can complete them at the end of the core course curriculum. It is recommended that students take at least four core courses before beginning specialization courses.
Specializations
*Please note: The MBA with CSBO concentration requires completion of a modified core. Please see program requirements for details.