Study anywhere. Succeed everywhere.
Thunderbird's advanced web-based distance learning platform makes it easy to earn a global business education anywhere in the world. Delivered primarily online, with weeks in residence in locations around the world, our Online MBA offers you high-tech curriculum delivery merged with high-touch service, cohort interaction and hands-on learning.
Curriculum for this program is divided into three primary categories: world business,international studies and cross-cultural and English business communications.
Designed to meet the needs of busy global professionals, this lock-step program lets you progress through the curriculum with your cohort following a prescribed course sequence. Using the technology tools of modern business, coupled with group work and interactive projects, the insight and skills learned in Thunderbird’s Online MBA can be implemented immediately on the job.
Sample course descriptions
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Course Number: BC-4001Credit Hours: 1.50
This course focuses on effective management communication for personal and corporate leadership development and illustrates how core concepts of communication strategy inform the various channels of management. Students analyze the components of effective communication with regard to theme, audience, style, clarity, cross-cultural sensitivity, structure and organization in both oral and written forms. Its thematic approach includes leadership, ethics, mergers and acquisitions, e-commerce, public language and corporate culture, teaming, and project management.
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Course Number: CS-1001Credit Hours: 0.00
The course equips students with a standard set of career management skills that can be used in any future career search process including: using self assessment and market research tools to identify your goal(s), developing an effective resume and cover letter, professional networking and interviewing skills, and job search ethics and etiquette. The course emphasizes a proactive job search process and teaches students how to leverage skills for future career moves.
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Course Number: GM-4464Credit Hours: 1.50
This course explores the mix of organizational practices and people that can be the basis of sustainable competitive advantage in the contemporary global business environment. Topics covered include cross-cultural issues in managing people; traditional and emerging models of organizations; organizational culture; leadership; employee skills and motivation; reward systems; and change management.
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Course Number: GM-4468Credit Hours: 1.50
This course explores the strategic management of the global firm. Readings, cases, group projects and discussions are used to present the analytical tools and techniques that support strategy formulation, and the related managerial skills and decision processes that foster strategy implementation in the global business environment.
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Course Number: GM-4800Credit Hours: 1.50
This dynamic and interactive course provides managers with an effective framework for achieving their goals in competitive global business settings. The course will assist students to prepare for and execute time-tested strategies for achieving communication competence with persons from different cultures. It will not only examine theories of culture and communication, but will also place students in an experiential situation to gain valuable skills for overcoming obstacles in global management environments.
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Course Number: GM-4300Credit Hours: 3.00
This course concentrates on a number of commonly applied quantitative tools in everyday business which can be used to improve the quality of managerial decisions. Topics covered include descriptive statistics, basic probability, confidence interval, simulation, sampling, hypothesis testing, regression analysis and linear programming. Different managerial applications of these probabilistic as well as deterministic techniques in a variety of business areas will be demonstrated.
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Course Number: DM-1005Credit Hours: 6.00
The course equips students with a standard set of career management skills that can be used in any future career search process including: using self assessment and market research tools to identify your goal(s), developing an effective resume and cover letter, professional networking and interviewing skills, and job search ethics and etiquette. The course emphasizes a proactive job search process and teaches students how to leverage skills for future career moves.
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Course Number: GM-4201Credit Hours: 1.50
Fundamentals of Finance will focus on the building blocks and the basic theories of Finance. Topics addressed include: Present value (and Net Present Value) concepts; the basics of stock and bond valuation (including the NPVGO model); capital budgeting (various tools of capital budgeting, and derivation of cash flows for capital budgeting); working capital management.
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Course Number: GM-4101Credit Hours: 1.50
This course covers the application of accounting models to the measurement of assets, liabilities, and stockholders? equity. Topics covered include, marketable securities, receivable and inventory valuation, fixed and intangible assets, bonds, leases, dividends, stock buybacks, stock splits and foreign currency translation. The emphasis of the course is on the evaluation of corporate financial reporting policy and the usefulness of financial reports for decision making. U.S. and international accounting standards are covered.
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Course Number: GM-4202Credit Hours: 1.50
The second module of Finance picks up where the Fundamentals course leaves off. Topics addressed include: Portfolio theory and the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM); Weighted Average Cost of Capital; capital structure theories (including agency/signaling theories and dividend policy); financial market efficiency and its implications.
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Course Number: GM-4100Credit Hours: 1.50
This course introduces accrual accounting concepts including revenue recognition, matching, and asset and liability valuation. Topics covered include the recognition and measurement of accounting events, the preparation and analysis of financial statements (balance sheet, income statement and statement of cash flows), the use of international financial statements and as introduction to intercorporate investments.
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Course Number: GM-4450Credit Hours: 3.00
Foundations for Global Business Leadership serves as an introduction to the Global MBA On-Demand program. As such, we will examine the changing international business environment. Our goal is to begin the program?s process of understanding the dynamics of the global political economy, examining its effects at the firm level, and identifying skills managers need to function effectively in this environment.
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Course Number: GM-4210Credit Hours: 1.50
This course investigates the nature of foreign exchange markets and hedging instruments; international financial markets and the transmission of funds; balance of payments; alternative international monetary arrangements and institutions; and the respective adjustment mechanisms in response to fiscal and monetary policy changes. The course also examines how countries grow successfully and the causes of economic crisis.
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Course Number: GM-4402Credit Hours: 1.50
This course focuses on the many aspects of creating and growing a global venture. The concepts of going to market, competitive sustainability and building a company to last are discussed along with the aspects and characteristics of global entrepreneurs and the global entrepreneurship process. The concepts of creativity, innovation and opportunity analysis are discussed in both an individual and corporate setting as are global ethics, citizenship and intrapreneurship (corporate venturing).
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Course Number: GM-4203Credit Hours: 1.50
The third module of Finance examines corporate finance issues from managerial and strategic perspectives, and extends the concepts covered in the previous two modules to cross-border settings. Topics addressed include: financial and real options; risk management; corporate valuation (domestic cross-border).
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Course Number: GM-5486Credit Hours: 1.50
This course provides practical insights into those factors, both external and internal, which impact leadership effectiveness. Topics covered include the achievements of leaders, characteristics of leaders, leading across cultures, leading change and relationship between leaders and followers.
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Course Number: GF-5490Credit Hours: 3.00
An integrative capstone seminar led by a team of Thunderbird faculty. It is intended to examine issues related to management strategies, human resource management, services management, and the relationship to economic decision making.
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Course Number: GM-4505Credit Hours: 3.00
This course provides a managerial orientation to the topic of global marketing in today?s complex, rapidly changing international business environment. A key focus is developing competitive advantage by creating customer value. Course participants will gain a fundamental understanding of marketing strategy and marketing analysis (i.e., customer, competitor, and company analysis) as well as an appreciation of the basic strategic issues involved in market segmentation, market targeting, and market positioning in the international arena.
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Course Number: GM-4801Credit Hours: 1.50
This course will focus on the introduction of negotiating in the global context. Students will participate in a variety of hands on activities, such as scenario-driven discussions, case study and student-to-student negotiation.
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Course Number: GM-4802Credit Hours: 1.50
This course will focus on the breakdown and impasse that occurs in global negotiation. Students will participate in a variety of facilitation, creativity and mediation activities through case study and experiential negotiations.
