Brandeis International Business School

Programs > MBA > Core Curriculum

Core Curriculum

Your Academic Experience

students looking at iPad

The MBA curriculum ensures you're on the fast track to global business and leadership success.

Key Elements

  • Challenging, broadly applicable and inclusive of all business topics—from corporate communication to data analysis—through a global lens
  • An array of courses from global dexterity and transnational negotiations to marketing and investments
  • Continually updated to reflect the latest developments in global business and world affairs
  • Specialized to give you the technical training you need in the Bloomberg Lab and other “must-have” industry technologies

Curriculum and Timeline

The Traditional MBA program is two years in length and requires 64 credits. One of the four semesters in the program may be spent studying abroad. Students also have the opportunity to take courses at other institutions in the area in related fields.

The MBA program requires 32-36 core credits. If MBA students have not previously completed an introductory course in economics and an introductory course in statistics, students will need to take them in the first semester in lieu of elective credits.

Program Requirements

Core Requirements (32-36 credits)

  • FIN 212a: Accounting and Financial Analysis (4 credits) or FIN 213a Intermediate Accounting (4 credits)
  • FIN 203a: Financial Management (4 credits)
    May be substituted with FIN 201 and FIN 202a which is recommended for MBAs concentrating in Finance.
  • Economic Environment (2-4 credits):
    • BUS/ECON 265f: Business and Economic Strategies in Emerging Markets (2 credits)
    • ECON 202a: Applied International Macroeconomics (4 credits)
    • ECON 207a: Managerial Economics (4 credits)
    • FIN 235a: Investing in Energy (4 credits)
    • ECON/FIN 243a: Technological Rivalry (4 credits)
  • BUS 219f: Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior (2 credits)
  • Organizational Behavior elective:
    • BUS 222f: Global Dexterity (2 credits) 
    • BUS 227a: Influence, Power and Identity (4 credits)
    • BUS 275a: Introduction to Negotiations (4 credits)
    • HS 244a: Responsible Negotiation (4 credits)
    • HS 257b: Conflict Resolution by Negotiation (4 credits)
    • RPJM 113: Negotiating and Conflict Resolution (3 credits, online)
  • BUS 228b: MBA Career Strategy and Management Communication (2 credits)
  • BUS 252a: Marketing Management (4 credits)
  • BUS 260a: Competition and Strategy (4 credits)
  • Operations: 
    • BUS 272a: Operations Management (4 credits) or 
    • BUS 276a: Business Dynamics: Managing in a Complex World (4 credits)
  • Business Analytics: 4 credits from the following courses: 
    • BUS 211a: Foundations of Data Analytics (4 credits)
    • BUS 212a: Advanced Data Analytics (4 credits)
    • BUS 253a: Marketing Research and Design (4 credits)
    • ECON 213a: Applied Econometrics with R (4 credits)
    • FIN 217f: Corporate Financial Modeling (2 credits)
    • FIN 218f: Portfolio Financial Modeling (2 credits)
  • Elective credits (28-32 credits) - Concentration credits apply to elective credits.
Sample Fall Course Plan

Fall 1 (16 credits)

  • FIN 212a: Financial Accounting and Analysis (4 credits)
  • FIN 203a: Financial Management (4 credits) — May be substituted with FIN 201a and FIN 202a, which is recommended for MBAs concentrating in Finance.
  • BUS 252a: Marketing Management (4 credits)
  • BUS 219f: Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior (2 credits)
  • BUS 228b: MBA Career Strategy and Management Communication (2 credits)
  • Elective and/or other required course(s) (2 credits)

Spring 1 (16 credits)

  • BUS 272a: Operations Management (4 credits)
  • BUS 260a: Competition and Strategy (4 credits)
  • Electives and/or other required course (6 credits)

Fall 2 (16 credits)

  • Economic Environment Course (4 credits) — see other required courses below
  • Advanced Organizational Behavior course (2 credits) — see other required courses below
  • Concentration or general electives (10 credits)

Spring 2 (16 credits)

  • Business Analytics course (4 credits) — see other required courses below
  • Concentration or general electives (12 credits)
Sample Spring Course Plan
Spring 1 (16 credits) 
  • FIN 212a: Financial Accounting and Analysis (4 credits) 
  • FIN 203a: Financial Management (4 credits) — May be substituted with FIN 201a and FIN 202a, which is recommended for MBAs concentrating in Finance. 
  • BUS 252a: Marketing Management (4 credits) 
  • BUS 219f: Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior (2 credits) 
  • BUS 228b: MBA Career Strategy and Management Communication (2 credits) 
  • Elective and/or other required course(s) (2 credits) 
Summer (16 credits) 
  • BUS 272a: Operations Management (4 credits) 
  • BUS 260a: Competition and Strategy (4 credits) 
  • Electives and/or other required course (6 credits) 
Fall 1 (4 credits) 
  • Internship or Field Project 

Spring 2 (16 credits) 

  • Economic Environment Course (4 credits) — see other required courses below 
  • Advanced Organizational Behavior course (2 credits) — see other required courses below 
  • Concentration or general electives (10 credits) 
Fall 2 (16 credits) 
  • Business Analytics course (4 credits) — see other required courses below 
  • Concentration or general electives (12 credits) 
Concentrations and Electives

The MBA program requires 30 elective credits. These electives allow students to deepen their learning in specific areas. MBA students may use elective credits to complete one or two concentrations. Each concentration is 16-20 credits.