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. MBA students may transfer relevant coursework into the MBA program, allowing them to complete the program in 16 months. Students also have the opportunity to take courses at other institutions in the area in related fields.

The MBA program requires 34 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.

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) 
Other Required Core Courses

Advanced Organizational Behavior (2 credits)

  • BUS 222f: Global Dexterity (2 credits)
  • BUS 226f: Managing Global Human Capital (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)

Business Analytics (4 credits)

  • BUS 211f: Analyzing Big Data I (2 credits)
  • BUS 212a: Analyzing Big Data II (4 credits)
  • BUS 253a: Marketing Research and Design (4 credits)
  • BUS 276a Business Dynamics: Managing a Complex World (4 credits)
  • ECON 213a: Applied Econometrics w/ R  (4 credits)
  • FIN 217f: Corporate Financial Modeling (2 credits)
  • FIN 218f: Portfolio Financial Modeling II (2 credits)

Economic Environment (4 credits)

  • BUS/ECON 265a: Business & Econ Strategies in Emerging Markets (4 credits)
  • ECON/FIN 243a: Technological Rivalry (4 credits)
  • ECON 202a Applied International Macroeconomics (4 credits)
  • ECON 207a: Managerial Economics (4 credits; permission required)
  • FIN 235a: Investing in Energy (4 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.