Majors

You choose what you want to become. MBA students pick an academic area of specialization that best suits personal and professional interests. Specialization is important in launching your career. It increases your individual marketability because it gives you an area where you begin to develop your own expertise. This expertise can be extended through an internship and elective courses that will help prepare you for a chosen field. Specialized knowledge helps open doors for immediate and long-term growth and development.

Students can specialize in one of the following majors:

FINANCE

The finance major prepares students to work in corporate finance or with financial institutions. The corporate finance curriculum trains students for careers as financial analysts, controllers, and treasurers within large corporations. The financial institutions curriculum trains students for careers in investment banking, commercial banking, and securities management. The corporate finance curriculum is appropriate for students who seek general management positions with a strong finance background, while the financial institutions curriculum is more specialized and focused on positions in finance firms.

Finance Major Course Sheet—Class of 2010
Finance Major Course Sheet—Class of 2011

Finance Major Advisor:

Grant McQueen
(801) 422-3017
mcqueen@byu.edu

MARKETING

The marketing major prepares students for the strategic issues facing marketing managers when choosing target markets as well as getting, keeping, and growing customers in today’s competitive global marketplace. Marketing majors become familiar with the important concepts and tools that comprise modern marketing. Students interested in the marketing major should be curious about why customers buy what they do and how product development, branding, pricing, and other elements of the marketing mix affect consumer choices.

Beyond the first-year core marketing management class, marketing majors are required to take a market research class and participate in a field study. A marketing field study consists of doing a consulting project for a company to address an actual marketing issue in research, entry, promotion, or product management, to name a few. Elective classes for the marketing major include brand management, pricing and positioning, advertising and promotion, entrepreneurial marketing, sales force management, competitive intelligence, sales forecasting, international marketing, and negotiations (see Major Course Sheets below for more details).

Marketing majors typically take positions in brand management, advertising, market research, business-to-business marketing, new product development, financial services marketing, high tech marketing, pricing, and sales force management. Recruiters for marketing majors include Amazon.com, Bank of America, Black and Decker, Dow, Chevron, FedEx, Intel, HP, Kimberly Clark, Land’s End, Mrs. Fields, Nestle, Pepsico, Wal-Mart, and Zions Bank. In 2006, the Wall Street Journal ranked BYUs MBA program fifth in the country in the consumer products area of marketing, attesting to the national reputation Marriott School MBA marketing graduates enjoy among recruiters.

Marketing Major Course Sheet—Class of 2010
Marketing Major Course Sheet—Class of 2011

Marketing Major Advisor:

Glenn Christensen
(801) 422-1773
glennc@byu.edu

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

A supply chain is the complete sequence of companies and value-enhancing activities required to transform basic raw materials into useful products and services for customers. Successful companies effectively manage operations (quality; response time; cost; and the flow of information, materials, and people) within the walls of their own organization.

However, new competitive challenges require that companies expand strategic and operating decisions and information flows to include customers and vendors, or the entire value/supply chain. A supply chain manager works closely within the company with product design, manufacturing, marketing and sales, purchasing, logistics and distribution; but a manager also maintains strong working relationships with the same functional areas in customer and vendor organizations. Supply chain management career opportunities may begin with jobs specifically focused on information and logistics interfaces between the company and its customers or vendors, or with jobs in traditional areas of process control, purchasing and inventory management, logistics and distribution, product and process design, or forecasting. Supply chain management is among the fastest growing job markets for business graduates.

Supply Chain Major Course Sheet—Class of 2010
Supply Chain Major Course Sheet—Class of 2011

Supply Chain Major Advisor:

Dr. Bill Sawaya
(801) 422-2417
sawaya@byu.edu

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

The product development major is an integrated program involving the schools of management, mechanical engineering, and manufacturing technology. Through the product development major, students can earn MBA and MS degrees in mechanical engineering or manufacturing technology. This program emphasizes integrative work on product conceptualization, marketing assessment, engineering design, and manufacturing strategies. Placement for the first several classes has been excellent, with graduates enjoying high visibility and good salaries in organizations dedicated to improving development. All students in the product development joint program must choose the product development major.

Product Development Major Course Sheet—Class of 2010
Product Development Major Course Sheet—Class of 2011

Product Development Major Advisor:

Dr. Bill Sawaya
(801) 422-2417
sawaya@byu.edu

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR/ HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Organizational behavior as a professional field provides a foundation for those interested in the study of organizational change, development, and the strategic management of human resources. The mission of the OB/HR major is to “prepare men and women to excel in the development and integration of theory, knowledge, and practice to strategically lead organizational change.” Career opportunities exist in human resources departments, organizational effectiveness or organizational development positions, training and development, change management, implementing business strategies and leading organizational change efforts.

Curriculum emphasis includes leadership, motivation, organizational design, organizational theory, small group dynamics and teamwork, change management, human resource management, strategic HR, international career management, changing organizational cultures, etc. Coursework is structured to provide opportunities for practical experience through special projects and student research.

Students seeking the OB/HR major should be self-motivated, able to accept individual responsibility for learning, have a high tolerance for ambiguity, be interested in designing and implementing change efforts, and be highly effective in leading and working with others. The OB/HR major equips students with theoretical, analytical, diagnostic, and change-agent skills. The OB/HR major also prepares students for advanced graduate studies in a doctoral degree program.

OB/HR Major Course Sheet—Class of 2010
OB/HR Major Course Sheet—Class of 2011

OB/HR Major Web Site
OB/HR Internship Experiences
OB/HR Orientation (PowerPoint file)
OB Reading List - Spring 2006 (PDF file)

OB/HR Major Advisor:

Troy Nielson
(801) 422-4867
troy_nielson@byu.edu