Master of Business Administration (MBA)

Modern business activities have an increasingly global reach. From supply chains to expanding consumer and B2B markets, successful companies and professionals must thoroughly understand international business environments to grow and thrive. With the International Business specialization, you’ll explore cultural, economic, and legal issues, as well as international exporting, licensing, franchising, foreign direct investment, outsourcing, risk analysis, and human capital development. You’ll also be able to travel to a foreign location for a full-immersion international experience.

The Financial Management specialization works best for those seeking leadership and analysis positions in the growing, global field of financial management. With coursework applicable to domestic and international businesses, nonprofits, and governmental organizations, your studies will focus on growth and diversification policies, portfolio management, investment banking, merger strategies, exchange rate movement and risk, and case or research projects that analyze contemporary financial issues.

The Organizational Leadership specialization prepares professionals to become problem-solving, change-oriented leaders in diverse, dynamic organizations. The instruction, coursework, and experiential exercises are for those desiring to understand and apply the technical and reflective processes that accompany leadership opportunities in the modern workplace — whether business or nonprofit, domestic or international.

While globalization and outsourcing impact nearly every market and industry, supply chain management skills have become essential for competitive businesses, professionals, and managers. The Supply Chain Management specialization examines the integration of logistical planning, inventory deployment, and transportation networks to achieve the most efficient physical connections between firms. Global corporations, nonprofits, healthcare providers, and government agencies demand the increased performance, timeliness, and cost savings that result from supply chain expertise.

The Human Resource Management (HRM) specialization prepares you to manage people, their needs, and their performance. Instruction and coursework focus on recruiting, selecting, training, evaluating, and compensating employees. You’ll explore changes in the workplace such as governmental regulations, global competition, developing technologies, and organizational transformations — and their influence on worker performance. With technical knowledge and practical skills for supporting a multicultural workforce, you’ll be ready to bring new ideas, effective tools, and leadership skills and manage an organization’s most valuable resource: its people.

Students interested in the marketing specialization 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-core marketing management class as part of general MBA program, specialization students are required to take market research, consumer behavior, global marketing, and strategic operational marketing.  The principal outcome of the specialization will be the completion of a project to integrate various functional areas of marketing. After completing the Marketing specialization—students are expected to develop knowledge, understanding, and cognitive, intellectual, practical and transferable marketing skills.

Keeping people safe is a noble calling and, with NU’s online Criminal Justice Master’s degree, you’ll be able to combine that passion with the skills to move you forward. The MBA Criminal Justice specialization is designed to help you develop advanced competencies and analytical capabilities needed for management and leadership positions in correctional institutions, law enforcement and the court system. In our 100% online program, you will gain a unique insight into the operational and organizational structure of police agencies and learn concepts applicable to a law enforcement setting. Graduates typically find professional employment opportunities in law enforcement agencies and private security firms.

The ever-changing landscape for health care requires professionals with cutting-edge knowledge and specialized skills. In NU’s 100% online MBA Health Services specialization, you will explore financial management, legal and ethical issues of healthcare, and the process of examining and developing health care policies. The MBA Health Services program concludes with a final written research project in which you’ll demonstrate your ability to conduct an investigation on a workplace problem and recommend a plan of preventative action. Healthcare Administration graduates are prepared to secure positions in hospitals, health maintenance organizations, health insurance companies, government and public health agencies and social service agencies.

NU’s Master of Business Administration with a specialization in Global Business Management covers the essential elements required to understand and manage global organizations. Individuals interested in global management positions and/or teaching in post-secondary institutions of higher education would benefit from this program. The specialization focuses on topics such as global leadership issues and characteristics, trends and strategies in global business strategic management, and the challenges of positioning global brands and pricing approaches.

As remote work has become immensely more common, so has the demand for skills in managing remote teams. The Master of Business Administration with a specialization in Management of Virtual Organizations focuses on acquiring knowledge and skills, and modifying existing skills, to effectively support and manage remote teams and organizations. You will focus on a wide range of topics relevant to a manager overseeing virtual organizations. From theory to tactics, experienced professionals and entry-level candidates will build expertise in such diverse areas as virtual leadership, building trust in virtual teams, and legal and other implications that may arise in virtual organizations.

This specialization will equip you with the insights, knowledge, and skills to go beyond traditional leadership and will prepare you to be a leader who can empower, energize, and inspire individuals, and unify diverse employees. You’ll become an agent of change who has the enhanced skills to lead an organization while being a champion and advocate for diversity, equity, inclusion, and social and economic justice. After completing the program, you’ll be able to make decisions that help to advance a unified and collaborative global workforce that functions effectively and efficiently.

According to the Kaufmann Foundation, 2015 had the greatest number of start-ups in the last 20 years. The Entrepreneurship MBA at NU takes you beyond the classroom as you build and test your entrepreneurial ideas in real-world scenarios. In our Online MBA Entrepreneurship specialization you will explore various business disciplines, including marketing, finance, operations and strategy, as you develop skills in building businesses, investing in businesses, raising capital and evaluating business opportunities. Entrepreneurship courses emphasize analysis, decision-making and business planning of a real new venture product or service. As a graduate, you can expect to have a solid business plan that is ready to be presented to investors, banks or private entities.

Since 9/11, the U.S. has spent more than $635 billion on homeland security, making it an in-demand field. With NU’s MBA in Homeland Security specialization, you will enhance your skills in business analysis, fiscal management and organizational leadership with an emphasis on law enforcement, public safety, emergency medical care and disaster preparedness. The courses in this 100% online specialization span the spectrum of management, budgetary rules, personnel and critical issues relating to crisis management and the history of terrorism, prevention and response. Psychological, environmental and cultural factors that can drive individuals to commit such acts are also explored. As a Homeland Security MBA graduate, you will be prepared to pursue management positions in government from local to federal levels.

In NU’s online MBA Project Management specialization, you will explore principles, concepts, tools and techniques to improve project performance and organizational effectiveness. Under the guidance of mentoring professors, our MBA in Project Management specialization will have you examine all aspects of company projects, including cost estimates, budget management, cost control, risk assessment, bid negotiation and contracts, and performance reporting critical to the success of any organization.

If you are a business professional seeking to benefit from a stronger understanding of the IT field, networks, and computing, NU’s Master of Business Administration specialization in Information Technology is an excellent option for you. This specialization provides the familiarity and knowledge business leaders need when working with or within IT departments.

Technology can be intimidating — yet beneficial — for many organizations. It is important for leaders to know how to take advantage of new technologies and ideas, or be trapped in stagnation. The Information Technology specialization helps prepare professionals to be champions of positive change through new ideas and new technologies. With carefully selected courses directly from the School of Technology, this program will provide public administration leaders a strong understanding of the field through courses that are aligned to the current standards in the industry.

This specialization explores relevant financial analysis of financial and non-financial organizations. The focus is assessment of financial statements, foreign exchange issues, risk, and investment management. 

The General Business specialization allows students to select courses from a broad range of electives to fit their personal and professional goals. 

Students must complete a minimum of 9 credit hours and may take business courses at the 5000 and 6000 level to fulfill their specialization requirements. 

This graduate-level specialization focuses on the interrelationships between human resource capital, leadership, and the business organization. Students will explore all aspects of human resource management, and address the increasing human resource issues in the global economy. 

The Strategic Marketing Specialization at the graduate level transcends traditional marketing by focusing upon emerging trends in the 21st century in marketing management and marketing research. Students will focus on thought leadership-driven strategic marketing, encompassing contemporary and emergent marketing management methods, global product management, precision pricing, advanced promotional methods, and proven distribution techniques. At the conclusion, students will be well prepared for the marketing workforce of tomorrow.