Management Major

The Management major prepares students to lead organizations in an increasingly competitive and complex world.  While an organization must hold a core value proposition at the heart of its enterprise, be it a service or a product that it provides to its customers, the ability to deliver that value proposition in a profitable way depends heavily upon the effective leadership, management and execution by individuals and teams.  The courses in the Management major cover the range of issues that managers and leaders will encounter in their careers including motivation, project management, decision-making, teams, negotiations, ethics, organizational design, and human resource management, to name a few.  These skills are not only essential, but are also applicable within a variety of functional areas and organizational settings.  In fact, research has found that usually the skills covered in the Management major determine how high and how quickly an individual will rise within an organization.

Required Courses

Major Requirements:

  • SMU Common Curriculum
  • Business Core Courses
  • Management Courses (two from the following):
    • Human Resources (MNO 4330)
    • Project Management (MNO 4361)
    • Leadership and Culture (MNO 4371)
    • Leadership and Culture in the Southwest (MNO 4372)
  • Electives (six credit hours):
    • Negotiations (MNO 3373)
    • Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethical Leadership (MNO 3375)
    • Introduction to Consulting and Change Management (MNO 4330)
    • Employee Benefits (RMI 4340)
    • Leadership and Culture (MNO 4371) – if not taken for core requirement
    • Leadership and Culture in the Southwest (MNO 4372) - if not taken for core requirement
    • Business Decision Making (CISB 3380)
    • Managing the Entrepreneurial Business (CISB 4398)
    • Entrepreneurship - Starting a Business (CISB 5397) if not taken for senior core requirement
    • Business Modeling with Spreadsheets (ITOM 4307)
    • Strategic Management (STRA 5370) if not taken for senior core requirement
  • Two Business electives (six credit hours)

Recommended Courses for Specific Career Goals:

Management majors make significant contributions in a number of organizations through various roles and job titles.  Given the flexibility of the management major, students have the ability to tailor course choices depending on their specific career goals.  Below are some recommended course selections for the more popular career choices for management majors.  These are not meant to be a degree plan, nor an exhaustive list, but rather a menu from which to select a path towards a desired career.  Students must ensure that the courses they select will fulfill all the requirements listed above for the BBA in Management major.

  • Consulting
    • Introduction to Consulting and Change Management (MNO 4330)
    • Project Management (MNO 4361)
    • Negotiations (MNO 3373)
    • Business Modeling with Spreadsheets (ITOM 4307)
    • Strategic Management (STRA 5370)
    • Sales and Distribution Management (MKTG 3345)
  • Human Resources
    • Human Resources (MNO 4330)
    • Introduction to Consulting and Change Management (MNO 4330)
    • Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethical Leadership (MNO 3375)
    • Negotiations (MNO 3373)
    • Employee Benefits (RMI 4340)
    • Labor Economics (ECO 4351)
  • Global Management
    • Human Resources (MNO 4330)
    • Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethical Leadership (MNO 3375)
    • Leadership and Culture (MNO 4371)
    • Negotiations (MNO 3373)
    • Doing Business in a Globalized World (STRA 4355)
    • Special Topics: International Business Law (BL 3300)
    • International Marketing (MKTG 3348)
    • Global Business (FINA 4335)
    • Special Topics in International Business Administration (BA 3200 or 3300)
    • Global Society (SOCI 3340)
  • Small/Startup or Family Business
    • Leadership and Culture (MNO 4371)
    • Negotiations (MNO 3373)
    • Human Resources (MNO 4330)
    • Project Management (MNO 4361)
    • Managing the Entrepreneurial Business (CISB 4398)
    • Sales and Distribution Management (MKTG 3345)
    • Employee Benefits (RMI 4340)
    • Strategic Management (STRA 5370)
    • Identifying Entrepreneurial Opportunities (CISB 2379)
    • Law for the Entrepreneur (BL 4340)
  • Management in a Sports Enterprise Setting
    • Negotiations (MNO 3373)
    • Human Resources (MNO 4330)
    • Leadership and Culture (MNO 4371)
    • Sports Marketing (MKTG 4345)
    • Employee Benefits (RMI 4340)
    • Contemporary Issues in Sport Management (APSM 2310)
    • Applied Management Skills in Sports and Fitness (APSM 3340)
    • Sports Facility & Event Management (APSM 4372)
    • Revenue in Sports (APSM 4371)
  • Social Enterprise and Nonprofit Management
    • Leadership and Culture (MNO 4371)
    • Human Resources (MNO 4330)
    • Project Management (MNO 4361)
    • Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethical Leadership (MNO 3375)
    • Social Problems (SOCI 2300)
    • Nonprofit Organizations (SOCI 3321)
    • Social Entrepreneurship (AMAE 4375)
    • Principles of Nonprofit Communication (COMM 3380)
    • Contemporary Issues in Education Policy Reform (EPL 2307)
  • Technology Management
    • Project Management (MNO 4361)
    • Negotiations (MNO 3373)
    • Leadership and Culture (MNO 4371)
    • Business Decisions and Processes (ITOM 3310)
    • Information Technology for Business (EMIS 1307)
    • Machines and Society (ME 1301)
    • Information Technology and Society (ME 1305)
  • General Management
    • Human Resources (MNO 4330)
    • Project Management (MNO 4361)
    • Leadership and Culture (MNO 4371)
    • Negotiations (MNO 3373)
    • Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethical Leadership (MNO 3375)
    • Organizational Psychology (PSYC 3365)