Management

Programs of Study

The interaction between business and technology drives every aspect of our Graduate Management Programs. We believe the future of management lies in leveraging the power of technology to optimize business opportunities. WPI stays ahead of the curve, giving students the ability to combine sound strategies with cutting edge innovation, and the confidence to contribute meaningfully within a global competitive environment. The superior record of our graduates’ successes highlight why WPI enjoys a nationally-recognized reputation as one of the most respected names in technology-based management education.

WPI offers a variety of graduate management programs focusing on the intersection of business and technology. The Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a highly integrated, applications-oriented program that provides students with both the ‘big picture’ perspective required of successful upper-level managers and the hands-on knowledge needed to meet the daily demands in the workplace. WPI’s focus on the management of technology comes from the recognition that rapidly changing technology is driving the pace of business.

Students enjoy extensive opportunities to expand their networks through associations with their peers and leading hightech organizations. They also benefit from the latest available technologies and one of the nation’s most wired universities. The program’s strong emphasis on interpersonal and communications skills prepares students to be leaders in any organization, and the global threads throughout the curriculum ensure that students understand the global imperative facing all businesses. Whether dealing with information technology, biotechnology, financial markets, information security, supply chain management, manufacturing, or a host of other technology-oriented industries, the real world is part of the classroom, and students explore up-to-the-minute challenges faced by actual companies, through hands-on projects and teamwork. WPI promotes an active learning process, designed to develop the very best managers, leaders and executives in a technology-dependent world.

Master of Business Administration (MBA)

WPI’s MBA program features a 15-credit core of five cross-functional courses designed to give students a larger framework for understanding disciplinary material that is critical for managers in a globally competitive technological world. Core courses include:

Each core course, with the exception of Legal and Ethical Context of Technological Organizations, has prerequisite requirements from within an 18-credit foundation. The purpose of the foundation is to ensure that students have a solid understanding of the basic functions carried out in organizations and of the environment in which they operate as well as an introduction to the tools used to analyze business problems. Foundation courses consist of the following nine 2-credit courses, each of which covers a major functional area of business:

Foundation-level courses are potentially waivable based on prior graduate or undergraduate coursework.

The MBA program also features a capstone Graduate Qualifying Project (BUS 516) which provides students with a hands-on, real-world opportunity to apply and enhance their classroom experience.

MBA students are required to complete 12 credit hours of free elective coursework. Elective concentration areas include:

In addition, students may choose a 6 credit Option for Specialization, which requires 6 additional credits in a particular functional area in combination with at least 6 credits of the free electives in the chosen area.

M.S. in Information Technology (MSIT)

The demand for knowledgeable IT professionals who understand business has never been greater. The MSIT program guarantees a solid foundation in information technology, with a wide range of cuttingedge concentrations, and the management principles critical to success in a technology-driven environment.

MSIT students must complete the following 8 required courses:

Students then choose from one of six different four-course concentrations in the field of information technology. These concentrations provide additional depth in particular areas of IT, or IT management, beyond the core courses. Students can choose a more managerial specialty, a more technical specialty, or specialties that mix management and technology or focus on a specific functional area. Concentration areas include:

To round out the program, students take a minimum of 2 free elective credits, choosing any graduate management course to complete their program.

M.S. in Marketing and Technological Innovation (MSMTI)

A highly specialized program specifically designed for individuals employed in or aspiring to work in marketing positions and/or positions responsible for innovation within technology-oriented environments. The M.S. in marketing and technological innovation features 14 credit hours of required coursework including:

Students then select 18 credit hours of electives from the following courses:

M.S. in Operations Design and Leadership (MSODL)

Today’s business environments deal constantly with changes requiring leadership for operational solutions. The MSODL is a comprehensive Operations Management program that provides balance between service and production management, and offers the option to concentrate in either Supply Chain Management or Process Design, or to customize the degree with a broad selection of electives focusing indepth on issues in operations management and related management areas.

MSODL students complete the following 5 courses:

Students then select 7 electives from the list below, or choose one of two concentration tracks, Supply Chain Management or Process Design:

Supply Chain Management Track:

Process Design Track:

To round out the program, students take a minimum of 2 free elective credits, choosing any graduate management course to complete their program.

Combined B.S./Master’s (M.B.A.) Program

This program is available to WPI undergraduate students. A separate and complete application to the M.B.A. program must be submitted. Admission to the Combined Program is determined by the faculty of the Department of Management. The student should begin the curriculum planning process at the time he/she commences his/her undergraduate studies to ensure that all of the required prerequisite undergraduate courses are completed within the student’s four years of undergraduate study.

It is recommended that the M.B.A. application be submitted at the beginning of the student’s junior year of undergraduate study. A student in the Combined Program continues to be registered as an undergraduate until the bachelor’s degree is awarded.

Students wishing to do a Combined B.S./M.B.A. must complete the following courses while an undergraduate, earning a B or better in each:

To obtain a bachelor’s degree via the Combined Program, the student must satisfy all requirements for the bachelor’s degree, including distribution and project requirements.

To obtain an M.B.A. via the Combined Program, the student must satisfy all M.B.A. degree requirements. In addition to the prerequisite undergraduate courses listed above, the student must complete the following graduate courses:

Please refer to the section on the Combined Programs or contact the director of graduate management programs for more information.

Admission Requirements

Admission to WPI’s Graduate Management Programs is competitive. Admission is granted to applicants whose academic and professional records indicate the likelihood of success in a challenging academic program, and whose career aspirations are in line with the focus of the specific degree program to which they are applying.

Applicants should have the analytic aptitude and academic preparation necessary to complete a technology-oriented management program. This includes a minimum of three semesters of college level math or two semesters of college level calculus. Applicants are also required to have an understanding of computer systems.

Applicants must have the earned equivalent of a four-year U.S. bachelor’s degree to be considered for admission. Admission decisions are based upon all the information required from the applicant. GMAT required for all MBA applicants; MS applicants may submit GRE in lieu of GMAT.

Locations

Tailored to meet the challenges of working professionals, WPI offers full- and part-time graduate management study at our campus in Worcester, Massachusetts, as well as world-wide via our Advanced Distance Learning Network.

Degree Requirements

For the M.B.A.

49 credits, prior to waivers, distributed as follows (credit in parentheses):

For the M.S. in Information Technology (MSIT)

35 credits, distributed as follows (credits in parentheses):

For the M.S. in Marketing and Technological Innovation (MSMTI)

32 credits, distributed as follows (credits in parentheses):

For the M.S. in Operations Design and Leadership (MSODL)

35 credits, distributed as follows (credits in parentheses):

Department Research

In addition to teaching, Management Department faculty are involved in a variety of sponsored research and consulting work. A sampling of current research includes: quality control in information-handling processes, supply chain management, management of biotechnology, decision/ risk analysis, conflict management, Latin American economic development, capacity planning, international accounting differences, strategy and new venture teams, and reengineering business education.

The Collaborative for Entrepreneurship and Innovation

The Collaborative for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI) is a program of the Department of Management, designed to inspire and nurture people to discover, create and commercialize new technology-based products, services and organizations. It coordinates all entrepreneurship-related activity at WPI, including graduate and undergraduate courses; the CEI@WPI ALL-OUT $50K Business Plan Challenge; the WPI Venture Forum workshops, monthly lecture and case presentation programs, radio show and newsletter; networking; a student-run entrepreneurs organization; the New England Collegiate Entrepreneurs Award; Web site administration of the Coalition for Venture Support; and, on a periodic basis, the CEI will offer conferences, workshops and seminars on topics of interest to entrepreneurs. Programs for high school outreach, social entrepreneurship, internship opportunities, business incubation, various awards, an Entrepreneurship Fair and a Consortium-wide business plan contest are in the planning stage. Please call 508-831-5075 or 5218 for more information.

Faculty

M. C. Banks, Professor and Department Head; Director, Collaborative for Entrepreneurship and Innovation; Ph.D., Virginia Tech; entrepreneurial teams, rural entrepreneurship, economic development and entrepreneurship, strategic planning in small and entrepreneurial companies, entrepreneurship in technological organizations, re-engineering business education.

E. Danneels, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University; growth and renewal of corporations through product innovation, nature and consequences of product innovativeness, characteristics of corporations with innovative new product programs, performance effects of innovative new product programs.

S. Djamasbi, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., University of Hawaii at Manoa; decision making, decision support systems, information overload, decision making under crisis, affect and decision making.

M. B. Elmes, Professor; Ph.D., Syracuse University; workplace resistance and ideological control, critical perspectives on spirituality-in-the-workplace, implementation of IT in organizations, organizations in the natural environment, narrative and aesthetic perspectives on organizational phenomena, psychodynamics of group and intergroup behavior.

A. Gerstenfeld, Professor; Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology; industrial engineering, innovation.

H. Higgins, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Georgia State University; financial accounting, focusing on earnings expectation and international accounting.

S. A. Johnson, Associate Professor and Director of I.E. Program; Ph.D., Cornell University; lean process design, enterprise engineering, process analysis and modeling, reverse logistics.

C. Kasouf, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Syracuse University; product management, marketing strategy in fragmented industries, innovation management, marketing information use, strategic alliances.

E. T. Loiacono, Associate Professor; Ph.D., University of Georgia; website quality, information system accessibility, e-commerce, affect in information systems.

F. Miller, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Michigan State University; managerial accounting and contracting in inter- and intra-firm relationships.

K. Mukherjee, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., University of Connecticut; efficiency and productivity analysis applied to manufacturing, banking, and other sectors.

F. Noonan, Associate Professor; Ph.D., University of Massachusetts; operations management, decision/risk analysis, environmental management.

J. T. O’Connor, Professor; Ph.D., University of Notre Dame; economics, finance, accounting, medical care financial and delivery systems.

J. Schaufeld, Visiting Instructor of Entrepreneurship; MBA, Northeastern University; entrepreneurship, technology commercialization, business acquisition and development.

D. Strong, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Carnegie-Mellon University; advanced information technologies, such as enterprise systems, and their use in organizations, MIS quality issues, with primary focus on data and information quality.

S. Taylor, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Boston College; aesthetics of organizational action.

B. Tulu, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Claremont Graduate University; medical informatics, V.O.I.P., information security, telecommunications and networking, systems analysis and design.

H. G. Vassallo, Professor; Ph.D., Clark University; organizational behavior, project management, management of planned change, management of biotechnology, medical product liability.

A. Zeng, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University; modeling and analysis of decisions in supply and/or distribution networks, applications of operations research and operations management techniques to supply chain process design and improvement, global supply chain management and international business.

W. Zhao, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Temple University; corporate governance, international finance/business, financial markets/institutions

J. Zhu, Associate Professor; Ph.D., University of Massachusetts; information technology and productivity, ebusiness, performance evaluation and benchmarking.

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Last modified: July 17, 2008 07:26:34