Master of Business Administration

If you’d like to work for a firm where artificial intelligence (AI) play a critical role, where you can find a management or leadership position in an emerging field, Ball State’s MBA, with a concentration in artificial intelligence, could be the option you are seeking.

The artificial intelligence concentration will provide you with a broad understanding of the fundamentals and importance of artificial intelligence.

Your course work will cover the foundations of artificial intelligence including approaches, algorithms, platforms, and uses for AI. You’ll also get an overview of the knowledge necessary to understand, evaluate, adopt, or oversee artificial intelligence operations or initiatives. Information and communication strategies are presented through class lectures, research and presentations, and hands-on labs.

Required Courses

Choose three courses:

• ICS 620 Information and Communication Technologies, Standards and Lab I
• ICS 625 Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
• ICS 698 Problems in Information Systems
• ISOM 621 Contemporary Business Information Systems

Are your career plans pointing you to positions such as . . .

• Business Analyst
• Business Analytics Manager
• Market Analyst
• Risk Analyst
• Network Security Analyst
• Business Consultant
• Business Intelligence Project Manager
• Information Systems Manager
• Supply Chain Analyst
• Digital Product Manager

Ball State’s MBA concentration in Business Analytics—one of several concentrations available within the MBA—will direct you in the study of theories, techniques, and applications of business analytics. You will learn to use data-based discoveries to alleviate organizational risks and the skills to interpret large data sets. You’ll grow your career as you cultivate an analytics-based leadership mindset. You’ll develop both quantitative and analytical skills as you work with real-world problems from the business domain.

Required Courses

• ISOM 608 Business Analytics
• ISOM 610 Data Visualization for the Professions
• ISOM 613 Systems and Data Management: Analysis and Design

About This MBA Concentration

The construction management concentration is for you if you work in a field that’s related to the construction industry and want to understand how the broader industry functions and make your contributions more meaningful.

For example, if you’re accountant working for a large general contractor, you would be a more integrated team member if you understood how the project has been estimated, scheduled, bid, and selected.

In other words, you would better understand how your role affects the overall project success. Our MBA construction management concentration is a specialized business degree that supports a significant market segment. Or you might take these courses as electives that you find useful as part of the general MBA track.

A Driving Force for Jobs

Construction is a driving force in today’s national economy. Consider: the construction industry is composed of more than 680,000 employers, who employ more than seven million employees, who build almost $1.3 trillion worth of structure each year, according to Associated General Contractors (AGC).

Meanwhile, the job outlook for construction managers is upbeat, says the Bureau of Labor Statistics, after forecasting in 2018 a job growth of 10 percent by 2028.

Required Courses

All courses are delivered completely online or on campus with an online option.

• CM 610 Construction Leadership
• CM 611 Construction Cost and Time Control
• CM 612 Construction Quality and Risk Control

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If you’re on track—or in search of a track—to positions such as financial analyst, budget analyst, financial manager, corporate treasurer/controller, or management consultant, Ball State’s Finance concentration can give you the analytic and theoretical tools needed once you get there.

Finance professionals are needed to provide critical input to businesses, governments, not-for-profit entities, and financial institutions. Your track may lead you into such fields as commercial banking, corporate finance, insurance, private equity, real estate, or financial planning. You will need the analytic and theoretical tools required to master practical issues in finance.

Employers Watch for Master’s Degrees

Although financial managers typically need at least a bachelor's degree in finance, accounting, economics, or business administration, many employers prefer to hire candidates who have a master’s degree in those same fields, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

While you may bring a bachelor’s in business to the MBA program, the Finance concentration actually requires little or no knowledge of finance and welcomes students from outside the discipline.

Required Courses

• FIN 650 Investment Management
• FIN 680 Global Financial Policy
• RMI 670 Risk Management and Insurance

Apply Your Business Skills to Healthcare

If you’re a healthcare professional and eager for advancement, the MBA program offers a healthcare administration concentration that provides you with the knowledge and experience that will move you into an administrative role. In addition to developing a comprehensive understanding of state-of-the-art business practices, you’ll learn to apply business knowledge to the healthcare field.

Concentration Fulfills ACHE Core Competencies

The concentration is designed to fulfill the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) Core Competencies for Healthcare Management, ensuring that it provides the skill set necessary for advancement in the field, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The demand for healthcare managers and administrators is growing at a rate faster than most other industries.

As a student in the healthcare administration concentration, you will enroll in the following courses: 

Required Courses

• MBA 640 Introduction to Healthcare Administration
• MBA 647 Financial Management and Performance Evaluation in Healthcare Organizations
• MBA 649 Health Care Policy and Strategy

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If you’ve always wanted to work for a technology company, or a highly tech-enabled company, but also fascinated by organizational leadership, our MBA concentration in information technology leadership can help make it happen.

This IT leadership concentration, one of eight offered through the Ball State MBA, will provide you with an understanding of the fundamental technologies and technology-related processes essential to organizational leadership. Your courses will cover key emerging technologies including IoT, coding, cloud services, and technology fundamentals. You’ll also learn how to apply leadership practices and skills in the context of technology and technology-enabled firms.

Required Courses

Choose three courses:

• ICS 601 Foundations of Information and Communication Sciences
• ICS 620 Information and Communication Technologies, Standards and Lab I
• ICS 699 Problems in Information and Communication Management
• ISOM 621 Contemporary Business Information Systems

If you’ve ever thought about the flow of materials, supplies, and products from suppliers to clients—and ways to the improve that flow—you might think about Ball State’s MBA concentration in logistics and supply chain management.

This concentration prepares you for positions such as logistics manager, supply chain manager, procurement manager, or supplier manager. Different companies give these positions different names. For example, you could be a marketing analyst working on an organization’s supply chain.

As a logistician, you play a major corporate role because you are pursuing profitability in an increasingly complex and global economy. Because you’ll need to have knowledge of supply chain management, project management, and quality management, while managing the life cycle of a project, our course work is exactly what supply chain professionals need.

Required Courses

• ISOM 651 Supply Chain Management
• ISOM 654 Project Management
• ISOM 655 Quality Management

Supply Chain Rewards

A survey by the Association of Supply Chain Management (ASCM) suggests that the field has its rewards. The ACSM survey said 80 percent of supply chain professionals rated their careers as an 8, 9, or 10, on a 0-10 scale, while 95 percent gave an average rating of 8.5

Those rewards are also financial, according to the survey, with logistics professionals holding graduate degrees or higher reporting a median salary 25 percent more than those with only an undergraduate degree.

More than half, or 57 percent, reported having the option to work from home as needed.

Looking for a more general approach to your MBA studies? This 30-credit option is designed for professionals to develop knowledge and skills in fundamental business disciplines. This program will provide you with the most flexibility to customize your program to your career and educational goals.