Weekend MBA Program

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The WMBA is a two year (eight quarter), part-time MBA Program. The cohort-based curriculum is offered through five intensive Friday through Saturday weekends per quarter (meeting every other weekend), completing two 4 credit courses per quarter. The program includes core business foundation areas that lead to enterprise-level leadership. The WMBA begins every other even numbered year in January (i.e. 2012, 2014, etc).

The Weekend MBA @ Everett offers the only accredited weekend MBA Program in Snohomish County. The Weekend MBA, which meets every other weekend for a total of 20 weekends per year, is a perfect fit for the busy working professional who wants to advance their career while keeping up with family and the responsibilities of life.

Comprehensive program design covering an integrated business curriculum Perfect for the mid-career professional seeking career flexibility and advancement Meets every other weekend on Friday afternoons and Saturdays 24 months, eight academic quarters Begins in January of every even numbered year (2012, 2014, ...)

Friday	Saturday
Afternoon Class 12:30 PM - 4:30 PM	Morning Class 8:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Catered Dinner 4:30 PM - 5:00 PM	Catered Lunch 12:30 PM - 1:00 PM
Evening Class 5:00 PM - 9:00 PM	Afternoon Class 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM

The WMBA meets in Everett, Washington at Gray Wolf Hall at University Center of North Puget Sound located on the campus of Everett Community College. Everett Community College is located approximately one hour south of Western Washington University's main campus in Bellingham, Washington.

Gray Wolf Hall, University Center of North Puget Sound Everett Community College, 2000 Tower Street
Everett, WA 98201

 

Course Waiver

Weekend MBA students may be eligible to waive up to 3 courses from MBA 502 - MBA 511 series. A waiver may be granted with approval by the Director of Graduate Programs if the following criteria are met:

1. Students must have previously taken a course similar in academic content no longer than 5 years ago as an undergraduate or graduate student and received a "B" or higher in the course OR

2. Students must have significant professional experience (to be determined by academic advisor) within the subject area such that the course content would be redundant.

3. Students are only eligible to waive one course per quarter.

All course waiver requests should be processed by the end of your first quarter in the MBA Program. In either case please provide proper documentation: (1) Transcript and course description for the course that will be substituted for the waived course (from the university where you initially took that course), or (2) Credential, resume, and/or other documentation providing proof of competency.

Please make every effort to provide an extensive justification in the form as to why a waiver is justified. Please be wary of waiving courses if you aren’t confident in your competency in the subject matter as courses build on each other and you will be expected to apply knowledge gained in earlier courses regardless of whether you have taken them or waived them. Also keep in mind that no more than three of the core courses can be waived - and only those listed in the pull-down menu are able to be waived: MBA 502 – MBA 511.

If this applies to you, go ahead a fill out the Course Waiver Request Form.

Winter Year 1 Curriculum

Spring Year 1 Curriculum

Business Statistics Module (4 credits)

How can managers make sense of the vast amount of information with which they are bombarded on a daily basis?  How confident can you be about conclusions drawn from this information?  How likely is it that decisions based on incomplete information will turn out to be wrong?  This course provides some tools with which to deal with such problems.  It develops some techniques for analyzing and interpreting quantitative data, and for measuring the confidence with which decisions can be made based on incomplete information. 

The purpose of this course is to give you the skills that will enable you to competently perform basic statistical analysis on your own, and to understand and evaluate analyses conducted by others.  It provides the background for subsequent courses that emphasize further applications of statistical methods.  An important goal of this course is to develop an understanding of how and why the tools work, so that you can understand their applicability, limitations, and appropriateness for various kinds of problems.  To accomplish this we will focus on applications, illustrating the concepts by examining a wide range of examples.

Managing Organizations & People Module (4 credits)

In today’s business climate, it is critical that employees work together effectively to manage ever-changing organizations.  Therefore, the overarching goal of these modules is to offer a practical framework for understanding individual and group dynamics as they operate within and through organizations, and to create an opportunity for introspection, participation and skill development around competencies that are highly prized in the modern economy.

Specifically, then, this module has three interrelated objectives.  The first is to impart a body of knowledge about human social dynamics and strategy in organizations.  Such knowledge is at the core of mastering the managerial endeavor and serves as a basis for conceiving of and executing behavioral coordination in the pursuit of organizational goals.  The second purpose is to test the applicability of this knowledge by using it to better comprehend, anticipate and influence the thinking and behavior of others as conditioned by organizational structure and policy.  That is, this module will provide opportunities to examine the usefulness of theory as applied to real-world practice.  The third purpose is to encourage students to assume a more reflective posture about their aptitudes, aspirations and interactions.  This entails developing a keener sense of self-awareness about one’s strengths and weaknesses in relation to environmental demands.

Summer Year 1 Curriculum

Corporate Information Systems Module (4 credits)

This course is designed to provide both, general managers and Information Technology (IT) managers, an overview of the issues that are related to the management of an organization’s IT assets. For general managers, the course offers frameworks for evaluating and guiding IT activities in their organizations. For the IT managers, the course offers frameworks for organizing and understanding the management challenges related to deployment of IT in their organizations. The focus is on decisions made by organizations as they attempt to deal with the challenges posed by IT. The course also highlights the areas of greatest potential application of IT as organizations attempt to deal with competitive global environments.

Financial Accounting Module (4 credits)

The financial accounting module is an introduction to the theory and practice of accounting and financial reporting.  Topics include the accounting cycle, financial statements and accounting for assets, liabilities, equities, revenues and expenses.  Completion of this course will enable you to interpret financial accounting information in a variety of business decision-making roles.  The objective is not to prepare you to be accountants, but to help you become informed users of accounting information in common business situations. 

Accounting is made up of logical ideas that fit together in a systematic way of thinking about business activities.  Learning this system is a very step-by-step process, and all of the class sessions link together as the system unfolds throughout the quarter.  You will have daily reading and/or problem-solving assignments designed to enhance learning. 

Fall Year 1 Curriculum

Macroeconomics Module (4 credits)

Successful managers must constantly be aware of the broader external environment in which their businesses operate.  Sales projections, future cost estimates, the availability of employees, and the cost and availability of capital to the firm are all influenced by the macroeconomic environment.  In this module on macroeconomics we will study aggregate economic issues concerning the national economy.  Topics include causes and suggested cures for the business cycle, employment and unemployment, economic growth, inflation, and exchange rates and international trade.  The material is presented within the context of the U.S. economy operating in a global environment.  A team project is also required regarding the release and use of economic statistics, the near term outlook for the U.S. economy, and the probable response of the Federal Reserve and other policy makers.

Managerial Accounting Module (4 credits)

The Managerial Accounting module is an introduction to the techniques used in managerial accounting for planning and control. Completion of this module will enable you to interpret and apply managerial accounting information in a variety of business decision-making roles. The objective is not to prepare you to be accountants, but to help you become informed users of accounting information in common business situations. You will have daily reading and/or problem-solving assignments designed to enhance learning. Keeping up on assigned materials and regular class attendance are important factors to successful completion of the course.

Winter Year 2 Curriculum

Operations Management Module (4 credits)

 The primary objective of this course is to expose students to the terminologies, problems, tools, and methods that are associated with the operations function and to discuss how operations function impacts on, and is impacted by, other business areas (prerequisites: business statistics and spreadsheet competence). Throughout the course, we will discuss social, regulatory, technical, and global issues that are appropriate for the context of business operations and supply chain.

Marketing Management Module (4 credits)

This course will focus on three central areas in the field of marketing: Marketing Strategy, Buyer Behavior, and Marketing Research.  Students can expect to end the class with a working knowledge of these areas, and an understanding of the role of marketing in business management.

Spring 2 Curriculum

Business Finance Module (4 credits)

The objective of Business Finance is to further develop a student’s financial management skills, as well as develop an appreciation of the theories guiding financial management decisions.

• Determine whether a firm should undertake a project—complex capital budgeting decisions in conjunction with risk analysis
• Construct pro forma financial statements and determine a firm’s external financing needs
• Determine a firm’s optimal capital structure (and understand the theories/concepts behind the decision)
• Analyzing investment risk from both a standalone view and a portfolio view
• To understand the legal, regulatory and global aspects of financial management
• Effectively communicate your ideas in a professional manner
• Enhance your critical thinking skills and reasoning ability
• The basics of options and valuing them via application of the Black and Scholes Option Pricing Model
• Working capital management, including borrowing, collections and cash budgeting

Leadership & Managerial Skills Module (4 credits)

Ask yourself —do I have what it takes to be a leader?  Or, more importantly, do you even want to given today’s social and economic upheaval?  In uncertain times, a leader’s skills are in greater demand now more than ever.  In fact, demonstrating leadership skills can be your unique competitive advantage.

Unfortunately, a critique remains true:  many of our learning institutions have ill-prepared business leaders for the reality that is passing them by.  It’s been described as “trying to drive while looking in the rear view mirror.” By the time you see the debris passing, it’s too late for your career!

We know technical problems can be solved with knowledge and skills we currently possess.  Many of our so-called leading B-schools specialize in teaching primarily in this arena.  However, freshly minted MBA’s and seasoned executives alike are finding that these technical skills, or even so called “smarts” (I.Q.), are necessary, but woefully inadequate to solve today’s “permanent whitewater” issues.  While in contrast, adaptive challenges require new learning, bringing together diverse perspectives, exploring innovation, and actively forming new beliefs. They call for skills to steward changes of not only the head but also the heart.  Learning these essential “people skills” and “emotional intelligence” are proving to be critical competencies necessary to help organizations navigate change. 

Summer Year 2 Curriculum

Managerial Finance Module (4 credits)

The course objectives include:

1.   Developing and honing your knowledge of the technology of applied value management in corporate finance:
      a.   Financial analysis, planning, and financing.
      b.   Valuation of projects, enterprises, securities, and derivatives.
      c.   Credit analysis, decisions, and management.
      d.   Risk, sensitivity and scenario analysis.

2.   Developing your skills for effective participation in the recognition, analysis, presentation, and discussion of applied corporate finance situations:
      a.   Business judgment.
      b.   Competence in making applied finance decisions.
      c.   Effective communication in presentations, group discussions, and written reports.

3.   Developing critical thinking skills:
      a.   Recognize SWOT in unstructured situations.
      b.   Develop workable alternatives.
      c.   Recognize and implement the best solutions.
     d.    Analyze and refine implemented solutions for value enhancement.

Marketing Strategy Module (4 credits)

This course will focus on Integration of marketing principles within the overall objectives of the organization. Concepts and analytical techniques facilitating marketing analysis and the development of strategic plans. Strategy formulation in product planning and development, distribution and promotion, marketing research, pricing and consumer behavior and segmentation

Fall Year 2 Curriculum

Competing in a Global Environment Module (4 credits)

Objectives:

1. To deepen students’ understanding of the “globalization” process and the private and public sector issues associated with globalization;
2. To increase students’ knowledge of the institutions and institutional arrangements that govern and condition contemporary international business.

Strategic Management Module (4 credits)

The strategic management course integrates various fields to help the student develop a unified understanding of how businesses must adapt their strategies to fit their industry and its competitive environment. In addition, the course bridges the gulf between theoretical class work and the business world through the use of readings, cases and a business simulation.