MA in Leadership and Management

Business and Economics Department

Degrees offered

Certificate
Master's

Campuses

Main Campus

Summary

Ethical, constructive leaders consider broad social implications of their decisions as they encourage individuals, teams, and organizations to attain personal and organizational objectives. The Master of Arts in Leadership and Management Program of Study promotes flexible, rational approaches and greater capacity to integrate different perspectives in responsible, creative, planning and problem solving.

Program Objectives

In a fast-paced world, competitive organizations require good management and strong leadership at every level. The Master of Arts in Leadership and Management at Notre Dame of Maryland University prepares leaders to master challenges and to effect change through discernment and ethics. While the practice of management and leadership are closely related, they are distinguishable. Both entail influence and goal accomplishment. Management is commonly seen in terms of reducing chaos in organizations and running them more effectively and efficiently through planning and budgeting, organizing and staffing, controlling and problem solving. Leadership emphasizes establishing direction and aligning people as well as motivating, empowering and inspiring individuals. Ethical, positive leaders consider broad social implications of their decisions as they encourage individuals, teams, and organizations to attain personal and corporate objectives.

The Master of Arts in Leadership and Management offers a mindful approach to excellence in directing organizational resources and people. The Program of Study is designed for professional women and men in any field who are or who expect to assume organizational leadership responsibilities. The mission of the Program is to prepare leaders who act from an ethical base to master challenges and effect change toward the realization of individual and organizational potential.

The Program of Study emphasizes understanding the human dimension of organizations. The leadership and management of complex organizations must be practiced within the broader context of life itself: Why do people work, and what gives meaning and value to their work? What inspires women and men to higher levels of achievement through cooperative teamwork? Fundamental questions such as these have immediate relevance to those in positions of leadership. The needs and aspirations of individual women and men are woven into the daily activity of all organizations, regardless of their size or purpose.

Therefore, this Program of Study examines both the science and art of leadership and management. Effective leadership calls for the self-management and self-motivation in addition to requiring technical expertise in business administration. The practice of management requires significant human skills and resources in our complex, ever-changing world. As articulated in this degree program, leadership speaks to the heart of the organization's most important resource: its people.

A distinctive feature of this program is its multidisciplinary foundation in business and the liberal arts. The required curriculum includes courses in business communications, ethics, economics, management, leadership, decision making, technology, and various other facets of business administration. Active participation in the program develops competence in using flexible yet rational approaches to leadership and management which result in greater capacity to integrate different perspectives in responsible, creative planning and problem solving. Students graduate with a balanced set of leadership and managerial skills and values enabling them to develop the resources of an organization for greater productivity and benefit to society.

Program of Study

The Program of Study leading to the Master of Arts in Leadership and Management requires completion of a minimum of 39 credits of course work. The core curriculum of 27 credits develops the essential foundation for the Program. The required core curriculum encourages breadth of learning in general leadership and management without technical specialization.

Students may select an area of concentration or create an individualized specialization for their remaining 12 credits. The areas of concentration are Health Care Administration, Human Resource Management, Information Systems, Principled Leadership, and Project Management. The concentrations provide depth in the subject areas.

A baccalaureate degree is required for admission. Computer competency in word processing, presentation software and spreadsheet applications is required. However, there are no undergraduate prerequisites in Business. Applicants who have recently earned a baccalaureate in Business, with a superior academic record, may be granted advanced standing upon admission into the Program. Students with advanced standing may waive up to nine credits from the core curriculum. All requirements for the degree must be completed within seven years from the date of admission. Students must maintain a 3.0 (B) Cumulative Grade Point Average to remain in Academic Good Standing. Students whose Cumulative Grade Point Average falls below 3.0 will be placed on Academic Probation status. Students on Academic Probation will be given three semesters (in which they register for a course) to raise their Cumulative Grade Point Average to 3.0. Failure to do so, or receiving more than two grades below a B, will result in Academic Dismissal from the graduate program. These provisions do not apply to students admitted provisionally; provisions governing that status are identified in the Letter of Admission.

Courses are scheduled primarily on weekday evenings for the convenience of students. Part-time graduate Leadership and Management students may enroll in a maximum of six credits during the fall, spring, and summer semesters. Students who wish to study full-time (more than six credits per semester must receive permission from the Dean of the School of Arts, Sciences, and Business. All graduate students are restricted to three credits during the Winterim semester.

Students completing this Program of Study will understand:

theory and practice of effective leadership and management;
applications of economic theory and financial analysis in effective decision making; and,
concepts and principles of effective communication

Students will be able to:

create holistic, systems-thinking approaches to decision-making grounded in leadership and business principles;
express critical thinking through strategic, ethical, socially responsible, well-reasoned action and communication;
demonstrate objectivity in gathering and analyzing information in management and leadership decision making processes;
examine organizational problems, develop sound solutions, and evaluate consequences of actions; and,
integrate scholarship into personal and professional leadership capacities that transform individual lives, organizations and society.

Students will recognize the importance of:

taking ethical approaches to leadership and management decisions;
maintaining personal integrity;
respecting the integrity, individuality and potential of colleagues; and,
fulfilling social responsibility.

Curriculum (39 Credits)

Central Core (27 Credits)

  BUS-501 Managing in Complex Environments (3)
  BUS-530 Financial Analysis (3)
BUS-538 Data Driven Business Decisions (3)
  BUS-558 Leadership and Leading (3)
  BUS-560 Marketing Management (3)
  BUS-651 Strategic Organizational Leadership (capstone) (3)
  COM-505 Business Communication (3)
  ECO-548 Economic Theory in Management (3)
  PHL-521 Ethical Issues in Leadership (3)

Review of a student's admissions essay and/or GRE or GMAT exam scores may result in a student being required to complete ENG-503 Graduate Writing within their first nine credits at Notre Dame. When prior coursework does not qualify for waiver of BUS537 - Aspects of Financial Reporting, a prerequisite course for BUS530 Financial Analysis, a student may take a BUS537 challenge exam. Students who do not pass this exam must successfully complete BUS537 before enrolling in BUS530.

Concentration or Individualized Specialization 12 Credits

Students may select either an individualized specialization or a concentration to complete their Program. Students who do not select one of the program concentrations may complete 12 credits of coursework in any area of special interest in business, economics, communications, knowledge management, nonprofit management, computer studies, leadership, or project management.

Health Care Administration Concentration

The Health Care Administration concentration provides the student with a comprehensive frame-work for understanding the U.S. health care system, including institutions, professionals, economics of health care markets, financing of health care services as well as ethical issues arising from technology advances in health care delivery.

Students must take four of the following courses:

  BUS-520 Introduction to the U.S. Health Care System (3)
  BUS-521 Health Care Economics (3)
  BUS-523 The Business of Healthcare (3)
  BUS-525 Health Services Financing (3)
  NUR-518 Health Policy (3)
  BUS-580 Coached Leadership Practicum (3) may be substituted for the final health elective with permission of the Department Chair.

Human Resource Management Concentration

This concentration prepares students to integrate and apply the theories, principles and methodologies of human resource management focusing on its strategic role in today's organizations. Concentration courses prepare students to perform effectively in the expanded role of human resources now responsible for reshaping organizational structures and cultures, building strategic partnerships and designing customized solutions for internal clients.

BUS-500 Human Resource Management (3)

Students must take three of the following courses:

  BUS-540 Human Resource Development (3)
  BUS-541 Legal Issues in Human Resource Management (3)
  BUS-542 Performance Management Systems (3)
  BUS-545 Compensation Strategies (3)
  BUS-580 Coached Leadership Practicum (3) may be substituted for the human resources elective with permission of the Department Chair.

Information Systems Concentration

Management professionals are striving to incorporate the opportunities of the Internet for global advantage. The Information Systems concentration provides students with technology skills to effectively identify, develop, and implement electronic business strategies. Students learn to integrate information technology with management for enhanced marketing and strategy efforts. Some courses are available online.

Students take four of the following courses:

  CST-511 Topics in Information Systems (3)
  CST-530 Foundations of Knowledge Management (3)
  CST-554 Principles and Issues In Information Systems (3)
  CST-580 Managing Information in a Web-Based World (3)
  CST-593 Web Development (3)

Other graduate CST courses may be substituted with the permission of the Chair of the Computer Studies Program.

Principled Leadership Concentration

The Principled Leadership concentration is designed for those who are interested in leadership as a core practice as well as mastering challenges and effecting change while acting from an ethical base. Students gain an organizational understanding of leadership as both a practical and scholarly discipline. Through directed team engagement, students refine collaboration skills and group decision making as well as practice leading laterally. Some courses are available online.

  BUS-551 Leadership's Dark Side (3)
  BUS-554 Women in Leadership or BUS-511 Topics In Leadership (3)
  BUS-562 Leading Organizational Change (3)
  BUS-559 Lateral Leadership (3)

BUS-580 Coached Leadership Practicum (3) may be substituted for the final leadership elective with permission of the Department Chair.

Project Management Concentration

This Project Management concentration is designed to meet the needs of those bidding on state and federal work contracts, particularly current and potential military contractors. Concentration courses cover the range of projection management skill sets from initiating and planning the project, through managing and controlling the project within budget and timeline parameters through focused management skills, to closing the project. Throughout, the courses focus not only on the development of leadership skills but also on the professional and social responsibility critical to the world today. These courses prepare students to complete initial or renewal certification through the Project Management Institute (PMI). Project management courses are offered exclusively online and follow a sequence beginning each March. Project Management concentration courses are intensive, online courses offered compressed-term format; therefore, they should not be taken with other courses.

  BUS-640 Managing Projects in Contemporary Organizations (3)
  BUS-641 Project Monitoring and Delivery (3)
  BUS-642 Managing Project Performance (3)
  BUS-643 Leading Process Improvement (3)

Independent Study

Students interested in the Independent Study option (BUS-698) must coordinate their project with the Chair of the Business and Economics Department and the full-time faculty member who will work with the student guiding the project. One three-credit independent study course may be chosen.

Accreditation

The Master of Arts in Leadership and Management is accredited by Accreditation Council for Business Schools & Programs (ACBSP)

ACBSP promotes excellence in business education. It focuses on strong student learning outcomes and teaching excellence.