Curriculum & Prerequisites

The Certificate of Advanced Business Studies (CABS) program is designed to build a solid foundation in business that will equip participants with the skills and competencies necessary to be successful administrators and managers. This 19-unit academic program can be completed as a stand-alone certificate or used to prepare non-business majors for graduate degree programs in business administration at CSUS.

Prerequisites
Prior to enrolling in the Certificate in Advanced Business Studies courses, students should be proficient in mathematics, statistics, and computer usage. The faculty will assume that all program participants have these minimum proficiencies. These skills may be attained through prior coursework, review classes, or experience. These proficiency courses will not count as credit toward program requirements.
• Statistics: Introductory coursework in probability and statistics is strongly preferred
• Mathematics: At least one semester of calculus is strongly preferred
• Computer usage: Ability to use common personal computing hardware and software, particularly word processing and spreadsheet programs.

Program Requirements (19 Units)

ECON 204 Business Economics (3)
MBA 201 Accounting (2)
MBA 202 Business Communications Fundamentals (2)
MBA 203 Legal Environment of Management (2)
MBA 204 Management and Organization Concepts (2)
MBA 206 Managerial Statistical Analysis (2)
MBA 207 Finance (2)
MBA 208 Marketing (2)
MBA 209 Production and Operations Analysis (2)

Course Descriptions

ECON 204: Business Economics
Intensive one-semester course covering both macroeconomics and microeconomics. Emphasis is on economic analysis and policy. Designed for graduate students who have not taken ECON 001A and ECON 001B or their equivalents.

MBA 201: Accounting
Concepts and models of financial accounting are introduced. Included are the analysis, interpretation and reporting of financial events.

MBA 202: Business Communications Fundamentals
Stresses fundamental communication principles and techniques for effective business writing in diverse managerial situations. Participants complete a variety of writing activities, including responding to management communication cases and evaluating written communications using holistic and analytic tools. Within this context, participants are provided an opportunity to achieve an understanding of syntactical and grammatical patterns while improving analytical and logical business writing skills. Note: This requirement will be waived for students who achieve a score of 4.5 or higher on the Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA) section of the GMAT exam.

MBA 203: Legal Environment of Management
Intensive study of important aspects of law for managers, including law as an instrument of social and political control. Analysis of selected problems in areas of private law such as contract, tort, business organizations, and agency. In addition, selected issues of administrative law and government regulation of business will be investigated.

MBA 204: Management and Organization Concepts
Evolution of management and organization thought; examination of behavioral science variables influencing working relationships among managers, individuals and groups; the study of political and social behavior in organizations; identification, analysis, and synthesis of contemporary concepts and administrative practices; investigation of organization structure, function, and properties leading to an understanding of administration and organization.

MBA 206: Managerial Statistical Analysis
Computer-based course in data analysis. Business case studies are used to differentiate between common and specific sources of statistical variation and to construct statistical models such as multiple regression, times series, and statistical quality control. Emphasis is placed on intuitive statistical thinking and communication of results.

MBA 207: Finance
Theory and practice in determining the need for, the acquisition of, and the use of funds by organizations. Topics include time value of money, financial analysis, management of working capital, cost of capital, capital budgeting, long-term financing, dividend policy, and internal financing. Prerequisite: ECON 204, ACCY 201, MIS 206.

MBA 208: Marketing
Application of decision making in solving marketing problems; such as product, place, promotion and price decisions with reference to consumers and users. Prerequisite: ECON 204, ACCY 201, OBE 203.

MBA 209: Production and Operations Analysis
Study of operational systems; fundamental concepts, tools, and methodologies required to analyze and solve problems of the operations manager. Topics include: work design, facilities design, scheduling, quality control, and inventory management. Prerequisite: ECON 204, ACCY 201, MIS 206.