Academic Programs > Master Programs > MBA > Program Description
Program Description
The Master of Business Administration (MonacoMBA) at the International University of Monaco (IUM) is a 10-month, 72-credit degree completed in three
12-week terms.
The MonacoMBA seeks to provide a fundamental understanding of business from the general management perspective. It has three major instructional components:
the pre-MBA session, the foundation sequence, and the business area concentration1.
1. THE PRE-MBA SESSION
A unique feature of the MonacoMBA is the wide variety of backgrounds that characterizes its student body.
It is vital that students acquire an initial familiarity with the accepted concepts, methodology, and terminology in key fields such as accounting,
finance, and quantitative methods before they begin the program. Students without appropriate previous course work in business principles, quantitative
methods, and economic analysis, or who may need intensive ESL classes, therefore enroll in the three-week pre-MBA session offered immediately prior to
the program start2. These intensive non-credit courses and workshops are designed to ensure all students are academically prepared for the demanding
nature of MonacoMBA coursework.
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2. THE FOUNDATION SEQUENCE
All MonacoMBA students complete the foundation sequence.
This required program of study immerses students in the issues and challenges of the global business environment. It integrates a knowledge of
general management concepts and skills with a subtle appreciation of the external factors affecting the modern firm; and motivates students to engage
with the real world by applying key business disciplines.
The foundation sequence is composed of:
the values, ethics, and culture seminar;
primary and related core courses;
supervised field study.
The values, ethics, and culture seminar (VECS) is the distinctive feature of the MonacoMBA.
This 12-credit seminar provides a central academic, cultural, and pedagogical axis around which the entire
MonacoMBA revolves.
The VECS is designed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the importance an ethical, humane, and cross-cultural approach to business takes on in
the modern global setting, while also providing students with valuable group management skills.
Through a series of invited lectures, simulations, project-based learning exercises, case studies, and technology-centered mini-research projects
students develop skills in applying the knowledge they have learned in class to define and identify problems in the wider business setting
- immediately and in the global context. Students are graded in large part according to their performance on five assessment events that take place at
the end of each term, ranging from graded presentations before external expert panels to entrepreneurial pitches targeted at working venture capital
specialists.
The Primary core is a course of classes that integrates (a) general internal
business practice with (b) an examination of the way these operations are affected by the external context in which the firm exists. It includes
primary core and related core courses.
Primary core courses focus on the internal operations of the business enterprise and allow students to gain an overview of key functional areas by
providing a strong knowledge base in economics, finance, accounting, statistics, and marketing. They use the point of view of the general manager.
Core courses build on and amplify this functional base by examining the links between the organization and larger industrial, commercial, governmental,
and social environments - and demonstrating how such relationships are dependent on an outward-looking approach for success. This allows students to
integrate the specific nature of primary core courses with the state of business in a wider context.
The supervised field study (SFS) is a project based learning requirement that
brings together the various skills and knowledge gained throughout the MonacoMBA. It is undertaken over the course of students' studies and provides
them with the opportunity to apply theory to a specific real world problem.
The SFS is developed under the close scrutiny of a faculty member with expertise in the field of inquiry; the final deliverable is the project white
paper which is presented at the end of the program.
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3. THE BUSINESS AREA CONCENTRATION
The MonacoMBA culminates in the business area concentration (BAC), a distinctive module that brings faculty from institutions with world-renowned
expertise in the chosen field to teach intensive, interactive elective courses. Students choose four BAC elective courses in one of the following
specializations:
Wealth and asset management.
Luxury goods and services.
International marketing.
Entrepreneurship.
Additionally, students may fulfill the BAC requirement by substituting focused study for elective courses. These interactive, topical seminars
concentrate on specific issues of current global importance, and are closely linked to contemporary applications of discussion and research findings
in areas such as women in business; the business environment in microstates, especially Monaco; and developments in consulting skills and practice.
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1The program includes a business simulation and optional language instruction in French or another language (see Program Course Schedule).
Throughout the MonacoMBA students work with the Center for Career Development and Corporate Relations to fulfill IUM's commitment to realizing their
career potential.
2In some cases, substantial business experience may substitute for these prerequisites. The student will be notified when admitted if he or she is
required to attend Pre-MBA Session.