The College of Business Administration at King Saud University (CBA-KSU) believes that true business success depends on key leaders having the strategic skills and vision necessary to attain organizational and personal goals. The Executive MBA Program provides these leaders with the necessary tools and perspectives to lead their organizations into the future.  It is a broad-based, fast-paced, in-depth leadership experience. 

The Program focuses on enhancing and strengthening management expertise at the executive level. The program is intense but thoughtfully designed, so that all components - curriculum, training, collaborative studies and networking - work together within a well-designed learning cycle. The format is hands-on and encourages superior learning.

Rigor and relevance are the two guiding principles of the EMBA academic program. It combines academic rigor with a strong focus on practical application.

 

Degree Title:

Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA).

 

Program Language: English

 

Significance and Justifications of Program Creation:

The chief goal of the CBA-KSU EMBA Program curriculum is to help students develop the broad-ranging skill set they need to take a large view of their organizations and to guide these organizations more effectively in senior leadership roles.  Students learn how to analyze and process information from a variety of sources in their strategic decision-making to set sound courses for their organizations.  In their teaching, professors use instructional methods relevant to the skills and needs of the executive.

The EMBA will dramatically increase participant ability to think globally, plan intuitively, communicate effectively, and act strategically. The EMBA adds great career value by exposing participant to cross-functional business knowledge, improved professional connections, and a heightened confidence that often comes with a life-changing experience.

The program’s highly applied curriculum is designed around a balanced blend of analytical foundations, solution-based courses, and action learning opportunities: 

• Its focus on leadership emphasizes the development of leaders capable of solving real-world business challenges.
• Its results-oriented curriculum promotes learning and collaboration across disciplinary boundaries. 
• Its bi-weekly format allows busy executives and professionals to balance the pursuit of an MBA with commitments at work and at home.  It takes less than two years to complete while continuing to work full time.
• Its “cohort” approach allows participants to enter the program, complete classes, and graduate with the same group of students.

 

Program Vision:

Produce leaders who will shape the business sector in the present and the future.

 

Program Mission:

Provide EMBA students with a rigorous, discipline-based approach to business education and transforming them into confident, effective, respected business leaders prepared to face the toughest challenges in a global economy.

 

Program Objectives:

• Acquire a breadth of knowledge across various business disciplines.
• Develop analytical skills, understanding, confidence, and language to influence strategy at all levels of the business organization.
• Enhance participants’ communication, leadership and teamwork skills so they can make an impact in business organizations and  advance in their careers.
• Through relevant, real-world case studies, reinforced by established theoretical concepts, equip participants with the competencies needed to recognize and solve problems found in today's dynamic  business environment.
• Emphasize cross-disciplinary integration of subjects, such as the key linkages between accounting, finance, decision-making methods, marketing, information systems, and human resources.
• Develop advanced leadership and team-building skills for management in dynamic organizations.
• Understand international business and the implications of a rapidly evolving global economy.
• Recognize and evaluate ethical, legal, and regulatory dimensions of business decisions.

 

Program Outcomes:

• Synthesize theories, concepts, tools, skills, practices, and research to address problems, accomplish complex tasks, and complete projects that are common in a business environment.
• Demonstrate effective written and verbal communication skills that are professionally appropriate, promote mutual respect, and encourage healthy discourse.
• Demonstrate decision-making skills within a global business context that are well-reasoned, based on evidence, and are both ethically and socially responsible.
• Lead, collaborate, and interact with others in diverse and globally dispersed environments based on a reflective knowledge of self and value-based interpersonal skills.
• Assess opportunities to sustain and improve an organization’s competitive position in a dynamic and complex global marketplace by employing critical, creative, or strategic thinking.
• Compare the environment in which business operates in Saudi Arabia and abroad through direct experience and interaction with local, regional, and multinational businesses.

 

Program Beneficiaries:

This program is for:

• Experienced professionals seeking to obtain a master's degree in business while maintaining their full-time job responsibilities.
• Professionals who want to advance their careers and sharpen their management and decision making skills.
• Mid-level executives and professionals who aspire to greater responsibility within the competitive global environment.
• Senior and upper-level executives who desire to enrich their experience with academics.
• Employees with strong potential to advance into senior executive roles.
• Employees whose career path reflects increasing responsibilities that require EMBA skills and knowledge.

 

Employment Opportunities Available:

• Mid-level executive.
• Upper-level executive.
• Department head/manager.
• Division director.

 

The EMBA Candidates:

Participants are expected to come from all types of organizations – profit, non-profit, or government-related – and all sizes – from large to small and in-between.  They are expected to represent a variety of industries.

Most students are expected to enter the program with 10 or more years of professional and leadership experience as compared to the work experience of the Full-time MBA students of 6 years.  The EMBA Admissions Committee evaluates applicants on the following criteria: professional performance, academic records, test scores of standardized tests, professional recommendations, demonstrated ability to accomplish graduate-level business course work, and career goals.

 

Admission Requirements:

• The applicant must possess a bachelor degree studied on a full-time or part-time basis from approved universities and colleges.
• The applicant must have at least 3 years of work experience in the private or public sector
• The applicant should hold a leadership position or used to hold the position based on a letter from his/her organization.
• The passing of an interview conducted by the Program Committee. 

 

Graduation Requirements:

• Passing 43 Cr Hrs of master’s courses.
• The Executive MBA curriculum is a cohort program, with all participants taking the same courses throughout the program. The program is a general one covering all aspects of business and emphasizing well-rounded knowledge of all functions and enhancing various executive skills as explained in this plan.

 

 

Program General Structure:

Number of required Cr Hrs is (43) as follows:

Type of Courses	No. of Courses	Cr Hrs
Tools For Management	8	18
Functional Areas	5	12
Managerial Leadership	6	10
Applied Project	1	3
Total	20	43

 

Detailed EMBA Course Structure

 

Code	Course	Cr Hrs	Cr Hrs (Total)
	Tools for Management
EMBA 508	Statistics for Managers	1	18
EMBA 516	Decision Models and Analysis	2
EMBA  515	Business Economics	3
EMBA 507	Information Technology Management	2
EMBA 512	Financial Accounting	1
EMBA 514	Managerial Accounting	3
EMBA 521	Corporate Finance	3
EMBA 536	Strategic Operations Management	3
	Functional Areas
EMBA 538	Supply Chain Management	1	12
EMBA 540	Marketing Management & Strategy	3
EMBA 542	Brand Management	2
EMBA 544	Global Enterprise	3
EMBA 579	Corporate Strategy & Control	3
	Managerial Leadership
EMBA 500	Leadership Foundations	1	13
EMBA 523	Valuation, Mergers, and Acquisitions	2
EMBA 530	Ethics, Social Responsibility, and Corporate governance	1
EMBA 532	Negotiation & Conflict Resolution	1
EMBA 534	Leadership & Organizational Design and Change	3
EMBA 546	Entrepreneurship	2
EMBA 577	Applied Project	3
	Program Total		43

 

EMBA Curriculum

 

	Semester (1)	Cr Hrs			Semester (2)	Cr Hrs
	Residency Week (1)				Residency Week (2)
EMBA 501	Statistics for Managers	1		EMBA 500	Leadership Foundations	1
EMBA 503	Decision Models and Analysis	2		EMBA 514	Managerial Accounting	3
EMBA 508	Business Economics	3		EMBA 521	Corporate Finance	3
EMBA 512	Financial Accounting	1		EMBA 532	Negotiation & Conflict Resolution	1
EMBA 530	Ethics, Social Responsibility, and Corporate governance	1		EMBA 534	Leadership & Organizational Design and Change	3
EMBA 540	Marketing Management & Strategy	3		-	-	-
	Total	11			Total	11

 

 

	Semester (3)	Cr Hrs			Semester (4)	Cr Hrs
	Residency Week (3)				Residency Week (4)
EMBA 507	Information Technology Management	2		EMBA 523	Valuation, Mergers & Acquisitions	2
EMBA 536	Strategic Operations Management	3		EMBA 538	Supply Chain Management	1
EMBA 542	Brand Management	2		EMBA 546	Entrepreneurship	2
EMBA 544	Global Enterprise	3		EMBA 579	Corporate Strategy & Control	3
-	-	-		EMBA 577	Applied Project	3
	Total	10			Total	11

 

 

 

Course Description

 

EMBA 508 - Statistics for Managers  (1 Cr Hrs)

 

This course helps managers understand how to use statistics in decision making. The objective of this course is to introduce basic concepts in statistics that have wide applicability in business decision making. As such, the focus will be more practical than theoretical. Because statistical analysis informs the judgment of the ultimate decision-maker—rather than replaces it—some key conceptual underpinnings of statistical analysis are covered to insure understanding its proper usage.

 

EMBA 516 - Decision Models and Analysis  (2 Cr Hrs)

 

This course introduces the basic principles and techniques of applied mathematical modeling for managerial decision-making. Students learn to use some of the more important analytic methods (e.g. spreadsheet modeling, optimization, Monte Carlo simulation), to recognize their assumptions and limitations, and to employ them in decision-making.

 

EMBA 515 - Business Economics  (3 Cr Hrs)

 

Demand and supply analysis , market mechanism, market failure, costs and revenue, production decisions and pricing, markets structure analysis, macroeconomic structure, aggregate demand & supply, inflation and unemployment, fiscal and monetary policy, international economics

 

EMBA 500 - Leadership Foundations  (1 Cr Hr)

This course focuses on individual, team, and organizational leadership. It lays the groundwork for examining and developing your own personal leadership capabilities, wherever you find yourself within an organization. The course focuses on horizontal and vertical leadership, team building and performance, team leadership, and ethics. The course uses a highly interactive, mixed-method format that examines concepts and builds skills through team projects, class discussions, problem solving, case studies, and role-playing. Participants also have the opportunity to meet and talk candidly with current business leaders.

 

EMBA 507 - Information Technology Management  (2 Cr Hrs)

 

This course focuses on how organizations can successfully use computer-based information technologies to transform themselves and achieve competitive advantage. We will approach the use of technology in managerially oriented way, especially problem-solving and decision-making at individual, work group, and organization levels.  Throughout the course, the emphasis will be on how technology provides organizations with strategic advantage by facilitating increasing productivity and quality and enabling business process reengineering. Topics include management information system life cycle, with emphasis on manager’s perspective, and modeling and analysis to support decision-making.

 

EMBA 512 - Financial Accounting  (1 Cr Hr)

 

This course provides students with a clear understanding of accounting concepts and focuses on the development, analysis, and use of accounting reports. It provides an understanding of what these reports contain, what assumptions and concepts accountants use to prepare them, and why they use those assumptions and concepts. In addition to traditional introductory topics, other topics may include residual income, and financial statement analysis.

 

EMBA 514 - Managerial Accounting  (3 Cr Hrs)

An introduction to accounting concepts and their information content for decision making and control in settings of operations, divisional operations, and international operations. Students will be expected to take part in a dialogue on such topical issues as ethics, quality, strategic responsiveness, and communications. Topics include planning and control, cost behavior and prediction, information content, budgeting and the evaluation of alternatives.  Emphasis is placed on the role of accounting in managerial control and decision making. Pre-requisite: EMBA 512.

 

EMBA 521 - Corporate Finance  (3 Cr Hrs)

 

This course covers the foundations of finance with an emphasis on applications that are vital for corporate managers. The goals of the course are to examine the role of finance in supporting the functional areas of a firm and to foster an understanding of how financial decisions themselves can create value. Topics include overview of basic financial analysis, major financial decisions made by corporate managers, the process of valuation, criteria for making investment decisions, valuation of financial assets, relationships between risk and return, risk management, capital structure choice, payout policy, the effective use and valuation of mergers and acquisitions. Pre-requisite: EMBA 512.

 

EMBA 523 - Valuation, Mergers, and Acquisitions  (2 Cr Hrs)

 

This course covers valuation methods, traditional mergers, and acquisitions topics and transactions, hostile takeovers and friendly acquisitions - strategic and financial aspects, role of corporate raiders in disciplinary takeovers, creating value through corporate restructuring, private equity and leveraged buyouts (LBOs), managing mergers and acquisitions risk: collars, earn-outs and contingent value rights, and develop and provide analysis for divestitures, capital restructurings and bankruptcies. Pre-requisite: EMBA 521.

 

EMBA 530 - Ethics, Social Responsibility, and Corporate governance  (1 Cr Hr)

For business leaders, understanding and managing ethical and corporate social responsibility issues is a core skill. This course will help participants develop that skill. Ethical expectations, corporate social responsibility, and corporate governance issues are complicated and constantly changing, even more so for firms that operate in multiple countries and cultures. This course will provide students with (i) a deeper understanding of the legal and ethical forces within which businesses operate, (ii) a deeper understanding of the political and cultural context in which business takes place, (iii) a basic understanding of corporate responsibility issues, (iv) the tools business leaders need to manage relationships with their firm’s external stakeholders (governments, NGOs, communities, etc), and (iv) practice applying that knowledge to real world business situations.

 

EMBA 532 - Negotiation & Conflict Resolution  (1 Cr Hrs)

 

In strategic negotiations, participants will explore negotiating opportunities, become aware of how to effectively plan negotiations, examine differing negotiation styles, discuss proven negotiation tactics, research cultural differences, debate ethics in negotiations and practice negotiation skills.

 

EMBA 534 - Leadership & Organizational Design and Change  (3 Cr Hrs)

 

This course focuses on transformational leadership and the themes of organizational culture and leading organizational change. Participants will understand how and why change efforts get derailed, why people resist change, and how to overcome these challenges as a leader. Real life lessons learned by top CEOs will be examined. Finally, participants will gain the knowledge to build and sustain a resilient corporate culture that thrives on change and supports the ongoing implementation of change efforts.

 

EMBA 536 - Strategic Operations Management  (3 Cr Hrs)

 

This course covers approaches and techniques for allocating scarce resources in manufacturing and service industries. Among the topics covered are forecasting, aggregate planning, materials management, scheduling, quality management, waiting lines, and project management. Strategic issues are discussed within the context of supply chain management. Interactions with other business areas are emphasized through cases.

 

EMBA 538 - Supply Chain Management  (1 Cr Hr)

 

This course focuses on how to coordinate and integrate such activities as purchasing, warehousing, inventory control, and transport into a seamless process. The emphasis is on managing material and information flow across different partners in the chain. The alignment of incentives, design, and evaluation of contracts and strategies to reduce and hedge uncertainties receive significant attention.  Pre-requisite: EMBA 536.

 

EMBA 540 - Marketing Management & Strategy  (3 Cr Hrs)

 

This course develops market-based knowledge and skills for effective marketing strategy design, implementation, and evaluation. It also develops participants’ ability to make marketing decisions in a wide variety of institutional and competitive situations. The course addresses the importance of being market-driven and customer-focused company. Emphasis is on case studies, team work, and projects.

 

EMBA 542 - Brand Management  (2 Cr Hrs)

 

This course addresses strategic brand decisions faced by an organization and shows managers how to build successful brands. It seeks to increase understanding of issues in planning and evaluating brand strategies and provides a forum for participants to apply these strategies through cases and exercises. Topics include overview of brand asset management, concept and bases of brand equity, brand extension, brand image and brand personality, brand positioning and repositioning, and measuring return on brand investment (ROBI). Pre-requisite: EMBA 540.

 

EMBA 544 - Global Enterprise  (3 Cr Hrs)

 

By analyzing real cases from around the world, this course illustrates the principles of sustainable global enterprise and provides guidance on how to diagnose and define the appropriate strategies to deal with global conditions and changes, how to develop inclusive businesses, and how to organize for sustainable growth.

 

EMBA 546 – Entrepreneurship  (2 Cr Hrs)

This course provides basic understanding of corporate entrepreneurship. Topics include the business opportunity identification process, the screening process, and opportunity exploitation process. The course also explores the creation of the entrepreneurial organization through human resource management, organizational structure and strategy, development of entrepreneurial culture and reward systems, and organizational leadership. Pre-requisite: EMBA 521, EMBA 540.

 

EMBA 577 - Applied Project  (3 Cr Hrs)

 

This course is designed to be the concluding experiential event in the Executive MBA program. It is a demanding course that will test your ability, over a specific time frame, to design/create a business-focused project, with a definitive objective, on a subject which is reflective of your specific interest(s) and/or career goals; develop and execute a research plan to support that project; and apply to that project what you have learned in the classroom and what you have learned through your own professional experience.

 

EMBA 579 - Corporate Strategy & Control  (3 Cr Hrs)

 

This course focuses on issues central to an enterprise's long- and short-term competitive position. Participants take the role of key decision makers and address questions related to solving current business problems under uncertain, ambiguous, and dynamic conditions and the creation or reinforcement of competitive advantage. Topics include industry analysis and competitive advantage as it derives from the firm's strategic investments, resource allocation, and organizational coalitions, local rivalry, alliance management, capabilities, venturing, technology and market evolution, and real options. Case analyses and guest speakers help put theory into practice. Pre-requisite: EMBA 521, EMBA 540.