Academics
Graduate Management Programs offers the Master of Business Administration (MBA), Master of Science in Marketing and Technological Innovation (MSMTI), Master of Science in Information Technology (MSIT), and Master of Science in Operational Design and Leadership (MSODL). Other programs include a dual BS/MBA degree for Worcester Polytechnic Institute undergraduates, interdisciplinary programs in engineering and science, internships, joint research, and foreign exchange with 10 countries. The strongest areas of study are management of technology, information security management, technology marketing, operations management, technological innovation, entrepreneurship, information technology, process design, and supply chain management. The most popular courses are New Venture Management and Entrepreneurship, Managing Organizational Change, Managing Technological Innovation, Marketing of Emerging Technologies, Telecommunications Management, Supply Chain Management, and Managing Creativity in Knowledge Intensive Organizations. Regular programs bring distinguished speakers and visiting professors to campus. The graduate management student organization brings in speakers on a variety of topics related to the management of technology.
Forty-nine total credits are required to complete the MBA, including 12 elective credits. Required courses include:
- Financial Accounting
- Finance
- Organizational Behavior
- Operations Management
- Quantitative Methods
- Principles of Marketing
- Management Information Systems
- Economics of the Firm
- Domestic and Global Economic Environment of Business
- Interpersonal and Leadership Skills for Technological Managers
- Creating and Implementing Strategy in Technological Organizations
- Designing Processes for Technological Organizations
- Business Analysis for Technological Managers
- Legal and Ethical Context of Technological Organizations
- Graduate Qualifying Project
- 4 elective courses
Required courses for the MSMTI include:
- Organizational Behavior
- Quantitative Methods
- Principles of Marketing
- Economics of the Firm
- Interpersonal and Leadership Skills for Technological Managers
- Creating and Implementing Strategy in Technological Organizations
- 6 elective courses
Required courses for the MSIT include:
- Management Information Systems
- Database Applications Development
- Systems Design and Development
- Foundations of Information Technology
- Telecommunications Management
- Organizational Behavior
- Interpersonal and Leadership Skills for Technological Managers
- Operations Management
- Designing Processes for Technological Organizations
Then choose one of the following 3-course concentration areas: - IT Project Management
- IT and Entrepreneurship
- IT Applications Development
- Information Security Management
- Marketing IT Applications
- Manufacturing and Service IT Applications
Required courses for the MSODL include:
- Management Information Systems
- Organizational Behavior
- Interpersonal and Leadership Skills for Technological Managers
- Operations Management
- Modeling and Optimizing Processes
- 7 elective courses
Foundation-level courses may be waived by exam or prior course work.
Business students may take relevant nonbusiness courses in other departments. The minimum time permitted to complete the master’s degree program attending full time is 1 year; maximum, 2 years. For students attending part time, the minimum is 2 years; maximum, 8 years.
There are 24 total full-time graduate business faculty, all of whom hold a doctorate; there are 5 part-time faculty, of whom 80% hold a doctorate. Faculty salaries are rated well above average for Category IIA institutions, based on the AAUP rating system. Average number of courses faculty teach is 4; average business class size is 15.