The Master in Business Administration (MBA) develops students for the role managers play in defining business problems, assessing information, considering alternatives, and choosing the best solution. Imagine the manager as the hub of a wheel. From the hub radiates spokes, each representing a specific discipline, such as finance, law, marketing, operations, information systems, etc. Each of these "spokes" generates inputs for the manager to assess and incorporate into the decision-making process. The manager is a critical user of these inputs in making decisions. Although generally not the original producer of information, the manager must be able to assess the validity and reliability of information in building a business case for justifying specific decisions.

To prepare students for this decision-making role, the MBA program has been designed to introduce the principles that frame a wide range of problems or issues that come up within each of the courses. The most current techniques or tools are applied to these theories to give students practical experience in making decisions aimed at solving a wide range of problems.