The practice of what we commonly refer to as management has been going on for thousands of years. For example, it is highly unlikely that the Egyptians could have built the great pyramids in 4,000 B.C. without the exercise of planning, organizing, directing and controlling hundreds of people and tons of stone. As in the past, those basic management activities are still essential to the successful operation of organizations today. Intensive study of the field of management over the past 100 years has lead to the creation of an exciting body of knowledge regarding the nature of management, philosophies and theories of behavior and methods of application and research.

The growing complexity of business and the workplace also has led to the creation of niches within management where special types of skills and training are required. For example, the knowledge and skills needed by a production manager involved in the manufacturing of a product differ significantly from the knowledge and skills needed by a personnel manager responsible for hiring, training and compensating employees. The Department of Management at Missouri State has taken steps to create programs and options that prepare majors for the diverse challenges offered in these specialties. Each area deserves some additional attention.

Administrative Management is designed to prepare managers in the broadest sense. It is the most popular option as the courses required are designed to provide a solid management foundation and the greatest degree of flexibility in career choice. Majors completing this option are exposed to all areas of management theory and practice without focusing extensively on any one area. It provides a launching platform into managerial jobs in almost all industries as well as a solid foundation for graduate school.

Human Resource Management is selected by students who are interested in pursuing careers in an organization’s personnel area. Students of this option take some general management courses as well as a number of classes designed to provide expertise specific to managing human resources. These students typically find employment related to the recruitment, selection, training, development and compensation of a company’s employees. Union and industrial relations also are addressed.

International Management is for those interested in working for a multinational corporation. This option has seen rapid growth in the past few years as more and more students seek positions that will take them to other parts of the globe. Competence in a second language as well as knowledge of foreign cultures and business practices is acquired in this option to complement basic management and international management courses.

Production/Operations Management is designed for those students interested in the design and manufacture of a company’s goods or services. Courses in purchasing, materials management and decision making are designed to prepare graduates who aspire to positions such as plant managers, production controllers or schedulers, inventory managers and purchasing and materials managers.

A new major in Entrepreneurship is available for students who dream of owning their own company. Courses in entrepreneurship and new venture management inform students on the process of designing new ventures or obtaining franchises, preparing complete business plans, acquiring starting capital, working in a family owned business, as well as the daily running of operations.

A major in Entertainment Management is also available. This program is designed to produce venue managers in the entertainment industry. Such venues could include theme parks, music theatres or sports facilities.

The most recent information from Career Services on campus reveals that the average starting salary for Management majors nationwide is $37,000. Employers include Boeing, St. John’s, Bass Pro Shops, Wal-Mart, the Federal Government, Koch Industries and many more. The diversity and quality of these companies represent both the broad importance of the discipline as well as the value companies place on Missouri State Management graduates.

The job opportunities for Management majors are growing, and the demand for skilled graduates will remain solid well into the next century. Planning, organizing, directing and controlling are activities so essential to business that they will never go out of style. If you are someone who is planning to go to college, has an organized view of your future goals and aspirations, is capable of directing your efforts in a focused way and wishes to control your future success, you would be a good candidate for one of the programs in the Department of Management at Missouri State.

The Department of Management offers comprehensive major programs in Management, Entrepreneurship and in Entertainment Management with the Bachelor of Science degree. Within the Management program, you will select an optional path of study in one of the following areas:

1. Administrative Management
2. Human Resource Management
3. International Management
4. Operations Management

The department also offers minors in Management, Human Resource Management, Entrepreneurship and International Management.

Students also may inquire about a master’s in Health Administration. The total academic program consists of 125 semester hours of work that will differ somewhat depending upon the option selected. For the Administrative Management option, 125 hours are grouped into the following four categories: (a) 43 to 46 hours in general education courses that provide breadth and depth of knowledge outside of business; (b) 34 to 37 hours of business core requirements; (c) 24 hours of management classes; and (d) 18 to 24 elective hours.

All College of Business (COB) majors must take 63 of their 125 hours outside of COB. Students must maintain a 2.50 (or better) GPA on their 300- to 400-level business courses taken at Missouri State as well as a 2.5 GPA overall to graduate.

Students majoring in Management will choose from the following courses. Please consult the Missouri State Catalog online at www.missouristate.edu/catalog for specific course descriptions.

• MGT 286: Business Communications*
• MGT 340: Organizational Behavior and Management*
• MGT 341: Adv. Organization Behavior and Development
• MGT 342: Organization Theory
• MGT 343: Purchasing and Materials Management
• MGT 345: Human Resources Management
• MGT 364: Operations Management*
• MGT 368: Management Decision Making
• MGT 384: Entrepreneurship
• MGT 397: Business Report Writing
• MGT 398: Managerial Communication
• MGT 447: International Management
• MGT 450: Human Resource Development
• MGT 451: Human Resource Acquisition
• MGT 464: Advanced Operations Management
• MGT 465: Industrial Relations
• MGT 487: Strategic Management and Policy*
• MGT 543: New Venture Management
• MGT 546: Compensation Management

*Required of all business majors

The Department of Management features a strong faculty, all ranked faculty having their doctoral degrees and much combined business experience. Excellence in teaching is a constant goal, with three members of the department having received the university’s top award in teaching within the past few years. The faculty also remain actively involved in research and publishing with one faculty member a coauthor of the largest selling management textbook in the world. Following the trend toward globalization in business, management faculty have traveled extensively having visited Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, London, Tokyo, Belgium, China, South America and India in the past few years.

All departments in COB reside in Glass Hall, a state-of-the-art facility, where all business classes are conducted. Glass Hall also houses the Business Advisement Center and numerous computer labs for the students’ convenience.