Revamped Evening MBA Program gives students more hands-on learning opportunities, technology and innovation courses

Beginning this fall, the Kelley School of Business Evening MBA Program launched an updated curriculum, designed to ensure students receive the latest and most updated business education.

“As the business community continues to change, our curriculum needs to reflect that,” said Evening MBA Program Faculty Chair Kyle Anderson. “Our new curriculum helps develop and enhance all the skills business leaders need to make a difference in their organization and in central Indiana: Through enhanced courses focused on technical skills like business analytics, operations, finance and marketing, as well as executive development courses focused on developing executive presence and managerial skills, to ensure students leave the program with the ability to successfully lead organizations.”

The Evening MBA Program includes a new course in business innovation and disruptive technology. During this course, students learn about ground-breaking technologies disrupting business management today, hear from industry experts, see technology businesses in Indianapolis and develop their own innovative business plans.

“We know business needs are changing as technology changes, so our program looks to not only prepare these MBA students to know and understand new technologies, but also to understand how companies can position themselves for future change,” explained Anderson.

In a one-week, intensive experience before classes begin, students now tackle a “live case,” where they must work in groups to come up with innovative solutions to strategic challenges facing a company. This challenges incoming MBAs to identify business problems, analyze potential solutions and present them to a client.

The program now has an increased number of real-world, hands-on learning experiences. Students are required to complete a capstone project, which is a consulting project solving a real challenge facing a business in Indiana or across the globe. Students also have the opportunity, as they’ve done in years past, to engage in immersive learning and consulting projects solving business problems for companies across the world: In Chile, China and beyond.

“These experiential learning opportunities give students the opportunity to bring together the entire curriculum into a single project,” said Anderson. “For the capstone projects specifically, they’re not only making a significant impact to a company right here in central Indiana, but they’re also able to try out an area of business they may not currently be working in.”

The program is also shorter than before — now 24 months, giving students an intensive MBA experience that allows them to move up in their careers faster.

For more information on the Kelley School Evening MBA Program, ranked 9^th in the nation among part-time MBA Programs by US News and World Report, click here.