miniMBA Management Certificate
a noncredit Chancellor's Certificate Program

More knowledge.
Better decisions.
Increased value.

Most of us are specialists. However, not knowing about how the rest of our business works often leads to poor results. Managers need to know what else might be impacted before they make decisions. Broaden your successes within your organization. Learn sound solutions to problems confronting leaders today. Succeed in business by being a confident, competent decision maker.

The miniMBA Management Certificate program provides winning new strategies for business leaders. Our experienced instructors will give you the knowledge to be able to look at your organization from a broad point of view, to become acquainted with many of its functions, and to incorporate this knowledge into enhanced, integrated performance.

In just eight Saturdays, this challenging program highlights aspects of business that you need to consider before making a decision.

* Develop strategic leadership.
* Take full advantage of your resources.
* Expand competitiveness.
* Cultivate change management.
* Utilize legal insights.
* Analyze data for capable financial decision-making.
* Lead with emotional intelligence.
* Enhance performance.
* Strengthen your differentiators.
* Prevail in a global economy.

Increase your value to the team by generating optimized solutions that consider the big picture. Through a blend of problem-solving exercises, case studies, and class discussions, the miniMBA program tackles real-world issues that are characteristically addressed in business degree programs.

Should you pursue the miniMBA Management Skills Certificate?

Whether you are seeking a "crash course" or have been in business for years, you will benefit from the up-to-date knowledge and real-world experience of our instructors.

* Specialists entering a more global management role
* High-potential managers and fast-trackers looking for cutting-edge strategies to escalate their careers
* Business professionals who advise executives on creation and implementation of business strategy
* Entrepreneurs, business owners, and managers desiring to increase their knowledge and skills
* Consultants and organizational development professionals who design and facilitate change initiatives

Sample Topics
• Leadership and Change Management • Marketing Management
• Legal Issues in Business • Quality Management
• Communication for Managers • Human Resource Management
• Financial Accounting • Personal Planning & Organization
• Management Accounting • Strategic Management
• Financial Management • Performance Enhancement
• Developing Teams

Comprehensive List of Topics

Preparing an Organization for Change

* Understanding change management and types of change
* The role of change leaders
* Making a compelling case for organizational change
* Assessing organizational readiness and willingness for change
* Garnering high level buy-in and organizational commitment
* Transferring change management skills and knowledge to the organization

Pragmatics of Change

* Understanding why most change efforts don't succeed
* The role of organizational culture in change efforts
* Surfacing attitudes and beliefs about change
* Anticipating and dealing with creative tension, resistance, and other barriers to change
* Establishing awareness and a communication vehicle to keep the organization informed about the change process

Designing the Change the Process

* Determining who should be involved in the planning the change process
* Determining the scope and parameters of the change effort
* Determining the pace and priority of the change effort-realistic phases
* Review of the role of systems theory in change efforts
* Engaging the organization in the change effort

Executing Change

* Review various models to execute change strategies
* Matching the change model to the complexity of the change effort
* Leading effective transition and change meetings
* Setting goals, accountabilities, and target dates
* Cascading change strategies throughout the system
* Maintaining ongoing commitment to the success of change effort

Legal Issues in Business

* Types of legal actions
* Overview of employment issues
* Exceptions to at-will employment relationships
* Civil rights laws
* Unlawful discrimination
* Harassment
* How to avoid charges of discrimination and harassment
* Religious accommodations
* Leave, disability, return to work, and HIPAA laws
* Fair Credit Reporting Act
* Wage and hours issues
* OSHA
* Record retention
* Employee access to files/records

Communication for Managers

* The many levels of communication
* Building trust and rapport
* The fine art of listening
* Listening skill clusters
* The importance of questions
* How to question effectively
* Managing disagreement and conflict
* The importance of establishing check points
* The role of written communication
* Giving and receiving feedback

Financial Accounting
Understanding and Analyzing Financial Statements

* An overview of accounting and how decision makers use accounting information
* How financial statements reflect the business activities
* How to read and analyze the income statement
* How to read and analyze the balance sheet
* How to read and analyze the statement of cash flows
* How to use financial analysis and ratios in decision-making

Operating Plans and Budgets

* An overview of information managers need to manage
* A review of the types of costs businesses incur
* An examination of the behaviors of business costs
* The relationships among cost, volume, and profit
* How costs are planned, monitored, and controlled through a budget process
* How to begin the budget production process

Impact of Taxes on Financial Decision-Making

* An overview of federal, state, and local income taxes
* The tax formula-how to calculate taxes
* A comparison of the taxation of corporations, S-corporations, LLCs, and individuals
* Computing after-tax cash flows, especially from the perspective of typical business transactions
* Strategies for minimizing the overall income taxes paid by the company

Management Accounting

* Financial versus management accounting
* Types of costs
* Business decisions
* Contribution income statements
* Outsourcing

Financial Management

* The role of financial management in funding business operations
* Examining how capital budgeting decisions are made
* Financing alternatives available to fund capital projects
* Determining the costs of the financing alternatives
* Discussion of the impact of the time value of money on capital budgeting and financing decisions
* Fundamental ideas
* Measuring firm performance
* Income statement format
* The balance sheet
* Profitability and market analysis
* Investment decisions
* The capital investment process
* Capital budgeting

Developing Teams

* Best team experience
* Four stages of team development
* Critical success factors for teams
* Questions for your success in building your team
* Tools to use during the stages of your team
* Four communication styles
* How to use communication styles to improve team work

Marketing Management

Fostering a Customer-Centric Culture

* Assessing cultural barriers, values, beliefs, and attitudes about the customer
* Garnering and sustaining executive leadership to customer efforts
* Hardwiring the organization to "think customer" at all levels of system
* Cascading customer-first focus throughout the organization

Customer-Driven Strategy

* Exploring the five pillars of deploying a customer strategy
* Understanding the function of value propositions, customer promises, service pledges, etc.
* Creating and managing the "total customer experience"
* Creating an infrastructure that supports the customer strategy
* Installing vehicles for accountability and recognition to sustain and drive the strategy

Turning Customer Insights into Results

* Launching vehicles that capture "voice of the customer" metrics that yield actionable data
* Linking internal process measures to the customer experience
* Linking employee satisfaction measures to the customer experience
* Measuring customer value, retention, and loyalty that link financial and other bottom-line to measures

Deploying and Maintaining Customer Focus

* Learning the four pillars of customer process deployment: structure, process, vehicles, and tools
* Applying the deployment matrix(tm) to analyze the customer strategy
* Using the concept of nesting to optimize strategy alignment and synergies and to maintain gains
* Building a customer-insight capacity that integrates the voice of the customer into long-term business strategies as well as day-to-day activities

Competitive Strategies

Strategice Leadership

* Building organizational core competencies as a key vehicle of competitiveness
* Integrating strategy with organizational mission and operations to achieve the desired results
* Understanding the power of horizontal and cross-functional alignment
* Achieving and sustaining exceptional performance over time

The Role of Technology in Competitiveness

* Integrating people, process, and technology
* The role of technology in business transformation efforts
* The human impact of technology on changes in job tasks, functions, and roles

Strategic Marketing Through Branding

* Understanding what a brand is and the potential power of branding
* Examining brands in the context of consumer behavior based on emotional and cognitive experiences
* How to develop an effective brand that leads to a competitive behavioral advantage
* Ways marketers gain a competitive advantage through effective branding

Global Strategies and Entrepreneurship

* Understanding the economic, political, and cultural dynamics that impact organizational challenges
* Criteria in deciding whether to "go global"
* Entry options to global enterprises
* Establishing diverse alliances in pursuing markets across borders

Quality Management

* What is quality
* Customer needs, wants and expectations
* Leadership mission and values
* Processes and procedures
* Systems and structure
* What is culture
* Building a quality house

Human Resource Management

Strategic Role of Human Resources

* The changing role of the human resource function
* The human resource professional as change agent
* Current and future trends in human resources
* Making the shift from an operational to strategic focus

Creating a Strategic HR Plan

* Building core competencies in strategic planning
* Recasting the purpose of the HR planning purpose
* Launching an environmental scan to anticipate future needs
* Developing planning assumptions that link workforce shifts and human capital forecasts to corporate and economic assumptions
* Developing HR strategies that align with corporate goals
* Leveraging influence in your organizations by building business partnerships
* Developing HR strategies and adding value to sustain competitive advantage
* Translating strategic goals into action steps, and creating accountability for results
* Investigating different strategic approaches used by other organizations

Strategic Approaches to HR

* Implementing succession planning
* Developing a career-development model

HR Professionals as Change Agents

* Overview of organizational development
* Understanding organizational culture
* The role of the internal consultant
* Identifying strategies to create or build a desired culture
* Appreciating the subordinate impact of organizational culture in an organization
* Examining ways to measure and monitor culture

Personal Planning & Organization

Managing Time and Multiple Priorities

* Basic principles of time management and work-life balance
* Becoming more effective by using time management strategies
* Setting and prioritizing personal goals so you can make the most of your time
* Clarifying and establishing criteria for handling multiple priorities at work

Goal Setting, Delegation, and Accountability

* Setting clear and measurable goals for staff performance
* Assessing your delegation skills
* Knowing when to delegate and what not to delegate
* Delegating tasks to others, focusing on clear accountability and boundaries
* Keeping your boss informed

Managing Projects

* Project management techniques, tools, and processes
* Integrating people and activities to produce results
* Managing cross-functional projects and tracking work activities
* Using project delegation and accountability vehicles

Leading Effective Meetings

* Designing and leading productive meetings
* Facilitating effective teleconference or Internet meetings
* Leading group problem solving and decision making
* Creating an environment that encourages participation
* Handling disruptive or inappropriate behavior

Strategic Management

* What is strategic management
* Discipline of market leaders
* Power of vision
* Integrated performance management system
* Goal alignment process
* Performance improvement contract

Note: Course content is subject to change.

Certificate Requirements

Complete the 45 hours of training, and you will be awarded 4.5 Continuing Education Units and a noncredit Chancellor’s Certificate in miniMBA Management by the Chancellor of the University of Missouri–St. Louis.

Cancellation Policy for Noncredit Business Administration Programs: The University reserves the right to cancel any program. In the event of cancellation, you will be notified immediately, and all program fees will be returned. If you must cancel the registration, you are entitled to a full refund only if you cancel two weeks prior to the first class. A $50 processing fee will be assessed for later cancellations up to the first class.

Income Tax Deduction: The cost of continuing education is deductible for federal income tax purposes under certain circumstances. Check with the IRS or your tax advisor.

This page last updated December 11, 2008 .