Electronic Business (MBA)

The field of electronic business has evolved dramatically and the MBA-EB program has kept pace with those changes. Combining aspects of data mining, electronic marketing, cost assurance and the spirit of entrepreneurship, the concentration poises students to take a prominent role in any organization's electronic business operations. The program is built around the concept of hands-on learning and takes advantage of the facilities of the Taylor Institute for Direct Marketing, Oracle enterprise software and the college's computing lab facilities.

Admission Requirements

You need to have a completed application to be considered for admission. That means that you have to have a GMAT score (at least 500), a TOEFL score if you are an international student, hold an undergraduate degree, have your statement of purpose, letters of recommendation, resume, transcripts (at least a 2.75 GPA) and all the other material in to us so that our graduate admissions committee can evaluate your application.

Akron Advantage

The MBA-EB program is strongly supported by business professionals through the active participation of the Center for IT and eBusiness (CITe). The center sponsors regular lecture series events, an executive business forum and an IT executive exchange program. Recent events sponsored by CITe provide a glimpse of what the MBA-EB offers at Akron.

Leveraging Cloud Computing
One of the fastest growing consumer technology trends is cloud computing, where data and software is housed in remote data centers rather than on-site servers. Microsoft's cloud computing data center in Northlake Illinois is designed to hold up to 400,000 servers. Amazon is offering its Elastic Computing Cloud service. The Economist reports that “Google is said to be operating a global network of about three dozen data centers loaded with more than 2m servers (although it will not confirm this). Microsoft is investing billions and adding up to 35,000 servers a month. Other internet giants, such as Yahoo!, are also busy building huge server farms." These and other firms are betting that IT shops will want to move a great deal of their processing into these ultra-efficient centers. CITe hosted an IT Executive Exchange session on June 12, 2009 which considered the pros and cons of cloud computing in our unique setting of NE Ohio.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
At a CITe Lunch and Learn Series, Aaron Geh, VP, Sales/Marketing, The Karcher Group presented search engine optimization (SEO). Students learned the basics of SEO, including how it works and why it is important. In addition, they learned why it is so important to drive more qualified traffic to the web sites, convert that traffic to leads or sales, and then measure success in real numbers. Students also had the opportunity to participate in a Q & A session after this interactive program.

Quality Assurance and Software Testing
CITe hosted the 3rd Executive Business Forum at The University of Akron on April 1, 2009 at which William Lewis, founder and CEO of Smart Technologies, Inc., presented testing and quality assurance in the Agile World & how to infuse Test Driven Development into the process. He also discussed the business impacts of adopting Software Testing and Continuous Quality Improvement and a provided practical roadmap for implementation.

Additional Information

Concentration: Electronic Business
Required:
6500:608	Entrepreneurship	3
6600:635	E-Business Marketing Strategies & Tactics	3
6500:644	Knowledge Management & Business Intelligence	3
Choose 3 credits from the following
6600:645	Innovative Marketing Strategies	3
6200:658	Enterprise Risk Assessment & Assurance	3
6500:665	Management of Technology	3
Recommended free elective for e-business. Select additional course from the list above.
Free Electives
Foundation and required courses may not be used as free electives.
Select 3 credits of free electives OUTSIDE of your area of concentration. May be a Graduate level course from outside the CBA with approval of Director.
Integrative
6500:695	Business Strategy and Policy: Domestic and International	3
	(Restricted to students graduating within two semesters.)