Cross-Functional Curriculum Smith School of Business MBA

College Park, MD - August 19, 1998 - When the 400 first- and second-year full-time MBA students begin classes at the Robert H. Smith School of Business August 31, they will have five new concentrations from which to choose: business telecommunications, electronic commerce, financial engineering, global business and knowledge management, and logistics/supply chain management.

Each of these concentrations cuts across the core business management disciplines of the Smith School curriculum and integrates an understanding of technology's role in business practices. For example, students selecting the electronic commerce concentration will learn about the foundational technologies essential to e-commerce, the impact of e-commerce on organizations and industries, and applications within marketing, finance, and supply chain management.

"Technology is changing virtually every industry today," says Howard Frank, dean of the Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, College Park. "We are in the midst of a business revolution fueled by responsive customer service and timely knowledge and information management. "Therefore we have enhanced our MBA concentrations to help meet the demands of 21st century business. Our goal is to produce graduates who can bring immediate value to an organization and who can perform well in collaborative teams working across functional areas."

Even before classes begin, the Smith School's new MBA class will get a taste of working collaboratively. During orientation, the students will participate in Outward Bound team-building activities on McKeldin Mall at the university.

In addition, the students will benefit from a three-day Experiential Learning Module (ELM) titled "The Information Highway: Navigating the Business Lane." Scheduled for August 25-27 in Van Munching Hall, home of the Smith School of Business, this hands-on module is the first of five that are full-time MBA program requirements. The Information Highway ELM is a joint effort between the Smith School of Business and the University of Maryland's College of Library and Information Services, and is designed to give students the knowledge and skills needed to retrieve and manage information electronically. Working session titles include "Evaluating and Selecting Business Information Services," "Government Economic Statistics," and "Illusion, Delusion & Data: Visualization Information Without Getting Fooled."

Also as part of the Information Highway Module, students must put their new knowledge to work by completing a teamwork case study assignment.

"Our students must know how to quickly formulate the right criteria and employ effective online search strategies to leverage the wealth of information available on the Internet," says Dean Frank. "In addition, to keep pace with global economic change, our students will explore the impact of technology on culture and competition. Through our study abroad programs, students work with their counterparts to identify cross-cultural issues and strategies for information sharing using the Internet and other network-based technologies.

"The complex needs of the Information Economy have guided the MBA curricular changes at the Smith School of Business. And over the next several months, we are working to enhance our undergraduate program as well. Ultimately, our curriculum will be a comprehensive blueprint for management education in the 21st century."

The other MBA concentrations offered by the Smith School include accounting, entrepreneurship, finance, information systems, international business, management consulting, management science, and marketing. Like the new concentrations, they emphasize cross-disciplinary approaches and technology applications.

About the Robert H. Smith School of Business

The Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research for the digital economy. The school offers cross-functional study options in its six academic departments, which include accounting and information assurance; decision and information technologies; finance; logistics, business, and public policy; management and organization; and marketing. More information about the Robert H. Smith School of Business can be found at http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu.