MBA students and their families spend an afternoon getting to know one another at the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.

Why a New Program?

While we are justifiably proud of the MBA program that UT has had in place since 1991, there are several reasons why we felt compelled to do a major restructuring.

The Millennium Manager
Ten years ago, we asked managers of Fortune 500 companies to answer the question, “what does every manager need to know?” We continue to ask the question, but the answers are different today. New technologies, increasing globalization, e-commerce, strategic alliances, and the like are changing the formulas for business success. Managers in the new millennium must function in a rapidly evolving world, and our program must change to reflect those new realities.

Superior Integration
A major strength of our past program has been helping students understand the integration of the functional areas within a firm. Now it is time for us to expand the notion of integration to fully embrace the activities and relationships between organizations, as well as within. The ability of firms to work in alliances and networks is increasingly fundamental to success in the market-place. Tomorrow’s managers must develop a new set of skills to respond to that challenge.

Building on Core Competencies
Organizations that succeed are those that capitalize on their strengths relative to their competitors. The UT College of Business has developed nationally recognized faculty and executive education programs in the areas of supply chain management, customer value determination, forecasting, and lean production, among others. These provide many of the critical building blocks that are required to integrate across firms in a value chain. UT is strongly and uniquely positioned to develop managers with these valuable, cutting-edge skills.

Continuous Improvement
We have never stopped improving our MBA program from day one. Our faculty strongly values both innovation and relevance. In a changing business environment, we think it is imperative to change our program to stay in step with the dynamic business environment around us. New content, as well as new ways of looking at timeless topics, requires a different approach. The new program structure will facilitate the delivery of the material in a more effective, efficient way for our prospective students and our corporate recruiters.