Dilla Univesity

School of Business and Economics

SCHOOL

OF

GRADUATE STUDIES

SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
ECONOMICS

AND

Master of Business Administration

(M.B.A.)
C U R R I C U L U M

Curriculum Development Team

Ato Ashenafi Kebede

MBA Curriculum

[Link]

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Dilla Univesity

School of Business and Economics

Lecturer & Head

SBE-DU

Assistant Professor
SBE-DU

May 2010

MBA Curriculum

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Dilla Univesity

School of Business and Economics

DILLA UNIVERSITY
School of Graduate Studies
School of Business and Economics
MBA Curriculum

Table of Contents

1.

Introduction

2.

Rationale of the program

3.

BSC Benchmarking adopted by SBE-DU

3.

Vision, Mission, and Objectives of the program

4.

Graduate Profile

11

5.

Program Profile

12

5.1

Courses List

13

5.2

Course Coding

14

5.3

Courses Break-down & Schedule

14

5.4

Courses Descriptions

15

6.

Course delivery method

26

7.

Admission and Eligibility criteria

27

8.

Graduation requirements

28

9.

Duration of the Program

28

10.

Degree Nomenclature

28

11.

Assessment

28

12.

Grading

29

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Dilla Univesity

School of Business and Economics

13.

Quality Assurance

29

14.

Resources requirements

30

15.

Launching schedule

32

Introduction
The forerunner of the today's Dilla University (DU) was established in 1996
as Dilla College of Teachers' Education and Health Sciences (DCTEHS). After
enjoying the reputation for eleven years, as part of the expansion of Higher
Education in Ethiopia, the College has been upgraded to the level of an
independent University with its own full autonomy by the cognizant decision
of the Council of Ministers Regulation No.129/2006.

Since 2007, Dilla University is one of the fully accredited Government

Universities hosting over 12000 students in regular, extension and summer
programs. Dilla University is located in the Southern Nations Nationalities
and Peoples Regional State in an area widely known for its coffee production
(Gedeo Zone). The university campus is situated in an ever green expanse of
the country's south. Currently the University has Eleven Schools with the
School of Business and Economics one among them.

Taking cognizance of the role higher education plays in economic

development and growth, the Ethiopian Government has been launching
expansion programs of higher education institutions in the country. To
realize its mission and to achieve objectives, Dilla University opened the then
faculty of Business and Economics in 2007. The School of Business and
Economics currently offers undergraduate programs in (1) Accounting &
Finance,

(2)

Business

Management,

(3)

Economics,

and

(4)

Public

Administration and Development Management, with more than 1,100

students in Regular and Extension programs.

The school proposes to

launch Post-Graduate programs in 2003 EC in the following disciplines:

Business Administration (MBA)

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School of Business and Economics

Finance & Accountancy (MBA-F&A)

The general objective of SBE in commencing the above mentioned programs

is to provide higher executives and develop administrative and professional
capabilities of the country and give quality higher learning on the basis of
applied and practical research so as to ensure economic and social
development of the Country.

Rationale of the Program

In todays business world, borders are both falling and rising with
unanticipated effects.

Top executives of MNCs tell academia that their

companies need leaders who can draw visionary insights from information,
impact from action, networks from contacts, and sustained adaptability from
change. The core aim of todays MBA programs is to develop such leaders.

As we all know, management is a blend of art, craftsmanship and analysis.

While analysis can be taught, craftsmanship can be learnt by doing, and art
can be developed by persistent practice and intuitive thinking which may
be developed by case studies.

Ethiopia, having been under socialists regime for more than two decades by
now, is poised for accelerating growth through development.

The economy

is opening up, allowing foreign direct investment grabbed upon by

developed and fast-developing economies like Germany, Japan, China, and
India.

The growth of Share Companies is an evident truth for the

corporatization of business world in todays Ethiopia. The growth of MultiNational Corporations having its offices elsewhere on the globe is also a
common scenario in Ethiopia today. All these call for visionary leadership
with business acumen and academic expertise. This necessitates the need
for developing a curriculum of this business education as a blend of ground
theories and global practices.

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School of Business and Economics

Of the four traditional resources of business Men, Materials, Machines,

and Money the last three are dominant unless acted upon the first factor
Men. And this entrepreneurship is the required skill in every manager to
manage an enterprise effectively and efficiently.

Thats why management

education is gaining momentum in Ethiopia as well as in the world. In their

task of contributions to a developing nation, the managers have to play a
sizeable role.

To be capable of contributing to the development of the

nation, they need to be equipped with theoretical knowledge with application

sense.

The twenty-first century marks knowledge era.

Brand-Wars are won on

Boardrooms, not on battlefields won on brainpower, not on musclepower.

Possession of knowledge resources is the strength of todays winning firm.
And in management, knowledge does not necessarily confine to books and
journals, but extends to practices as well. This emphasizes on the need for
including theoretical concepts and applied technologies in the curriculum for
masters in business administration.

In his task of managing an enterprise, a business manager has to be

concentrating on any or all of the five major areas, viz.,

Operations/Production

Marketing

Human Resources

Finance

General and Technology Management

The curriculum of the MBA program of the School of Business and

Economics of Dilla University intends to develop skills in all these areas in
the participants of the program, adhering to the international standards of
curriculum development by adopting the Balanced Score Card model.

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School of Business and Economics

The BSC Benchmarking adopted by DU-SBE

MBA is an innovative, cross-disciplinary business study and action-oriented
academic approach for developing the skills, knowledge and commitment
required to implement values-based business leadership. Rather than the
usual focus on ethical analysis, MBA focuses on ethical implementation and
asks the question: What would I say and do if I were going to act on my
values?

Drawing on the actual experiences of multi-disciplinary research, MBA helps

students identify the many ways to voice their values in the workplace. It
provides the opportunity to script and practice in front of peers, equipping
future business leaders not only to know what is right, but how to make it
happen. In line with these general premises, the MBA program of Dilla
University provides students with the knowledge necessary to

navigate in

the business setting in the context of national need. The program is

Compatible with mission and vision of Dilla University. This has been
justified that there is high demand in higher institution and business
organizations for MBA program which was revealed in need assessment.

With the increasing complexity of the business environment in the 21st

century, organizations have to be able to manage rapid change. It is
necessary to develop managerial navigation and measurement tools that
guide and assess organizational performance. With the increasing pressure
to achieve performance improvement, the need to implement highly effective
efficient and integrated management systems is continuously increasing.
The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) is a performance measurement system as well
as a strategic management tool introduced by Kaplan and Norton (Kaplan
and Norton, 1992, 1993). The BSC cannot only be used as an evaluation of

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School of Business and Economics

the organization performance, but also to be used as a strategic

management tool.

From a curriculum integration perspective, the BSC provides an overarching

framework of how a business should achieve its mission. The only way to
establish whether tertiary business administration (MBA) program meet the
demand of the changing business environment is to measure the suitability
of the curriculum. The BSC is identified as an appropriate tool for this
purpose. The BSC uses four perspectives and relevant goals to measure
curriculum suitability. The four perspectives, namely financial, learning and
growth, internal business process and customers perspectives, would focus
on the strategic direction of Business Administration education in the face of
three defined forces of change. These major drivers of change are
globalization, information technology, and the knowledge economy. The
impact of these forces of change influence perceptions of the skills MBA
would require in future.

Questions can be raised about how academic institutions manage these

change factors in their curricula to ensure that future MBAs acquire the
necessary capabilities. One area in which MBA has to excel is the provision
of information by way of advanced Business Administration systems.

The BSC model presents a tool for translating an organizations mission into
more tangible measurable goals, actions and performance measures. The
BSC approach involves identifying key components of operations, setting
goals for them, and finding ways to measure progress towards their
achievement.

A framework of BSC is used for designing MBA curriculum by utilizing the

information obtained from the empirical analysis of need assessment and
experience

sharing

MBA Curriculum

from

local and foreign

(online) universities

and

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School of Business and Economics

stakeholders conducted by the task force team established by School of

Business and Economics of Dilla University, and contextualized to the
objective conditions of Ethiopia as well as the global business.

The framework of BSC to design curriculum of MBA

Financial

Customer relation

Vision and
Strategy

Internal
business Process

Learning and
Growth

Customer perspective:
. Quality instruction
. Effective student placement
. Highly valued program
. Flexible scheduling

Financial perspective
. Educational expense subsidy and donation
. Faculty/School development
Internal business process perspective
. Unique curriculum
. Quality assurance

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School of Business and Economics

. Optimum class size

. Cost efficiency
Learning and Growth perspective
. Faculty and professional growth
. Curriculum innovation
. Teaching innovation

Customers Perspectives
Academics should conduct regular surveys among stockholders (alumini,
employers, and students) to ensure that they provide relevant quality
instruction. It is clear that practitioners do not believe that new graduates
are immediately ready for the world of business. This can be overcome under
the learning and growth perspectives.

Learning and growth perspectives

In practice, especially in the service industry, a great need exists for
knowledge of advanced management systems. The system can be addressed
in developing a management curriculum. This can be also a case of
transferring knowledge or comprehension and apparition and integration.
Here, research and creativity should play significant role in presenting
management solutions. The ability to write business reports must form an
integral part of the MBA syllabus. Academics is expected to innovate in their
teaching of management and strive to develop the communication and
presentation of skills of MBA graduates. MBA educators must be assigned
to spend time in industry. Focusing on the customer perspective could
strength the partnership between industry and academic.

Text books

should not be the only commonly used method of instruction. Other

teaching aids, guest speakers, video and computer

assignments, etc. must

be an integral part of MBA curriculum.

Financial perspectives

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A number of issues need to be addressed to enable faculty to keep abreast of

changing balance demands. Most staff members for example say that they
did not have enough time to do research.

Budget should allow staff

members to attend conferences, and to conduct research and training to

keep them abreast of changes in the business world.

Internal Business process expends

From a quality aberrance perspective greater emphases planed in attaining
professional management qualifications for the abetment and teaching styles
to incorporate what is happening in business Oral and computer based
presentations should for example be incorporated in to teaching and
learning environments. Relevant computer packages should form an
integrate part of teaching for example spread sheets when teaching budgets.
Practical cases based on real-world problems should form an integrate part
of the core curriculum (e.g. Marketing, Operations, Human Resources,
Financial Management). Most management graduates work in service
industries and must be developed to address issues in the service industry.

Vision, Mission, and Objectives of the Program

Vision of the Program:
The Dilla University MBA program strives to be a superior Quality
graduate business program and an excellent source of business graduates.
Our MBA program is committed to providing innovative educational
opportunities

for

business

leaders

within

the

national

and

global

marketplace.

Mission of the Program:

The MBA program of SBE-DU is dedicated to:

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providing students with the necessary tools and knowledge to broaden

their horizon and
adding value to their careers and have an impact on their national and
global communities.

Objectives of the program:

The core objective of the program is to develop competent management
professionals to be the visionary leaders of the business enterprises, who
contribute to the economic and social development of the nation as a whole.
The other objectives of the program are:

To inculcate various business skills such as Negotiating, Presenting,

Computing, and Marketing skills in the participants of the program

To impart ethical and social values in them at international standards

and to ensure their lifting the Ethiopian ethos high and wide in the
corporate world

To enable them with the core knowledge to contribute to the research

development and real and feasible solutions to business problems

To make the participants equipped to be competent in the international

job market and to be employed in various other countries

To equip the participants to contribute to the growth of national wealth

and income by contributing to the business and stakeholders value

To develop the participants as strategic leaders of the corporate world of

Ethiopia to lead the nation to be a leader in Africa

To develop and strengthen various emotional intelligence skills such as

self-awareness, self management, collaboration, and teamwork; to better
negotiate the potential complexities in organizations.

To focus on advancing the strategic objectives of the organization,

emphasizing application of theory in practice and identifying effective
action.

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School of Business and Economics

To synthesize, analyze and integrate their knowledge from across the

organization and use this knowledge to provide innovative and credible
solutions that provide an immediate return on investment.

To lead and make rapid, high-level business decisions, develop their

global perspective, and expand their network through working with
innovative faculty and high caliber colleagues.

To produce highly-qualified, competent and responsible professionals in

the fields of Management to solve shortage of instructors.

To achieve DUs mission and objectives of Teaching, Research, and

Community services.

Graduate Profile: Master of Business Administration

Candidates upon graduating from the program must demonstrate that they
acquired the knowledge and skills necessary to be better leaders in their
professions. The requisite knowledge and skills are outlined in the following
competencies:

Demonstrate knowledge of accounting, finance, economics, marketing,

international and managerial issues, and strategies.

Demonstrate mastery of team building skills and leadership ability.

Exhibit written and oral communication skills.

Evaluate the global business environment by using the qualitative,

quantitative or decision making tools and technique appropriate for the
situation under consideration.

Upon successful completion of the Masters in Business Administration

program (MBA), a candidate may be favorably considered for one or many of
the following:
Lecturers in Higher Learning Institutions: An MBA graduate is fit to
teach undergraduate students in institutions of higher learning across
the country

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School of Business and Economics

Researchers for businesses: An MBA graduate is capable of undertaking

business research either individually or as a part of a team of
professionals to solve real business problems and to find suitable and
feasible solutions to them
Managing enterprises: An MBA-holder is fit to be the manager of any
kind of business enterprise whether it is partnership, or private limited
company or share company.
Governmental activities: An MBA-holder can participate in Government
Organizations and guide the activities with his/her managerial expertise.
Banking, Insurance and Finance industries: A graduate with masters
in business administration would be more welcome in banking and
insurance sector where managing funds as well as human resources are
as of equal importance, together with satisfying customers.
Consultants and Business Advisors:

An MBA-holder can play

effectively the role of Consultant to various organizations and enterprises

in solving their operational problems and act as Advisors to Businesses.
Project Design, Analysis & Implementation:

By virtue of this

qualification and knowledge, MBA-holders are appropriate for handling

various kinds of projects right from analysis through design to
implementation.
Entrepreneurs and Business Owners: They can run their own
enterprises and build an empire by themselves.
Policy Makers, Analysts, Negotiators, and Change Agents: These roles
can effectively be played by MBAs in Government and International
Business sectors.
Marketing Managers: An MBA-holder can focus on marketing activities
of large enterprises and make it a successful contributor to the profits of
the business.
Human Resources Managers: Managing human resources of any kind
of organization can be effectively done by the masters graduates in
business administration.

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School of Business and Economics

Program Profile: Master of Business Administration

The courses developed in the curriculum of MBA program of SBE-DU
provide a powerful combination of theory, practical knowledge and
application. The students develop new insights enabling them to lead the
organizations through increasingly complex conditions and challenges of the
real business world, in the national and international arena.
The first semester will focus on core areas of business administration,
starting from ground Theories and the current practices of modern
management, to the core knowledge on financial and managerial accounting,
quantitative analysis skills, economic analysis skills, and the basic
knowledge of legal aspects of business.
The second semester will continue its focus on core areas, such as
organizational behavior and leadership, as well as information processing,
and business research methods. It would also expose the students to the
advanced skills in financial management, and on human resource
management.

The third semester continues its focus on remaining functional areas, viz.,
operations and technology management, and marketing management.

It

also covers advanced knowledge on financial markets, instruments and

institutions, as well as international business management.
The fourth and final semester concentrates on advanced applied knowledge
areas such as Business Policy and Strategic Management, as well as Projects
Planning, Analysis and Management.

In this semester the graduating

student is expected to develop a dissertation or a project, encompassing all

the skills acquired in the program.

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School of Business and Economics

Program Profile: List of Courses

Following table presents a summary of the courses offered in the MBA

program of SBE-DU:
No.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.

Course Title
Management Theory & Practices
Financial & Managerial Accounting
Quantitative Analysis for Decision-making
Economic Analysis for Business Decisions
Legal Aspects of Business
Organizational Behavior & Leadership
Advanced Financial Management
Human Resource Management
Information Processing & Management
Business Research Methods
Operations & Technology Management
Marketing Management
Financial Markets, Instruments & Institutions
International Business Management
Business Policy & Strategic Management
Projects Planning, Analysis & Management
MBA Project (or) Dissertation
Total Credits

Course Code

Credits

MBA-511
MBA-512
MBA-513
MBA-514
MBA-515
MBA-521
MBA-522
MBA-523
MBA-524
MBA-525
MBA-611
MBA-612
MBA-613
MBA-614
MBA-621
MBA-622
MBA-630

2
3
3
2
2
2
3
3
2
2
3
3
2
2
3
3
40

Program Profile: Course Coding

The courses listed above are coded with three letters indicating the program
and three digit numbers. The letters designate the program MBA. The first
of the three digits signifies the year of study, being 5 for the first year of
Masters Program, and 6 for the second of the program. The second of the
digits indicates the semester in each year, either 1 first semester, or 2
second semester. The third of the digits represents the sequence of courses
in each of the semester.

Program Profile: Courses Break-down and Schedule

Year 1 Semester 1

MBA Curriculum

Total Credits: 12

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Dilla Univesity

No.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

School of Business and Economics

Course Title
Management Theory & Practices
Financial & Managerial Accounting
Quantitative Analysis for Decision-making
Economic Analysis for Business Decisions
Legal Aspects of Business

Course Code
MBA-511
MBA-512
MBA-513
MBA-514
MBA-515

Year 1 Semester 2
No.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Course Title
Organizational Behavior & Leadership
Advanced Financial Management
Human Resource Management
Information Processing & Management
Business Research Methods

Total Credits: 12
Course Code
MBA-521
MBA-522
MBA-523
MBA-524
MBA-525

Year 2 Semester 1
No.
1.
2.
3.
4.

Course Title
Operations & Technology Management
Marketing Management
Financial Markets, Instruments & Institutions
International Business Management

Course Title
Business Policy & Strategic Management
Projects Planning, Analysis & Management
MBA Project (or) Dissertation

Credits
2
3
3
2
2

Total Credits: 10
Course Code
MBA-611
MBA-612
MBA-613
MBA-614

Year 2 Semester 2
No.
1.
2.
3.

Credits
2
3
3
2
2

Credits
3
3
2
2

Total Credits: 6
Course Code
MBA-621
MBA-622
MBA-630

Credits
3
3
-

Program Profile: Courses Descriptions

A brief description and objectives of the courses offered in the MBA program
are presented in the following paragraphs:

Course Title
Course Code
Pre-requisites

Management Theory and Practices

Credit Hours
MBA-511
nil

This course examines advanced theories (Grand, Mid-level and lower level
theories) in management theory and practices. It focuses on ancient and

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current

School of Business and Economics

management

theory

and

practice,

managerial

roles

and

responsibilities, investigation and review of historical foundations and

approaches, managerial functions of planning, organizing, staffing, directing
and

leading,

and

controlling.

Communication

models,

organizational

influence and leadership, design of organizations, matrix management, and

formal and informal power systems are some of the topics covered. And also
includes understanding the basic tasks of the manager in establishing the
work environment, the theory of decisions making and the type of
organizational problems, allocating resources and executing programs.
Drawing on a wide variety of readings and cases, the course is designed to
provide behavioral, as well as intellectual learning.

Course Title
Course Code
Pre-requisites

Financial and Managerial Accounting

Credit Hours
3
MBA-512
nil

Accounting is the language of the business.

It serves as a yardstick to

measure the financial performance of the managers.

As such, a good

understanding of the accounting is a must for every manager. Accounting

serves both internal and external users of business information.
This course aims to cover the managerial accounting (that which focuses on
internal users of financial information) and financial accounting (which
caters to the needs of all, especially to the external users).

As such, the

basic purpose of this course is to develop an insight of postulates, principles

and techniques of accounting and utilization of financial and accounting
information for planning, decision-making and control.
The course on Financial and Managerial Accounting is to cover some of the
following aspects: Fundamental Accounting Concepts and Principles;
Preparation of Financial Statements with special reference to analysis of a
Balance Sheet and Measurement of Business Income; Analysis and
Interpretation of Financial Statements of different Business Entities;

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School of Business and Economics

Preparation of Statements of Financial Position and Cash Flow; Concept and

Scope of Managerial Accounting; Costing methods: Job and Process Costing;
Preparation of various types of Budgets and the master budget; Performance
Budgeting and Zero-Base Budgeting; Marginal costing and Absorption
Costing; Relevant Costing and Costing for Decision-making; as well as
Standard Costing and Variance Analysis.

Course Title
Course Code

Quantitative Analysis for Decision-making

Credit Hours
3
MBA-513

Pre-requisites

nil

The broad aims of the Analytical Support for Decision Making are to develop
skills in the effective practice of business analysis through the application of
basic statistical and operation research methods as tools and techniques and
to develop an appreciation of the issues which may require careful
management if the decisions made are to be based upon valid data and
models.
This course includes operating SPSS 14.0 for Windows, a widely utilized
statistics software package, quantitative tools for solution of management
problems involving risk, competing objectives, and complex constraints.
Advanced formulation and modeling of business problems in a spreadsheet
environment, techniques of linear, integer, and nonlinear programming,
multi-objective goal programming, and simulation;
finance, marketing, and operations.

Applications from

The course also includes hands-on

experience with techniques for solving these problems, consider challenges

that executives and organizations encounter when implementing these
approaches, and tools and techniques for applying quantitative techniques to
decision making.

Course Title

MBA Curriculum

Economic Analysis for Business Decisions

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Course Code
Pre-requisites

School of Business and Economics

MBA-514
nil

Credit Hours

Every business decision made by a manager is likely to influence and be

influenced by the economy in which the business operates. As such, a basic
understanding of the tenets of economics is vital for business students. The
aim of the course on Economic Analysis for Business is to provide a
fundamental understanding of those economic concepts and theories which
have an impact on business decision-making. Obviously, that would include
factors which are within the business environment as well as outside. Thus,
the course aims to cover certain important aspects of micro economics (the
economics of the firm) and macro economics (the economics of the economy
as a whole).

The objective of this course is to acquaint the students with

concepts and techniques of micro-economic theory and to enable them to

apply this knowledge in business decision-making.

Emphasis is given to

changes in the nature of business firms in the context of globalization.

The course proposes to include: Objectives and significance of Managerial
Economics; Demand Analysis and Forecasting; Production and Cost
Functions; Cost-Output Relations Cost, Revenue and Price determination
in different market situations such as Perfect Competition, Monopolistic
competition, Monopoly, Price Discrimination and Oligopoly; Pricing theories
and Strategies; Advertising and its cost impact on profits of the enterprise;
Concept and measurement of National Income; WPI, CPI, and Inflation
their impact on business decisions; Employment and Unemployment
Problem; Balance of Payments; Money Supply and Monetary Policy.

Course Title
Course Code

Legal Aspects of Business

Credit Hours
MBA-515

Pre-requisites

nil

Managers of every kind of business, be it small, medium or large, need to

comply with so many regulations and laws in the tasks of managing the
enterprise. This fulfillment is so vital and significant, failure to comply with
them many at times lead to penalties both personal and organizational.
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Again the ambit of those regulations spans from laws pertaining to

formation of enterprises and licensing to laws pertaining to employees to
laws pertaining to income and taxes.
This course aims to cover all the relevant legal provisions and regulations
that a manager of a business enterprise in Ethiopia must be aware of. This
course focuses on the fundamental legal knowledge a manager needs to
possess in order to understand the functional advice provided by legal
professionals, and ability to fulfill requirements under various laws.
This course proposes to include legal aspects pertaining to: Formation,
discharge and cancellation of contracts; Sales of goods; Banking, and
Negotiable Instruments; Insurance contracts; Investments; Companies
Formation and Management; Partnerships Formation and Management;
Traders and Business Organizations; Agency agreements; Employment and
Labor contracts and provisions; Taxation Personal, Business, and Sales;
and Consumer Protection

Course Title
Course Code
Pre-requisites

Organizational Behavior and Leadership

Credit Hours
2
MBA-521
MBA-511

The course focuses on factors underlying people's behavior in organizations

based on research into organizations drawn from the fields of psychology,
sociology and anthropology. It is a field of study that can influence the
behavior of people working together in an organization. It helps managers to
investigate the impact those individuals, groups and organization structure
have on behavior; the application of this knowledge to improve productivity
and job satisfaction in an organization. The topics will cover grand, midrange
and lower level theories of organizational behavior and management; the
nature and goal of organizations; Organizational design and culture,
organizational

MBA Curriculum

culture,

leadership,

communication

and

organizational

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School of Business and Economics

development. Organizational politics, power, and conflict management and

negotiation will be discussed. Moreover, articles (journals), research papers
and case studies (individually and in group) will be given to the participants
of the program for evaluation and presentation. To create practical exposure,
at least two term papers will be conducted in Ethiopian context.

Course Title
Course Code
Pre-requisites

Advanced Financial Management

Credit Hours
MBA-522
MBA-512 and MBA-513

Effective and Efficient Management of Finance is a key skill expected of a

business manager. Especially in a corporate set-up, the finance manager is
accountable to various stakeholders. A thorough understanding of financial
management is a must for a student of business administration.

The

purpose of this course is to acquaint the students with the broad framework
of decision-making in a business unit.
The course proposes to include: Aims and Objectives of Financial
Management; Financial Analysis, Planning, and Control; Cost-Volume-Profit
Analysis;

Operating

and

Financial

Leverage;

Time

Value

of

Money;

Investment and Capital Structure Decisions; Instruments of Long-term

Finance; Cost of different sources of Raising Capital; Optimum Capital
Structure; Valuation and Rates of Return; Capital Budgeting Decisions;
Short-term Financing Investments; Management of Working Capital; Cash
Management;

Receivables

and

Payables

Management;

Inventory

Management; Internal Financing and Dividend Policy; as well as Strategic

issues in Financial Management

Course Title
Course Code

MBA Curriculum

Human Resource Management

Credit Hours
MBA-523

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Pre-requisites

School of Business and Economics

MBA-511 and MBA-515

The purpose of Managing human resource in Organizations is a reflective

look at the critical issues confronting organizations: How do they function
and why? What are the modern problems they face, and how do they
respond to them? How do they influence individual behavior and vice versa?
Industrial relations theories, workers and their unions, management and
control, state and legislative framework for industrial relations, collective
bargaining, industrial conflict, and methods of dispute resolution are the
major topics . The course also covers some contemporary and emerging
issues in employment relations. Planning and organizing human resources;
leadership

and

motivation;

job

satisfaction

and

morale;

employee

communication; audit and control; procurement of personnel; performance

appraisal; human resource development; grievance processing, arbitration,
wage and salary administration; job change; discipline; labor welfare; trade
unions. And research will be conducted as part of the course in Ethiopian
civil service code and international arena.

Course Title
Course Code
Pre-requisites

Information Processing and Management

Credit Hours
2
MBA-524
nil

This course deals with the system and activities used to provide manager
with information needed to support planning and decision making. It
provides concepts, methods, and techniques to identify an organization
information needs and to employ system.

It deals with management of

information system; development of information system; application of

information and knowledge management. Topics covered include systems
analysis and design; decision support systems; artificial intelligence
including expert systems, fuzzy logic and neural networks; end-user
computing; telecommunications including the internet; and the application
of information systems to firms competitive strategy and functional
departments of the firm.

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Course Title
Course Code
Pre-requisites

School of Business and Economics

Business Research Methods

Credit Hours
MBA-525
nil

Todays managers have a growing need to understand scientific findings and

incorporate them into decision making. They need to understand better how
research is conducted and how good research is identified. Therefore, this
course enables managers to carry out research in a more scientific manner.
The course discusses the foundation of scientific thinking; the nature of
business research and the notion of concepts, hypotheses, theories, and the
reasoning processes. It focuses on research design; the concept of
measurement, the development of indices, the question of sampling design,
data collection procedures, the development of questionnaires, scaling,
observation research, experimental design, data analysis and reporting of
research. Moreover, the analysis on conducted research, the development of
research proposals, and term papers will be conducted on phenomenological
and positivistic paradigm.

Course Title
Course Code

Operations and Technology Management

Credit Hours
3
MBA-611

Pre-requisites

MBA-513 and MBA-514

This course shows how properly managed operations can be a source of

competitive advantage. It covers issues relevant to both manufacturing and
service companies, including their strategic impact. It introduces the
operations function, in service and manufacturing organizations, as the
transformation of system inputs to value-added outputs and to address key
aspects of design, planning and control of operations systems, and to provide
an understanding of the operations function in a global context. The
emphasis is to consider global examples and international interpretations of
operations with a wide perspective. It also provides a broad but critical
introduction to Technology and its relevance to modern organizations,

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School of Business and Economics

looking at how Technology can be used to support and create strategic

choices. Relevant production/operations firms/organizations will be visited,
research will be conducted and reports will be prepared and presented.
Course Title
Course Code
Pre-requisites

Marketing Management
Credit Hours
MBA-612
MBA-514 and MBA-525

Marketing Management introduces major marketing concepts and techniques

and the marketing planning process. This includes exploration of what
marketing is, understanding of marketing orientation and buyer behavior.
The development of an appropriate marketing strategy for an organization
will be emphasized to enable the manager to make important marketing
decisions. The changing role of marketing, within and between organizations,
will be studied incorporating information technology, new organizational
structures and different forms of market relationships. Ethical and global
issues will be discussed as they relate to service marketing. The categories of
marketing; quantitative and behavioral aspect, and information system
/research will be discussed.

Course Title
Course Code

Financial Markets, Instruments, and Institutions

Credit Hours
2
MBA-613

Pre-requisites

MBA-522

An understanding of the financial system and its components is a must for a

masters graduate in finance and management for the financial system of
the country has a greater impact on the operations and decisions of a
business enterprise, be it a local, national or international. The objectives of
this course are:
To acquaint the students with the role of financial system in the economy
To familiarize them with the financial markets and instruments
To make them understand the operations of the financial institutions and
intermediaries.

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School of Business and Economics

This course proposes to include:

The role of the financial system in the

economy; Financial Assets, Money and Financial Transactions; Sources of

Information

for

financial

decision-making;

Money

Market

and

its

Market

and

its

components;

Money

Market

Instruments;

Capital

components;

Capital

Market

Instruments;

Financial

Institutions

&

Intermediaries; Depository Institutions; Contractual Institutions; Investment

Institutions; Regulations on the financial markets and financial institutions;
Consumers

in

Financial

Markets;

Businesses

in

Financial

Markets;

Government in Financial Markets; National Bank of Ethiopia and its role as

controller of the Ethiopian Financial System; and Operations of MicroFinance Institutions in Ethiopia.

Course Title

International Business Management

Credit Hours
2
MBA-614
MBA-523

Course Code
Pre-requisites

This course is designed to provide an understanding of the fundamentals of

International Strategy, International Marketing, International Finance and
International HRM. It is aimed to give students a shared and common level
of understanding of the major topic areas within these international
business subjects.
Aside from developing a common understanding, study of this course will
assist students to appreciate the learning processes. This gives an overall
understanding of the needs, contexts and processes of strategic business in
an international context, and will present some of the most commonly
applied approaches. It will also introduce some specifically international
dimensions of strategy which will be further developed in the International
Business

Global

and

Local

Perspectives.

International

Marketing

represents one of the key areas of international business, knowledge of

which has become critically important in the face of deepening globalization

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School of Business and Economics

and liberalization of markets, along with the ever urgent need to identify and
satisfy global customers.
Understanding the basic concepts of international finance is a key
component for the successful operation of a firm in an international
business environment. The course will review and highlight the major areas
of international finance, namely the main issues in global financial
management, the mechanics of the foreign exchange markets, how trade is
financed, and foreign investment decisions.

HRM is a key element in the successful operation of international business

firms. Appreciate the role of HRM in creating sustainable competitive
advantage in international firms; domestic and international HRM; the key
HRM

challenges

facing

international

firms,

including

expatriate

management.
This course aims to develop the awareness, skills and knowledge required by
managers seeking to work abroad as international executives. It aims to
build students understanding of the Foundations of International Business
by

increasing

awareness

and

understanding

of

the

cross-cultural

management: Global and Local Perspectives.

The course examines how national culture influences management practice.
In particular the focus will be on the influence of national culture on the
development and transfer of a wide range of HRM practices e.g. How do
human resource management practices differ across countries and why?
What are the possible underlying cultural reasons for these differences? A
range of areas in international management will be reviewed including
leadership, decision-making, work and motivation, and negotiating across
cultures. The emphasis will be on how individuals, teams and organizations
manage these cultural differences. A key theme will be comparative
management,

MBA Curriculum

analyzing

the

similarities

and

differences

between

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School of Business and Economics

management and business systems across countries and between different

types of enterprise.

Course Title
Course Code

Business Policy and Strategic Management

Credit Hours
3
MBA-621

Pre-requisites

MBA-612 and MBA-614

Strategy is at the core of any MBA, and this course takes both an analytical
and practical perspective on strategy development. The Business Strategy
class aims to develop students' ability to work as managers within modern,
complex organizational environments by providing them with structured
opportunities to explore and understand the major management and
economic theories, as well as the language of strategy and strategic
management. Business Strategy introduces alternative strategic frameworks
in which to critically analyze organizations and their strategies, the forces
within their contextual and transactional environments that influence
strategy. It discusses concepts and techniques of strategic management,
industry and competitive analysis, strategy for competing in globalizing
markets, building resource strength and organizational capabilities, and
cases in strategic management related to Ethiopian context.

Course Title
Course Code
Pre-requisites

Projects Planning, Analysis and Management

Credit Hours
3
MBA-622
MBA-522

The basic purpose of this course is to understand the framework for

evaluating capital expenditure proposals, their planning and management in
the review of the projects undertaken.

The course proposes to include:

Generation and Screening of Project Idea; Capital Expenditure Importance

and Challenges; Market Demand and Situational Analysis; Technical
Analysis; Financial Analysis; Analysis of Project Risks, Firm Risk and Market
Risk; Social Cost Benefit Analysis; Multiple Projects and Constraints;
Network

Techniques

MBA Curriculum

for

Project

Management;

Project

Review

and

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School of Business and Economics

Administrative Aspects; Project financing options; Time and Cost Overrun in

Public Sector Projects; and Environmental Aspects of Projects.

Course Title
Course Code

Dissertation (or) Project

Credit Hours
MBA-630

Pre-requisites

Graduating status

nil

Students are encouraged to undertake projects within organizations MBA

Program Coordinator may be able to assist in identifying appropriate clients.
The main purpose of the project is to allow students to utilize learning from
the MBA program in an integrated manner within a practical situation. The
subject aims to develop an appreciation of research methodology with
particular reference to techniques and approaches of relevance to the
individual student.

Throughout the process of completing the MBA project (or) Dissertation,

students are assigned an individual academic supervisor, who will provide
instruction and advice on topic selection, literature review, employment of
research methods, data analysis, interpretation and discussion of findings
and the final writing up of the report.

Course Delivery Methods

While the delivery of each of the courses highly depends on the content of
the course as well as the planning of the course instructor, the following
methodologies will be generally used in many of the courses:

Teaching/Learning Methods: The SBE MBA Programme uses a variety of

teaching methods to help students develop the skills needed to become a
successful business leader, instructors and researchers.

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School of Business and Economics

Lectures and discussions: Most teaching takes the form of structured

lectures and case discussions.

Lectures

frequently

incorporate

case

analysis

and

discussions.

Depending on the aims of the course, other teaching methods might be

used including: computer and other simulations, role-playing or video
learning, field trips.

Field trips: Field trips are an essential part of our Operations and
Technology Management core course. They help to gain an awareness of
operational issues in real-life situations(Industrial visites).

Group work: The ability to work in a group is essential in today's

workplace. Students will be assigned to a Study Group

from diverse

institutional and professional backgrounds.

Use of Multimedia Projector for lecture presentations

Case Studies Analysis & Discussion

Term Paper / Presentations

Field Work and Project studies

Industrial and Organizational Visits

Problem Solving on quantitative elements of courses

Review of Researches conducted

Seminar presentations

Guest Lectures & Invited Lectures

Symposia

Panel Discussions with Industry Experts

National Conferences

Internships / Placements

Admission and Eligibility criteria

For being admitted into the program of Master of Business Administration,
the candidate has to have:

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School of Business and Economics

successfully completed bachelors degree in Management, Accounting,

Public Administration, Economics, Technology, Business Education or
Statistics; and

fulfill other admission requirements set by the University as indicated in

the University Legislation.

Further the following procedure might be followed in the admission process:

The candidates must appear for entrance exam and the best performers
will be selected. The GMAT (Graduate Management Admissions Test) is
required for international students.

Application Form - There is usually some sort of application form that

candidate of MBA submit. Candidates will be charged a non-refundable
fee for each application submitted.

Official Transcripts - Because the MBA is a master's level degree,

students are required to have a bachelor's degree before entering the
program. Therefore, students need to send official transcript copies from
the college/university they attended. This will be used to verify degree
and prerequisites completion as well as Grade Point Average (GPA).

Work Resume - The program may require a certain number of years of

full-time work experience. Students should submit a work-related resume
to verify work experience requirements if applicable.

Letters of Recommendation - Business schools usually want to know how

students work with others in both a business and academic environment.
Therefore, two or three letters of recommendation will be required. These
recommendation

letters

usually

come

from

people

like

previous

professors, employers, and other associates.

Graduation Requirements

A minimum CGPA of 3.00 in 40 credit hours course work from the first to
the fourth semester, and

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School of Business and Economics

a pass grade in the dissertation / project work of the fourth semester

- are the compulsory requirements for graduating with a masters in business

administration.

Duration of the Program

A candidate is expected to complete the program in a minimum of two years.
However, in exceptional cases, for reasons considered as valid and endorsed
by the Academic Advisors and the Council of Graduate Studies (CGS), the
duration might extend to a maximum of one more year.

Degree Nomenclature
The degree to be awarded upon successful completion of at least 40 credits of
course work and a non-credited dissertation or project work shall be
designated as:
Master of Business Administration
Amharic version:

Assessment
Much of the assessment is group and project based. Study groups or selfselected teams work together.
All courses consider various elements of assessment which may include:

a formal exam

a case write-up

Assignments

Class participation

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School of Business and Economics

Term papers

Research projects

Reports on Practical Activities (like Field Work, Industrial and

Organizational Visits, Internships / Placements)

Seminar Presentations

Participations in Group Discussions & Group Tasks

Project Work or Dissertation presentation

Grading
Students are graded on the basis of cumulative scores of various assessment
techniques adopted by the course instructor. The norm-referenced grading
philosophy is applied where students are graded relative to the performance
of the other students taking the course. Hence, the mean score of students
assessed for the course is used as a reference point to assign grades. The
letter grade B is the minimum passing grade for a student in a given
course.

Quality Assurance

Reputation and ranking: Efforts will be taken (i) to maintain a good

reputation for the MBA programs offered by the Business School of
DU, and (ii) to obtain a respectable ranking of its programs at the
national level.

Strengths in specific subject areas: To the extent feasible, experts

in respective specialization will be drawn to enlighten the participants.

Faculty qualifications and expertise: Efforts will be taken to engage

qualified faculty members at the inception, as well as ensuring CPD
(continuous professional development) for the existing staff members.

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School of Business and Economics

Teaching methods: The state-of-art pedagogy in teaching business

courses will be used, with the help of modern teaching aids.

Robust curriculum: While care has been taken to develop curricula

considering the needs of the country and balancing the international
standards, further efforts will be taken to ensure the currency of the
curricula in future by periodical updates to it.

Class size and profile: The class size will be maintained at the most
optimum level, with the profile of students being drawn from different
discipline to ensure wide spectrum of idea-sharing among the
participants.

Attractive starting salary: It is believed in the current economic and

business situation, the MBA graduates will be given quite an
attractive salary and perks right from induction.

Cost effectiveness:

The program is highly cost-effective; the

investment in the program may be returned in about six months or

less.

Graduates performance effectiveness feedback:

Efforts will be

taken in this regard, ensuring quality and performance on a

continuing basis.

Resources Requirements
As part of Needs Assessment study, the resources of the School of Business
and Economics have been thoroughly explored.

To launch MBA program,

the demand for human and non-human resources are listed below as it was
already proposed and submitted to planning and programming services of
DU in budget document of 2003 (2010/11).
Human Resources Requirements
The current academic staff profile of Management program is not promissory
to commence the program.

But the plan of recruiting expatriates/local

specialist at the mainstream will be as stated below:

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School of Business and Economics

S/N

Main stream

Specialization

Management

Operations Management/
Management Science

Management

Human Resource
Management

Management

Financial Management

Management

Management Information
System

**

Academic
Rank**
Assistant /
Associate /
Professor
Assistant /
Associate /
Professor
Assistant /
Associate /
Professor
Assistant /
Associate /
Professor

Required
1

If Ph.D. holders cannot be supplied by the market (nationally and internationally),

MBA/MSC/MA in Management and Assistant Professor or its equivalent with generic
management can be employed.

Non-Human Resources Requirements

Recurring Expenses of MBA program
Nature of Expense

Amount (in Birr)

Number

Provision for Allowance to

600.00
MBA Coordinator
Secretarys Salary
1500.00
Record Officer
1200.00
Office Attendants Salary
450.00
Stationery
Telephone Bill
200.00
Petty Cash Account
5000.00
Sub Total
Contingency (10%)
Total Recurring yearly Expense (in Birr)

Annual Total
Amount (in Birr)
7200.00

1
1
1
1

18000.00
14400.00
5400.00
50000.00
2400.00
60000.00
157400.00
15740.00
173140.00

One-time Expenditure
Item of Expenditure
Desktop Computer
Laptop Computer
UPS (APC)
CD burner
Laser Printer
Laser Printer Coloured
Heavy Duty Duplicating Machine
Photocopier
LCD Projector

MBA Curriculum

Cost Per Unit

(in Birr)
10,000.00
12,000.00
2,000.00
2,000.00
7,000.00
10,000.00
150,000.00
13,000.00
10,000.00

Number
25
5
15
5
7
1
1
2
6

Total Cost
(in Birr)
250,000.00
60,000.00
30,000.00
10,000.00
49,000.00
10,000.00
150,000.00
26,000.00
60,000.00

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School of Business and Economics

Overhead Projector
5,000.00
Scanner
4,000.00
Digital Camera - video
20,000.00
Digital Camera - photo
5,000.00
Telephone Installation Charges
500.00
Fax Machines
6,000.00
Flash Memory
1,000.00
L-Shaped Table
3,000.00
Guest Table
2,000.00
Managerial high back swivel chair
3,000.00
Office chair with arm rest
1,000.00
Padded chair with out arm rest
800.00
Swivel chair with out arm rest
2,000.00
Swivel chair with arm rest
1,500.00
Table for computer
1,600.00
Bookcase
1,500.00
Bookshelf (for file holders)
2,000.00
File Cabinet
3,000.00
CD-ROM Database
10,000.00
VCR
4,000.00
Total One-Time Expenditure (in Birr)

6
2
1
2
2
1
10
2
2
2
20
12
25
4
25
12
5
6
2
2

30,000.00
8,000.00
20,000.00
10,000.00
1,000.00
6,000.00
10,000.00
6,000.00
4,000.00
6,000.00
20,000.00
9,600.00
50,000.00
6,000.00
40,000.00
18,000.00
10,000.00
18,000.00
20,000.00
8,000.00
945,600.00

Capital items required for MBA program [vide monetary plan of SBE for 2003]
S/N
1
2

Item
Amount in Birr
required Total amount
Minibus with 12 seat
250,000.00
2
500,000.00
Resource center
1,500,000.00
1
1,500,000.00
Total
2,000,000.00
Minibuses are for field research of MBA practical studies, whereas Resource center
is for video, internet, simulations, computers, and other related fixed assets.

Total non-human asset resources as per 2003 (2010/11) budget proposal:

S/N
1
2
3

Expenses
Recurring Expenses
One-time Expenditure

Amount (Birr)
173,140.00
945,600.00

Capital items
Total

2,000,000.00
3,118,740.00

Other facilities required

S/N

Facilities

Class Rooms

Required
Number
3

Offices

MBA Curriculum

Remarks

which can accommodate 2 instructors each

which can accommodate 20 students each

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Dilla Univesity
3
4
5

Office
Office
Library

School of Business and Economics

1
1
1

for coordinator
for secretary
for PG students

Launching Schedule
The Masters program in Business Administration of the School of Business
and Economics of Dilla University is likely to be launched in the academic
year 2010-2011 GC (2003 EC), subject to the approval of the Ministry of
Education, FDRE.

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