MBA with Global Sustainable Development Concentration

Extend your business acumen to global development in this optional concentration for students enrolled in the MBA in Organizational Management. The concentration in Global Sustainable Development will give you a broad understanding of the vocabulary, major trends, and key tools and skills needed for the work of global poverty alleviation, including leadership, impact measurement, and finance. Learn from accomplished leaders in the field and see how your business expertise can apply to the international NGO sector.

Concentration Details

  • Location: Online
  • Delivery: Self-paced within 7-week online courses
  • Length: This concentration requires 4 classes (12 credits) in addition to the MBA Core Curriculum. 
  • Cost: 
    • Total cost of tuition & fees for the general MBA (30 credits) is $9,900 for 2023-2024 (not including the cost of course materials such as textbooks). 
    • Adding this concentration to the general MBA brings the student’s total program to 42 credits, and the total program cost to $13,860 for 2023-2024 (see Tuition & Fees for credit hour breakdowns).
  • Students with advanced standing can apply the concentration to their elective requirements and will graduate with a total of 30 credits for $9,900.

Concentration Curriculum

The Global Sustainable Development Concentration consists of the 4 classes below (12 credits) in addition to the MBA Core Curriculum.

  • GDEV 525: Understanding Poverty and Development
  • GDEV 535: Leadership, Politics and Multiparty Collaboration
  • GDEV 635: Designing, Monitoring and Measuring for Social Impact
  • GDEV 645: Issues in Global Development Finance

View the full curriculum for the MBA on the MBA in Organizational Management page.

Course Descriptions:

GDEV 525 Understanding Poverty and Development
In a world marked by inequalities and disparities, addressing poverty effectively stands as a fundamental challenge for global development efforts. This course, "Understanding Poverty," delves into the holistic nature of poverty taking into account faith, history, macroeconomics, politics and anthropology. This course will journey through the feedback and learning from development and humanitarian actors in both the faith-based and secular spaces, exploring their strategies and impact in poverty alleviation and sustainable development. The course is structured to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of poverty as a complex and evolving phenomenon, while critically assessing the role of implementing actors (NGOs, Government agencies, Faith Based Organizations, etc). Through an interdisciplinary approach, students will engage with systematic theology, theoretical frameworks, and empirical case studies, enabling them to grasp the intricacies of poverty and contribute to effective poverty alleviation strategies.

GDEV 535 Leadership, Politics and Multiparty Collaboration
The Leadership, Politics and Multi-Party Collaboration course is an interdisciplinary and multi-dimensional course pulling from development studies, political science, economics, history, sociology, as well as culture and leadership studies. It is designed to deepen students’ understanding of and engagement with the wide variety of actors in the International Development sphere and equip them with both the theoretical and practical knowledge they need to become more effective in collaborating with these actors, to pull from their faith to define justice and reason amongst multiple often divergent ideas and plans.  It will also expand students’ thinking on how and where and with which type of organizations they can build careers that make a positive impact in our world.

GDEV 635 Designing, Monitoring and Measuring for Social Impact
Are you sure your program works? What impact are you having? How do you know? These questions are some that development leaders must answer, constantly, to donors, partners, governments, their boards, and for internal program efficacy. In this course, students will learn about how organizations can design and implement programs that align with their theory of change and measure to understand if their programs are achieving their intended outcomes.

GDEV 645 Issues in Global Development Finance
This course will examine the leading issues related to capital flows between the developed and developing worlds. It will cover the various types of official and private finance as well as the institutions and policies designed to manage and promote these flows. It begins by considering development assistance from both the recipient and donor perspectives, as well as the changing roles of the IMF and the multilateral development banks. In the second half, it explores the key issues in debt, private investment and the financial sector.