Program Design & Curriculum

Global businesses are increasingly aligning their operations throughout the Americas. The new Vanderbilt Americas MBA for Executives recognizes this growing need among companies and students for business instruction focused more deeply around issues specific to the Americas markets.

Like the traditional Vanderbilt MBA program for executives, the Americas MBA is highly selective and offers a full 60-credit-hour Vanderbilt MBA. As a Vanderbilt Americas MBA student, your first 12 months will feature the Year One curriculum and camaraderie of Vanderbilt’s traditional Executive MBA program, one known for helping current and aspiring executives gain in-depth cross-functional perspectives and executive decision-making skills. Year One opens with a one-week residency in Canada and then meets in Nashville on the Vanderbilt campus two Saturdays per month.

  • In Year Two, you will take a leave of absence from your Vanderbilt Executive MBA cohort to join executive students from our three other alliance schools for “in-country immersions” of 10 days each. These immersions will happen one per quarter with each immersion taking place in the city and on the campus of the host school in Brazil (São Paulo), Mexico (Mexico City), Canada (Vancouver) and the United States (Nashville).
  • At the end of Year Two, you will reunite with your U.S. cohort on the Vanderbilt campus. In addition to earning a Vanderbilt MBA, you will earn the Americas MBA Alliance Certificate, jointly issued by the four schools of the alliance.


Important note: The first class, entering the fall of 2011, can seat up to 15 qualified executives at Vanderbilt for this program.

Curriculum At A Glance

Year One 
Week-in-Residence FALL Winter Break SPRING Spring Break SUMMER Summer Break
Leadership Managerial Finance Marketing Management
Financial Accounting Corporate Value Management Macroeconomics
Managerial Economics Operations Management  
Managerial Statistics Organizational Behavior  
  Managerial Accounting  
Curriculum and dates subject to change.


YEAR ONE – THE EXECUTIVE EDGE FOUNDATION

Starting with a Week-in-Residence at New Harmony, the first year of the program is designed to provide you with a solid foundation of management essentials, theory and application. Many MBA programs for executives stop here. Vanderbilt doesn't.

  • Your leadership instruction and assessment begin Day One, allowing two years to experiment with, improve and appreciate the skills you are learning.
  • Classes that provide the quantitative and analytical essentials—Accounting, Economics, Statistics and Finance—come early and build through the first year; as a result, you will be prepared to handle the advanced application of the principles learned.
  • Other organizational functions—Operations, Organizational Behavior and Marketing—are covered in depth, providing you with a working knowledge of all facets of an organization.

View sample Saturday "class day" schedule for Year One

Year Two 
AUGUST
Canada		 OCTOBER
Brazil		 FEBRUARY
Mexico		 APRIL
United States
Global Strategy Corporate Social Responsibility: An Integrative Approach Family Business Creating and Launching New Ventures for Organizational Growth
Cross-Cultural Management Strategic Management for Emerging Markets Competitiveness and Strategy Leading a Global Innovation Strategy: Overcoming the Six Innovation Barriers in Organizations
Americas Capstone Strategy Project 
Curriculum and dates subject to change.
*Note: Graduation celebration immediately follows successful completion of degree requirements for the program. Dates for Vanderbilt commencement exercises are established by the university and may lag.

YEAR TWO – AMERICAS ADVANTAGE IMMERSIONs

During the second year, the schedule changes from alternating Saturday classes to quarterly 10-day residencies. Students from all four schools will be grouped together in cross-cultural study teams starting in August of the fall semester. This marks the beginning on a year-long, international capstone strategy project. The teams will also rotate together to each campus—two campuses per academic semester, 10 days per campus—to engage in class work, local business practices, cultural events, as well as have face-to-face time for their project work. Each school will offer programming that draws on its core strengths: 

Fall Semester–August
Simon Fraser University, Beedie School of Business, Vancouver, BC, Canada—In Canada, the focus will be on cross-cultural management and global strategy. The study groups will also begin their year-long international strategy project here.

Fall Semester–October
FIA Business School (Fundação Instituto De Administração), São Paulo, Brazil—In Brazil, Americas MBA candidates will learn about sustainability, how global markets operate and bottom-of-the-pyramid product development.

Spring Semester–February
ITAM (Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México), Mexico City, Mexico—The curriculum in Mexico will emphasize topics of international trade and investments and students will learn how to navigate the large family-owned businesses that are prevalent in the region.

Spring Semester–April
Vanderbilt University, Owen Graduate School of Management, Nashville, Tenn., USA—The Americas MBA students will spend their final on-campus visit in the U.S. focused on launching new ventures for corporate growth and learning how to nurture innovation.

View sample 10-day immersion schedule for Year Two