Master of Business Administration (MBA)
MBA Programme Brochure
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The Master of Business Administration (MBA) programme of the Graduate School of Business (GSB), The University of the South Pacific (USP) has become a market leader among Pacific Island states with an excellent regional reputation for quality and relevance. These characteristics have contributed greatly to the rise in enrolments over the decade and to the graduation of over 5000 students. The programme not only makes a much-needed and appreciated contribution to addressing the shortage of skilled managers in the region but also gives kudos and a healthy flow of funds to USP. At a personal level, graduates reported their high appreciation of the blending of theory and practice while the 2007 Tracer Study found that USP’s MBA graduates experienced an average 66 per cent salary increase compared to their pre – MBA incomes. Staff on the MBA programme, both academic and administrative, were found to be well qualified, able and highly committed. They have been keys to the success of the programme.
The review team was very impressed with the high quality of both the academic staff of The University of the South Pacific (USP) Graduate School of Business (GSB), as well as the program offered. The teaching facilities are of international standard and are entirely adequate for current requirements. The Master of Business Administration programme is in excellent financial shape, with an appropriate student fee structure.
A “Superior” MBA Programme, Respected by the World. USP’s MBA Programme has been commended for achieving international-level excellence and strong regional relevance by Professors Philip Williams of the University of Melbourne in Australia and Stanley Shapiro of Canada’s Simon Fraser University. Professors Shapiro and Williams had personally reviewed the Programme in 1999.
According to Professor Williams, “I have been very impressed by what the USP MBA Programme has achieved in only a few years. The value of the Programme is appreciated by alumni and current students. It is an extraordinary testament to the USP and to the staff of its MBA Programme that it has started to offer a high-quality international Programme while it receives little subsidy.” Professor Williams applauded the Programme’s clear focus on training professional managers, whose needs are quite different from those of purely academic researchers. Compared with competitor MBA Programmes, he asserted: “The USP MBA is positioned at the high end of the market. The USP Programme offers instructors with superior academic credentials, far more contact time with faculty members, a curriculum that is more demanding, and far greater opportunities for co-operative learning from one’s fellow students.”
Both professors were impressed by the caliber of the USP MBA students and graduates – they are “similar to MBA students at the world’s top schools, “
Professor Shapiro found that: “The MBA offering at USP is superior to the Australian competition. Also, and the importance of this can never be over-emphasised, this MBA programme is not only taught in the South Pacific but deals appropriately with the problems of managing in the South Pacific. Indeed the USP MBA has moved more quickly in the direction of an appropriate local focus than have most other MBAs servicing developing areas. That courses are now being offered in Lautoka also is a very positive development.”
The programme has a very positive effect both on the professional lives of its graduates and on the organisations at which both past graduates and present students are employed. Much of the programme’s strength and its subsequent positive effect on careers seems due to its heavy emphasis on team building and group projects.”
Programme Review, 1999, Professors Shapiro and Williams
The MBA Programme comprises 12 courses, which can be completed in one year for full-time students or in two to four years for part-time students. The academic year is divided into three trimesters, each lasting 11 weeks of teaching and with 2 weeks dedicated to examinations. Full-time students enroll in four courses per trimester, while part-time students typically take one or two courses per trimester.
Please note that students who receive three failing grades will not be permitted to continue in the MBA Programme.
The programme includes 11 compulsory core units, plus one elective. Students may choose their elective from the list provided below or opt for MBA425, a supervised independent research course.
Core units:
Electives: Every student can take one elective course of his/her choice. The elective permits students to pursue their own interests. They may be selected from: electives offered by the MBA Programme, courses offered by other postgraduate programmes at USP, and supervised independent study.
MBA Electives :
Students may also select elective units from the list of postgraduate units offered by the Faculty of Business and Economics (FBE) such as:
MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
Individuals are eligible for admission to the Master of Business Administration program if they meet the following criteria:
a) Have passed the Graduate School of Business Management Admissions Test (GSBMAT); and
b) Have attended the mandatory 10-minute face-to-face or online interview.
c) Hold a Bachelor’s degree from a recognized tertiary institution, along with at least three years of substantial work experience in an executive or professional role that involves significant authority and decision-making; or
c) Possess a Postgraduate Diploma from the Graduate School of Business at The University of the South Pacific with a minimum GPA of 3.0, along with at least five years of substantial work experience in an executive or professional role that involves significant authority and decision-making.
The Master of Business Administration consists of twelve courses. A student who obtains three fail grades will not be allowed to continue with the Master of Business Administration programme.
Courses: MBA423, MBA431, MBA432, MBA433, MBA434, MBA435, MBA436, MBA437,
MBA438, MBA439, MBA440; plus one from: MBA421, MBA422, MBA430, MBA441, MBA442, MBA443; or one from: AF420, AF433, DG410, DG415, DG417, EC408, EC412, MG401, MG404, MG405, MG409, MG410, MG411,
MG412, LM401, LM402, TS401 or supervised independent research conducted within MBA425.
Note: Graduate School of Business programmes operate on a three-trimester schedule each year.