The core leadership course, BUAD 304: Organizational Behavior and Leadership, is a requirement that must be completed before declaring this emphasis and is the best course to help students decide if this Emphasis is right for them. We encourage students interested in this emphasis to enroll in BUAD 304 as early as possible. In addition, the Management and Organization Department (MOR) offers many elective courses, such as Global Leadership, Negotiation and Persuasion, and Management Consulting which are great courses for exploration. 

In addition to the Leadership and Innovation emphasis faculty advisor, students can consult their professor for BUAD 304 or a Management and Organization (MOR) elective to further explore if the Leadership and Innovation Emphasis can be a good fit. Given there are numerous sub-fields within leadership and innovation, we recommend students approach their instructor with some specific information about what they find most interesting (e.g., leadership development, management consulting, strategic management) to guide the discussion.

We also recommend students consider joining organizations that provide hands-on experience with management. Some examples of campus-based organizations are Business Tech. Group, Consulting Club, Los Angeles Community Impact, 180 Degrees Consulting, Marshall Women's Leadership Board, International Consulting Club, etc. or completing a leadership or innovation internship for an organization of interest.

Diverse qualities and skillsets contribute to strong leadership and innovation! Some leaders are  very creative (e.g., launching their own venture) while others are very analytical (e.g., strategists  and data analysts). Some leaders are creative and analytical, and they find ways to leverage both perspectives in their work.

Students have the opportunity to gain a breadth of knowledge and skills (by taking three upper-division Management and Organization classes that are not closely related and cover different sub-fields of Leadership and Innovation); OR depth of knowledge and skills (by taking three classes that are closely related and focused on a specific sub-field, such as Global Strategy and  Global Leadership).

Students who choose the Leadership and Innovation Emphasis will be prepared for leadership and innovation roles in a wide variety of organizations from small entrepreneurial firms to large corporations across a wide range of industries. For example, students could assume the role of a Leader of Technological Innovation, Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Manager of Transformation, Vice President of Human Capital in North America, President of European Subsidiaries, or Chief Executive Office.

Leadership and innovation is critical to success in today’s rapidly changing global environment. Students who enroll in the Leadership and Innovation Emphasis will gain the knowledge and skills needed to create an inspiring vision, strategy and culture for innovation in their organization in order to build sustainable competitive advantage. Students will learn how to effectively lead high performing innovation teams, and bring together diverse groups to satisfy a diverse set of stakeholders. Students will learn how to create a culture of agility, creativity, and flexibility to effectively identify and solve critical problems, develop a strategy, implement a solution, and evaluate the effectiveness.

Strategic Leadership and innovation are critical to success in today’s rapidly changing environment. Students who enroll in the B.S. in Business Administration with an emphasis in Leadership and Innovation will have the opportunity to study strategic leadership and innovation more deeply and learn how to bring together diverse groups to achieve transformational innovation for sustained competitive advantage in their organization. Marshall students can add this emphasis to their resumes to increase their competitiveness on the job market and potentially increase job placement.

The Greif Center’s emphasis focuses on innovation in the context of new entrepreneurial ventures. The primary focus of the is Entrepreneurship and Innovation emphasis is on the recognition of business opportunities, business model formulation, feasibility analysis and access to capital for launching new ventures.

The MOR department’s emphasis focuses on the strategic leadership of innovation in the context of large, established organizations. This involves creating a vision, strategy and culture of innovation in the organization and bringing together diverse teams to achieve transformational innovation for sustained competitive advantage.

This emphasis has been approved by the university to be STEM-eligible under the Department of Education CIP code of 52.1301 designation of Management Science. The degree stated on the I-20 refers to this designation.