UMKC - The Bloch School

• Accounting
• Business Law
• Entrepreneurship
• Finance
• Information Systems
• International Business
• Marketing
• Operations Management
• Organizational Behavior, Leadership and Human Resources
• Public Administration
• Strategic Management

Accounting

The Bloch School’s accounting classes are demanding, intense, and fun--all taught by a faculty that cares. The Department encourages the development of analytical skills along with critical thinking. We will equip you with the tools you need to succeed in today’s high-tech, competitive environment, whether your goal is to work in public accounting, manage your own business, or become the chief executive officer of a major corporation.

Business Law

For market economies to grow and prosper, participants must respect the rule of law. The business law classes in the Bloch School help students understand that only when a legal system protects contracts, property and fundamental individual rights can economic choices be made with any confidence.

MBA and undergraduate students learn to recognize the political, social, ethical, and global context in which rules of contract and property rights are established and enforced. Students learn that the US Constitution dictates that certain rules in the United States will differ from other countries’ approaches.  With this context understood, students apply legal rules to real world conflicts and management challenges. Faculty research provides the most up-to-date analyses that individuals and organizations need to handle the legal issues of our times.

Entrepreneurship

Finance

Bloch School finance faculty provide undergraduate and graduate level coursework in basic and advanced corporate finance, investments, derivative securities, fixed income securities, bank management and international finance. Future program offerings will emphasize the financial services industry.

Finance faculty are active researchers who regularly publish theoretical and applied studies in leading academic and professional journals.

The Kansas City community, with Fortune 500 companies, more than 100 banks and other financial institutions, as well as the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and the Kansas City Board of Trade, provides a living laboratory for students to interact with financial professionals through internships, mentoring programs and employment opportunities.

Information Systems

The Information Systems (MIS) program at the Bloch School is part of a comprehensive MBA degree, providing general knowledge of business functions (such as accounting, finance, production, and marketing) and stressing leadership and the social and public responsibilities of those in business. Designed in conjunction with an MIS Advisory Board, the program serves people who plan information technology-related careers with courses that include hands-on use of client-based tools, that emphasize management options and contingencies, and that provide a managerial background for MIS functional processes. The program differs from typical MIS degrees in that it focuses upon requirements determination, business processes, decision-making, and leadership within the MIS functional area. This program provides less content on software design, coding, and testing that you may find at many other MIS degree programs; it stresses managing information technology for business advantage. Although each of our faculty has unique interests, the thread that is common among all members of our faculty is an interest in decision-making in the context of using information technology.

International Business

The study of International Business at the Bloch School is stressed at the BBA level, the MBA level and in the Executive MBA program. International Business courses are focused upon accepted international concepts, study abroad opportunities and applied research. The International Business faculty, with advanced academic degrees and “real-world” international experience design special study programs for students to stay abreast of the globalization of business. Through field trips to foreign countries, case studies and visiting professors from international universities, Bloch School students acquire a forward looking and solid understanding of international business and its impact upon their future.

Marketing

What is marketing?

According to the American Marketing Association "Marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders." At the Bloch School we embrace all facets of marketing, ranging from acquiring customers to maintaining relationships with the customers. Our curriculum prepares students with a sound foundation in theory and practice leading to expertise in customer focus, marketing research, direct marketing, promotional strategies, global marketing, and effective marketing strategies.

Why study marketing?

All firms, regardless of the product or service they supply, whether for profit or not for profit, have to understand the needs of their customers. They also have to serve the needs of their chosen target market in a competitive environment. Marketing is that dynamic and challenging discipline that prepares students to succeed in a competitive fast paced economy. The Bloch School’s marketing faculty includes named faculty chairs that are nationally recognized for their expertise and have received teaching and research awards.

Operations Management

Bloch School Operations Management (OM) faculty teach undergraduate and graduate students with core OM courses. In addition, at the graduate level, the faculty offer an OM emphasis with courses in enterprise resource planning, supply chain management, project management, service operations management, quality management, and forecasting. Each of these areas is of strategic importance in achieving globally competitive organizations whether those organizations are service or product oriented.

The Kansas City region both supplies and demands Bloch School OM graduate students; thus Bloch School students and the region mutually benefit from OM employment opportunities.  To maintain excellence in curriculum, the faculty are active scholars and researchers who regularly publish in leading academic and professional journals and scholarly books. For additional information see http://forecast.umkc.edu/ftppub/om/

Organizational Behavior, Leadership and Human Resources

For our graduates to be successful in today’s competitive, knowledge-based environment, they need to understand how people and organizations work, what contributes to successful management and leadership, and effective human resource strategies that can enhance the success of organizations. Thus, students in organizational behavior and human resources learn ideas, practices and skills for dealing with the “people issues” of business, with a focus on productivity, compassion, and fairness. Faculty are involved in research in a variety of fields within the OB/HR disciplines, including leadership, organization theory, ethical behavior, diversity, and compensation.

Public Administration

The Cookingham Institute of Public Administration is the public administration department of the Bloch School. The institute provides the ideal combination of academic knowledge and professional expertise. Full-time instructors all have doctorate degrees. All instructors have extensive real-world experience in their respective fields, and are widely recognized for their quality research. all have doctorate degrees. All instructors have extensive real-world experience in their respective fields, and are widely recognized for their quality research.

The institute also is home to theMidwest Center for Non-Profit Leadership that is nationally recognized for its continuing education, program development, and applied research.

The MPA program is accredited by theNational Association of Schools of Public Administration and Affairs (NASPAA).

Strategic Management

Strategic Management occupies a “capstone” position in the Bloch School’s BBA and MBA programs. The undergraduate strategy course is based upon real-world case studies in which students analyze the interplay between a business firm’s internal capabilities and its external environment. The graduate strategy course allows students to analyze actual companies in their competitive environments and to assess the viability of their strategies. The strategic management faculty possesses a unique combination of advanced academic degrees and real-world corporate experience which facilitates the student’s transition from theoretical concepts to practical applications.