Quality Leadership University was founded in 1997 to provide quality education and to prepare the leaders and professionals who will contribute to the development of the region. To this date, more than 3,000 Panamanian students and from around the world have completed their Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in four different areas. With more than 1,500 students enrolled in undergraduate and master’s programs, as well as in English for Professional Success and Continuing Education Programs, Quality Leadership University offers dual-degree programs in academic cooperation with world renowned universities such as: Illinois State University, University of Louisville, Florida International University, Universidad de Chile and Polytechnic University of Madrid.

Quality Leadership University is accredited by the National Council of Evaluation and Accreditation of Panamanian Universities (CONEAUPA) and is a member of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International) and The Accreditation Council of Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP), the Latin American Council of Business Schools (CLADEA), the Association of Private Universities of Panama (AUPPA) and the Association of Private Universities of Central America (AUPRICA).

MBA 412 Contemporary Business Perspectives and Leadership Skills

Interdisciplinary course designed to provide students with an integrative perspective of contemporary business environments and development of key professional competencies.

MBA 411 – Fundamentals of Strategic Decision Making

Understanding how firms gain and sustain competitive advantage.  Topics include analyzing markets and developing company strategy across business disciplines.

MBA 416 – Applied Tools for Business Decision Making

Introduction to quantitative tools used in business decision making.  Students are introduced to research design, statistics, data analytics, and data visualization.

MBA 468 – Management Information Systems: Organizational and Technological Issues

Analyzes business information systems components (people, procedures, hardware, software) from organizational and technological perspectives.  Cases are used to explore the relationships between organizational and technological issues.

MBA 430 – Advanced Marketing Management

Marketing principles, behavioral concepts, and quantitative techniques utilized in analyzing marketing problems and decisions.  Emphasis on strategic and quantitative aspects of decision-making processes in marketing.  A strategic marketing simulation game and/or rigorous case analyses are typical.

MBA 450 – Management Accounting

Designed for non-accounting majors.  Emphasis on the interpretation and use of accounting data.

MBA 421 – Analysis of Organizational Behavior

A study of how people in organizations respond to managerial and organizational practices, using a systems orientation to analyze how environmental factors influence organizational practices and climate.  Topics include reactions of people to structure and control, problems of motivation and performance, resolution of inter-departmental conflicts, adaptation to change.

MBA 440 – Financial Management 

Analysis of financial problems of business enterprises and the formulation of financial policies.  Financing of current operations and long-term capital needs, income management and expansion policies.  Includes case studies.

MBA 427 – Operations and Quality Management

Course focus is on strategies, concepts, and tools for management of quality and the core function of producing goods and services.

MBA 485 – Advanced Organizational Strategy

An integrating course analyzing the firm in its environment with emphasis on formulation of policies and strategies and application of concepts through case studies and/or simulation exercises integrating all functional areas.

MKT 433 ADVANCED INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION

Rigorous evaluation of elements for the effective development, implementation, and management of advertising and integrated promotion campaigns. Prerequisite: MBA 430.

MQM 426.16 PROJECT MANAGEMENT FUNDAMENTALS

The use of projects and project management continues to grow in our society and its organizations. Businesses regularly use project management to accomplish unique outcomes with limited resources under critical time constraints. This course is designed to familiarize the graduate student with the basic concepts and techniques of project management. The topics to be focused on include project scope management, project time management, and project cost management. Prerequisite: MBA 421.  

 FIL 445 ADVANCED CORPORATE FINANCE

This seminar is an advanced corporate finance course that will discuss major issues in asset valuation, capital budgeting, capital cost and structure, dividend policy, and corporate restructuring. The course will be taught by a combination of lectures, case studies, paper discussion, and computer application. Prerequisite: MBA 440.

 MKT 439.06 PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT

This course examines various issues related to innovation, as well as processes and analytical tools used in the design, development and launch of new goods and services.  Among the topics covered are opportunity identification and selection, concept generation, perceptual mapping, concept evaluation, product design, product use testing, launch planning, market testing and launch management.  We examine the recent marketing and management literature to uncover successful new product development practices and strategies.  Additional topics are customer knowledge development, service blueprinting, cross-functional product development teams, and radical innovation.  The course builds on your understanding of marketing management and marketing research concepts.

Upon completion of the course, students should have:

• an in-depth understanding of product development concepts and processes
• the ability to utilize a process-oriented framework for making product development decisions
• analytical skills to assess market and customer information for effective use in the product development process

• Complete online application https://grad.illinoisstate.edu/admission/
• Have earned a four-year bachelor’s degree.
• Official transcripts from each college or university at which graduate, undergraduate, or non-degree credit was earned.
• Cumulative GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale for either the last 60 credit hours of the undergraduate coursework or any previous work in a master’s program.
• Names and email addresses of two references for letters of recommendations within the online application https://forms.illinoisstate.edu/forms/panama_mba_program__recommendation_form
• Current resume, describing the applicant’s professional experience.
• Essay addressing the following topics:
  • Explain your professional goals and how the MBA degree will help you achieve them.
  • Write a paragraph or two describing what you gained professionally and/or personally from the experiences detailed on your resume.
• Submit official GMAT scores. The GMAT requirement may be waived based upon consideration of one or
  more of the following criteria:
  • Length and type of professional work experience.
  • Undergraduate degree in business.
  • Grade point average based upon last 60 hours of course work.
  • Postgraduate degree (i.e. master or Ph.D.)
  • Professional degree (i.e., engineering, dentistry, medicine, law or veterinary)
• Submit iBT TOEFL (or its equivalent) of 80 or above. This requirement may be waived if applicants meet the following criteria:
  • They are citizens of English-speaking countries, or
  • They are graduates from higher education institutions whose official language of instruction is English.

• Fly to Chicago, and visit sites there
• Bus trip to Bloomington-Normal (ISU)
• Three to four days in Bloomington- Normal
• Contemporary Business Topic Seminars by ISU Business Faculty
• Company Site Tours (e.g. Caterpillar, ADM, State Farm Insurance)
• Tentative: Depart from Panama September 15, return late the next week.