MBA-Agribusiness

Program Description

The Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Agribusiness program at North Dakota State University is a non-thesis, professional program designed to meet the educational needs of current and future agribusiness leaders. The program carves a niche at the intersection of business and agriculture, drawing on the resources and expertise of both the College of Business and the Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics. It accommodates full- and part-time students, including working professionals, and focuses on preparing managers of agribusiness firms to make decisions that consider factors unique to agribusiness. Examples may include:

• production volatility caused by weather, pests, and biology;
• logistics disruptions;
• seasonality in production and consumption;
• long investment and production cycles;
• and linkages with the government, financial institutions, and other organizations.

In addition to these industry-specific topics, the program also provides a solid background in business, emphasizing the practicalities of managing agribusiness organizations. Graduates of the program can expect to gain high quality general business management skills along with in-depth knowledge of agribusiness and agricultural industries.

Financial Assistance

The College of Business and the Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics offer financial assistance through a limited number of graduate assistantships and scholarships. Applicants must be admitted on a conditional or full-standing basis to be considered for either an assistantship or scholarship. Assistantships include a stipend and tuition waiver for NDSU's base graduate tuition in return for work within the college. The tuition waiver is limited to graduate course work. Awards are competitive and administered on a case-by-case basis.

GMAT/GRE**

Individuals seeking admission to the MBA in Agribusiness may request a waiver of the GMAT/GRE requirement if they meet one of the following requirements:

• The applicant holds a terminal degree (e.g., PhD, MD, JD).
• The applicant has a minimum of five (5) years of recent, post-bachelor’s, full-time, professional work experience, including managerial responsibilities.

Appropriate documentation (i.e. official transcript, resume) is required to be uploaded to the application file. It does not, however, guarantee a waiver. Applicants are reviewed on a case-by-case basis, and waiver approval is determined at the discretion of the program’s administration.

The program will consist of 26-27 credits of core courses, with two elective courses (4-6 credits) for a total of 30-33 total credits.

Core courses of the MBA in Agribusiness (26-27 credits): 

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Core Courses
AGEC 711	Applied Risk Analysis I	3
AGEC 744	Agribusiness I: Agricultural Product Marketing and Agribusiness Strategy	3
AGEC 797S	(Comprehensive Project/Agribusiness Strategy (capstone; integrate learning from previous courses; write a paper/case) )	2
AGEC 790	Graduate Seminar	2
MBA 701	Strategic Cost Management	2
MBA 702	Advanced Financial Management	2
MBA 703	Advanced Organizational Behavior	2
MBA 704	Supply Chain and Operations Management	2
MBA 705	Strategic Marketing Management	2
MBA 706	Managing Information Resources	2
MBA 707	Microeconomics for Managers	2
or AGEC 741	Advanced Microeconomics
MBA 708	Advanced Strategic Management	2
Students must take at least two elective courses (4-6 credits). The approved elective courses are shown below:
Finance/Risk
AGEC 646	Agribusiness Finance	3
AGEC 712	Applied Risk Analysis II	3
FIN 640	International Finance	3
MBA 711	Advanced Investment Analysis	2
MBA 712	Advanced Portfolio Management	2
MBA 713	Financial Derivatives	2
MBA 714	Financial Analysis and Valuation	2
Logistics/Supply Chain Management
TL 711	Logistics Systems	3
TL 721	International Logistics Management	3
TL 723	Advanced Supply-Chain Planning Across the Enterprise	3
TL 731	Logistics Decision Analysis	3
TL 829	Supply Chain Risk Management	3
Marketing
AGEC 644	Advanced Commodity Trading	3
MRKT 634	Sales Management	3
MBA 721	Creating and Marketing Innovations	2
MBA 722	Marketing Analytics and Customer Intelligence	2
MBA 723	Digital Marketing	2
MBA 724	Integrated Marketing Communications	2
Quantitative Methods
AGEC 739	Analytical Methods for Applied Economics	3
ECON 610	Econometrics	3
ECON 710	Advanced Econometrics	3
MBA 751	Business Analytics Concepts	2
MBA 752	Business Analytics Strategy	2
MBA 753	Business Analytics Methods	2
Other Electives, including those listed above and:
AGEC 652	Food Laws & Regulations	3
AGEC 674	Cooperatives	3
AGEC 720	Food Safety Costs and Benefits Analysis	3
AGEC 725	Food Policy	3
AGEC 793	Individual Study/Tutorial	1-5
ECON 640	Game Theory and Strategy	3
ECON 672	International Trade	3
MBA 731	Leading and Managing Teams	2
MBA 732	Managerial Leadership: Essential Competencies	2
MBA 733	Management Decision Making	2
MBA 734	Negotiations and Alternative Dispute Resolution	2
Or other 600- or 700-level courses in the College of Business, or a related area, taught by graduate faculty, and approved by the MBA Program Director and the NDSU Graduate School.

Somnath Banerjee, Ph.D. 
University of Central Florida, 2015
Field: Marketing

Paul Brown, MBA, CPA
North Dakota State University, 1989

David W. Bullock, Ph.D.
Iowa State University, 1989
Field: Agricultural Economics

Linlin Chai, Ph.D. 
Iowa State University, 2016
Field: Marketing

Jeffrey (Jun) Chen, Ph.D. 
University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2014
Field: Accounting & Information Systems

Rajani Ganesh-Pillai, Ph.D.
University of Central Florida, 2009
Field: Marketing

Robert Hearne, Ph.D.
University of Minnesota, 1995
Field: Agricultural and Applied Economics

Jeremy Jackson, Ph.D.
Washington University in St. Louis, 2008
Field: Economics

Joseph M. Jones, Ph.D.
University of Missouri-Columbia, 1991
Field: Marketing

Derek Lehmberg, Ph.D.
University of Western Ontario, 2010
Field: Strategic Management

Siew Lim, Ph.D.
University of Georgia, 2005
Field:Economics

Joshua Marineau, Ph.D.
University of Kentucky, Lexington, 2012
Field: Organizational Behavior

Frayne Olson, Ph.D.
University of Missouri, 2007
Agricultural Economics

Supavich Pengnate, Ph.D.
Oklahoma State University, 2013
Field: Management Information Systems

Tim O. Peterson, Ph.D.
Texas A&M University at College Station, 1988
Field: Management/Organizational Behavior

Xudong Rao, Ph.D.
University of Minnesota, 2015
Field: Applied Economics

Frederick Riggins, Ph.D.
Carnegie Mellon University, 1994
Field: Management Information Systems

Saleem Shaik, Ph.D.
University of Nebraska, Lincoln, 1998
Field: Agricultural Economics

Tom Wahl, Ph.D.
Iowa State University, 1989
Field: Agricultural Economics

William W. Wilson, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor
University of Manitoba, 1980
Field: Agricultural Economics

Lei Zhang, Ph.D.
University of Texas at Dallas, 2011
Field: Economics

Limin Zhang, Ph.D.
University of Arizona, 2005
Field: Management Information Systems 

Emeritus

Bahman Bahrami, Ph.D.
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 1983
Field: Managerial Economics, Management Information Systems, Labor Relations and Negotiation

C. Frederick Eisele, Ph.D.
University of Iowa, 1971
Field: Labor Management and Negotiation

Karen Froelich, Ph.D.
University of Minnesota, 1994
Field: Strategic Management

Terry W. Knoepfle, J.D., CPA 
University of North Dakota, 1981
Field: Business Law and Tax Accounting