Lamar University

The School of Business

The mission of the College of Business at Lamar University is to provide a quality education to a diverse student population from Southeast Texas and beyond, resulting in well-rounded business professionals who are prepared to meet the challenges of a dynamic global environment while upholding ethical values and encouraging civic and social responsibility. The faculty promotes an environment supportive of applications-oriented learning by engaging in a balance of discipline-based, business pedagogy, and practice-based intellectual contributions.

At Lamar University’s College of Business we believe that the best approach to preparing our students to manage ethical, social, and environmental issues is to have ample discussion of these issues as part of the normal course work that students are exposed to. Most of the preparation for our students comes from discussing social and environmental issues as part of their routine assignments, projects and case studies. In this way, students understand that social and environmental issues are not an aside but rather an integral part of everyday business. Assignments and projects, and particularly case studies, permit students to work on social and environmental issues side-by-side with traditional “bottom line” issues like financing, production and distribution. This is particularly important in assignments and cases dealing with international topics when it is often impossible to separate the cultural, social and environmental dimensions from the traditional business issues.

The Masters of Business Administration

The Beyond Grey Pinstripes 2007-2008 Report ranked the Lamar MBA 85th in the world for its emphasis on social and environmental stewardship.

Lamar MBA teams are required to complete a written and oral case analysis as an exit project. Along with a rubric on effective decision making and the inclusion of global perspectives, the graduate faculty is asked to complete a rubric that measures the students’ coverage of social responsibility, ethical leadership, ethical decision making and corporate governance issues. There is an emphasis in the Lamar MBA for students to analyze a company’s competitive strategic direction by recognizing potential conflicts with a company’s values/philosophy and whether its goals are consistent with its mission. This includes the analysis of a company’s corporate governance issues. In addition, after analyzing the internal and external environment and identifying key issues/problems, MBA students select alternative strategies and highlight specific tactical plans. A Balanced Scorecard (Financial, Customer, Internal Processes, and Growth and Development-including social climate) is used by students to identify the targeted outcomes of their tactical strategies.