Graduate Diploma in Business Administration (GDBA)
The Graduate Diploma in Business Administration (GDBA) is a 30-credit diploma (10 courses worth 3 credits each) that can be completed on a part-time or full-time basis. Full-time students must pursue 3 or 4 courses per semester while part-time students must pursue 1 or 2 courses per semester. All courses are open to both full-time and part-time students. Courses are offered on weekday evenings and sometimes on Saturdays during the Fall, Winter and Summer terms. There are 2 admission periods per year, one in September, and one in January.
GDBA students must enrol in nine core and one special topic course to complete the program.
What you will learn
The Graduate Diploma in Business Administration concentrates on the primary functional areas of organizations and their interrelations. At the end of this diploma, students will not only have a solid understanding of the functional areas within an organization, but will also appreciate how those areas inter-relate. Graduate Diploma in Business Administration students are required to complete 10 courses.
By graduation, diploma students will have achieved a functional knowledge in the fundamental areas of business and be able to:
- Identify, analyze, and propose solutions to issues within and between fundamental areas of business
- Effectively communicate to and influence various stakeholders (management, colleagues, customers and investors)
- Analyze industries, markets, and competitors toward the design of convincing competitive strategies
Courses
Program: Graduate Diploma in Business Administration
This course provides students with the necessary skills that help with successful interaction with others in business settings. Topics include designing and delivering effective written and oral messages from concept to delivery, working in groups, and negotiating and resolving conflict by using ethical communication tactics. Pedagogical methods include group-based work, in-class workshops, case studies, presentations, and report writing.
Program: Graduate Diploma in Business Administration
This course surveys financial and managerial accounting from the point of view of the users of financial information. Financial accounting topics include the framework of financial accounting, the analysis of transactions, and the preparation and analysis of financial statements. Topics in management accounting are budgeting and control, costing and cost allocation, the cost-volume-profit planning model, and short-term and long-term decision-making in business. The ethical dimensions of accounting are explored throughout the course. Pedagogical methods include lectures, exercises, case studies and class discussions.
Prerequisites & notes
Students who have received credit for GDBA 501 may not take this course for credit.
Program: Graduate Diploma in Business Administration
This course is concerned with understanding and managing individual and group behaviour in organizations. It examines themes such as personality, motivation, emotions, leadership, ethics, and group dynamics and how they relate to the role of managers in organizations. The course covers these topics in an integrated manner so as to prepare students to become effective managers. Pedagogical methods include in-class exercises and case studies.
Prerequisites & notes
Prerequisites: GDBA 531 previously or concurrently.
Students who have received credit for GDBA 503 may not take this course for credit.
Program: Graduate Diploma in Business Administration
This course is designed to provide students with the necessary skills to develop a marketing plan. Topics include micro and macro level environmental analysis, customer behaviour, market segmentation, value generating practices and developing a complete marketing plan. Pedagogical methods include lectures, case studies and in-class presentations.
Prerequisites & notes
Prerequisites: GDBA 531 previously or concurrently.
Students who have received credit for GDBA 504 may not take this course for credit.
Program: Graduate Diploma in Business Administration
This course provides students with the skills and knowledge needed to analyze business data. Using spreadsheet software throughout the course, students learn to summarize and describe data with charts, graphs and numbers, to visualize and measure relationships in data and acquire the ability to make inferences and predictions. Students acquire a working knowledge of the statistical tools and techniques required for better decision-making. The course combines lecturing with actual business applications and class discussions aimed at encouraging critical thinking, analytical skills and ethical manipulation and reporting of data.
Prerequisites & notes
Students who have successfully completed a statistics course in a previous program with a minimum grade of “B” may be exempt from taking GDBA 530 with the permission of the Program Director. In this case, the course must be substituted with an elective.
Students who have received credit for GDBA 502 may not take this course for credit.
Program: Graduate Diploma in Business Administration
This course provides students with a general understanding of the fundamental concepts of finance as they apply to financial management and investment analysis. Building on the objective of firm value maximization, students learn to describe and value risky financial securities and long-term capital projects as well as to manage the firm’s short-term financial planning and decisions. Pedagogical methods include exercises, cases, simulations and class discussions.
Prerequisites & notes
Prerequisites: GDBA 530 and 532.
Students who have received credit for GDBA 505 may not take this course for credit.
Program: Graduate Diploma in Business Administration
This course provides students with the quantitative and qualitative techniques to achieve efficient and effective utilization of scarce resources in business. Topics include planning, management and control of labour, machinery, material, money, information and time resources in manufacturing and service sectors. Recent developments in these areas are introduced within the context of manufacturing and service strategies. The course uses class discussion, case analysis and simulation to illustrate key concepts and practices in operations management. The interactions with other functional areas, such as information systems, marketing, accounting and finance are discussed through case studies.
Prerequisites & notes
Prerequisites: GDBA 530 previously or concurrently.
Students who have received credit for GDBA 506 may not take this course for credit.
Program: Graduate Diploma in Business Administration
This course introduces the principles of economics. The emphasis is on the role of the decision maker who has to identify and implement profitable decisions. The course applies economic reasoning to business problems including bargaining, adverse selection, moral hazard, and incentive alignment. Pedagogical methods include exercises, cases and class discussions.
Prerequisites & notes
Prerequisites: GDBA 530 previously or concurrently.
Students who have received credit for GDBA 507 may not take this course for credit.
Program: Graduate Diploma in Business Administration
This capstone course provides students with an understanding of how firms gain and sustain competitive advantage in various business sectors. Specific topics include industry environment analysis, internal analysis of firm resources and capabilities, the analysis of business and corporate level strategies, and various strategic alternatives such as mergers and acquisitions, strategic alliances, and internationalization strategies. The course uses case analysis as the main approach to build abilities in strategic analysis and decision-making.
Prerequisites & notes
Prerequisites: 12 credits including GDBA 530 and 531.
as well as one GDBA elective from the following list:
- GDBA 540 - Entrepreneurship (3 credits)
- GDBA 541 - Business Law (3 credits)
- GDBA 542 - eMarketing (3 credits)
- GDBA 543 - Project Management (3 credits)
