Green MBA

Available via Distance Learning only.

Units: 51
Courses: 16
Tuition: $4,800

Enroll by printable enrollment form

Master of Business Administration in Sustainability

“Thank you for all of your support and guidance thus far, I am so happy to have chosen this MBA program; I cannot tell you how much I have already learned and grown from this experience.‚”
Lael Giebel

There is a vast expansion of the market for environmental management expertise and skills. These skills are needed throughout the business world, including nonprofits and government agencies, the construction and building development industries, and the design professions.

Distance learning is completely self paced and self managed, so you can complete your studies and earn an MBA as quickly or slowly as your schedule permits. If you are a design professional requiring continuing education units, you can simultaneously earn your quota of CE units while earning academic units toward a Green MBA degree.

A Four-Track Curriculum

• Sustainability

• Business Skills

• Administrative Action

• Strategic Planning

Sustainability

Green Capitalism
GMBA 301, 3 units
New, classic books that are changing the world of business administration:

Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution by Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins, and L. Hunter Lovins

Greed to Green by David Gottfried or, in lieu of Greed to Green:

The Sustainability Revolution: Portrait of a Paradigm Shift by Andres R. Edwards and David Orr

Understanding Ecology & Climate Change
GMBA 302, 3 units
Scientific realism you need for long-term planning.

Global Climate Change and U.S. Law by Michael B. Gerrard (note: If used for course GMBA 302, this book cannot be used for course GMBA 304) or

An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore (note: Any edition is fine.)

Ecological Design
GMBA 303, 3 units
The technology that solves the world’s worst environmental problems.

The Green Building Revolution by Jerry Yudelson, or

The ASHRAE GreenGuide: The Design, Construction, and Operation of Sustainable Buildings by ASHRAE Press

Eco Politics, Law and Regulation
GMBA 304, 3 units
The revolution in new, green legislation and how to make it work for you.

Global Climate Change and U.S. Law by Michael B. Gerrard (note: If used for course GMBA 304, this book cannot be used for course GMBA 302) or

Harvard Business Review on Green Business Strategy by Harvard Business School Press

Business Skills

Problem Solving
GMBA 305, 3 units
Creative, fast, effective problem analysis and solutions implementation.

Conceptual Blockbusting: A Guide to Better Ideas by James L. Adams and

Creativity and Successful Innovation by Larry R. Marshall Ph.D. or

Strategic Renaissance: New Thinking and Innovation Tools to Create Great Corporate Strategies Using Insights from History and Science by Evan Matthew Dudik

Communication
GMBA 306, 3 units
Writing and speaking clearly and with authority.

The Elements of Style Illustrated by William Strunk Jr., E.B. White and Maira Kalman

Plain English at Work: A Guide to Writing and Speaking by Edward P. Bailey

Time Management
GMBA 307, 3 units
Proven systems of self-management and productivity.

Time Management: Increase Your Personal Productivity and Effectiveness by Harvard Busines Essentials and Harvard Business School Press

Leadership
GMBA 308, 3 units
Maximizing your effectiveness and the effectiveness of those with whom you work.

Leadership: Theory and Practice by Peter G. Northouse

Administrative Action

Business Planning
GMBA 309, 3 units
Strategy and tactics by leaders in business enterprise.

The Definitive Business Plan: The Fast-Track to Intelligent Business Planning for Executives and Entrepreneurs by Richard Stutely or

Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage by Daniel C. Esty and Andrew S. Winston

Marketing
GMBA 310, 3 units
Using advertising, publicity, and public relations as a means of positive education.

Basic Marketing (with student CD) by Jr., William D. Perreault, E. Jerome McCarthy, and Joseph P. Cannon (note: Avoid the high-priced textbook version) and

The Green Marketing Manifesto by John Grant or, in lieu of The Green Marketing Manifesto:

The Insider’s Guide to Marketing Green Buildings by Jerry Yudelson

Economics
GMBA 311, 3 units
Understanding inflation, business cycles, and the economic forces that most affect all business and nonprofit enterprises.

Basic Economics, 2nd Ed: A Citizen’s Guide to the Economy,
Revised and Expanded Edition, by Thomas Sowell or

Basic Economics, 4th Ed: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy, by Thomas Sowell or

Economics: A Self-Teaching Guide by Steve Slavin

Financial Management
GMBA 312, 3 units
How quantification measures performance throughout the business world.

Financial Management (Barron’s Business Library) by Jae K. Shim, Ph.D. and Joel G. Siegel, Ph.D. or

Schaum’s Easy Outline Bookkeeping and Accounting by Joel J. Lerner

Strategic Planning

Rational Self Interest
GMBA 313, 3 units
The ethics that govern business.

Green Business: A Five-part Model for Creating an Environmentally Responsible Company by Amy K. Townsend

Visionary Visualization
GMBA 314, 3 units
Why the most important changes are never what most people expect.

A Brief History of the Future: How Visionary Thinkers Change the World and Tomorrow’s Trends are ‘Made’ and Marketed by Oona Strathern

Creating the Innovation Culture: Leveraging Visionaries, Dissenters & Other Useful Troublemakers by Frances Horibe

The Aesthetic Imperative
GMBA 315, 3 units
Why design matters.

Geometry of Design: Studies in Proportion and Composition by Kimberly Elam

Thesis project
GMBA 316, 6 units
Your business plan.

Choose from any two or more of the following texts as reference guides for your thesis:

Green Marketing: Opportunities for Innovation by Jacquelyn A. Ottman

Visionary Business: An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Success by Marc Allen

Seven Rules for Sustainable Communities: Design Strategies for the Post Carbon World by Patrick M. Condon

Green Development: Integrating Ecology and Real Estate by Rocky Mountain Institute, Alex Wilson, Jenifer L. Uncapher, and Lisa McManigal