Cedarville Magazine, Fall 2016

Master of Business Administration M.B.A. While more than 100,000 Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) degrees are conferred each year, Cedarville is one of the few universities where a biblical, God-honoring perspective is woven throughout each course. And that leads to real riches —a wealth of wisdom for developing a business career that goes beyond bottom-line impact to eternal significance. “With a Cedarville M.B.A., you’re getting, for the same dollar as other M.B.A.s, the additional joy of having a biblical approach to life and your value system reinforced,” noted Dan Sterkenburg, Associate Professor of Business and Management and Assistant Dean for Graduate Programs. “We are providing a much richer foundation and environment for learning.” WISE BEHIND THE WHYS The undergraduate program, while touching on theory, places a higher emphasis on the mechanics of business: how to compute net present value, how to compute a bond value, how to do market research. The M.B.A. program teaches mechanics as well, but devotes more time to understanding and applying the underlying theories and concepts of business. “Since we are dealing with human behavior, we need to recognize God and man in their positions: God infallible, man fallible,” Sterkenburg explained. “For instance, why do we need accounting controls? Because we’re fallible, we make mistakes, we get tired or distracted, and oh, by the way, we actually purposefully try to sneak and cheat and deceive.” Itwas exactly that foundationthatbroughtDevinRobinson ’03,M.B.A. ’15 back to Cedarville for his M.B.A. “I didn’t have much experience in business,” said Robinson, who served four years with the U.S. Air Force, then enlisted with the Maine Air National Guard. “I was thinking about moving into the corporate world, so I wanted to make sure I developed my business perspective through the lens of Christian business people.” M.B.A. OFFERS WEALTH OF BIBLICAL WISDOM by Clem Boyd 16 | Cedarville Magazine Tina Jones, M.B.A. ’15 wanted an M.B.A. with a distinctly Christian foundation.