Business Administration Program
Program overview
The Colleges of Applied Sciences (CAS), under the auspices of the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE), award Bachelor of Science degree (B.Sc.) in International Business Administration (BIBA). The following specializations are currently offered in Nizwa, Rustaq, and Salalah campuses:
The BIBA program provides students with a multicultural understanding of business and its environments grounded on solid moral and ethical values. It is dedicated to the well-rounded development of students and in shaping them to be responsible and informed citizens of the Sultanate of Oman.
Vision
The International Business Administration Program seeks to be distinctive in providing applied education relevant to the International Business Administration discipline through high quality teaching, learning and research experiences and to become a pioneer in offering market-driven specializations in the Sultanate of Oman.
Mission
The mission of the International Business Administration Programis to deliver competitive and high quality education related to international business administration and its allied disciplines (such as Accounting, Hospitality Management, and Tourism Management) and to educate students and develop their competencies to become business professionals who can contribute positively to the economic and social development of the Sultanate of Oman.
Entry Requirements
General Education Diploma, Islamic Institutes Diploma or Royal Guard Technical College Diploma with the following grades:
(Not less than C) in:
(Not less than D) in:
Program Structure
The BIBA Program requires students to accumulate 128 credit hours during four years of their study. The total 128 credit hours include: 36 hours College requirements, 35 Department requirements, and 57 Specialization requirements (18 credit hours as electives).
The first two years, four-semester courses are common among all specializations (International Business Administration, Tourism Management, Hospitality Management, and Accounting).
Graduates Attributes
The BIBA degree has been developed to impart business knowledge and build-up professional, intellectual and personal skills such as decision making, problem solving and time management. Graduates will acquire comprehensive knowledge of their chosen specialization which will enable them to maintain lifelong learning.
The key graduate attributes/skills are:
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Academic and Professional Knowledge: With academic and professional knowledge, the graduates will be able to work confidently.
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Communication Skills: Graduates will be in command of oral and written communication.
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Teamwork and Leadership: Graduates will have good interpersonal and leadership skills which will enable them to work independently and in teams.
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Information Technology (IT) Literacy: Graduates will be able to manage information successfully and acquire adequate IT skills.
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Global Perspective and Cross-cultural Adaptability: Graduates will learn how to think globally and act locally as well as adapt to any different business environments.
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Critical and Analytical Thinking: Graduates will be able to analyze critically and solve the day-to-day business-related problems.
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Social Responsibility and Ethics: Graduates will gain high standards of integrity, social responsibility and ethical actions.
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Entrepreneurial Aptitude: Graduates will develop all required entrepreneurial skills.
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Life-Long Learning: Graduates will be able to recognize opportunities for ongoing learning.
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Research Skills: Graduates will poses skills required for recognizing problem situations, gathering, analyzing and interpreting data as well as reaching reliable findings and recommendations.
International Business Administration Specialization
International Business Administration is the field of management which deals with business activities that cross national boundaries. Specializing in this field promises an exciting world of teaching and learning that combine contemporary theories and real-life practice through, but not limited to, company visits, case studies and guest lectures. The specialization is a forward-looking area of study that magnifies local issues and how they are intertwined with global challenges in business administration such as globalization and liberalization which are the engines for international trade and economic growth. Specializing in international business administration will provide students a competitive advantage to prepare students both for management and career options.
Career Opportunities
Graduates of the International Business Administration Program fit into different business settings, ranging from large multinational corporations to small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs). They will be able to successfully work for local and international corporations such as in manufacturing firms, banks, oil companies, government agencies, financial institutions and tourism and hospitality projects.
Tourism Management Specialization
Tourism industry is one of the rapidly growing and widely spread global industries. In Oman, it is considered one of the most promising industries with a wide range of job opportunities. Therefore, the Tourism Management specialization has been developed at CAS to qualify undergraduate students with all knowledge and practical skills highly required by the tourism career. The objective of the tourism management specialization is to enable students to develop rational and practical competencies, critical and analytical thinking, public relation skills, self-confidence and capability to face the challenges and successfully work in domestic as well as international tourism environments.
Career Opportunities
There is a huge range of career opportunities for the tourism management graduates such as travel agents, tour operators, tourism marketers, airline marketing executives, cruise operators, event planners and organizers, tourism entrepreneurs, and outdoor recreation/leisure planner. Meanwhile, graduates have the potential after gaining the required work experience to become tourism marketing managers, tourism consultants and regional and national tourism planners and developers.
Hospitality Management Specialization
Hospitality Management involves the management of hotels, restaurants, cruise ships, resorts, clubs, events, entertainments activities and so on. Hospitality Management degree is considered to present lucrative opportunities for inspiring careers and rewarding jobs. In Oman, there is a growing demand for hospitality and hotels professionals to fill in the highly demanded jobs required by the catering and lodging industries. The Hospitality Management specialization aims at preparing students for administrative, operational and management positions in the hospitality industry.
Career Opportunities
The hospitality industry can provide huge career opportunities for Hospitality Management graduates. First, graduates will start with lower to middle level positions and then (after gaining work experience) can be promoted to higher positions such as rooms division managers, hotel managers, food and beverage managers, operation managers, hospitality specialists, catering managers, restaurant managers, event organizers and planners, guest relation mangers and cruise director. The Hospitality Management specialization qualifies students to fit into the requirements of both governmental as well as private sector hospitality entities.
Accounting Specialization
Accounting is an ever-growing field of study. There is no organization, whether it is large or small, private or public, local, national or multinational, that can run its business without an efficient accounting and finance department. The accounting specialization is suitable for students who plan to work for accounting and finance career. Its main objective is to provide students with an in-depth understanding of the different accounting and finance fields. It also aims at providing students with required knowledge and technical skills suitable for todays’ accounting and finance applications.
Career Opportunities
Accounting is the leading qualification which equips students, with the necessary skills sought by employers within Oman and worldwide. The BIBA Program in Accounting provides a range of career opportunities to the students to work in accounting, banking, finance, insurance and corporate houses, in the government as well as in the private sectors. Graduates also have potential to work as cost accountants, financial accountants, auditors, financial planners and so on. Upon successful graduation in accounting, ambitious graduates can further pursue any international accounting/auditing professional certificates such as CA, ACCA, CPA, ACPA, CMA, ICWA, CIMA, CFA, CFM awarded by specialized professional bodies.