School of Business Highlights

At GSB, we are constantly innovating to prepare our students for new industries and opportunities in an always evolving global marketplace.

Along with a solid foundation in contemporary business education, we are reimagining and redefining a business degree by offering exciting new courses and focus areas, bringing in more talented faculty with new areas of expertise and specialties, and coupling that with internships in the field and study abroad experiences. See what innovations and offerings the Mario J. Gabelli School of Business has to offer.

Explore Our Specialty Courses

Entrepreneurship

If you are passionate about exploring new business models and the challenge of finding a marketplace niche, our new Entrepreneurship course is for you. From the traditional entrepreneurship process to the more unconventional methods, this course breaks down the pathways and practices by which entrepreneurs transform ideas into valuable goods and services. Through hands-on lessons, students will create a variety of business simulations using the different entrepreneurship processes and be encouraged to open their minds to moving away from the one-size-fits-all approach to developing and launching an entrepreneurial business.

Sports Management

Are you interested in the ownership and management side of sports? Our new Sports Management course will examine how to apply the principles of management to the sports industry and sports organizations. Learn about recent trends in the sports industry, the ethical and moral dilemmas facing sports managers, and the rising role of sports in society. Students will also explore career opportunities across the industry. 

Social Media Marketing

More and more companies are recognizing that an effective presence on social media gives their customers a voice and helps brands connect with potential consumers. A new course in Social Media Marketing equips students with the latest knowledge and practical skills to develop marketing strategies unique to social media channels. Along with building their own social media campaign around an existing business, students will be guided to earn certification in Google Analytics they can add to their résumé.

Sports Marketing

One of the biggest sports branding issues right now has centered around the cultural misappropriation of Indigenous peoples by sports teams and whether they have a moral obligation to change their team names or mascots. Our Sports Marketing course covers this hot-button topic, along with effective sports marketing principles, consumer allegiance to teams and merchandising, and the impact of sponsorship. As part of the course, students will create their own sports franchise, complete with team name, logo, uniforms and other branding.

Strategic Management

As the capstone course for all GSB majors, Strategic Management provides students with the opportunity to participate in a highly interactive business simulation, working as a team to run their own global company in a virtual environment. Students integrate their business knowledge and skills gained from prior courses, as each gets the opportunity to assume executive roles while exploring all the facets of a business entity, from research and development to marketing, operations, human resources, and finance. They will learn to take a community-minded approach to business and gain an understanding in socially responsible management tactics and strategy. Students also gain presentation skills as part of a large project analyzing a contemporary organization of their choice, applying competitive tools and strategic decision-making learned within the course.

Learn from Top Business Leaders

Throughout the year, GSB brings in leading business experts from across the industries to share their insights and journey to achieve their remarkable careers. In the GSB Executive Speaker Series, students get to hear from:

• Leon Cooperman, CEO of Omega Advisors, a Wall Street legend who founded a multi-billion-dollar hedge fund (Omega) and former general partner of Goldman, Sachs & Co.
• Matthew McCarthy, CEO of Ben & Jerry’s, the world-renowned ice cream-maker credited with achieving the “triple bottom line” of committing to financial, social justice and sustainability goals
• Mario J. Gabelli, Chairman and Chief Executive of GAMCO Investors, Inc., named Money Manager of the Year by Institutional Investor in 2011 and a member of Barron’s All Star Century Team
• Tim Baxter, Former President and CEO of Samsung Electronics and alumnus of the GSB Class of 1983

Advancing Women in Business

To help women students prepare for a successful transition into professional careers, GSB offers opportunities for students to learn from and network with leading women business practitioners from a variety of careers. The second annual “Ignite 2.0: Accelerating Women’s Success at Work” will be presented this year, featuring panel discussions around negotiating salary, entering the workforce, and growing a greater presence in traditionally male-dominated fields. Our Women In Business organization serves and promotes the interests of our women students and provides networking and social and professional development opportunities focused on potential women leaders.

Home of the Champs

Each year our students have increased their involvement in regional and national collegiate business competitions, and last year they swept the competition.

In 2020, GSB students earned the title of national champs in data analytics in the American Association of Information Systems National Analytics Competition, where students crunch data sets and present solutions to problems facing real companies. A second GSB team took second place in the competition, sweeping first and second wins for students in the Gabelli School.

Also in 2020, an interdisciplinary team competing in the National Student Advertising Competition claimed the number-one spot in the regional round of competition. GSB students compete annually in the student advertising competition to create and pitch a fully integrated advertising campaign and marketing strategy to real companies, such as Adobe and Snapple.

GSB teams will be rising to the challenge again in upcoming competitions, where they will be defending their titles against the best from around the country.

Earn your B.A./B.S. and M.B.A. in 4 or 5 years

For business majors and minors interested in breaking into leadership positions, the Gabelli School makes it possible for undergraduates to gain earlier entry into the job market with the highly respected M.B.A. credential. The accredited 4+1 Master of Business Administration program allows you to earn both the B.S. and M.B.A. degrees in just 4 or 5 years.

The program develops strategic thinkers, problem solvers and leaders who are ready to thrive in a competitive business environment, along with a required internship and international study component that provide practical, real-world experience. Recently, our M.B.A. students traveled throughout China, meeting industry leaders and going behind the scenes at top companies such as Microsoft’s Artificial Intelligence and Cloud Innovation Center in Beijing. The M.B.A. program’s strategic location at RWU’s Providence campus allows for vast opportunities for networking and collaboration with local business leaders in Providence, Boston, New York and other major business centers. Our M.B.A. graduates are working in leading firms and enterprises across the country and around the world.