How the GBA Compares

Business doesn't stop at the border. Neither does our degree.

In an economy that has been fundamentally affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, business professionals need to complement a strong functional base in finance, strategy, and other aspects of management with a global perspective. To successfully grow your international career, you must understand how legal issues, economic trends, geopolitical shifts, and security risks can make or break a business strategy.

Similar to a global MBA, the Fletcher School's online Master of Global Business Administration (GBA) program takes an MBA education to the next level. The program merges business and international affairs knowledge to meet the needs of this shifting global landscape. GBA students graduate prepared to tackle the complex challenges facing 21st-century leaders

MBA degree programs usually are grounded in foundational business skill sets, covering topics like accounting, finance, marketing, and strategy. The MBA degree is geared toward understanding how businesses operate successfully.

Fletcher's master's program in global business builds on these MBA foundations and adds the global perspective of economics, law, security, and politics. The GBA program takes the core of a global MBA and adds the critical contextual factors—economics, legal, social, and others—that impact international businesses today.

Our master's in global business includes courses such as international law, security, and emerging markets policy, which are crucial for understanding the global landscape that business must navigate.

A master's in international affairs or international relations usually takes an interdisciplinary approach to global issues, offering courses on international politics, economics, law, and history. These programs tend to blend theoretical frameworks with practical knowledge for people interested in public sector, military, and policy careers.

An international business or NGO management professional, however, must also be proficient in issues of management and strategy. Fletcher’s Master of Global Business Administration covers a broad range of global issues while still developing students’ foundational business skills in strategy, finance, marketing, and management more broadly.

By understanding international business skills in a global context, graduates of the master's in global business can apply their expertise in careers across a wide range of sectors—public, private, and NGO—or the spaces between those sectors, such as social enterprise, green energy, or government relations.

Why The Fletcher School for International Business?

The online master’s in global business from The Fletcher School at Tufts University goes beyond a global MBA to develop your contextual intelligence. That is, you will build the core business skills you would find in an MBA while enhancing your ability to make strategic decisions in context.

When you pursue your degree online at Fletcher, you will connect with and learn from a cohort of like-minded international business professionals from a wide array of backgrounds and expertise.

As a student in the Master of Global Business Administration program, you will connect with professionals who understand that international issues are messy, answers aren’t formulaic, and careers aren’t linear. You will build a rich network of connections that stretches around the world—and across the negotiating table.

You will graduate from this program with a sharpened distance vision—the ability to look around corners and anticipate international business risks and opportunities—and the skills to advance your career long after graduation.

Class Profile for the Master of Global Business Administration

The GBA program seeks out a wide range of students from diverse backgrounds.

Advance within the Growing Global Economy

Conduct business across borders with an online Master of Global Business Administration from The Fletcher School.