Online MBA course descriptions

Core Courses

Elective Specializations Courses

Core Courses

Creating and Sustaining Customer Markets
This course focuses on marketing planning and emphasizes the analysis of customer needs as well as company and competitor capabilities. This analysis forms the basis of a sound marketing strategy that provides value to customers in a way superior to competitors. We will discuss how to deliver this strategy through the development of an integrated marketing program covering product offerings, pricing, promotion, and distribution. 3 cr.

Ethics and the Marketplace
This course focuses on the roles and responsibilities of businesses and business managers in society. Examines both current and historical legal, social, ethical, cultural, technological, and economic forces that affect businesses and the various policies, strategies, and tactics that businesses utilize to respond to these forces. Emphasis is on what managers and corporations do, or should do, as they face many complex issues including legal and ethical decisions in the workplace and the marketplace, dealing with and shaping government regulations and public opinion, and effectively responding to particular environmental and technological challenges as well as the pressures of special interest groups. 2 cr.

Financial Reporting and Managerial Decision Making
This course focuses on the acquisition, measurement, and management of firm resources. Business managers make strategic decisions about the acquisition and use of a variety of firm resources. This enables students to understand and utilize critical information in corporate financial reports to improve business decision making. In addition, this offers students the opportunity to learn the contemporary methods of financial reporting and analysis used by internal decision makers and external capital providers. 4.5 cr.

Global Competition and Market Dominance
This course trains managers to understand the competitive implications of global economic policies, the business effects of technological change, and the commercial imperatives of alternative political systems at a macro level. At a micro level, it creates a framework for industry analysis in a global setting that combines economic analysis, competitive analysis, and business decision making skills. 3 cr.

Information Analysis
This course provides students with the basic information analysis skills and tools needed to manage effectively in today's information-intensive business climate. Students are exposed to analytical problems from different areas of business as well as quantitative analytic concepts and techniques. The course objectives are to improve the information analysis skills of the students, to provide students with a working knowledge of important statistical tools, to help students become more critical evaluators of studies and reports involving statistical and quantitative methods, and to improve skills in communicating the results of analyses. This offers students the opportunity to evaluate, analyze, and interpret data and present findings and conclusions that will be useful for managerial decision making through business applications and analytical software. 3 cr.

Management of Service and Manufacturing Operations
This course focuses on decision making by an operations manager. The operations manager's key job function is to provide the quality products and services desired by customers, on time and at a competitive cost. This course helps the operations manager to perform this function in both the manufacturing and service sectors of the economy. In addition, this course explores operations management concepts, techniques, and models. These include the optimum allocation and efficient utilization of manpower, materials, equipment, and technology at strategic and tactical levels in the organization. Topics include process analysis, capacity planning, materials management, resource allocation, quality management, and scheduling. 3 cr.

Managing Information Resources
Information has become a key resource in doing business. Managers must understand that high-quality information adds value to existing products and services, enhances the creation of new products, changes the efficiency and effectiveness of business processes, and affects relationships with customers, suppliers, and competitors. This course focuses on issues of the strategic uses of information technology for competitive advantage, support of business processes, information and control, digital business, integration of business with technology, organizational communication, and data management. 1.5 cr.

Managing the Global Enterprise
This course focuses on the international business environment and examines the influence of such areas as the international economy and trade issues, legal and political context differences, governmental actions, cultural and ethical system differences, exchange rates and international currency markets, international institutions like the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund, and regional agreements like the European Union, NAFTA, and Mercosur on global decision making. In addition, this course analyzes why firms internationalize their operations, how they can internationalize, and key areas such as international manufacturing, marketing, human resource management, and strategy. 3 cr.

Organizations in the New Economy
This course examines today's evolving environment in which effective utilization of human resources is a source of competitive advantage. To maximize the contribution of organizational members, managers must be able to understand, diagnose, and influence workplace behavior in the context of change. Topics include management of cross-functional teams and boundary-less organizations. Emphasis is on the role of corporate culture and distributed leadership. 3 cr.

Strategic Decision Making in a Changing Environment
This course focuses on strategy development and implementation for a line of business and for the corporation as a whole by adopting a top management perspective. Beginning with developing a mission statement and goals for the firm, the focus is on environmental scanning. This incorporates economic, technological, sociopolitical, and legal trends in conducting industry analysis, thus assessing opportunities, threats, and the firm's capabilities before formulating a strategy that represents a fit between the environment and the firm. Students also discuss how to develop a competitive advantage and assess competitive positioning, and study how organizational structure and systems contribute to implementing strategy. In addition, this course stresses the role of leadership and motivation before moving on to feedback mechanisms to assess success in strategy implementation, leading to revision of strategic plans as needed. 3 cr.

Technology, Entrepreneurship, and Enterprise Growth
This course explores the challenges and processes for harnessing technological innovation for new-business development. In addition, this course integrates technology strategy, innovation in marketing, product development, and organization design for the purpose of enterprise growth. Through readings, cases, and exercises, students study how firms from different industries gain competitive advantage through distinctive products and services, and leverage their technologies and skills into emerging markets and focus on processes for conceiving, financing, and organizing new ventures. 3 cr.

Value Creation through Financial Decision Making
This course develops the tools and techniques of financial analysis and valuation to support financial decision making. Future managers are presented with actual business problems to learn to apply the tools of financial analysis to strategic decisions faced by the firm, such as capital budgeting, capital structure, use of derivatives, and currency exposure management. Highlights the role of financial management as a source of value creation in a competitive environment characterized by rapid technological, personal, and market changes. 3 cr.

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Elective Specializations Courses

Finance

Entrepreneurial Finance for High Tech Companies
This course provides an overview of entrepreneurial finance with a focus on high technology companies. Specific topics include analyzing the financial needs of high technology ventures including capital management; risk analysis; capital budgeting; sources of financing; valuation, and exit strategies such as licensing, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, and IPOs. We will be using a combination of text material, books, and cases.

Health Care Finance
This course implements financial management and economic principles to analyze real-world health-care issues. In addition, this course emphasizes and encourages problem solving and creative thinking through the use of texts, cases, and models of the health-care industry. Students are exposed to financial, managerial, and risk management strategies unique to the health-care industry.

International Financial Management
This course develops specific concepts, policies, and techniques for the financial management of the multinational firm. Specific topics include operation of the foreign exchange markets, managing foreign currency risk, sources and instruments of international financing, foreign direct investment and the management of political risk, multinational capital budgeting, and financing control systems for the multinational firm.

Investment Analysis
In this course students become familiar with domestic and international financial markets and the securities traded therein. In addition, we will discuss a variety of techniques for valuation of financial assets. The course relies heavily on quantitative methods. Qualitative concepts such as market efficiency, intrinsic value, and risk will be critically analyzed as well. The contents of this course - descriptive, theoretical, and applied - should provide students with the ability to build unique valuation models to suit the particular investment alternative they wish to scrutinize. The course also provides students with an understanding of how investment theory and investment practice relate.

Mergers and Acquisitions
This course explores the conditions that have recently given rise to a large number of corporate mergers and the business factors underlying these corporate combinations. It examines the financial, managerial, accounting, and legal factors affecting mergers, and how to appraise and structure a merger.

Strategies for Companies in Crisis
This course concentrates on the diagnosis, prescription, and implementation of actions pertinent to business turnarounds, troubled companies, workouts, bankruptcies, and liquidations. Case studies and readings guide the student through the maze of financial, ethical, legal, general business, and strategic aspects of turnarounds.

Valuation and Value Creation
This course explores recent developments in financial management and financial analysis through the use of modern finance theory to make capital allocation decisions that lead to long-run value maximization for the corporation. The course focuses on applications and financial model building, risk analysis for valuation applications, business strategies to measure and manage corporate value, and value creation. Topics covered are relevant to value consultants, corporate managers, and securities analysts.

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General Management

Students may select 4 courses from any specialization to complete the General Management concentration in addition to Strategic Security Management.

Strategic Security Management
This course analyzes the contemporary role of the security manager as it necessarily evolves from that of content expert to one of business strategist. To effectively develop the competencies and mind-set necessary to establish a strategic approach to security management, this class uses a range of readings, case studies, and research materials with the goal of critically examining the behavioral, structural, ethical, legal, political, social, cultural, and competitive conditions of today's complex, interdependent, global business environment.

Healthcare Management

Health Care Finance
This course implements financial management and economic principles to analyze real-world health-care issues. Emphasizes and encourages problem solving and creative thinking through the use of texts, cases, and models of the health-care industry. Students are exposed to financial, managerial, and risk management strategies unique to the health-care industry.

Healthcare Industry
This course examines the evolution of the U.S. healthcare delivery system from early forms of organized institutional care through the current dynamic and increasingly integrated and managed care systems. Students are introduced to the interactions of regulatory, economic, political, and social aspects of the healthcare system. This course compares current policies and proposals for health reform. Students are asked to analyze the impact and consequences of actions in one era on the structure and function of healthcare practice in later years and to project these trends into the future.

Introduction to Health Informatics and Health Information Systems
Introduces the history and current status of information systems in healthcare: information architectures, administrative and clinical applications, evidence-based medicine, information retrieval, decision support systems, security and confidentiality, bioinformatics, information system cycles, the electronic health record, key health information systems and standards, and medical devices.

Strategic Decision Making for Healthcare Professionals
This course examines how healthcare organizations manage their resources in the competitive environment to meet the goals of their many stakeholders. This applies three essential elements of strategic decision making - environmental analysis, strategic formulation, and strategy implementation - to the healthcare industry.

High Technology Management

Intellectual Property Law
Knowledge and know-how are strategic assets, whether they relate to product(s), companies, markets, or techniques. Students will study approaches to develop and protect intellectual property. Additionally, the course will cover issues of corporate governance and structures.

International Financial Management
This course develops specific concepts, policies, and techniques for the financial management of the multinational firm. Specific topics include operation of the foreign exchange markets, managing foreign currency risk, sources and instruments of international financing, foreign direct investment and the management of political risk, multinational capital budgeting, and financing control systems for the multinational firm.

Virtual, Virtuous and Vicious Teams: Building and Leading High Performance Teams
Teams continue to be an increasingly important vehicle for companies to promote growth, generate high performance, and to work more effectively in a global environment. Yet, too often, teams fail to live up to their promise, either due to ineffective leadership, inadequate support, or inappropriate use. In this course, students will learn how to build and lead different types of teams including co-located, virtual, global, and top management teams. Students will learn how to identify the roles and responsibilities of team members and leaders and how to develop effective communication, collaboration, and commitment among team members and other constituencies. The course also examines how to effectively facilitate coordination across functionally distinct teams. It utilizes cases, experiential exercises, and other hands-on activities to introduce students to a range of tools that will be useful both today and in the future.

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Innovation Entrepreneurship

Debt Financing for the Small Business
This course helps students understand how to organize and finance a small cash-flow oriented, owner managed business. Through the development, preparation, and presentation of a full business plan aimed at acquiring debt financing, students will analyze the finances, business strategy, and operations for the start-up or growth of a small manufacturing company, retail, or service business.

Entrepreneurial Finance for High Tech Companies
This course provides an overview of entrepreneurial finance with a focus on high technology companies. Specific topics include analyzing the financial needs of high technology ventures including working capital management; risk analysis; capital budgeting; sources of financing; valuation; and exit strategies including licensing, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, and IPOs. We will be using a combination of text material, books, and cases.

Innovation and Entrepreneurship in a Global Context
This course looks at using innovation to build and create value in the larger global context. Examines some of the latest innovation practices: 1) to build and create value within emerging economies, 2) to facilitate social entrepreneurship, 3) to promote sustainable development, and 4) to build and create value at the bottom of the pyramid. Exposes students to what successful entrepreneurs must learn, to balance business demands with the larger need for innovative thinking, and stresses the application of successful practices to generate results. Topics include creating and sharing knowledge and intellectual property, exploiting systems and networks, redefining disruptive innovation, and the steps necessary to make innovation and entrepreneurship happen in a variety of global contexts. Real-life examples and case studies are used to illustrate successful practices.

Management of Small Business Enterprises
This course focuses on the operating problems involved in managing a small business. Case studies are used to develop analytical approaches for appraising the risks and rewards of potential growth opportunities as well as operating problems. Problems range from locating, evaluating, marketing, and financing a small company to the survival and growth of more established businesses.

New Product Development
This course provides an overview of the basic concepts of marketing's role in the development and launch of new products. Topics covered include the new product development process and forecasting new products. In addition, this course focuses on real world examples and applications. The goals of this course are to: 1) understand fundamental marketing concepts, theories, principles, and terminology of marketing new products; 2) understand the role of marketing new products within business organizations and in the global marketplace; 3) understand the stages of the new product development process and the decisions that need to be made at each stage; 4) understand the role of marketing research in the NPD process; 5) appreciate the impact of new products on other business functions; and 6) value the ethical dilemmas that marketers face.

New Venture Creation
This course gives students the opportunity to build a complete business plan for new high-potential ventures. It covers all aspects of the planning process from the point of view of both the prospective entrepreneur and the potential investor. In addition, this course explores the demands of the entrepreneurial career through reading, self-assessment exercises, and group projects. Guest speakers from start-up companies, law firms, and venture capital firms provide a window on current experiences in the small-business world. This is recommended for prospective entrepreneurs as well as others who may become involved in new ventures.

International Management

Entrepreneurial Finance for High Tech Companies
This course provides an overview of entrepreneurial finance with a focus on high technology companies. Specific topics include analyzing the financial needs of high technology ventures including working capital management; risk analysis; capital budgeting; sources of financing; valuation; and exit strategies including licensing, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, and IPOs. We will be using a combination of text material, books, and cases.

Global Innovation Management
In today's global economy, competitive advantage goes to those firms that are able to innovate more effectively than their competitors. In this course, we will examine the actions that managers and their companies can take to effectively foster growth through innovation and new product development (NPD) globally. We will discuss the issues that play an important role in enabling a company to compete successfully in international markets, to defend its home market against overseas competitors, and to understand "global customer" needs. For the globally oriented company, the process with which it manages NPD globally is much more complex than that of a domestically focused company and entails managing a broad array of market and resource complexity. This, in turn, requires a unique set of resources. Such resources are the basis of NPD global expertise and require matching organizational capabilities to the higher levels of market, resource, and product complexity that are involved in introducing products globally.

Innovation and Entrepreneurship in a Global Context
This course looks at using innovation to build and create value in the larger global context. Examines some of the latest innovation practices: (1) to build and create value within emerging economies, (2) to facilitate social entrepreneurship, (3) to promote sustainable development, and (4) to build and create value at the bottom of the pyramid. Exposes students to what successful entrepreneurs must learn, to balance business demands with the larger need for innovative thinking, and stresses the application of successful practices to generate results. Topics include creating and sharing knowledge and intellectual property, exploiting systems and networks, redefining disruptive innovation, and the steps necessary to make innovation and entrepreneurship happen in a variety of global contexts. Real-life examples and case studies are used to illustrate successful practices.

The Cultural Aspects of International Business
This course focuses on the issues faced in executing strategy globally and managing operations or projects in different cultural environments and/or with people from diverse cultures. The course is management oriented, presenting a problem solving and decision making approach to global business. The primary focus of the material is on the interaction between people of different cultures in work settings. This inter-cultural perspective has been chosen because the interaction of cultures mirrors reality and is where managers experience challenges. This course will draw upon material from a wide range of cultures. Specifically, the objectives are: 1) to develop awareness of the pervasive and hidden influence of culture on management behavior and practices in global operations, and 2) to develop skill in using selected analytical "tools" (frameworks) that can guide managers working with diverse cultures.

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Marketing

Entrepreneurial Finance for High Tech Companies
This course provides an overview of entrepreneurial finance with a focus on high technology companies. Specific topics include analyzing the financial needs of high technology ventures including working capital management; risk analysis; capital budgeting; sources of financing; valuation; and exit strategies including licensing, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, and IPOs. We will be using a combination of text material, books, and cases.

International Marketing
This course is designed to help students develop an understanding of: 1) the opportunities and challenges facing the international marketing executive; 2) the decision making process involved in marketing goods abroad; and 3) the environmental forces - economic, cultural, and political - affecting the marketing process in the international marketplace.

Marketing Strategy
This advanced course provides an overview of how to define and manage an organization's product-market strategy. This course is intended for marketing specialists and non-specialists interested in incorporating a market focus from a general management or consulting perspective. In addition, emphasis is placed on 1) using market information to choose and manage companies' relationships with customers and competitors in a complex, changing environment and 2) the practical concerns of implementing and evaluating marketing strategy.

Marketing in the Service Sector
This course focuses on the unique challenges of managing services and delivering quality service to customers. The attraction, retention, and building of strong customer relationships through quality service(s) are at the heart of the course content. The course is equally applicable to both organizations whose core product includes services and organizations that depend on service excellence for their competitive advantage. Course content focuses on understanding and managing customer expectations and evaluations of services; designing services that meet or exceed customer expectations; managing the effective delivery of services through human resources and technology; and communicating realistic and effective service promises to customers. Throughout the course, emphasis is placed on the total organization and how effective marketing must be coordinated across multiple functions.

Marketing Metrics
This course provides an overview of the major qualitative and quantitative marketing research methodologies available to managers. The course also explores customer relationship management (CRM), multivariate statistical techniques including conjoint analysis, customer satisfaction and service quality measurement.

New Product Development
This course provides an overview of the basic concepts of marketing's role in the development and launch of new products. Topics covered include the new product development process and forecasting new products. The course focuses on real world examples and applications.

Operations and Supply Chain Management

Brand and Advertising Management
This course provides an in-depth understanding of the brand-building process. It exposes students to the concepts, theories, principles, and terminology of brand management, brand equity, and advertising. It covers issues such as target market identification, message strategy, media choice, and advertising evaluation.

Global Supply Chain Management
This course analyzes the managerial activities of those involved in both supply chain management operations and planning in companies involved in international commerce. It focuses on contemporary issues that affect the design of global supply chain systems and processes. It also examines the current status and future prospects of the modes of international transportation. International trade and development issues are also examined, not only from the corporate perspective, but also in terms of government policy.

Supply Chain Management
This course analyzes the role and activities of those involved in supply chain management decision making. It emphasizes the importance of transportation planning, inventory control, warehouse management, development of customer service standards, and procurement in the design and operation of supply and distribution systems. Attention is given to the importance of information systems and the Internet in supporting such activities. Special attention is also given to the close working relationships with managers in other functional areas including manufacturing, information systems, marketing and international operations. This integrated approach to management is critical in supporting supply chain cost and service improvements.

The Transportation Industries
This course provides an overview of both the domestic and international transportation systems. The goal is to provide the student with a comprehensive understanding of the structure of various transportation industries as well as the major problems and potential solutions to the problems facing these industries. Of equal importance is the exploration of the relationship between transportation, logistics, supply chain management, and other functional areas of business. The course will focus primarily on the strategic and functional skills needed to ship products. And who knows, maybe we will have some fun along the way!

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