Curriculum & Courses

In this course, students will learn about descriptive statistics, probability, hypothesis testing, and regression. These skills are necessary preparation for working in finance, accounting, or economics. This course also provides an introduction to analytical tools used in business and thus extremely useful to students planning to take business courses or work in the business world. Students will work on the use of spreadsheets to facilitate most of the analysis in this class. By the end of this course, students will be able to:

• Record and organize data, write formulas, and do basic calculations using Excel spreadsheets.

• Calculate and interpret various statistics describing the distribution of market returns and other variables.

• Use linear regression to analyze practical business problems and situations and apply this analysis to make decisions.

In this course, students will learn concepts that are critical to corporate finance, including: financial statement analysis; performance metrics; valuation of stocks and bonds; project and firm valuation; cost of capital; capital investment strategies and sources of capital, and firm growth strategies. Students will work as individuals and in groups to apply the tools of corporate finance to assigned cases. By the end of this course students will understand:

• How to apply fundamental corporate finance tools to analysis of firms’ strategic financial decisions.

• Evaluate the value impact of corporate decisions.

• Explain the rationale for decisions related to mergers & acquisitions or other corporate transactions and allocations of capital.

• Apply the Four Cornerstones of Corporate Finance in your evaluation of whether a firm has effectively created value.

In this course, students will learn the communications practices employed by brands to connect with customers, moving them from awareness through to interest, engagement, action, loyalty and evangelism. Students will work with case studies, current marketplace events and real-world examples. They will be challenged to engage in rigorous analysis and discussion of their strategic and tactical recommendations in solving brand and business communications challenges. By the end of this course, students will:

• Gain an understanding of how to leverage brand definition, positioning and strategy to build effective communications strategies.

• Explore the most effective ways to combine communication tools in the creation of integrated marketing communication strategy.

• Establish a practice of clearly defining key performance metrics as part of the communications planning process.

In this course, students will learn about financial derivative securities: their role in financial management is becoming increasingly important, especially in portfolio management. Students will work on assigned readings, class discussions and examinations .By the end of this course students will be able to:

• Identify valuation of various options and futures as well as their use in risk management. 

• Understand option and futures pricing models, option strategies and index arbitraging. 

• Evaluate common hedging problems and build synthetic derivative positions

In this course, students will gain an overview of major concepts of management and organization theory, concentrating on understanding human behavior in organizational contexts, with a heavy emphasis on the application of concepts to solve managerial problems. Students will work in a combination of conceptual and experiential activities, including case studies, discussions, lectures, simulations, videos, and small group exercises.

By the end of this course students will:

• Develop the skills to motivate employees
• Establish professional interpersonal relationships
• Take a leadership role
• Conduct performance appraisals

Availability: 

On Campus: Every term
Online: Every term 

In this course, students will learn how leaders build competitive advantage within their organizations by creating a clear purpose and then balancing it with agile practices that leverage, challenge and evolve that purpose. It explores how leaders use neuroscience-based techniques to unlock performance and adaptability as the speed of change continues to accelerate. Students will work in individual, whole-group, and small-group activities to engage with the course’s core concepts as well as complete a holistic final assignment.

By the end of the course, students will: 

• Assess and build personal and organizational purpose

• Analyze the four fundamental value propositions leaders use to differentiate their organizations and gain strategic competitive advantage

• Identify five levers of organizational design and show how leaders use them to align culture to organizational value proposition.

• Interpret and apply the Culturetek Model, a practical tool leaders can use to align strategy, culture, and leadership practices on an enterprise and functional level

• Utilize tools to diagnose personal leadership style and analyze how leadership styles/strengths impact organizational culture, value proposition, and purpose

In this course, students will learn fundamental marketing concepts and their application. Students will work extensively with case study projects. By the end of this class students will understand:

• The essential elements of a market and large-scale company strategy

• How to identify customers and competition

• The fundamental elements of the marketing mix (product, price, placement and promotion) 

• How to research consumer behavior and pricing strategies.

In this course, students will develop analytical skills used to formulate and implement marketing-driven strategies for an organization. Students will work on case studies in both individual and team-based projects. By the end of this course, students will: 

• Develop a marketing strategy based on market assessments and company needs

• Develop a deeper understanding of marketing strategies

• Learn how to implement tactics to achieve desired goals

In this course, students tackle the central business concept of how one creates, builds and leads companies. They look at aspects of entrepreneurship and leadership for both individuals and teams in the face of complex situations. Students will work using the case study method as taught in business school, also known as “participant centered learning,” hear  first-hand experiences on innovation and entrepreneurship. 

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

• Understand key business concepts and their application in the world of entrepreneurship

• Develop and present a pitch deck for a new business venture or new business idea for an existing company and pitch the idea to both small and large groups

• Launch a business or product and confidently engage with potential investors

In this course, students will learn about the valuation of publicly traded equity securities through case study analyses, class discussion, independent exercises, reading assessments, group work, and  weekly deliverables, culminating in a final investor pitch. 

By the end of the semester students will be able to:

• Perform fundamental analysis ("bottoms-up," firm-level, business and financial analysis)

• Prepare pro forma financial statements, estimate free cash flows and apply valuation models.

• Understand the importance of reasoned analysis and critical thinking when evaluating firms.

In this course, students will learn how to benchmark countries’ performance and analyze business opportunities in the world economy. Additionally, students will learn to examine the relationships between trade policy, financial flows and development to understand factors contributing to financial crisis and the policies to remedy them. Students will work on individual readings and a substantial final group project over the course of the semester. By the end of the course, students will be able to: 

• Evaluate development and economic indicators in order to understand trends in economic growth

• Characterize EFMs’ capital flows, policies, and financial institutions

• Assess risks and estimate returns through the use of common risk management approaches

• Construct frameworks needed to formulate a global investment strategy

In this course, students will undertake a detailed and critical analysis of the current U.S. financial market structure, focusing primarily on the market for equity securities. The course begins with a review of the history and evolution of the U.S. market structure, enabling students to better understand the emergent state of the current market. Students will work with readings, written analysis and examinations over the course of the class.

By the end of the course, students will:

• Have an understanding of the market and be able to analyze the various criticisms of its structure and current proposals to revise it

• Distinguish the two ways in which equity securities are traded in the United States

• Analyze the various levels of market participants and the unique roles they play in the securities trading market, including broker-­dealers, hedge funds, proprietary ­trading firms, and high ­frequency traders.

• Evaluate the role that regulation plays in shaping market structure.

In this course, students will learn how to create a marketing research brief, including: selecting the best research methodology to implement; designing a questionnaire; utilizing Qualtrics (a leading online survey tool); using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) to analyze data; and creating a compelling written report and oral presentation.  Students will work individually and in small groups to interpret readings and resources.

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

• Conduct a marketing research study 

• Make better business decisions from consumer insights using raw data 

• Articulate the importance of conducting market research

• Execute data collection: design, program (in an online tool), and administer survey to the target audience

• Create, analyze, and interpret data through crosstab reports including hypothesis testing

In this course, students will combine strategic thinking with storytelling to deliver persuasive messages. They will learn to identify key elements of a message while developing their ability to successfully craft and deliver presentations for a live audience. Students will work on both content creation and in-person presentation skills. By the end of the class, students will be able to:

• Understand and demonstrate the components of effective messages appropriate to specific audiences, environments and outcomes

• Demonstrate how to build effective messaging and develop a personal delivery style actionable in a variety of settings

• Identify the appropriate mechanism to maximize the value of their messaging, taking into consideration the specific challenges of various operating landscapes

In this course, students will learn to think more reflectively about their own messaging as well as that created by others.They will analyze communications from a variety of angles and consider alternative approaches to sharing information. This course examines content and context in the age of information, misinformation and disinformation in order to develop a lens for analyzing perspective, purpose, and hidden bias. At a time when the proliferation of data and information present messy situations, this course will equip students with the tools to become more savvy consumers of information.

By the end of the class, students will be able to:

• Analyze communication for the impact of both disinformation and misinformation
• Use statistics and data to communicate a message
• Develop a plan for more thoughtful and engaged participation with media and organizational content
• Determine and reflect on the impact of their own biases as a producer of information

In this course, students learn the principles of management as they relate to enterprise-wide information and knowledge services. Attention is given to the philosophy and history of information and knowledge services, specifically as this background affects students’ future performance as business managers and leaders in the workplace. The focus is on management and leadership skills, knowledge sharing, and the role of knowledge strategy in strengthening the corporate knowledge culture.

Students will work with readings and videos to prepare for class discussions and will also complete commentaries and two research papers over the course of the semester.

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

• Complete a knowledge services audit of an organization’s approach to managing and using knowledge in the workplace

• Explain the importance of aligning knowledge strategy with the organizational management strategy

• Articulate good practices for promoting enterprise-wide knowledge development, knowledge sharing, and knowledge utilization (KD/KS/KU)

• Outline information and knowledge strategy for organizations specifically related to people, processes, and technologies.