Business Administration (BU)
Study the principles, concepts, and techniques for managing productive systems. Learn the basics of transforming resources into products and services, be it a profit or nonprofit organization. Topics include capacity planning, product design and process selection, statistical quality control methods, total quality management, forecasting, job design and work measurement, inventory management, materials requirement planning and scheduling.
Businesses are inundated with data that could be used to develop insights into their customers, suppliers, and internal processes. The field of business analytics involves using data to guide decision making with the goals of improving productivity, increasing profits, and creating competitive advantage. The course provides an introduction to the applications and issues associated with systematically using data to drive business decisions across industries and in all fields including marketing, finance, operations, network security, fraud protection, and strategy. Topics include collecting and integrating data (systems knowledge), using the data to find optimal solutions (decision analysis), make predictions and find patterns (analytic tool application knowledge), and the ability to ask the right questions and think critically about the results (management knowledge).
Examine through comparative study the management styles, marketing activities, financial structures, approaches to environmental concerns and human rights, and trade laws within selected international business communities.
Corporate governance covers the rules and international processes by which businesses are operated and controlled, with emphasis on the officers, stockholders and bylaws of a corporation, as well as on external forces such as consumer groups, clients, and government regulations. Business ethics provides the philosophical and moral foundation used in considering ethical dilemmas in business. Current business cases as reported in new media are used extensively.
Examines legal systems including constitutional and public laws such as torts and intellectual property, contracts and commercial law, investor protections laws, and agency and employment law.
The responsibilities and activities of managers and leaders are discussed with a goal of developing the ability to manage and lead within the students in the course. Critical skills include interpersonal communications, motivation of others, leadership, and managing and implementing change and innovation in an ethical manner.
Develop a conceptual framework for the analysis of financial decisions of the multinational firm. Topics include foreign exchange markets, foreign exchange risk management, parity conditions in international finance, foreign investment analysis, political risk and financial management of the multinational corporation.
Prerequisite(s): BU628.
Develop the skills and abilities needed to deal effectively with global marketing issues and problems. Focus on decision making, the basis of relevant principles, and an appropriate conceptual framework using case analysis.
Review the impact of international laws and agreements as they apply to American overseas business interests. Topics include NAFTA, GATT, ASEAN, LAFTA, and the European and Arab Common Markets.
This course is intended to explore the employment and contract relationships as they apply in common law and the federal statutes to the typical small business person/employer. Among the topics covered are employee rights; affirmative action; discrimination as to age, disability, religion, sex; freedom of expression; procedural due process; Uniform Commercial Code, supplier/service contracts and leases and the Consumer Credit Protection Act.
Analyze the current methods and technologies used in the marketing of selective products, services, and experiences. Study the nature of market packaging, promotion, global marketing issues, and the establishment of domestic and international marketing policy. Emphasis on current marketing problems in both business and public institutions.
Learn to apply various corporate finance theories based on risk assessment of capital structures to capital budgeting, corporate capital structure, investment and financing decisions, and issues of corporate governance and control.
This course provides students with the opportunity to embark upon a faculty-supervised project that enhances their knowledge in a topic of business. The M.B.A. Special Topics course offers the student a great deal of flexibility with respect to topics to pursue.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor.
Explores the sources of competitive advantage and how an organization builds on these areas through its functional, business, corporate and global strategies through this M.B.A. capstone course. Integrate accounting, marketing, finance and management concepts and skills acquired in prior graduate classes to study advanced concepts in organizational strategy in the context of a larger industry. Through a corequired simulation component (BU691A), hone teamwork and leadership skills to collaboratively develop a winning corporate strategy. Taken in the final semester. With prior approval, this course can be taken concurrently with BU691B, or BU691B may be taken prior to BU691.