Home » Academics » Required Courses Descriptions

Core Course Descriptions

For class descriptions of elective courses, please see Electives.

Core Courses

Leadership, Ethics & Professionalism (LEAP)
Corporate Communications
Marketing Management
Management in Organizations
Corporate Financial Reporting
Business Analytics
Managerial Finance
International Economic Environment of the Firm
Operations Management
Seminar in International Business (Global Learning Opportunity)
Strategic Management and Policy (Global Business Strategy)
Business Integration
Strategic Business Consulting

6N:201 Leadership, Ethics & Professionalism (LEAP)
The LEAP program will prepare you to identify opportunities and obstacles relevant to your career goal and design a detailed action plan to achieve that goal. Through class lectures, corporate guest speakers, round table discussions, small group sessions, relevant class projects, and individualized leadership development activities, you will learn: (1) skills to leverage your experiences to most effectively market yourself to employers, (2) advancement strategies through professional networking, (3) how to enhance your leadership and professional communication/presentation skills, and (4) increase your understanding of current business events. This comprehensive program is design to provide you with all the necessary tools to position yourself for your post-MBA positions, and the upward movement within organizations that will follow. (2 credits in semester 1, 3 credits in semester 2, 3 credits in semester 3 and 1 credit in semester 4)

6N:204 Corporate Communications
Success in business depends highly on being able to communicate your ideas. This course will help students hone their communication skills in business, both speaking and writing, and learn to apply those skills in a variety of situations. Each student assembles a personal portfolio of written and spoken applications, and practices collecting, organizing, analyzing, and presenting business information (while utilizing new technology) so it's impactful and easily understood. Personal branding, persuasive techniques, proposal preparation, and working as part of a team are all emphasized, as well as a deeper understanding of what it means to be a leader in the business world. (2 credits)

6N:211 Marketing Management
Concepts, principles and models of marketing. The relationship between marketing and other functional areas of business. Emphasis on how the marketing manager can achieve desired outcomes with the target market. Includes analyzing marketing opportunities; researching and selecting target markets; developing marketing strategies; planning marketing programs; and organizing, implementing, and controlling the marketing effort. (2 credits)

6N:212 Management in Organizations
Introduction to organizational behavior principles and human resource practices relevant to any new manager. Provides students with practice in using these concepts to solve problems encountered when managing people on the job. The course also encourages the development of analytical and critical thinking skills, ability to work in teams, and oral and written communication. (2 credits)

6N:215 Corporate Financial Reporting
Interpretation and analysis of financial information. Framework for understanding contemporary financial reporting practices, the forces that shape those practices, and how those practices influence the usefulness of financial information in applied decision settings. Topics are organized around three modules: (1) measurement rules and bookkeeping procedures for production of corporate financial statements and use of the information for credit decisions; (2) strengths and weaknesses of alternative accounting methods and financial disclosures; and (3) analysis for valuation purposes. (2 credits)

6N:216 Business Analytics
Introduction to techniques of quantitative modeling and statistical analysis for management decision making. A unifying element of the course is the use of Excel to perform various kinds of analysis in a spreadsheet environment. Major topics include decision analysis, statistical inference, regression, and linear programming. The course also develops required background material in probability. (2 credits)

6N:225 Managerial Finance
Provides an overview of the basic concepts and principles of financial management and insight into the decision-making process of financial managers. Topics include: the time value of money, the trade-off between risk and return valuation techniques, capital budgeting, capital structure, and the role of financial markets. Emphasizes the mathematical tools of financial decision making and the reasoning and concepts in appropriately applying these tools. (2 credits)

6N:228 International Economic Environment of the Firm
Determinants of business cycle and asset price fluctuation in an open economy (movements in real output, interest rates, inflation, exchange rates); monetary and fiscal policy in international co-movements. (2 credits)

6N:229 Operations Management
Planning and decision-making activities associated with the management of an organization's operations. Operations management, planning and decision-making activities, insights into the basic trade-offs associated with operations management decisions, tools and techniques for helping operations managers implement their decisions and reach their goals. Topics include: production and service delivery strategy, capacity planning, product and process design, total quality management, demand management, production and service planning, scheduling, materials control, emerging production, and service technologies. (2 credits)

6N:235 Seminar in International Business (Global Learning Opportunity) (optional)
Issues and challenges facing organizations doing business in international markets; social, economic, political factors, business policies and customs in the global environment; may include travel, study abroad. Repeatable. Prerequisite: MBA enrollment. (2 credits)

6N:240 Strategic Management and Policy (Global Business Strategy)
Firm's competitive strategy from a manager's perspective; key strategic frameworks; integration of concepts learned throughout MBA program, previous work experience. Prerequisites: 6N:211, 6N:215, 6N:225, and 6N:229. (2 credits)

6N:241 Business Integration
Student teams run an operational business simulation, conduct organizational/industry analysis, assess market opportunities, define strategic direction, compete for company profitability and market share. Prerequisites: 6N:211, 6N:215, 6N:225, and 6N:229. (3 credits)

6N:245 Strategic Business Consulting
Plan, schedule, and deliver strategic consulting services to commercial enterprises; project definition, preparation, and presentation of deliverables, client relationship management. Delivered under the guidance of Business Solutions Center. (3 credits)