• Fall Courses
• Spring Courses
• Summer Courses

SMBA 511: SUSTAINABILITY THEORIES & MODELS

The objective of the course is to enable students to acquire an in-depth knowledge of sustainability; to think critically about sustainability topics; acquire creative thinking skills including critical analysis of theory and integrating different streams of knowledge; experience qualitative and quantitative analysis of business management situations; teamwork; and personal development.

SMBA 512: FINANCIAL & MANAGERIAL ACCOUNTING

An effective manager in today's business world possesses a broad knowledge base. Included in this is an understanding of external and internal financial reporting and the role each plays in providing useful information to decision makers. This class will build upon the accounting knowledge acquired in the pre-MBA experience. Class coverage starts with the corporate financial statement package (income statement, balance sheet, statement of cash flows and statement of changes in stockholders' equity) from which you will develop an understanding of how to use accounting information to assess the profitability, liquidity and solvency of a business entity. We will then explore external financial reporting issues—including the various reporting alternatives permissible under generally accepted accounting principles—associated with relevant financial statement items: revenues and receivables, cost of goods sold and inventory, depreciation and operating assets, and debt and equity financing. In the final portion of the course we will shift focus to current internal financial reporting issues relevant to managers in today's business environment including cost management concepts, cost behavior and cost estimation techniques and cost-volume-profit analysis.

SMBA 514: APPLIED ETHICS

This course introduces students to the John F. Donahue Graduate School of Business' policy on ethical behavior and provides students with basic ethical decision-making skills necessary to recognize, evaluate and resolve ethical conflicts. Emphasis is on common ethical challenges facing graduate students in the classroom and at work. This course provides an analytical framework for students to use when grappling with course-specific, ethical dilemmas in subsequent core and elective courses in the graduate program and in their professional business careers.

SMBA 515: ADVANCED MARKETING

The course extends the students' understanding of the marketing concept by familiarizing them with leading-edge thinking in selected topics in marketing such as marketing planning, target market selection, brand and channel management, customer lifetime value, and market intelligence. Through the use of a client project, case discussions and applications of rigorous marketing models, students develop the competency in applying the marketing concepts to make effective managerial decisions.

SMBA 516/517: APPLIED ECONOMICS & STATISTICS

Applied Economics explores the application of economic theory and quantitative methods to practical managerial problems. Students will learn the fundamental motivating factors behind the behavior of consumers and producers and will learn to analyze these factors along with environmental constraints so as to predict consumer and producer behavior. Strong emphasis will be placed on quantitative analysis and applications to managerial issues. Students must have a solid operational knowledge of algebra to successfully complete this course.

SMBA 518: FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

This course has as an objective discussing financial analysis as it relates to corporate decision making. The goal of the firm's management team is to increase the value of the company. They can create value through the financial decisions they make especially if those decisions increase the value of the firm. Thus, the focus of the course will be on value and how the financial decisions create value. In addition to the control of net working capital, the course will focus on three main theoretical areas of financial theory: risk, valuation and capital structure theory. The course will also take an integrative prospective since many problems a business faces often cross functional lines. Cases will be used in the course.

SMBA 519: VALUE CHAIN & OPERATIONS STRATEGY

An introduction to value chain management and operations strategy, including the value chain model and the role of each business function in increasing an organization's value potential; the importance of choosing the best operations strategy to establish a competitive advantage; the process-oriented view of an organization's operations; and the application of quantitative models and analytical techniques for decision making in uncertain environments.

SMBA 520: SYSTEMS THINKING

The course is designed to promote holistic thinking which seeks to understand a system by examining the linkages and interactions between the elements that comprise the entirety of the system. The course adopts the systems dynamics methodology which allows for explicit recognition of the underlying feedback loop structure characteristic of any dynamic system. This course will first emphasize exploration of existing models and in the later part of the course, focus on building new models that will enable the learners to make policy recommendations. The primary topics covered in this course include: discovering and mapping system structures; building scenarios; developing & testing systems models using simulation software; and providing policy recommendations based on the systems dynamics models tested.

ENVI 550: ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

This course begins with a discussion of the context including a review of the scientific method and the ecosystem structure and function, in the absence of human influence. These are followed by examination of environmental issues related to human population dynamics, energy production and consumption, land use perturbations, and toxicology, risk, and human health.