Course Descriptions
All prerequisites must be passed with a grade of C- or better.
Lower Division
10 Global Perspectives in Business and Society
An introduction to business and society from a global perspective, including the political, socio-cultural, economic, and ecological dimensions of globalization. Topics include an introduction to global political and economic institutions (e.g., the IMF, World Bank, and United Nations), neo-liberalism, pro-globalization and anti-globalization movements, development in newly emerging economies (e.g., issues involving cultural, ecology, labor, currency and global capital flows), ecological issues (e.g., pollution, global warming, and shortages of water, food, and energy), Non-Governmental Organizations, cross-cultural worldviews of what constitutes a moral economy, and how business can serve social justice or perhaps undermine it. Offered every semester. Satisfies Global Perspectives Core Curriculum requirement.
40 Business Statistics
An introduction to statistical concepts used to assist in making decisions under conditions of uncertainty. Topics include the collection and analysis of data, probability and probability distributions, hypothesis testing, linear regression, and correlation. This course may not be taken for credit in addition to Mathematics 4 or Psychology 3. Offered every semester.
Upper Division
108 Interfaith Leadership for Business and the Professions
Joins interfaith understanding, leadership theory, communication methods, and religious literacy, and applies them in business and professional settings. In so doing, students begin to develop the knowledge, values, and skills needed to lead inclusively and effectively in a religiously diverse environment to further business and professional goals. Offered fall semester only. Prerequisites: English 4 and 5 and any one Collegiate Seminar course.
110 Entrepreneurship
An introduction to the concepts, tools, strategies, and practices of the entrepreneurship processes for both a start-up businesses as well as a Strategic Business Unit in an existing company. Topics include identifying new venture opportunities, idea generation, innovation, new product/service development, industry research, competitive analysis, legal and regulatory requirements for new ventures, and business and marketing plan development. Examination of the changing business environment is emphasized to allow students to understand the need to make strategic adjustments to their business model on a continuing basis. Offered fall semester only. Prerequisites: Lower-division common business core courses and the core curriculum math requirement. Enrollment is limited to seniors.
111 New Venture Financing
The study of raising capital for new ventures involving start-up businesses, financing a strategic unit or project within an existing company, and solving financial problems unique to small- and medium-sized firms undergoing rapid growth. Topics for this course include raising seed capital from venture capital, business angels, investment banking, and commercial banking sources; legal and regulatory issues that arise in new venture financing; exit strategies, and financial modeling to determine the financial health of companies and strategies for their growth. Offered spring semester only. Prerequisites: Lower-division core courses, but may be taken concurrently with Accounting 2 or Economics 4. Core Curriculum Math requirement.
112 Small Business Management
An examination of small business practices and strategies in both private and public companies. Topics include employee motivation, green marketing, franchising, e-commerce, and technology. Other issues incorporated into the course are managing diversity in the work place, team development, managing change in the face of global competition, relevant financial statements, and legal matters relating to small business (e.g., contracts and business forms). Continuous improvement methods to meet the changing demands of customers as well as information technology to increase efficiencies are also addressed. Offered spring semester only. Prerequisites: Lower-division common business core courses and, the core curriculum math requirement. This course is not available to freshmen.
113 Business in the Digital Age
An examination of the impact on business of digital technologies and the use of digital technologies in corporate communication and on-line marketing. Specific topics may include the impact of globalization, collaboration tools (e.g., web-conferencing and other real-time and asynchronous options for joint work), virtual corporate environments, professional networking and social media, mobile applications, online advertising, and e-commerce, as well as performance metrics. Because the rate of change in digital technology and its use in business is high, a part of the course will be reserved for mapping emerging technologies Students will learn the application of many of these tools through hands-on experience. Offered every semester. Prerequisites: Lower-division common business core courses, the core curriculum math requirement, and Busad 124.
120 Business Law
This course provides students with an understanding of common legal topics relevant to business, including contracts, business torts, business crimes, business forms (e.g., partnerships and corporations), securities law, lending and secured transactions. Offered every semester. Prerequisites: Accounting 1, Economics 3 and the core curriculum math requirement. This course is not available to freshmen.
121 Advanced Legal Topics in Business
This course addresses the regulatory environment of business, including a discussion of applicable regulatory agencies, securities and capital market regulation, anti-trust and fair competition regulation, consumer protection, environmental protection, labor and employment law, intellectual property, international law, and related topics. Offered spring semester only. Prerequisites: Accounting 1, Economics 3, the core curriculum math requirement, and Busad 120. This course is not available to freshmen.
123 Financial Management
An introduction to the principles of corporate finance and their application in business today, focusing on the measurement and creation of value in a corporation. Topics include financial markets, present value analysis, the theory of risk and return, portfolio theory, asset pricing models, cost of capital, capital budgeting, capital structure, and value based management. Offered every semester. Prerequisites: Lower division common business core courses and the core curriculum math requirement. This course is not available to freshman or sophomores.
124 Marketing
The study of the major areas of marketing decision-making that confront organizations. Topics include the utilization of marketing information systems as well as the formulation and implementation of integrated product, pricing, distribution and promotion strategies. Offered every semester. Prerequisites: Lower division common business core courses, except Accounting 2, and the core curriculum math requirement. This course is not available to freshmen.
126 Applied Marketing Research
A detailed overview of marketing research, strategic marketing planning and the development of fully integrated marketing programs. Topics include market analysis, marketing mix strategies, product positioning, market segmentation, and related social and ethical issues. Offered fall semester only. Prerequisites: Lower-division common business core courses, the core curriculum math requirement, and Busad 124. This course is not available to freshmen or sophomores.
127 Business Communication
This course covers the kinds of communication students can expect in complex organizations with multiple audiences. Because business communication occurs in a competitive environment, course material will emphasize in-depth categorical editing, organizational strategies for informative and persuasive writing and speaking, the construction and presentation of arguments. Offered every semester. Prerequisites: English 4 and 5. This course is not available to freshmen.
128 Consumer Behavior
This course begins by looking at the consumer on an individual level, through an examination of the intrapsychic components of consumer behavior. These include consumer perceptions, memory, motivation/values, attitudes and the individual decision-making process. It then moves on to address the interdependent aspects of consumer behavior by examining its social and cultural context, including: the influence of group members on decision making, differences between subcultures within North America, and the nature and importance of cultural differences in consumer behavior around the world. In addition to a discussion of the basic principles of consumer behavior, emphasis will also be placed on critical evaluation of the supportive evidence, and the research methods used to investigate consumer behavior. Offered spring semester only. Prerequisites: Lower-division common business core courses, the core curriculum math requirement, and Busad 124. This course is not available to freshmen or sophomores.
129 Global Marketing
An exploration of the international marketing environment and its impact on marketing practice. Topics include the benefits, risks, and complexities of marketing abroad with particular emphasis on multi-cultural aspects and their implications for market entry, global competitive strategies, and formulating suitable product, promotion, pricing and distribution strategies for international markets. Offered fall semester only. Prerequisites: Lower-division common business core courses, the core curriculum math requirement, and Busad 124 This course is not available to freshmen or sophomores.
130 Sports Marketing
This course explores basic marketing concepts as they are applied to sports organizations, both amateur and professional. It addresses unique challenges, limitations, and new trends in sports marketing, as well as the marketing of sports products and the use of sports to market non-sports products. Topics include the sports marketing mix, market segmentation, sports consumer behavior, branding, and sponsorship. Offered spring semester only. Prerequisite: Accounting 1, Economics 3 and either Kinesiology 20 or Busad 131 (or by permission of instructor). This course is not available to freshmen or sophomores.
131 Managing and Leading in Organizations
The study of the structure, functioning, and performance of organizations, and the impact of psychological, sociological and ecomomic variables on the behavior of groups and individuals within them. Topics include motivation, leadership, decision-making, power and influence, group and team dynamics, conflict resolution, creativity and innovation, organizational change, and managing across cultures. Offered every semester. Prerequisites: English 4 and 5. This course is not available to freshmen.
132: Global Operations Management
A study of the design and execution of the production or service system for providing products or services to meet demand. As efficiency barriers of time and space between companies are breaking down, operations function must adopt a global dimension to remain competitive. The course provides concepts and tools for evaluating and improving the operations of a firm. The specific topics include process analysis, waiting line analysis, quality management, project management, inventory management, and supply chain management. Offered every semester. Prerequisites: Lower-division common business core courses and the core curriculum math requirement. This course is not available to freshmen.
135 International Financial Management
An examination of the principles and practices of the financing and investment decisions of multinational firms operating globally. Topics include foreign exchange markets, financial instruments in the international capital markets, corporate exchange risk management, international investment decisions, global financing strategies, financial crises, and related issues. As such, this course extends financial management and investment to the international environment. Offered fall semester only. Prerequisites: Lower-division common business core courses, the core curriculum math requirement, and Busad 123.
136 Investments (cross-listed with Economics 136)
Description and analysis of the securities market (bonds, stocks, etc.) from the viewpoint of the private investor. The student is introduced to asset valuation theories as well as the basis of portfolio selection. Particular emphasis is placed on the trade-off between risk and return, both for the individual assets and in a portfolio context. Prerequisite: Busad 40 or equivalent.
137 Advanced Quantitative Methods
A rigorous analytical course involving the study of the theories and practices of diverse quantitative methods and procedures that enable managers to judiciously use data in solving complex problems in finance, marketing, operations, and corporate strategy, and providing business analysts with a sound conceptual understanding of the role management science plays in the decision-making process. Students are introduced to advanced tools and techniques for quantitative analysis to support conclusions drawn from empirical evidence for effective decision-making under conditions of uncertainty. Topics may include multivariate statistical analysis, multiple linear and logistic regression modeling, time-series analysis, optimization, computer simulation, waiting line models, principal component, factor and cluster analysis, and multidimensional scaling. Offered spring semester only, beginning spring 2014. Prerequisites: Lower-division common business core courses and the core curriculum math requirement. This course is not available to freshmen or sophomores.
138 Business Intelligence and Visualization
This course prepares students to develop systems to measure, monitor and predict the evolution of key enterprise variables and performance indicators and present them in the form of usable information supporting the business decision-making process. Students also learn techniques to present analytical results visually and communicate the business insights revealed by analytics effectively. Topics include data warehousing, business reporting and performance management, visual querying, and dashboards. Structured Query Language (SQL) and Tableau will be used in the course
139 Business Analytics and Big Data
This course covers predictive modeling techniques. Students will also be exposed to a collection of current practices and computer technologies used to transform business data into useful information and support the business decision-making process. Topics include data mining, text and web analytics, and big data strategies. RapidMiner will be used in the course.
140 Strategic Management
A capstone course which must be taken in the spring term of the senior year, it integrates the major functional operating areas of business firms viewed within the broader context of strategic management, i.e., the process of managerial decision making and actions that determine the long-run performance of business organizations. Offered spring semester only. Prerequisites: Lower division common business core courses, the core curriculum math requirement, Busad 123; Busad 124; and BusAd 132. This course should be taken in the spring semester of the senior year.
175 Management Information Systems
This course focuses on the concepts, tools, trends, and organization of information systems. Topics include e-commerce, network technology, trends in social media, enterprise resource management, database and knowledge management, digitization and digital products, wired and wireless technology platforms, and ethical and social issues. Examination of the changes and trends in the wired and wireless technology platforms, database and business intelligence management, and social media and networks is emphasized to allow students to understand the potential competitive advantages of information technology in a global business world and its role in improving customer intimacy, supply management and various operational efficiencies. Offered spring semester only. Prerequisites: Lower-division common business core courses and the core curriculum math requirement. This course is not available to freshmen or sophomores.
180 Global Business
An overview of the special opportunities and risks firms face as a result of the rapid globalization of business. The course emphasizes the economic, cultural, and institutional factors that managers must consider when conducting business in foreign countries. Students will study and become familiar with global marketing, finance, and managerial strategies that lead to success in off-shore markets. Offered every semester. Prerequisites: Lower-division common business core courses. This course is not available to freshmen or sophomores.
181 Business Ethics and Social Responsibility
The study and application of ethical decision-making, leadership, and social responsibility in business, grounded in personal and company core values. Topics include the moral dimensions of political and economic context of business; utilitarian, Kantian, and virtue ethics; creating ethical company cultures; the role of the firm in society and theories of corporate social responsibility, including sustainability (economic, social, ecological); cross-cultural dimensions of multinational business; and social responsibility focused regulation (e.g., Sarbanes-Oxley). Offered every semester. Prerequisites: Lower-division common business core courses. This course is not available to freshmen.
185 Managing the Global Firm
An exploration of the global manager’s environment, which includes the cultural context of global management, formulating and implementing strategy for international and global operations, and global human resources management. The course helps students to develop a global vision and global management abilities at the organizational, strategic, and interpersonal level. Topics include cross-cultural management, global human resource management, global workforce planning (people, mobility), developing and managing global competencies (people and processes), and labor relations policies and management. Prerequisites: Lower-division common business core courses, the core curriculum math requirement, and Busad 131.
195 Internship
Work-study program conducted in an internship position under the supervision of a faculty member. Normally open to junior and senior students only. Permission of instructor and department chair required.
197 Independent Study
An independent study or research course for students whose needs go beyond the regular courses in the curriculum. Permission of the instructor and department chair required.
