BUS - Business Administration
This course will examine the legal dimensions of the employment relationship in a non-union setting. Students will become familiar with the employment-at-will doctrine and will understand the exceptions to that doctrine. Several federal laws will also be examined including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the American with Disabilities Act, the Family Medical Leave Act, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, the Equal Pay Act, OSHA, and the Fair Labor Standards Act. The course will also cover other issues including privacy in the workplace, employment testing, and performance appraisals. The course will also provide students with analysis of formal and informal initiatives, processes and structures developed by business organizations and managers to address common ethical problems at work in order to prepare students to participate in their organization's efforts to promote ethics at work.
Students will develop the personal, interpersonal and team skills leaders need to function effectively, including self-awareness, emotional intelligence, communication, collaboration, and relationship-building. Students will reflect and learn through a series of activities, assessment exercises, and small and large group discussions. The objective of this course is to help students deepen their self-awareness and to prepare them to be effective leaders.
This course aims to provide the student with a comprehensive understanding of microeconomic theory and its relevance to business decision-making. The heart of the course is an intensive examination of the neoclassical theories of demand, production, cost, and pricing.
This course is designed to familiarize the students with the basic cost concepts and the techniques of accumulating cost data that may assist management in planning, controlling, and decision making. Topics will include the fundamentals of managerial accounting, cost classification and behavior, job order and process costing; absorption and variable costing; and standard costing and variance analysis. Budgeting and profit planning, cost-volume-profit analysis, capital budgeting, and investment analysis are also covered.
Students examine essential theories related to organizational behavior and communication. These theories include, but are not limited to job performance, commitment, stress, motivation, trust, ethics, decision making, personality, culture, structure, and leadership. Through examination of these different theories and case studies, students will explore the impact each has upon not only their personal environment but also the global environment.
The course focuses on the application of management tools and thoughts in the solution of problems centering in the marketing function. It covers such topics as: marketing policies, research, strategy, organization, demand analysis, product planning, pricing, physical distribution, demand stimulation, sales management, retailing and wholesaling techniques and structures, marketing law and current marketing literature. The course also involves case studies, various types of reports and oral presentations by students; and widespread reading in current marketing periodicals.
This course examines the application of management tools and thought to the solution of business problems centering in the financial function. Coverage includes topics such as financial management of business units with emphasis on organization, structure, collection and use of financial data; profitability, liquidity, sources of capital and external financial institutions, and their operations; taxes, regulation and types of lending markets and operations, insurance and risk management; investment objectives, types of investments and their relative merits, security prices and yields, investment programs and taxes.
This course provides an understanding of the managerial concepts and quantitative tools required in the design, operation, and control of production systems. Coverage includes topics such as: productivity/ competitiveness, product design, process selection, staffing considerations, system start- up, steady-state operations, and other planning and control methods. All are couched in the framework of a product life cycle.
Each MBA student must complete a research paper on a topic of his or her choice. The paper is to discuss a pragmatic problem involving original research by the student, with supporting library documentation. Topics will be subject to the approval of the student's advisor, and the specific research requirements and organization appropriate to each topic will be worked out in conjunction with the advisor. Topics may be operational in nature and would include such areas as inventory control, job enrichment, and strategy tactics. Students will present their papers to a faculty executive board for approval.
This course is designed to provide the student with an understanding of what market research can and cannot do and to introduce a basic structure for problem analysis. Subject matter includes scope and practice of marketing research, survey technique and questionnaire construction, experimental design, data collecting, and statistical techniques.
This course considers problems in the management and leadership of sales and distribution channels. Topics include the personal selling process, account management, determining sales force size, organization, evaluating individual and group performance, and compensation plans. Coverage of channel selection, conflict, power, and control.
This course has a marketing management direction and orientation. The objective is to integrate the major elements of marketing communication in both consumer and industrial markets. These elements include advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, packaging, and publicity and public relations.
The course is structured to integrate two key aspects of the marketing practice-sales management and integrated marketing communications-which many companies struggle to integrate. Over the first six weeks we study sales management, including hiring, training, directing, motivating, and analyzing the sales force through selected readings, real-world case studies and classroom discussions. Over the next six weeks we study the integrated marketing communications function with emphasis on optimal decision-making by marketing managers related to problem-solving situations in advertising, public relations, branding, promotions, incentives, and social media. Over the last four weeks we study challenges and approaches to integrating these important functions as well as relevant ethical considerations in both areas.
This course is designed to enable the student to understand, from a variety of perspectives, factors that affect buyer decision making. These include psychological, sociological, and cultural factors. Such an understanding provides a basis for marketing decisions that aim to enhance buyer satisfaction with the goods and services of the firm.
Examines the process organizations use to develop strategic marketing plans. This course includes an overview of marketing audits, how to appraise market opportunities, ideas for designing new activities and products, and marketing planning processes and development.
This course examines the key elements that support opportunity development, start-up launching, and financial and growth issues for new initiatives in the private and the not-for-profit sectors.
Builds on concepts developed in Financial Management and provides additional concepts and models for financial decision-making. Theoretical and practical aspects of the capital budgeting are examined with emphasis on including the concept of risk into the capital budgeting decision. An analytical framework is presented to evaluate leasing, bond refunding, dividend policy and mergers and acquisitions.
Business forecasting concentrates on quantitative approaches to forecasting, such as regression analysis, exponential smoothing and ARIMA models. Students will gain an understanding of the limits and diagnosis of forecast models, as well as the crucial role of sound human judgment.
This course begins with a review of basic investing then goes deeper into understanding financial securities, investment principles, operation of securities markets, and the selection process for various investments. The purpose of the course, in the context of portfolio management, is to allow students to conduct some security analysis and choose investments to build a sound investment portfolio according to a criterion of goals and objectives.
The development of financial accounting theory and practical application of that theory will be studied. Content will include review of the conceptual framework of financial accounting as promulgated by the FASB. Particular emphasis will be placed on the objectives of financial reporting, the elements of the financial statements, and the principles of recognition and measurement.
This course is designed to provide an in-depth study of the accounting and financial management principles and practices associated with governmental and other not-for-profit entities. Special emphasis will be placed on state and municipal governments; however, coverage will also include the accounting/financial practices of colleges and universities, hospitals, and health and welfare agencies.
This course is designed to provide students with an in-depth study of the audit process. The course will begin with a review of the attest function, including various phases of the audit process, such as engagement planning, audit control, and execution. Finally, coverage will return to compilation and review engagements.
This course is designed to improve the quality of ethical decisions made by accounting students in the practice of their profession, by giving them a forum within which to encounter and debate the moral problems of the profession. Professional responsibilities of accountants in public and private practice will be examined, including responsibilities to clients, management, owners, colleagues, and society at large.
This course is designed to provide students with an understanding of corporate tax planning and its application to both corporate shareholders and estates. Subject matter includes types of business entities, determination of corporate net income, taxation of distributions to shareholders, and taxability of corporate formations and liquidations.
This course is designed to provide an in-depth knowledge of various personal computer application programs. Subject matter includes an introduction to computers, use of Microsoft Windows, word processing, spreadsheets, presentation tools, and database tools.
This course is designed to provide an in-depth knowledge of human resource management. Topics include the nature of human resource management, staffing the organization, training and developing human resources, compensating strategies, employee relations and global HR.
The ability to effectively contribute and lead teams is frequently listed as a top skill needed by employers. This course provides a foundation on the topic and practical tools to help students diagnose complex group dynamics and become productive team members and leaders. Leadership strategies for creating effective teams is a focus in the course, covering key topics including trust, conflict, commitment, accountability, and results.
This course presents a study of the key principles of Catholic social teaching on economic life, business, and society. Students examine the major papal encyclicals and the crucial implications for managing organizations from a Christ centered view. Texts of other writers are also considered. The aim is to ground students in the moral dimensions of historical, political, and economic life. Topics will include: business as vocation and calling, the virtues of business leaders, and core principles of Catholic social thought from Leo XIII to the modern period, including emphasis on the role of the family, the nature of work, human dignity, the common good, solidarity, and subsidiarity.
Examines the interactions among organizational resources, organization design, management practices and external forces from a macro-organizational perspective. Topics include: the inter-relation of system design, work design and management theory; as well as an overview of organizational theory. Study concentrates on organizations as systems and managerial, technical, structural, and cultural subsystems as they relate to the broader environment.
This course is designed to equip managers to plan, organize, direct, and control the information resources of the firm; to help them work effectively with computer personnel; to enable them to discriminate among software products; and to instill a sense of urgency to stay abreast of rapid changes in the field of information technology that affect the strategic positioning of their firm.
This course is designed to familiarize the student with neoclassical labor theory and the issues surrounding the labor market in the U.S. Subject matter includes, among other topics, demand for labor, demand elasticities, quasi-fixed labor costs, supply of labor, household production, and compensating wage differentials.
This course is designed to provide the student with a knowledge of current problems in the economy. The subject matter of this course changes as economic issues change. Readings include publications of the Federal Reserve System, The National Association of Business Economists, as well as The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fortune, Business Week, National Review, Conservative Chronicles, and others.
This course is designed to familiarize the student with the major aspects of antitrust, economic, and social regulations as it relates to the firm. Subject matter includes, among other topics, the philosophy of regulation, consumer benefits, capture theory, public choice theory, airline regulation, energy regulation, job safety regulation, environmental regulation, and antitrust regulation.
This course is designed to equip the student with an understanding of issues and firm strategy when a firm competes internationally. Subject matter includes country factors, global trade and investment environment, global monetary system, and strategy and structure of international business operations.
This course is designed to provide students with an understanding of major trends, issues, and problems confronting healthcare professionals and policy makers. Subject matter includes, among other topics, evolution of healthcare systems and policy, nursing issues, healthcare system reform, financing healthcare, managing healthcare costs, peer review organizations, and long-term care for the elderly.
Selected students will be permitted to complete a maximum of four credits of independent studies (two, two-credit electives, or one, four-credit elective). Guidance and supervision on individual research work will be provided by members of the graduate faculty.
Advanced research or field project work under the supervision of a faculty member arranged to suit the individual requirements of the student (independent study).
Permission of instruction
Students will analyze major decisions in the context of the entire philosophical framework of business through case studies. Emphasis is placed on the relationship of business to outside forces and to the integration of functional operations. The effects of major policy decisions on marketing, finance, manufacturing, and personnel will be analyzed. The course covers strategy, policy definition, planning, organizing, direction, control, and an in-depth look at management and its sources and responsibility. This course brings together all of the principles of business studied in previous courses. Oral and written presentations of case studies are used to further develop communication skills.