MBA - Executive

Foundation Course Descriptions

The following courses provide a foundation for the EMBA program to individuals with limited business training. The department suggests that students discuss their academic background with the Director of the program prior to making a decision to enroll in any of these classes. These courses are three semester credit hours, but do not count toward the EMBA degree requirement.

BUS

500A

FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING

Three credit hours

This course develops a working knowledge of the basic accounting system. The primary focus is on financial accounting by the business entity. Students learn to read and understand the four standard financial reports: the balance sheet, income statement, statement of cash flows, and statement of retained earnings with emphasis on their implications for management.

BUS

500Q

QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS

Three credit hours

A course for individuals who have a limited background in algebraic and statistical techniques. Students are exposed to statistical models and applications for quantitative methods in modern management.

Core Course Descriptions

BUS

701

ORGANIZATIONAL THEORY & THE SYSTEMS APPROACH TO MANAGEMENT

Three credit hours

This course introduces executives to the systems approach to management. It is an overview of the theories of general systems, systems-thinking, and the systems approach to management. Executives apply the systems approach to building systems models of the organizations represented in the class. These models provide an under-standing of the interdependencies in a variety of complex organizations and help managers learn to make more effective decisions for their organizations.

BUS

705

ACCOUNTABILITY OF FINANCIAL RESOURCES

Three credit hours

This course emphasizes the use of the accounting system to provide decision-making information to the manager. Cost accounting data are applied to management models of the firm, especially those models dealing with alternative choice situations, such as pricing, factor and product combinations, and capital budgets. Financial principles and analysis are coupled with accounting data for specialized types of business situations requiring executive decisions. Case problems provide the basis for intensive study of the subject area.

BUS

711

SENIOR MANAGEMENT ISSUES

Three credit hours

BUS

742

MICRO-ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

Three credit hours

This micro-perspective on organizational behavior deals with the individual and small groups. Executives develop a basic conceptual understanding of the causes of behavior (theories of motivation, learning, perception, communication, personality, and decision-making) and develop tools with which to change behavior. Research findings, supporting the hypotheses and relationships among personal and environmental causes and behavioral outcomes, are integral to the course. This course has a strong experiential base and a heavy emphasis on process.

BUS

747

OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

Three credit hours

This course develops a systems approach to the analysis of senior managerial operating problems. Computer, quantitative, and behavioral models are used to formulate operating decisions consistent with an organizations competitive strategy.

BUS

748

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

Three credit hours

Analysis of financial information is central to financial control, forecasting, and decision making. It also is central to the evaluation of customers, competitors, or merger candidates. This course gives executives insight into financial statement analysis, cash flow projections, capital budget evaluation, working capital management, and the primary methods of financing the corporation. Various measures of risk and methods of assessing the risk-return trade-off are also presented.

BUS

760

THE MARKETING ENVIRONMENT

Three credit hours

An organization must deal with strategic and tactical issues on a domestic and global basis if it is to maintain an effective marketing organization. The course places special emphasis on the determination of longer term marketing strategy, the building of shorter term tactics, and the significance marketing has in the strategic direction of the firm. Emphasis is given to the examination of competitive operations and practical marketing problems confronting executives.

BUS

765

MACRO-ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

Three credit hours

The macro-perspective provides a broader view of organizational effectiveness by dealing with the organizations major sub-units rather than individuals and small groups. This perspective deals with employee behavior as well as with overall design of the organization, efficiency, and adaptation to the environment. The macro-route to organizational change includes design of individual roles and organizational structures, relationships among roles, control systems, and information technology. A field activity in organizational development is a major focus of the course.

BUS

771

THE ECONOMIC SYSTEM

Three credit hours

This course gives executives an understanding of how the US economy operates, so that they will understand the national economic environment in which their own firm operates at present and in the future. Descriptions are presented from an intuitive perspective rather than from a mathematical/theoretical perspective. Emphasis is placed on readily available sources of important data about the economy's recent performance, on interpreting those data, and on obtaining and evaluating forecasts of the economy's future performance. The forces influencing economic growth, interest rates, inflation, employment, and living standards are studied. Government policies for influencing the economy are examined together with the organization of policy-making bodies and the motivations of policy makers.

BUS

781

GLOBAL STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT

Three credit hours

Globalization of US business is proceeding at an accelerating pace. Executives are introduced to techniques for managing this economic transformation both at home and abroad. The course reviews the development and current role of the multinational enterprise. Major features of international trade and the challenge of managing organizations across national borders are covered. Executives learn how to respond to international challenges by developing or critiquing international corporate strategies and operations.

BUS

800

POWER AND ETHICS IN THE MANAGEMENT OF ORGANIZATIONS

Three credit hours

The course introduces power and ethics concepts (The Prince Model, the Ethical Response Model) as systems-thinking ways of winning desired cooperation from associates, customers, suppliers, public policy makers, or others. The course stresses the use of contemporary case analysis as well as readings and creativity to develop win-win ways to nurture the health of both organizations and society.

BUS

870

POLICY FORMULATION AND STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT

Three credit hours

This course represents the culmination of the executives two-year program. Concepts, principles, and new ways of thinking are integrated into this capstone course. The executive takes the role of senior management, learning how to develop a strategic intent for the organization as well as the policies and competitive strategies necessary to make the intent a reality. In the process, the executive learns how to formulate decisions based on the analysis and diagnosis of competitive and market conditions and the organizations capabilities and limitations. The concepts and tools of strategic analysis, planning, and implementation are applied through case studies and consultation with actual organizations.

ELECTIVE REQUIREMENTS

Elective Management seminars will be offered evenings during a three-week term at the start of the Fall and Spring semesters. These seminars will cover topics of current interest or provide in-depth coverage of selected topics from the core courses. The majority of the seminars will be assigned one semester hour of credit and will meet for three hours and the minutes one night per week for a three-week period. Seminars will occasionally be given greater credit because of required travel, more class-time, or extensive out-of-class assignments. There will also be a summer elective seminar in Project Management that will be scheduled on weekends. Additionally, students may elect to participate in one of the International seminar programs sponsored by the Business Division. These Academic Seminars, to various parts of the world, typically are for 10-15 days. Academic credit may be given with the prior approval of a faculty member and the Program Director.