Course Descriptions
OB712: Managing Organizations and People
This course introduces you to some fundamental concepts, models and frameworks to help you become better acquainted with the organizations for which you work, the teams in which you work, the people with whom you work, and your own personal development. This course has five tracks: 1) how to develop yourselves as managers, 2) how to work well within teams, 3) how to develop more effective organizations, 4) how to assess the external environment, and 5) how to initiate change in each one of the above arenas. Tying all of these elements together, we will devote particular attention to the traits, skills and behaviors that are indicative of good leadership and how organizations and managers can be transformed for better alignment with the business demands of the future. Credits: 4.
OM726: Creating Value Through Operations and Technology
This course is case-oriented and focuses on topics of use to managers in any environment: process analysis, process improvement, supply chain management, and strategic operations decision-making. The course emphasizes the importance of effectiveness and efficiency and evaluates the potential trade-offs. Credits: 4.
MK724: Marketing Management
This course builds an in-depth understanding of basic marketing concepts and applies those concepts to a variety of management situations, including non-profit and public sector settings. The course provides working knowledge of the tools of marketing (product policy, pricing, distribution, promotion, consumer behavior), and the ways in which these tools can be usefully employed. The course builds practical skills in analyzing marketing problems and opportunities, and in developing marketing programs. Credits: 4.
AC711: Financial Reporting and Control
Introduction to accounting and an examination of how it helps in decision-making. Financial accounting (information needs of stockholders, creditors, and analysts) and managerial accounting (information needs of managers) are stressed. Topics covered include income statement/balance sheet format, purposes, and limitations; statement of cash flows; analysis of financial statements; cost behavior; use of relevant costs in decision-making; budgeting; and divisional performance measurement. Credits: 4.
ES701: Executive Written Communication
This course is a combination of lecture, discussion, and hands-on practice. It's designed to help you exercise leadership through writing and understand how strategies of written communication are an essential aspect of effective management, working relationships in the network era, and overall business strategy. Credits: 1.
IM842: Field Course—Business in Asia Pacific
Provides students with an understanding of the special features of the business environment in Asia-Pacific countries through field trips and case discussions. Includes semester-long team project. Guest lecturers, including top business leaders and professors from East Asia, are course highlights.
Core Courses Taken in Boston
FE722: Financial Management
Prerequisites: CD710 or OB710/711 or OB712/713
Financial Management examines three sets of problems: 1) saving and investment decisions by households, 2) investment and financing decisions by corporations, and 3) the role of securities markets and financial intermediaries in the economy. Decisions today affect the timing of and uncertainty about future flows of income; both timing and risk determine the current value of those future flows. This course develops the tools required to analyze these decisions and their interaction within the financial system. Credits: 4.
IS711: IT Strategies for a Networked Economy
Prerequisites: CD710 or OB710/711 or OB712/713, AC710/711, MK723/724, FE721/722, QM716/717
This case-based course demonstrates the role that information technology plays in shaping business strategy and business models. It provides an overview of the key technologies that are important in today's business environment and introduces organization and management concepts relating to the information technology function. The course also illustrates the relationships between organizational performance and the ability to leverage knowledge assets. Credits: 4.
FE730: Economics and Management Decisions
Prerequisites: CD710 or OB710/711 or OB712/713
The aim of the course is to present many of the decision problems managers face and to present the economic analysis they need to guide decisions. In the first half of the course, microeconomic tools are used to structure complicated decision problems about production, pricing, investment, and other strategic issues, address uncertainty through probabilistic forecasts and sequential decisions. An additional goal is to distinguish different market structures and apply competitive strategies using game theory. In the second half, the focus shifts to the study of the national and global economic environments within which companies operate. We identify the drivers of fluctuations in GDP, inflation, interest and exchange rates, and other key features of the economies. Since governments play key roles in determining the fate of economies and companies, the final theme is the rationale for and efficacy of government policy tools. Credits: 4.
QM717: Data Analysis for Managerial Decision-Making
Prerequisites: CD710 or OB710/711 or OB712/713, AC710/711
Managers deal with large amounts of information in quantitative form. Effective managers understand the conditions under which quantitative techniques may be appropriately applied for decision-making. In this course, students develop skills in using the computer to examine and report data. The focus is on deriving meaning from particular data sets, and the use of statistical estimation, hypothesis testing, and regression/correlation analysis in decision-making. Credits: 4.
SP751: Competition, Innovation, and Strategy
Prerequisites: CD710 or OB710/711 or OB712/713, AC710/711, QM716/717, MK723/724, FE721/722, FE727/730, IS710/711 *, OM725/726
"Competition, Innovation, and Strategy" is an integrative course designed to capitalize on your understanding of Finance, Operations Management, Marketing, and other functional issues. The course draws on a number of academic disciplines, especially economics, organization theory, and sociology, to build a fundamental understanding of how and why some firms achieve and sustain superior performance. We also study why some firms persistently generate returns that are lower than average. The course is analytically focused and requires that you evaluate both the external environment and the internal capabilities of organizations. Credits: 4.
SP700: Current Topics in Law and Ethics
Prerequisites: None
This one-week course will survey contemporary issues in selected areas of law and ethics. We will introduce pivotal areas of law, so that students begin to anticipate legal problems, analyze how to avoid them, and realize how legal principles can be employed to add value in their chosen fields. The subjects are torts, contracts, employment law, securities regulation and corporate governance. We expect that this overview of a few disciplines will encourage students to explore other legal topics relevant to their business interests. We will also offer an analytic structure that enables students to identify ethical issues in business, analyze options and make choices consistent with their own values. Credits: 2.
ES700: Executive Presentation
Prerequisites: None
A presenter's delivery skills impact the audience's image of the presenter and the clarity of the message being communicated. A combination of lecture, discussion, and hands-on practice and simulation, this course is designed to help you exercise leadership through verbal communication. Credits: 1.
