400

The capstone course for all business majors, this course examines the process of managing the strategy, formulation, and implementation functions of a firm. Teaches students to think strategically and to consider the perspective of the total enterprise utilizing cases, readings, and professional presentations. Taken during one of the student’s last two semesters. (Business majors only.)

Students will complete a variety of career development activities that facilitate the transition from college student to business professional. Experiences include seminars, planning and leading a senior service project, and networking events. Students will finish their professional electronic portfolio. Fee: $20.

Examines critical issues necessary to evaluate and report on business combinations, corporate consolidations, and partnerships. Includes accounting research methodology and case analysis.

Surveys the field of investment analysis and portfolio management. Topics include: investment process and financial planning, the structure of capital markets, the definition and measurement of risk and return in global markets, security law and ethics, stock market indicators, investment media and risks, stock and bond valuation models, real estate investment, municipal bonds, and government securities.

Examines the various financial markets that play a crucial role in helping individuals, corporations, and governments obtain financing and invest in financial assets such as stocks, bonds, mortgages, and derivatives. Includes the study of financial institutions that facilitate management of financial market transactions.

Provides the informational and decision-making tools needed for planning and implementing a successful personal financial program. Topics include money management models, consumer finance issues, insurance, investing, retirement and estate planning.

Examines derivatives, their markets and their role in portfolio and corporate financial management. Emphasis on risk management techniques employing derivatives and the pricing of options, futures, forward contracts and swaps. Other topics include market structure, speculation and arbitrage.

Provides an in-depth examination of international money and capital markets, exchange-rate determination and currency-risk management techniques employing forward, futures, and options contracts. Considers the functions of international financial management in relation to the overall objectives of the organization.

Applies marketing principles to the contexts of international and global business. Topics include strategies, risks, and benefits of marketing across national and cultural boundaries. Also examines consequences and ethical considerations of globalization.

Covers legal and accounting issues in government regulation of business in such areas as securities, antitrust, pension and retirement plans, and union and employer relations. The course also explores private law topics including sales, leases of goods, real and personal property, bankruptcy, commercial paper, secured transactions, credit and suretyship and professional liability.

Takes a comprehensive view of the concepts, tools and realities of successfully managing projects. Covers project selection, justification, planning and scheduling, and cash flow management including methods such as PERT/CPM, Critical Chain, Earned Value Analysis, and Simulation. Addresses important management and leadership issues including contracts, team composition, team building, motivation and compensation/incentives.

Develops skills in examining and improving the flow of materials and information through the network of suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers in order to effectively match supply with demand. Topics include inter- and intra-firm coordination, incentive design, the impact of uncertainty, and the role of information technology.

Takes a comprehensive look at approaches and tools for planning, executing and closing projects based on the Project Management Institute's (PMI) library of global standards. Presents a process-oriented view of project integration and managing project scope, cost, time, resources, quality and communications. Provides an excellent preparation for PMI's Certified Associate in Project Management and Project Management Professional certification examinations.

Provides fundamental systems analysis and design concepts and methodologies essential for successful and effective development of complex information systems. Approaches the development of business systems from a problem-solving perspective including traditional systems life cycle and object-oriented models. Intended for students who plan on becoming business analysts or systems developers.

Presents a comprehensive view of managing the flow of inventory to, within, and from the organization. Deals with the balance between shortages and excesses in an environment characterized by demand and supply uncertainty. Includes critical aspects of contemporary strategies such as JIT, lean, and reverse logistics (sustainable supply chains). Emphasizes both theory and practice applications.

Examines advanced operations management methods to enhance performance and competitive advantage. Topics include advanced queuing models, optimization methods, complex simulations to model operations, facility location and layout, operations sequencing and scheduling, and current issues in operations. Emphasizes the use of quantitative analysis for facilitating strategic decisions.

Examines theories and practices of staffing, training, assessing, and compensating employees from the perspectives of line management and the human resource department. Explores union/management interactions and healthy workplace environment while considering employment laws, the diverse labor force, and internal influences.

Provides a survey of income tax issues for businesses. Includes overview of tax theory, taxation of corporations, partnerships and other business entities. Emphasizes how tax issues impact decision-making.

Provides information on the theory, methodology, and specific techniques used in the verification and presentation of financial data provided to outsiders. Introduces specific verification services, including assurance, attest, and audit services. Class work includes a team project requiring an audit of an organization.

Covers advanced topics in accounting, including: accounting for governments, charitable organizations, colleges and universities, and hospitals, accounting for foreign currency transactions and hedging foreign exchange risk transactions, translation of foreign currency financial statements, developments in International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), comparison of US accounting standards to IFRS and other emergent issues in accounting.

Covers the fundamentals of the federal taxation of individuals and investments. Emphasis on planning transactions to minimize tax. Includes research using both print and computerized tax materials and the Internal Revenue Code.

Provides a detailed examination of the uses of advertising, sales promotions, public relations, personal selling, and other promotional tools in achieving different types of marketing goals. Emphasizes hands-on learning through development of a communication plan.

Discuss and practice current theories regarding the selling process and personal selling strategies. Develop interpersonal communication and analytical skills. Seminar format with extensive role plays, guest speakers, and discussion, emphasizing selling as a skill and profession.

Provides students with hands-on experience developing web marketing strategies for businesses and non-profit organizations seeking to leverage digital media in their competitive strategies. Topic areas include web marketing planning, website design, search engine optimization, online advertising, and marketing via email, blogs, social media, and mobile media.

Coverage of conceptual entrepreneurial skills needed to create a business that is globally competitive. Emphasis is on creation and implementation of a plan for a potential world-class venture. (Open only to Entrepreneur Scholars.) Fee: $4,000.

Business plan development and implementation under supervision of the director of the Center for Entrepreneurship and the mentorship of an entrepreneur. (Open only to Entrepreneur Scholars.)

Prepares students to conduct international business by comparing and contrasting the business practices of entrepreneurs in the United States with entrepreneurs globally. Immerses students in a foreign culture where they transact business on foreign soil. (Open only to Entrepreneur Scholars.)

Focuses on managerial, financial and process control issues specific to fast growing young companies. Organization systems and structure topics as applied to early stage growth companies also included.

Provides an understanding of the important roles of finance and accounting in funding and growing new ventures. Topics covered include (i) sources of financing young, fast growing business lines, (ii) valuation of new ventures, (iii) construction and presentation of pro forma financial statements, (v) cash-flows in new businesses, (v) IPOs, (vi) measurement of financial performance, and (vii) tax planning for new ventures.

Designed as the culminating course in the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Major. Moves from the creation of a business plan as a class deliverable to a venture launch, making the plan real, creating a professional document in terms of form, structure, consistency, and style. Builds the operational infrastructure of a new venture.

Examines innovative organizations that are created to improve social conditions. These organizations adopt aspects of the market model leveraging profit to a social end, rather than as an end itself. The course emphasis is on how such organizations are started, how they are sustained, and the various business models that are adopted to achieve an organizational mission.

Designed for superior students desiring extensive and intensive study in a particular area of interest.

In the semesters in which offered, varying subject matter as business faculty deems appropriate for needs of the student in meeting the objectives of the undergraduate business program.

In the semesters in which offered, varying subject matter as business faculty deems appropriate for needs of the student in meeting the objectives of the undergraduate business program.

Credit arranged.

Credit arranged.

Credit arranged.

Credit arranged.

Students may complete a second internship related to their major areas in a different capacity than a previous internship. (Preapproval by internship director. Business majors only.)

Research, study, or original work under the direction of a faculty mentor, leading to a scholarly thesis document with a public presentation of results. Requires approval of thesis director, dean, and director of the honors program, when appropriate.