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.

Facilitates the transition from college to business professional.  Part of the Pamplin Professional Preparation Program (P4), this course provides a variety of career development activities. (Graded on a P/NP basis.) Fee: $10.

Leaders in sustainability must be able to understand rapid changes in environmental and social conditions, innovate to adapt to those changes, collaborate to envision transitions to sustainable futures, and engage with others to realize those visions. To build these capacities, this course develops systems thinking skills using readings and case studies drawn from environmental, social, and business contexts.

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

Explores how humans create and use messages that focus on the term “sustainability.” This newly minted “god term” is ubiquitous in our culture, used to promote environmental, political, and commercial services and products. Course explores how communication scholars examine, explore, and explain this language, including how businesses and policymakers constitute themselves, products, services, and policies using the term sustainability.

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

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.

Course covers real estate finance and investment. Topics include the various forms of real estate investment including home ownership, rental property, REITs, real estate syndicates, mortgages and securitization of mortgages, real estate companies, investment in land, etc. Brokerage, loan analysis, and real estate valuation techniques will also be covered.

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 government regulation of business including securities regulation, antitrust, and union and employer relations. The course also explores private law topics including formation and operation of corporations, sales, leases of goods, real and personal property, bankruptcy, commercial paper, secured transactions, 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.

Develops understanding of advanced optimization methods by considering business problems in a variety of functional areas. Covers linear programming, integer programming, network models, nonlinear programming, stochastic programming, multicriteria optimization, and decentralized optimization. The course stresses the use of computer software in solving business optimization problems and performing business analysis.

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.

Develops students’ ability to recognize personal and workgroup productivity improvement opportunities and to improve analysis and document consistency using VBA. Emphasis will be placed on the use of VBA to improve Excel spreadsheet integrity and maintainability, increasing the value of electronic spreadsheets as strategic and tactical assets and significantly reducing organizational liability and audit burdens associated with electronic spreadsheets.

This course covers the use of data, information technology, statistical analysis, and quantitative models to teach students how to make data-driven decisions. It provides students with knowledge and skills in descriptive and predictive analytics to understand, analyze, and predict business performance. The concepts learned will be applied to diverse business applications using easy-to-use software.

Takes a comprehensive look at process analysis & design, and quality management. Emphasizes qualitative and quantitative tools for designing efficient and effective processes and integrating quality management into the production or service process. Covers process diagramming, process performance measurement, flow analysis and managing process variability, process capability, lean operations, and quality management methods and philosophies (e.g. six sigma and TQM).

Develops an understanding of R, a flexible statistical computing environment with an enormous base of statistical and modeling methods, that is increasingly the statistical computing environment of choice for academia and industry. Emphasizes programming and data management facilities. Applications in data management, quality management, and simulation, with an emphasis on using simulation modeling for business decision making, will be used to strengthen problem solving and programming skills.

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. Course introduces specific verification services, including assurance, attest, and audit services while concentrating on external audits of publically traded companies.  Audit techniques, documentation of work completed, and audit opinions are studied and performed by the student.

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.

Students accepted into course will study portfolio management while managing the Miller Fund.  Since this is an applied course involving the ‘real-time’ management of money, students must possess strong financial analytical skills and a solid financial/accounting knowledge base before beginning the course.  Concepts such as investment philosophy, asset allocation,asset class management, investment process, and behavioral finance are covered.

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.

Presents personal selling as a professional marketing activity with a special focus on fundamentals of consultative selling. Helps students develop professional selling skills, including identifying and qualifying prospects, discovering customer needs, developing and making a sales presentation, handling objections, and closing a sale. Examines the role of selling in the total marketing process.

Provides students with a basic understanding of sports marketing, including the marketing of sports as well as marketing through sports. Specific emphasis is placed on market selection, marketing mix decisions, and implementation of the strategic sports marketing process. Also covered are event sponsorships, professional sports teams, governing organizations, sports media (broadcast, print, and Internet), licensing, and hospitality.

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.

A hands-on course that focuses on creating an online advertising campaign with Google AdWords. Topics covered include structuring an AdWords account, campaign and ad groups, understanding Quality Score and AdWords auction, keyword research, writing great text ads, targeting users, understanding Cost per Click, Cost per Acquisition, and Cost per Impression bid types, tracking conversions, and measuring campaign ROI.

Examines innovation in terms of developing and marketing new products (goods or services). Students learn the stages of new product development process, identify the components of new product development strategy, and understand how to structure organizations for creativity and innovation.

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 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, (iv) cash-flows in new businesses, (v) IPOs, (vi) measurement of financial performance, (vii) tax planning for new ventures.

Designed as the culminating course in the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management curriculum. Students are provided a hands-on opportunity to develop, test, present and launch a viable and sustainable new venture. Includes in-depth development of business plan and presentation to a panel of experts.

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. Students may receive an IP (In Progress) grade until the completion of their 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.