The course listings are continually under
examination, and revisions are expected. This listing merely represents
those in effect at the time of publication and in no way guarantees
that the offerings and requirements will remain the same.
MBA Core; 1st Year MBA Only. All business majors and decision-makers both within an enterprise and external to the enterprise need to have a basic understanding of accounting information. This course deals with the accounting process used to measure and report economic events. It assumes that students have covered the basic material in the MBA accounting workshop. It begins with an overview of how financial statements are constructed and later the emphasis shifts to interpreting and analyzing the financial statements. The course focuses on alternative ways of reporting economic activity and on the different uses that investors, managers, and regulatory agencies may have for financial statement data. The primary focus of the course is a survey of several financial accounting topics. However, it also introduces basic managerial accounting concepts, including cost behavior, break-even analysis, and inventory costing.
ACCT 520 International Accounting
3.0 credits.
Fulfills International Requirement. A fundamental understanding of the nature of international accounting is becoming increasingly important for international financial statement analysis, in multinational enterprise accounting control including foreign exchange risk management, and international tax management and in accounting for multinational business transactions and the consolidation of international financial statements. The course focuses on these topics but also covers the study of multinational financial reporting for investment analysis, for performance evaluation, and for multinational financial decision-making, as well as emerging topics in the areas of social accounting and global ethical standards.
The ability to read, interpret and understand financial statements is important to financial managers and general managers, as well as Financial analysts, consultants, and virtually all professionals interested in evaluating business enterprises. Topics covered in Corporate Financial Reporting include revenue and expense recognition, cash flows, inventories, long-lived assets, income taxes, financing liabilities including leases, pensions and other post employment benefits, executive compensation, foreign operations, inter corporate investments, and business combinations. By the end of the course, students should be able to understand and use the information reported in financial statements and their footnotes. Students should also be able to understand and interpret financial reporting and related articles published in The Wall Street Journal and other business periodicals.
ACCT 602 Analysis & Valuation Using Financial Statements
3.0 credits.
Pre/Co-req. ACCT 601. ACCT 602 focuses on the analysis and use of accounting information for equity valuation. The course examines alternative approaches to equity valuation and a systematic approach to the analysis of financial statements, which we ultimately apply to publicly traded firms. The course begins by investigating valuation theory, including a comparison of discounted dividend, cash flow, and accounting-based approaches to valuation. Our discussion of valuation suggests a systematic approach to the analysis of financial statement information that will help us forecast pro forma financial statements and simplify our approach to valuation. It also helps us identify the fundamental determinants of firms’ market-to-book and price-to-earnings ratios. One objective of the course is to help students develop good thinking about valuation problems. A second objective is for students to be able to apply the valuation models and the analysis tools discussed in the course to actual companies. To meet this second objective, much of the course is structured around a valuation project, which completed by teams of two or three students each.
ACCT 612 Strategic Cost Analysis
3.0 credits.
This course will expose students to recent advances in cost accounting and highlight important inputs into the design of cost systems. Cases will cover a variety of decision-making settings and highlight the role of cost information in these settings. The course objectives are: (1) to develop an understanding for the important characteristics of a good cost system; and (2) to analyze the role of cost information in a variety of management decisions such as pricing, product mix, improving productivity, and quality management and performance evaluation. Emerging themes such as activity-based costing, target costing, customer profitability analysis, theory of constraints, and cost of quality, will be examined.
ACCT 620 Taxes & Business Strategy 3.0 credits.
An economics-based approach is used in this course to consider how tax and non-tax factors affect business activities. The framework developed is highly integrative; investment strategies and financing policies within firms are linked through taxes.
ACCT 621 Tax Research
3.0 credits.
The overriding purpose of tax research is to find solutions to the tax problems of one’s clients or employer. The researcher must find authority, evaluate the usefulness of that authority and apply the results of the research to a specific situation. This course provides the student with a working knowledge of the successful tax practitioner’s methodology applied to the solution of both routine and complex tax problems. The student will be able to determine and communicate ethically defensible solutions for most tax problems through independent research with minimal supervision. Topic areas to be covered include the tax research environment, primary sources of federal tax law, using secondary sources as research tools and implementing the research tools.
ACCT 622 Taxation of Corporations and Shareholders
3.0 credits.
Pre-req. ACCT 620. The use of the corporate form of operating a business is growing in popularity in the United States for both tax and non-tax reasons. This course provides an in-depth study of federal income tax laws as they are applied to corporations and shareholders. Topics to be examined include: definition of a corporation for tax purposes; the problems of forming a corporation, including the design of the corporation’s capital structure; computation of the corporate tax liability for individual corporations and controlled groups of corporations; taxation of S corporations; penalty surtaxes (i.e., the personal holding company tax and the accumulated earnings tax) applicable to corporations; payment of non-liquidating distributions to the corporation’s shareholders; tax consequences of liquidating the corporate entity and corporate reorganizations. Students will be required to complete both a Form 1120 and 1120S and, working in groups, write up solutions to tax research assignments and case studies.
Partnerships are the entity of choice in a variety of ventures. However, there are business situations in which the partnership form is the mandated choice. Using a “womb to tomb” approach, this course covers the life of a partnership from creation to termination. Its specific emphasis is on the federal income tax implications of a variety of activities (e.g., partnership operations, distributions and liquidations). In addition, segments of the course focus on foreign partners/partnerships, passive activities and tax shelters.
ACCT 625 Special Topics in Taxation I: Personal Financial Planning
1.0 credits.
Personal Financial Planning is an intensive course consisting of a series of modules covering estate and gift planning, risk management, retirement planning, income tax planning and investment planning. The objectives of this course are to enable the student to provide basic income tax and investment planning services, to provide estate and gift planning services, recognize opportunities for practice development, evaluate insurance proposals in terms of their economic and tax implications, analyze the economic and tax benefits of Social Security and of various retirement plans.
ACCT 626 Special Topics in Taxation II: Accounting Periods & Methods
1.0 credits.
As business transactions grow more complex and the pressure to collect tax revenue increases, the IRS is placing an intense focus on accelerating the recognition of taxable income and deferring the recognition of tax deductions. This course will review the historical development of tax accounting principals and how they are evolving in light of the complex business environment. Specific topics include the cash and accrual methods of tax accounting, tax rules governing the time value of money and the taxation of inventories.
ACCT 627 Special Topics in Taxation III: International Taxation
1.0 credits.
International Taxation begins with an overview of fundamental international taxation issues and then considers basic jurisdiction principles of U.S. tax law. Taxation of foreign taxpayers for U.S. activities is considered, with specific attention paid to taxing rules, source rules, the role of income tax treaties, and filing, withholding and reporting requirements. Taxation of U.S. taxpayers for foreign activities is also covered, with a focus on the foreign tax credit, inter-company pricing, and international tax-free transactions.
ACCT 628 Special Topics in Taxation IV: State & Local
3.0 credits.
This specialized taxation course focuses on various issues of state and local taxation. Topics covered include multi-state nexus issues, apportionment and allocation, and consolidated and unitary issues.
ACCT 640 Advanced Assurance Services 3.0 credits.
This course exposes students to the demand for, and the supply of, independent professional services that improve the quality of information for decision-makers. Topics include markets, measurement, value, risk, communication and information search for assurance service engagements in electronic commerce, systems reliability, entity performance and health care, among others.
MBA Core; 1st Year Students Only. Creating shareholder value should be the primary focus of the finance function within any organization. Identifying the key value drivers that create shareholder wealth is a critical step in defining and implementing corporate strategy. Additional topics such as financial planning, capital budgeting and capital structure are discussed within a value creation framework.
FIN 510 Microeconomic Analysis
3.0 credits.
MBA Core; 1st Year MBA Only. This course covers microeconomic concepts relevant to managerial decision-making. Topics include demand and supply analysis, consumer demand theory, production and cost analysis, externalities, public goods, risk preferences and market structures. Applications are used for an understanding of the economic tools and their potential use for solving real-world problems.
FIN 515 Macroeconomic Environment
3.0 credits.
MBA Core; 1st Year MBA Only. A critical foundation for managing business is an understanding of the global macroeconomic environment in which managers make business decisions. Understanding the linkages between prices, sales, output, interest rates and exchange rates is a necessity in a rapidly changing international economic and financial environment, and the focus of this course.
FIN 520 Multinational Financial Management
3.0 credits.
Fulfills International Requirement. Multinational corporations are the instruments for the globalization that is fundamentally changing the economic and political structure of our world. This course focuses on the corporate decision-maker, his or her analysis of the multinational environment, anticipation of the firm’s financial interaction with that environment and the use of decision models to select among resource allocation alternatives. Topics include exchange exposure and hedging, multinational acquisitions, capital budgeting and global financing.
FIN 602 Business Forecasting
3.0 credits
This course is about forecasting methods for managers, for forecasting practitioners, and for students who will one day be business professionals. The course is directed towards those who have a need to understand practical issues related to Forecasting. The emphasis is on learning the forecasting methods that practicing forecasters have found to be the most useful.
FIN 610 Financial Policy
3.0 credits.
This course provides a framework for the evaluation of corporate financial policy decisions. Topics covered include financial statement analysis, financial planning, working capital management, the dividend decision, leasing, options, warrants, convertibles, risk management and international financial management. Emphasis is placed on practical applications and the use of financial methods in decision-making.
FIN 611 Cases in Financial Management
3.0 credits.
Finance is referred to as the heart of the free enterprise system. Good financial management is vitally important not only to the economic health of the business firm but also to the nation and international business. Successful financial management depends upon a series of sound individual or collective decisions often made in response to shifts in economic conditions. There are three basic decision areas — investment, operations, and financing underlying all business activity. Selected current and “classic” cases of small, intermediate, and large business enterprises are employed as a vehicle in enhancing/developing the ability to exercise sound judgment in making decisions and in developing plans of action involving a wide variety of the functions of modern financial management. Financial theories, concepts, tools and techniques acquired in both business education and working experience is utilized as part of the intensive analysis of the problems confronting management. The early part of the course is devoted to a review of the techniques of financial analysis.
FIN 612 Financing the Corporation
3.0 credits.
This course will focus primarily on how corporations raise money in various ways to meet their funding needs, both short- and long-term. The first portion will look at domestic, U.S. dollar funding mechanisms and the second portion will cover funding in foreign currencies. The course will cover private and public debt markets, the Eurobond market and how multinationals use derivatives to manage their required international financing.
FIN 630 Investment Management
3.0 credits.
The investment world has witnessed rapid changes over the past few decades. Never has it been more important for investment professionals, corporate managers, and individual investors to understand investment principles. This course will benefit students who do not intend to be full-time investment managers by providing an understanding of investment fundamentals that are applicable in corporate contexts. For those who do intend to be full-time investment professionals, the course also sets the stage for more specialized courses. Topics covered include how securities are traded, the history of returns for different asset classes, the relationship between risk and return (and how that relationship is affected by combining investments), determination of fair rates of return for investments, performance evaluation, and the basic characteristics of bonds, stocks, options, and futures.
FIN 631 Options and Futures Markets
3.0 credits.
Co- or Pre-req FIN630. This course examines introductory and advanced topics involving options and futures markets, one of the most dynamic areas in finance over the last two decades. Topics include arbitrage, basic pricing models, trading strategies for individuals and corporations, hedging and risk management. The emphasis is on financial derivatives where the underlying assets are stocks, bonds or foreign exchange. Financial theory and empirical evidence appear throughout the course due to their important implications for practitioners. The course is more quantitative than average. It is by no means a math course, but it does require significant mathematical reasoning.
FIN 632 Security Analysis 3.0 credits.
Pre-Req FIN 630. This course deals with the theory and practice of evaluating securities in a global capital market — both stocks and bonds. The emphasis is on the application of finance, economic, accounting and statistics to the valuation of the aggregate stock market, alternative industries, and the stocks of individual firms. There is also an analysis of investment grade and high yield bonds, as well as an application of a bankruptcy prediction model.
FIN 633 Applied Investment Management
4.5 credits.
Pre-Req FIN 630; Permission Required. This course provides an opportunity for students to blend the theory of investments with the practical demands of hands-on investment management. Hands-on management of a real portfolio achieves the practical objectives. Periodically, guest speakers who are security analysts and/or portfolio managers are invited to share practical insights on the investment management process.
FIN 634 Fixed Income Securities
3.0 credits.
Co- or Pre-Req FIN630. This course deals with an understanding of U.S. and global bond markets and traditional and evolving bond instruments, including bond structures with embedded options. Topics considered include the techniques for valuing bonds, the term structure of interest rates (e.g., asset-backed securities and mortgage-backed bonds), active and passive bond portfolio management strategies and the benchmarks used to evaluate bond portfolio performance.
FIN 636 Applied Global Money Management
4.5 credits.
Pre-Req FIN 630, Fulfills International Requirement, Permission Required. This course provides students with a unique opportunity to combine investment theory and practice with a global perspective. Students create a portfolio composed of global equity indexes, fixed income instruments, foreign exchange, and financial derivatives. Students will analyze macroeconomic conditions in various regions and countries around the world, select investment opportunities by country and asset type, discuss and justify asset allocations in several presentations and discussions, and prepare a final presentation for an external advisory board comprised of leading executives in investment management. Guest speakers will have an integral role, presenting in class and sharing insights on global money management.
FIN 652 Mergers and Acquisitions
3.0 credits.
The objective of this course is to facilitate understanding of corporate merger and acquisition activity, restructurings, and corporate governance. This includes exploring the theory and evidence regarding these topics, the motives for these transactions, the sources of value-added, and managerial incentives to engage in or resist these activities. In this class, you will learn how to apply discounted cash flow and other techniques for valuation purposes. Case projects and valuation assignments will be used to apply financial theory and valuation techniques in real-world situations. Classroom discussion of current M&A related activities will be used to reinforce key concepts. The structure of the class is a combined lecture/class discussion format with a great deal of emphasis on active learning. We will rely heavily upon case studies of past events and news articles of current events to illustrate how financial theory can be applied in an actual business environment.
MBA Core; 1st Year MBA Only. This course is designed to provide students with a systematic approach for making marketing decisions and to give students practice in the analysis, design, implementation, and control of marketing strategies. It is an operationally oriented course in which the application of marketing concepts, principles, strategies and methods is emphasized.
MARK 520 Global Marketing 3.0 credits.
Fulfills International Requirement. We live in a “global village,” and business firms must compete in the global marketplace. Two decades ago, the phrase global marketing did not even exist. Today, business firms look to global marketing for the realization of their full business and commercial potential and for their very survival in the increasingly competitive global marketplace. Thus, developing global marketing strategy to compete effectively in the global marketplace is one of the most critical challenges facing firms today. Firms must formulate a long-run dynamic strategy that will provide sustainable competitive advantage by enabling the firm to anticipate, respond and adapt to the complexity and rapid pace of change in the global marketplace. This course helps students learn relevant concepts, theories and current practices of designing, executing, organizing and controlling effective marketing strategies and planning for global competition.
MARK 610 Marketing Research
3.0 credits.
Market information is critical for firms. Without it, organizations operate blindly and the likelihood of misinformed and erroneous decisions is greatly increased. Accordingly, the goal of the course is to inform participants how to engage in market research. Specifically, students will learn a) to critically evaluate what information is necessary to make more informed decisions, b) the various approaches organizations use to obtain the information, and c) the most commonly used techniques necessary to analyze the data. In the process, course participants will have the opportunity to manage and conduct a research project for a client of their choosing.
MARK 611 New Products Marketing
1.5 credits.
2nd Year MBA Only. This course is designed to provide you with an awareness of the issues involved in new product development and with a basic understanding of the procedures and tools available for dealing with these issues. The course is intended to serve students who anticipate careers in product management/product planning or who expect to be involved in the development of new products (goods or services), with emphasis on the marketing inputs to the product development process.
MARK 618 Brand Strategy
3.0 credits.
Brands matter. In this course, students will play the role of strategist, running their own companies and living with the consequences of strategic and tactical brand management decisions. This is accomplished through a computer-based competitive simulation, which is supported by readings, cases, and exercises designed to provide insight into developing a customer-driven organization. The course will be organized around a framework for brand management and will focus on research to uncover customer perception of value, segmentation, and the development of effective growth strategies. Emphasis will be focused through on conceptual frameworks for understanding marketplace phenomena, current practice, and fun. The course will involve participation by several former students who are now brand managers for companies such as Intel, Dell, and Nestle.
MARK 620 Business-to-Business Marketing
3.0 credits.
Business-to-business marketing is large, accounting for over half of our total economic activity. Over 80% of all e-commerce activity is conducted in business-to-business markets. Business marketing is also highly varied, with products ranging from sophisticated computers and nuclear plants to routine maintenance supplies and services ranging from architectural, legal and accounting to janitorial. In sharp contrast with consumer marketing, most business marketing transactions involve extensive person-to-person contacts, which, in many instances, occur over time leading to close personal relationships between buyers and sellers. Through a mix of lectures, case discussions and team projects, students will gain exposure to the unique challenges involved in formulating marketing strategies for business-to-business markets. Numerous cases on high-technology firms and e-commerce applications highlight this course. The course assumes students already grasp basic marketing concepts in an introductory marketing course.
MARK 622 Professional Selling in Business-to-Business Markets 1.5 credits
This course is a study of the role of the salesperson and the function of sales management in creating close and personal buyer-seller relationships in the business-to-business domain. Emphases in the course are placed on the sales person’s role, the effects of the internal and external environment on the selling function, and the salesperson to the firm and society.
MARK 630 Leadership Marketing
1.5 credits.
Leadership Marketing covers policies, strategies and tactics that provide the fundamental opportunity for all enterprises to organize and direct institutional energy in an interconnected process that achieves superior relative and absolute outcomes. The course will include cases (with one page memo), selected readings, vigorous class discussion, guest participation by enterprise policy officers and a modest, but compelling final exam.
MARK 631 Promotion Strategy 3.0 credits.
Increasingly, business firms are approaching advertising and promotion from an integrated marketing communications perspective. In this course, the roles of advertising, sales promotion, public relations and direct marketing will be examined within this broader framework. Analysis will focus on topics such as: (1) selecting among alternative promotional tools; (2) budgeting and allocation decisions; and (3) determining appropriate alternative message and media schedules for a given product/market selection. Particular emphasis will be placed on the strategic use of promotional tools to build and maintain brand equity. Case analysis and contemporary situations will be emphasized.
MBA Core; 1st year MBA Only. This course will provide students with an opportunity to improve their spoken communication skills in a variety of settings from informal meetings to large, formal presentations. We provide special emphasis on business briefings, informative talks, and persuasive speeches. Students will receive instructor feedback as well as peer review on every aspect of oral communications, including delivery, non-verbal behavior, content, organization, and visual support. Small sections promote personal student-professor contact and provide time for individual coaching.
MBA 501 Management Writing
1.5 credits.
MBA Core; 1st year MBA Only. Because the most important ideas in business end up in writing, and because writing can frequently become a career sifter, this course will focus on the written word as a principal means of implementing business strategy and solving managerial problems. This course will focus on the basics of written expression in a business context, including the communication process, critical thinking, audience analysis, message development, correspondence, and document design.
MBA 504 Career Management 0.0 credits.
MBA Core; 1st Year MBA Only. There is a high correlation between comprehensive job search planning and preparation, and success in the job search process. This course is a series of workshops and career panels designed to give the student an advantage in the competitive MBA job market. Specific topics include self-assessment and career exploration, resume preparation, letter writing, interviewing and all aspects of the job search process. This course will prepare students for the campus interview process and a concurrent independent job search for maximum success. A combination of Notre Dame alumni, corporate friends and Career Development staff present this vital information.
MBA 505 Listening and Responding 1.5 credits.
MBA Core; 1st Year MBA Only. Being a good listener is frequently cited as one of the most important characteristics of a successful manager. Yet listening skills are rarely taught in an academic curriculum. This course will help students develop their listening skills through an examination of individual barriers to good listening and personal strategies to overcome them, and through an exploration of feedback techniques that facilitate effective communication. Some specific topics include listening to criticism non-defensively, perception checking for accuracy, and providing affirming feedback to a speaker.
MBA 506 Writing and Presenting a Business Plan
1.5 credits.
MBA Core; 1st Year MBA Only. From idea conceptualization to implementation, the business plan is a working document that serves as a roadmap for entrepreneurs and investors alike. This course begins with an overview of the brainstorming component inherent in for-profit or not-for-profit start-up organizations. After the development of feasibility analyses, the writing of the plan will include an assessment of the competitive landscape, the product/service and industry, a market analysis, financial factors, and the development of the management team. The generation of written and spoken “elevator pitches” will conclude the course as part of an overview of business plan presentation techniques.
MBA 512 Marketing Ethics
1.5 credits.
Co- or Pre-Req MBA 516. This course examines a range of ethical issues facing marketing managers. Traditional topics such as ethics in marketing research, selling, advertising and pricing are covered. Emerging ethical issues such as international marketing, competitive intelligence, social cause marketing and corporate policies are also examined. The class is taught using a seminar format, and the opportunity exists for students to examine ethical problems in marketing that are of personal interest.
MBA 513 International Business Ethics
1.5 credits.
Co- or Pre-Req MBA 516. International business raises enormous ethical challenges in terms of globalization, environment, development, corruption and cultural and religious diversity. This course focuses on these challenges in the context of corporate decision-making. Students are encouraged to enhance their sensitivity for differing, sometimes conflicting, values and to develop ethical reasoning abilities. Various methods are discussed to formulate and implement ethical corporate policies for international business.
MBA 516 Conceptual Foundations of Business Ethics
1.5 credits
MBA Core; 1st Year MBA Only. The course objective is to explore the ethical dimensions in the study and practice of business. Students will study and apply the major normative ethical theories to business situations. This course will help students to understand the relevance of stakeholders to business decisions and improve the skills of moral reasoning and ethical decision-making. Another objective is to analyze and discuss case situations presenting ethical dilemmas. Throughout these exercises, analytical and communication (oral and written) skills will be sharpened. This course is intended to encourage ethical behavior and professionalism in all activities.
MBA 517 Ethics in Finance and Banking
1.5 credits
Co- or Pre-Req MBA 516. This course builds on the previous course “Conceptual Foundations of Business Ethics” (MBA 516) and focuses on the ethics in financing and banking. It includes seven weekly sessions covering the following topic areas: Ethics and Economics, Trust in Corporate Decision Making, Ethics and IPO Pricing, Ethics in Corporate Finance, Ethics in Banking, and Ethics in Investment. The course pursues a strongly interdisciplinary approach. Faculty specializing in economics, financing, banking, and ethics will help the students to analyze thee topic areas and explore their ethical implications. These topics will lead the class in their area of expertise.
MBA 518 Spirituality of Work
1.5 credits
This exploration of the spirituality of work will begin with a consideration of the theology of work, including an overview of the theological perspectives on work that have emerged over time in the Christian imagination, the factors that shaped these perspectives and the influence of the same on contemporary attitudes. The theological foundation will lead to a more detailed consideration of the spirituality of work. The discussion regarding a spirituality of work will include: (1) definitions of spirituality, Christian spirituality, and work; (2) the need for workers to form a spirituality of work; (3) the contours of a spirituality of work: (4) the relationship of a spirituality of work to corporate and personal prayer (with particular attention to its place in the Catholic sacramental and liturgical imagination). Finally, the various dimensions of a spirituality of work that are indicated above will be appropriated to contemporary workplace settings, with particular attention being given to the students’ chosen business fields. The questions to be considered include: How might an awareness of the spiritual dimension of work impact one’s role in the workplace, i.e., as an employee or employer, co-worker, manager, business partner or investor, corporate officer, etc.? What influence does the spirituality of work have on one’s work habits and presence in the workplace? What bearing does the spirituality of work have on the overall vision, policies and priorities of a business? What are potential areas of tension in the secular business world for a person whom is mindful of the spirituality of work?
MBA 522 Catholic Social Thought in Business
1.5 credits.
Co- or Pre-Req MBA 516. Catholic social thought is a valuable source of guidance for all sectors of society. For business it is relevant both for the structure of the capitalistic system as well as management. This course will address the nature of Catholic social thought as a body of teaching, tracing its potential contribution to the institutions that shape the business environment and how the principles can contribute to managerial decisions.
MBA 523 Marketing and Society
1.5 credits.
Co- or Pre-Req MBA 516. This course deals with several topics that span marketing’s impact on society. Among the issues to be covered are advertising, antitrust, competition policy, consumer protection, marketing’s impact on children, pricing and consumer welfare, consumer privacy and the environment. This class will be team taught with Marketing Faculty preparing sessions on his/her area of expertise.
MBA 542 A Call to Community Through Business
1.5 credits.
This course will offer students a unique and innovative opportunity to develop vocational awareness within the field of business. The course series will feature executives who are doing outstanding work in their local communities through positions of leadership in for-profit business. The aim of the course is to bring together these executives with students to share their stories of effective community outreach in business practice, to help students envision their future in terms of not merely “career” but also of “vocation”, and to affirm that success must be defined more broadly than simply economically. Our business students, the future leaders of private enterprise in our nation, have tremendous potential to infuse their professional lives with a sense of vocation and to impart that commitment to future employees and other stakeholders as well as into their personal lives and those of their family members. This course provides a method for the students to experience and learn from those who have successfully managed that integration.
This course DOES NOT fulfill Ethics requirement.
MBA 555 Enterprise Project Collaboration
1.5 credits.
1st Year MBA Only. Note these convergent observations from different perspectives: Susan Campbell, Change Consultant: “The workplace of the future is going to be organized according to jobs that need doing, and that means a project-oriented workplace.” Professor John Kotter, HBS: “To advance your career, you need to figure out what skills will be relevant in the future, and to map out projects to develop those skills.” Eric Matson, Fast Company: “Almost all work today is project work. Your success inside a company — and the long-term course of your career — depends on the value of the projects you work on.” This course takes, as its premise that the future described above is here now, that B-schools as well as workplaces are project-oriented, and that a valuable and relevant skill you will develop here is your ability to collaborate effectively on team projects, and to manage your own project portfolio. In this course you will use fully featured web-enabled enterprise project collaboration software to support your project work throughout the MBA curriculum. We will meet for several specially scheduled sessions to hear guest speakers and for hands-on software training. All other “meetings” and discussions will occur in the virtual collaborative space provided, and all deliverables will involve making effective use of the tools and techniques presented in managing actual project collaborations from your portfolio. [Quotes above from “Project: You,” by Eric Matson, Fast Company 12, December 1997].
MBA 603 Corporate Communication
3.0 credits.
Few issues can affect stock prices faster than a corporate crisis or a negative story in the news media. In the course of their careers, managers will confront a series of issues related to corporate communication, including reputation management, media relations, legislative and government affairs, employee communication and crisis management. Other issues will include investor relations, corporate philanthropy, identity, image and issue advertising. You will examine the intersection of three separate yet related groups: the public, the press and private enterprise. You will also focus on communication programs intended to improve and influence public opinion and public policy on behalf of companies, industries, organizations and causes.
MBA 605 Sports Business
3.0 credits.
Permission Required. Kevin White, the Notre Dame Athletic Director, is introducing a new course into the curriculum. The course will examine athletics from a business perspective, considering how to enhance athletic excellence while attending to financial performance. If you are interested in taking this course, please send a memo to the director of student services noting the reasons why you feel this course would be of value to you.
MBA 611 Globalization and Multinational Corporate Responsibility
1.5 credits.
Co- or Pre-Req MBA 516. Fulfills International Requirement. Globalization is galloping across our world at a dramatic pace — enhancing global productivity but leaving many people behind in the process. As the key integrating institutions, multinational enterprises deserve much of the credit for the productivity, but are also inextricably involved in the associated social destruction. The objective of this course is to enhance the awareness and understanding of future business executives, governmental officials, or managers of nongovernmental organizations about the evolving role of the multinational enterprise, and how that role should be managed. The course is offered jointly with the graduate Peace Institute students enrolled in IPS 611.
MBA 613 Business Law for Managers
3.0 credits
Business Law for Managers provides the graduate student of business with a general overview of the legal system as that institution relates to the business community. The course’s primary focus is on the law of torts, contracts and sales, legal procedure(s), employment law, entity selection and related tax issues.
MBA 614 Employment Law for Managers
3.0 credits.
The course will focus on a survey of employment law and traditional labor law for managers. The approach will be to give students a practical overview of the many issues they may face as managers with an emphasis on identifying, avoiding and/or resolving workplace employment problems. This course is very useful for future managers.
MBA 624 Language and Culture of the Japanese Workplace
1.5 credits.
Permission Required. This course is designed for MBA students interested in the summer internship program sponsored by the College’s Center for U.S.-Japanese Business Studies. It will also prove helpful for those students thinking of working for American firms that have contacts with Japanese businessmen. The course covers the fundamental structure of the Japanese language, its speech forms and elementary writing forms. It introduces cultural customs that enable students to meet Japanese businessmen in company settings and, for those interning in Japan, to acclimate themselves to the Japanese workplace. Emphasis is placed on Japanese expressions used in the Japanese office. Only auditors to who agree to do the written homework will be admitted.
MBA 625 Working with Japanese Business
1.5 credits.
Permission Required. This course focuses on the organizational culture, structure and functioning of Japanese businesses. It provides guidance as to how to most effectively work with Japanese businesses.
MBA 626 Selected Topics in Japanese Business
1.5 credits.
Permission Required. Japan has been in a critical protracted period of fundamental transitions for almost a decade. It has been undergoing a slow, painful process of changing many aspects of the ways to organize and operate society, government, business and finance to enable them to anticipate, respond and adapt to the rapidly changing world in the age of “globality.” This course provides students with the opportunity to study in some depth topics of the student’s special interest on Japanese business, culture, and society.
MBET 519 Spirituality and Religion in the Workplace
1.5 credits.
Many persons of faith experience a split between their faith and their daily lives. This split is especially significant with respect to work, where most of us spend most of our lives. The consequences of this tragic split for believers with respect to work include confusion, alienation, and a lack of motivation, productivity and fulfillment. There are numerous potential benefits to better understanding and living out our faith in the workplace, including greater focus, motivation and fulfillment. Strengthening the link between work and faith can also lead to enhanced experience of and contribution to the local and wider communities in which one works. A spirituality of work involves a cooperative response in one’s work to the action of God in one's life and in the world in general. This response begins with critical awareness of the values and ideology of our culture as these affect us in the workplace, analyzes such interests and ideology of the workplace in the light of religious faith, and then reinterprets the reality of the workplace with a view to better integrating faith and work. The goal of this proposed course is to provide students with insights and tools that will help them to achieve a spirituality of work based on their own experience of God and of work. Part I of the course will identify and critically analyze, from a multi-disciplinary perspective, certain dominant values and beliefs operative in the U.S. workplace, where most of us spend most of our time. Part II will draw on various resources of biblical and extra-biblical traditions to establish a foundation on which a spirituality of work can be built. Part III will consider more fully what religious believers realistically can and should try to do by way of prayerfully integrating faith and work, with attention to the critical role of individual and communal prayer in the ongoing effort to live out one’s faith in and through one’s work.
MBA Core; 1st Year MBA Only. The aim of this course if to start a process of development through which students are better able to handle decisions problems in the area of business. Topics include probability distributions, estimation and hypothesis testing, quality control and regression analysis. Applications of statistical techniques to issues in marketing, investment analysis and manufacturing are discussed. Cases involving application in these areas will be analyzed using statistical software.
MGT 510 Organizational Behavior
3.0 credits.
MBA Core; 1st Year MBA Only. It is difficult to picture an upper-level manager who has not mastered the skills of managing people. Executives must be efficient leaders, motivators and team managers. Furthermore, research suggests that these “soft” skills are critical determinants of promotions to the upper echelon of managerial positions. Organizational behavior is about developing these skills. Through lecture, case analysis and class discussion, we develop a deep appreciation for the things that distinguish effective from ineffective managers. Special attention will be paid to the topics of selection, motivation, leadership and managing teams. The overall objective of the course is to apply theories of human behavior to solve day-to-day problems of organizational administration, help students become more aware of their own managerial styles and ultimately become more effective managers.
MGT 515 Operations Management
3.0 credits.
MBA Core; 1st Year MBA Only. Business and government leaders are increasingly recognizing the importance of involving the whole organization in making strategic decisions in order to compete globally. Because an organization usually commits the bulk of its human and financial assets to operations, operations is an important function in meeting global competition. Successful firms have demonstrated that operations can be an effective competitive weapon and, in conjunction with well-conceived marketing and financial plans, these firms have made major penetrations into markets worldwide. This course is designed to address key operations and logistical issues in manufacturing as well as service organizations. Students will understand the role of operations managers in the overall business strategy of the firm and be able to identify and evaluate the key factors in the design of effective operating systems for the production of products or services. The course also covers a range of tools appropriate for the analysis of operating systems and offers an opportunity to discuss and compare various approaches to operations management in an international context.
MGT 519 Corporate Strategy and Planning
3.0 credits.
MBA Core; 2nd Year MBA Only. The scope and role of strategic management encompasses a general management perspective that involves internal and external analysis, complex decision-making, and implementation of these decisions. The course has four goals: (1) to develop an awareness of the strategic decisions that organizations must make and the factors on which they depend; (2) to provide a conceptual framework for identifying, evaluating, and formulating strategies; (3) to integrate material learned in the basic functional courses; (4) to convey an understanding of the formal and informal processes involved in formulating and implementing strategies. A strategy consultation project, a key component of the course, provides an opportunity for students to work with local businesses and apply tools and skills developed in this course as well as other core courses.
MGT 601 Leadership and Motivation
3.0 credits.
2nd Year MBA Only. Organizational effectiveness requires creative leadership. Yet there is a continuing shortage of talented leaders. Understanding the actions of leaders and managers as they attempt to influence individual, group and organizational performance is the central focus of this course. A wide range of personalities and locales will be considered (covering Cleopatra to Clinton, Bill Gates to George Bush). The literature on leadership (what is known), as well as specific techniques for enhancing inter-personal effectiveness (what seems to work), will be explored and critically analyzed.
MGT 603 Negotiation
1.5 credits.
2nd Year MBA Only. This course is designed to improve student’s skills in all facets of negotiation. Since negotiation is a multi-party decision-making activity, an emphasis will be placed on improving student’s decision-making skills. Both distributive and integrative approaches to bargaining will be discussed. Several specific issues--including creating versus claiming value, negotiating via interests, rights or power, ethical dilemmas in negotiations, multi-party negotiations, coalitions, and cross-cultural negotiations--will be covered.
MGT 604 HR Practices in High Performance Organizations
3.0 credits.
Pre-Req MGT 510. Whether you are working for a Fortune 100 company, a .com startup, or something in between, it has become increasingly clear that “the people make the place.” This course is designed to increase your understanding of how organizations acquire, develop and maintain high-performance employees. We will consider many systems and processes that have historically been considered “HR” topics. Our focus, however, will be managerial in nature and is intended to help you become “informed consumers” of these organizational practices rather than experts in their design and implementation. This should help you manage your own career, and provide useful skills as you progress beyond your initial job placement.
MGT 607 Managing Difference and Conflict
1.5 credits
Differences, diversity and conflict in the workplace: these issues increasingly occupy the attention of society as a whole and managers in particular. They can be sources of great creativity, enhanced productivity, and contribute to an exciting workplace respectful of the individual, or they can be sources of tension, bitterness, process losses, and lawsuits. Effective management is essential to harness the beneficial aspects of differences and conflict, and to mitigate the potentially disastrous negative effects. Managing Differences and Conflict will provide you with the knowledge you need to recognize and understand the dynamics of inter-group and interpersonal differences and conflict, and work with you to help you develop the self-knowledge and skills necessary to effectively work with these issues as an employee, a coworker, and as a manager. The class consists of a combination of lectures, case discussions, and experiential exercises designed to allow you to learn about and engage these issues on multiple issues.
MGT 620 Entrepreneurship
3.0 credits.
The goals of this course are to give students a broad understanding of the field of entrepreneurship and an introduction to the critical tools necessary to create a successful new venture. This course is designed to simulate the “real-life” activities of entrepreneurs in the start-up stage of a new venture concept and to determine if a demand exists for their product or service. In the past, several of these concepts have gone on to become actual businesses. In addition, the course facilitates networking with entrepreneurs and other students who are considering becoming entrepreneurs.
MGT 622 Funding New Ventures
1.5 credits.
This course examines financing the start-up of a new venture. The course will examine bootstrapping, the characteristics and merits of financing with equity and debt, venture capital and angels. Students will learn how to prepare a financial plan including projecting sales and capital expenditures, designing pro forma income statements, balance sheets and sources and applications of funds statements.
MGT 623 New Ventures and the Law
1.5 credits.
This course examines the legal structure options for new ventures, the pros and cons of incorporating, the requirements, advantages and disadvantages of a sub-chapter S election and forming a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. The importance of laws and regulations on all aspects of a new venture will be explored. Patents, copyrights, contracts and regulations will also be discussed.
MGT 624 Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries
1.5 credits.
Permission Required. Entrepreneurs and micro-enterprises can be found throughout the world. Understanding the role that entrepreneurial activity and micro-enterprises play in building economies is important to the understanding of international commerce. Issues such as cultural and governmental influences on entrepreneurship, micro-lending and strategic alliances are examined in this course. Upon the completion of this course students are prepared to serve as consultants to third-world micro-enterprises.
MGT 626 Venture Capital and the Science Based Start-up
1.5 credits.
This is a new course developed to encourage an understanding of the critical elements involved in creating university technology-based ventures. We will review the business, legal, science and policy practices that are critical to the field. As a result of your participation in the course I hope you will find that the innovation in business practices and policy-making are just as important as innovations in the laboratory and product development.
MGT 628 Social Entrepreneurship
1.5 credits.
Social Entrepreneurship is the merging of the excitement and creativity of entrepreneurship with the 'great expectations' of social action. The entrepreneurial values of needs analysis and opportunity recognition must be applied to social ventures in order for great social action organizations to achieve their visions. In addition to social action venturing this course also examines micro-entrepreneurship within disenfranchised populations both within the United States and around the world, examining the bottom 90% of the economic pyramid. Disenfranchised populations are typically too great a risk for traditional sources of capital and lack essential businesses alliances to succeed. This class examines the state of social entrepreneurship and methods of overcoming these structural difficulties.
MGT 631 International Manufacturing
3.0 credits.
Fulfills International Requirement. This course focuses on what it takes for a company to attain manufacturing excellence in a global economy. Common characteristics in the organization and management of world-class manufacturing companies are examined. This course emphasizes the formulation and implementation of global manufacturing strategy, which requires making a series of coordinated decisions regarding structural, infrastructure and inter-functional elements in manufacturing. Topics covered include manufacturing strategy, product design and development, JIT and MRP-II, global supply chain management, flexibility and time-based competition, workforce management, and organization for global operations and managing joint ventures.
MGT 633 Design of Manufacturing Systems
3.0 credits.
Managing material and information flows throughout the value chain, from material purchasing to product delivery, is crucial to any manufacturing and logistical operations. The first part of this course examines how the manufacturing planning and control systems can be best designed to support a company’s competitive strategy. The second part of the course addresses managerial issues and implementation techniques in supply chain management. Topics covered include comparisons and critiques of MRP, ZRP and JIT, important “laws” of factory dynamics, ways to reduce variability and improve shop performance, and the trends of supply chain management. The course provides students with the background to take the CPIM certification exams administered by the American Production and Inventory Control Society (APICS).
MGT 636 Business Value of IT
3.0 credits
This course focuses upon issues relating to measuring the business value of information technology (IT). It discusses the role if IT in businesses from a managerial perspective and their impact on competitive strategy and organizational performance. It addresses measurement challenges in demonstrating payoff and establishing a mechanism for ongoing IT value assessment. It is a survey course aimed to equip managers in dealing with issues in the appropriate use of IT as well as justifying the investment in IT, while thinking creatively about the application of information technologies within organizations. The course is not technical and students with backgrounds in Finance, Marketing, Manufacturing and other areas will find it equally useful.
MGT 637 Systems Analysis & Database Management
3.0 credits
System analysis & design refers to a methodology that will allow you to take a systems approach to business/organization problems, and a structured approach to problem solving. In this course you will learn basic methodologies for business modeling and analysis: how to develop a model that represents the operations (processes and activities) in a business, primarily from an information point of view; and how to develop a model to represent the data requirements of a business. The most crucial component of an information system is its database. Database Management involves the study of structured methods for designing modern databases including Entity-Relationship modeling, Normalization, and implementation methodologies. We will take a very practical hands-on approach in this course. Most of the concepts will be explained through practical examples. Students will be involved in design and implementation of information system projects. There will be no final exam, instead, students will do group projects.
Managers today must increasingly make decisions on issues that are complex and have quantitative aspects. This course explores how computer-based tools can improve this type of decision-making. Spreadsheets as well as software for simulation, project management, decision trees and artificial intelligence will be used extensively. All tools are studied in the context of real-world applications from several business functions: operations finance, marketing and accounting. Specific applications include logistics systems, process improvement, portfolio selection, options pricing, data mining, test market decisions, income statement analysis and accounts receivable collection. General principles that can enhance the choice and application of these tools will be discussed.
MGT 644 Technology Risk Management
3.0 credits.
The purpose of MGT 644 Technology Risk Management is analyze the risks associated with each of the three areas as defined in traditional information systems research, with particular emphasis on how those risks can be exploited or mitigated through management techniques.
MGT 646 e-Business Technology
3.0 credits.
This course gives an overview of the technologies relevant to electronic commerce, including operating systems, networking, the Internet, computer security, and electronic transaction processing. The course also involves extensive hands-on work in developing e-commerce applications using modern programming and mark up languages common on the Internet. It aims to bring all students up to a basic level of competence and familiarity with e-commerce technologies. After completing this course, students should understand the functions of technologies that support e-business and be able to develop interactive Web-based e-commerce applications.
MGT 651 Managing Innovation
3.0 credits.
Pre-Req MGT 510. Hyper competitive forces, discontinuous change and rapid innovation are driving organizations to the point where change is a matter of survival. This course will probe the reasons behind the phenomenon and focus on understanding processes for effectively managing change. A critical element will be learning not only how to survive change, but how to use it as a platform for building a sustained competitive advantage. The class will adopt a consulting model- analyze problems, develop creative solutions and manage effective implementation. Emphasis will be placed on acquiring a solid understanding of state-of-the-art theory mixed with developing practical application skills.
MGT 657 Family Business
1.5 credits.
This course explores the issues surrounding family entrepreneurial ventures. It concentrates on the exploration of family succession and generational issues that are unique to businesses started and by run by families.
MGT 695 Facilitating Change in Organizations
3.0 credits.
The effective adaptation to change creates one of the most important challenges faced by today’s managers. Using a combination of classroom instruction, readings, cases and experiences, this course prepares managers with important knowledge and skills for leading and implementing new strategies, processes and technologies in business organizations. An underlying theme of the course is how to create and harness the capacity for innovation to create sustained competitive advantages. It also instructs students in the essential skills of solving problems in the context of business consulting.
