General Management Perspectives
First Year Curriculum
These required courses in the first quarter and second quarter are designed to give students insight into the perspective of a senior manager and leader.
ACCT 201. Accounting Information
This course gives students a perspective on key accounting concepts and role of accounting in markets and firms. They will learn the structure of financial statements, including balance sheets and income statements, and the accrual basis of accounting. In addition, you will cover the role of accounting numbers in providing information to investors and managers. Finally, students will assess the value created by a business or business segment, and the distinction between economic and accounting profitability.
FINANCE 201. Managerial Finance—Advanced
This course covers the foundations of finance with an emphasis on applications that are vital for corporate managers. It will discuss many of the major financial decisions made by corporate managers, both within the firm and in their interactions with investors. Essential in most of these decisions is the process of valuation, which will be an important emphasis of the course. Topics include criteria for making investment decisions, valuation of financial assets and liabilities, relationships between risk and return, capital structure choice, payout policy, the use and valuation of derivative securities (e.g., options and convertible securities), and risk management.
FINANCE 204. Managerial Finance
The aim of this course is to enable students to apply the fundamental ideas of financial economics to problems in the area of corporate finance. They will gain an overview of valuation principles, and how financial decisions-capital structure, dividend policy, investments, etc., can affect valuation, learn basic principles of corporate finance from the perspective of a financial manager, and analyze many of the important financial decisions made within firms and other institutions.
FINANCE 210. Managerial Finance—Accelerated
This course covers the foundations of finance with an emphasis on applications that are vital for corporate managers. It will discuss many of the major financial decisions made by corporate managers, both within the firm and in their interactions with investors. Essential in most of these decisions is the process of valuation, which will be an important emphasis of the course. Topics include criteria for making investment decisions, valuation of financial assets and liabilities, relationships between risk and return, capital structure choice, payout policy, the use and valuation of derivative securities (e.g., options and convertible securities), and risk management.
GSBGEN 202. Critical Analytical Thinking
Critical Analytical Thinking (CAT) will address issues that transcend any single discipline or function of management. In 14-16 person sections, students will analyze, write about, and debate fundamental issues, questions, and phenomena that arise in many forms in management. Students will explore these critical issues broadly, as well as hone their analytic and persuasive skills. CAT will enhance the students' ability to identify critical questions when exploring a new business issue, to parse issues, to develop reasoned positions, and to make compelling arguments.
GSBGEN 203. The Global Context of Management
The economies of the world are ever more closely linked. Record levels of international trade and investment are achieved every year. Cross-border mergers and acquisitions are booming. The foreign exchange markets handle trillions of dollars of volume daily. Offshore provision of services has grown immensely. Host governments and non-governmental organizations operating internationally affect how companies do business far from their home bases and close to home. Few businesses today can avoid being connected to the world economy, and it is quite likely that the process of globalization will continue apace. To succeed as a leader one must be able to think systematically about the challenges brought about by globalization. This course is designed to help students develop as a leader in this international environment. The course objectives are:
- To develop an analytic framework that students can use to understand, systematically, why it is that countries are different or similar in ways that matter to managers of organizations.
- To see how successful organizations leverage these differences and similarities to their advantage, sometimes becoming more "global" in reach and other times taking advantage of their more "local" advantages.
- To develop the insights needed to successfully lead organizations in different contexts worldwide.
GSBGEN 208. Ethics and Management
This course emphasizes frameworks for conducting ethical analysis (on what basis can one say that a course of action is or is not ethical), the analysis of ethical dilemmas (how does one think about situations in which different ethical precepts collide), and how to deal on a day-to-day basis with the practical issues of ethical behavior in organizations.
GSBGEN 209. Synthesis Seminar
The Synthesis Seminar's purposes are two-fold: to help students synthesize what they have learned at the Graduate School of Business from a general management and leadership perspective; and, looking forward, to provide students with a opportunity to explore how to continue their personal and professional development. The course will provide significant contacts with alumni through role playing and mentoring, in both formal and informal settings.
OB 205. Managing Groups and Teams
This course introduces students to the structures and processes that affect group performance and highlights some of the common pitfalls associated with working in teams. Topics include team culture, fostering creativity and coordination, making group decisions, and dealing with a variety of personalities. Students will participate in a number of group exercises to illustrate principles of teamwork and to give you practice not only diagnosing team problems but also taking action to improve total team performance.
OB 206. Organizational Behavior
This course aims to cultivate mindsets and build skills to understand the ways in which organizations and their members affect one another. Students will learn frameworks for diagnosing and resolving problems in organizational settings. The course relates theory and research to organizational problems by reviewing basic concepts such as individual motivation and behavior; decision making; interpersonal communication and influence; small group behavior; and dyadic, individual, and inter-group conflict and cooperation.
OB 270. Organizational Behavior
Building on the discipline of social psychology, this course helps students cultivate mindsets and build skills to understand the ways in which organizations and their members affect one another. Students will learn frameworks for diagnosing and resolving problems in organizational settings. The course relates theory and research to organizational problems by reviewing basic concepts such as individual motivation and behavior; decision making; interpersonal communication and influence; small group behavior; and dyadic, individual, and inter-group conflict and cooperation. Not taught in 2009-10.
OB 285. Managing Groups and Teams
This course introduces students to the structures and processes that affect group performance and highlights some of the common pitfalls associated with working in teams. Topics include team culture, fostering creativity and coordination, making group decisions, and dealing with a variety of personalities. Students will participate in a number of group exercises to illustrate principles of teamwork and to give you practice not only diagnosing team problems but also taking action to improve total team performance. Not taught in 2009-10.
STRAMGMT 207. Strategic Leadership
This course examines fundamental issues of general management and leadership within an organization. Students will learn about setting an organization's strategic direction, aligning structure to implement strategy, and leading individuals within the firm. Students will master concepts, frameworks, and tools to assess an industry and a firm's competitive environment, and to craft alternatives. They will study the interplay among formal structure, informal networks, and culture in shaping organizational performance. By integrating leadership theory, the lessons of practical application, and personal experience, students will develop skills and capabilities essential to leading others. And they will gain a better understanding of their own leadership preferences, strengths, and weaknesses.