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General Management Perspectives

First Year Curriculum

These seven required courses in the first quarter and one in the second quarter are designed to give students insight into the perspective of a senior manager and leader.

ACCT 201. Accounting Information

This course gives you perspective on key accounting concepts and role of accounting in markets and firms. You 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, you will assess the value created by a business or business segment, and the distinction between economic and accounting profitability.

FINANCE 204. Managerial Finance

The aim of this course is to enable you to apply the fundamental ideas of financial economics to problems in the area of corporate finance. You 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.

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, you will analyze, write about, and debate fundamental issues, questions, and phenomena that arise in many forms in management. You will explore these critical issues broadly, as well as hone your analytic and persuasive skills. CAT will enhance your ability to identify critical questions when exploring a new business issue, to parse issues, to develop reasoned positions, and to make compelling arguments. CAT also will help you explore the principles and ideals that you will seek to uphold as a leader.

GSBGEN 203. The Global Context of Management

The objectives of this course are twofold: to help develop your understanding of the cultural, economic, financial, and political forces that drive the global marketplace and individual markets within the broader market, and to provide you with a framework for, and experience in, learning quickly about specific markets. You will understand the important questions to ask and answer when contemplating entering or allying in a new market.

GSBGEN 208. Ethics in Management (taught in winter quarter)

This course emphasizes frameworks for conducting ethical analysis (on what basis can you say that a course of action is or is not ethical), the analysis of ethical dilemmas (how do you 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.

OB 205. Managing Groups and Teams

This course introduces you 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. You 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

Building on the discipline of social psychology, this course helps you cultivate mindsets and build skills to understand the ways in which organizations and their members affect one another. You 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.

STRAMGMT 207. Strategic Leadership

This course examines fundamental issues of general management and leadership within an organization. You will learn about setting an organization's strategic direction, aligning structure to implement strategy, and leading individuals within the firm. You will master concepts, frameworks, and tools to assess an industry and a firm's competitive environment, and to craft alternatives. You 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 your own experience, you will develop skills and capabilities essential to leading others. And you'll gain a better understanding of your own leadership preferences, strengths, and weaknesses.