PhD General Courses
GSBGEN 640. Multivariate Data Analysis
This course covers various topics in multivariate analysis that have wide application in the behavioral and management sciences. Topics include principal components and factor analysis, multidimensional scaling, clustering, canonical correlation and structural equations models with latent variables, MANOVA, multiple discriminant analysis, and multinomial choice models. The course stresses the theoretical development and the practical application of each technique. Students will learn to apply the methods using SAS and interpret the results of their analyses.
GSBGEN 641. Advanced Empirical Methods
This course covers various advanced quantitative methods with applications in marketing and economics. Topics include simulation-based estimation, dynamic decision processes, and other topics relating to empirical models of demand and supply. The course stresses the conceptual understanding and application of each technique. Students will learn to apply these techniques using Matlab or an equivalent language.
GSBGEN 645. Communication Strategies for Scholars
Educators must be experts in their subject matter, but also effective scholarly communicators. This course will examine the theories for effective communication in the wide range of settings that PhDs will encounter: seminars, academic conferences, job talks, and ultimately in the classroom.
This course will provide PhD candidates with the opportunity to practice course principles in simulated communication settings and receive direct and video-taped feedback on their performance. Students will benefit from participating in observations of GSB classes (within and beyond their discipline), readings on current education and communication theory and practice, class discussion, and visits from GSB professors.
Learning Objectives:
By the end of this course students will:
-Understand the essentials of oral communication in scholarly settings
-Understand the fundamentals of business education including syllabus development, classroom instruction, case method teaching, assessment and grading.
-Understand and practice the essential elements of effective presentations - the verbal, vocal, and visual aspects of oral presentation
-Articulate essential distinctions of teaching undergraduate, graduate (including MBA), and executive education students, and how to adapt their approach for these audiences
-Demonstrate effectiveness as a presenter and growth in the ability to plan and present content in a variety of simulated settings from benchmark to final mock class
-Apply course content to job talks, conference presentations, and other professional settings beyond the classroom
-Evaluate peers and other educators on their ability to practice effective teaching and presentation delivery
GSBGEN 646. Behavioral Decision Making
This seminar examines research on the psychology of judgment and choice. Although the normative issue of how decisions should be made is relevant, the descriptive issue of how decisions are made is the main focus of the course. Topics of discussion include choice, judgment heuristics and biases, decision framing, prospect theory, mental accounting, context effects, task effects, regret, and other topics. The goal of the seminar is twofold: to foster a critical appreciation of existing knowledge in behavioral decision theory, to develop the students' skills in identifying and testing interesting research ideas, and to explore research opportunities for adding to that knowledge.