Consulting Track

In contrast to the external reporting perspective of Corporate Financial Accounting (ACC 401), Managerial Accounting and Performance Measurement (ACC 410) focuses on strategic decision making within the organization. The course is oriented towards training business professionals to comprehend and utilize their organization’s internal accounting system to assist them in strategic decision making. The course provides students with a framework to understand accounting systems, and demonstrates how such an understanding of the underlying cost structures facilitates managers in evaluating profitability of individual products and customers.

In addition, the course delves into issues of performance measurement, with special emphasis on the C-suite and the role of corporate governance actors such as the board in effectively monitoring CEO (and CFO) performance. In addition to covering the basic conceptual principles underlying managerial accounting, the course has a significant data analytics component with MS Excel and Stata being the primary data analysis tools used (the course outline indicates sessions where we will analyze data). Examples of data analytics exercises include – (i) using publicly available financial reporting data (under GAAP) to analyze cost structures for specific industries, companies or macroeconomic cycles, (ii) using publicly available CEO (and CFO) compensation data to analyze the mapping between pay and performance, (iii) studying the role of corporate governance in mitigating “excess” compensation being paid to the CEO (or CFO).

Prerequisites: ACC401 and STR401; STR403 (may be taken concurrently)

The objective of this course is to develop and sharpen your analytical ability to use financial information to perform various types of applied economic and financial analysis. Managers formulate a firm’s business strategy and make operating, investing, and financing policy decisions to implement that strategy. The outcomes of those decisions are reflected in the firm’s financial statements which, along with other financial information, are used by equity and debt analysts, investors, lenders, creditors, bondholders, loan officers, debt-rating agencies, and numerous other external parties to evaluate the firm’s current economic performance and to forecast its future economic performance. A key aspect of the course is the link between managers’ strategic decisions and the resulting performance that gets reflected in the firm’s financial statements. This course develops the analytical and technical skills and related applied analysis techniques required to perform a wide variety of economic analyses using financial information. Among other things, applied financial analysis requires knowledge of the various techniques used to analyze financial information such as common-size and trend analysis, ratio analysis, modeling the predictable cash flow effects of sales growth, models of financial distress, forecasting techniques, valuation models, as well as the ability to select and apply the appropriate techniques in a given economic setting. This course develops your ability to perform economic analysis in a wide variety of real-world settings using a number of different applied financial analysis techniques.

Prerequisites: ACC401 and FIN402

This course studies the analysis, design, and automation of business processes. The course teaches system-modeling tools appropriate for the analysis and design of business processes and information systems. These tools are applied to electronic commerce ventures, the design of various service processes, logistics, and R&D activities. Key features of the course are: modern process analysis techniques, the study of cutting edge research results on work organization and design, and an introduction to rapid prototyping of new information systems. The course includes a comprehensive team-based field project involving a real business process. This project requires the application of the concepts and techniques taught in the course.

Prerequisite: CIS 401

The course expands and develops students’ analytical tool kit through “hands on” training in the effective use of spreadsheet-based tools for advanced managerial analysis. Students perform quantitative analysis of advanced problems in options pricing, investments, corporate finance, marketing, and operations. The course enhances and reinforces the analytical skills developed in earlier MBA classes such as formulating and solving large-scale business problems using quantitative models, risk simulation and sensitivity analysis. Spreadsheet tools introduced in this class include Visual Basic for Applications (V.B.A.) and stochastic optimization using Optquest. Students who successfully complete the course should possess cutting-edge skills in spreadsheet business modeling and analysis.

Prerequisite: GBA411 or equivalent

The focus of ENT 423 is learning how to prepare an effective business plan that will communicate the inherent value of the concept. Among the critical issues that will be addressed are: competitive conditions and industry trends, sustainable competitive advantages, management team, marketing plan, financial plan, exit possibilities, franchising, legal entities. The approach used is appropriate for start-ups and for corporate venturing. It is also suitable for both profit and for not-for-profit organizations. Also included is a social entrepreneurship module. At the same time plans are prepared, other entrepreneurial issues are studied, such as assembly resources, launching and building new ventures and harvesting results. Lectures, cases and guest speakers are utilized. The speakers will address a range of new venture topics from the development of management teams, marketing, finance, venture capitalists and legal issues. The completion of a business plan for a proposed new venture is required.

This course provides an intensive analysis of the effects of various corporate financial policy decisions on the value of the firm, including a discussion of the effects of taxes, bankruptcy costs and agency costs on these decisions. It then examines the interrelation of financing policy with executive compensation, leasing, hedging and payout policies. The course provides an understanding of the theoretical issues involved in the choice of these policies.

Prerequisite: FIN 402

This course is a comprehensive graduate course in corporate finance that is taught using in-class lectures, class notes, and cases, each of which requires a team report and negotiated deals involving co-operation and competition with other teams. The subjects covered include corporate valuation as applied to friendly mergers and hostile takeovers. We also will cover relevant issues in securities regulation, insider trading law, and corporate-governance law.

This course will enable the students to acquire a good understanding of the fundamental causes of restructuring events; the legal framework in which restructuring occurs; the likely consequences and risks involved in pursuing various restructuring strategies. After taking the course, students will be capable of deriving the value of securities issued by firms undergoing a restructuring events (with a particular focus on distressed firms. They will learn about famous restructuring cases and controversies, and will be exposed to the views of guest speakers who pursued a career in M&A and restructuring.

Prerequisites: FIN402 and ACC401

The course is subtitled “Bargaining for Value” because the notion of “bargaining” implies interaction and communication among self-interested players of diverse backgrounds and styles. “Bargaining for value” implies that the quantum of value extracted in a deal may vary within a range of potential values. “Negotiation” is a commonly-accepted term that captures the essence of these processes in a competitive or cooperative environment. This course surveys the theoretical and behavioral underpinnings of negotiation practices and develops skills that enhance the ability to capture value in cooperative and competitive bargaining scenarios.

This course has three main threads. First and most centrally is practicing and extending concepts related to strategic marketing decisions about R&D, production, pricing, product, advertising, and channels. Second, students learn to infuse these decisions with market intelligence. Third, students learn to develop spreadsheet models to support strategic decisions and presentations to communicate the business case for strategic plans. In the process, the course extends frameworks related to segmentation, targeting, product positioning, advertising, and channels. In addition, the course will introduce frameworks related to negotiation and crisis management. Through the process of a course-long simulation, teams will be challenged through the simulation experience to understand their own strengths and weaknesses and to work better as a team.

This course examines the issues involved in the planning, justification, and development of new products. We will fold in best practices from organizations like Pragmatic Marketing and Strategyzer (Business Model Canvas/Value Proposition Design), along with the standard go-to processes and approaches followed in the business world today. The course explores the fundamentals of understanding market and customer needs to ensure products are developed based on market reality. We study the processes associated with the ideation, iteration and development of value propositions and explore how these value propositions must fit into a broader business model to find true success. Leading from this, we study new product development (NPD) processes, and explore the impact of disruptive innovation on crafting new solutions. We conclude with the exploration of the unique leadership skills required in a new product role. Select cases will be analyzed and discussed to embellish critical learnings. A term long project will have teams develop a value proposition and its associated business model.

Prerequisites: MKT 402 and GBA 412 or GBA 462

Students will learn the major differences in pricing strategies between selling to consumers (STR 423) and to other firms, which then deal with consumers. The course starts by analyzing the pricing problem of a manufacturer selling to a retailer. We examine the issue of double marginalization, and learn how two-part tariffs get us out of this problem. We also examine different forms of contractual relations—from vertical acquisitions to regular short-term contracts—and potential issues with every form, touching on transfer pricing and outsourcing. In the second part of the course, we analyze a crucial concept of cost pass-through (how much a retailer should decrease the retail price in response to a decrease in the wholesale price) and the effect of manufacturer’s advertising on the retailer and on the channel overall. This course is a natural continuation of STR 423 Pricing Policies for those who are interested in working in an industry where a significant portion of sales is done through independently-owned retailers, whether students are planning on working on the retailer side or on the manufacturer side of this industry.

Prerequisite: MKT 414

For many firms, the operations function marshals the majority share of a firm’s assets and resources while producing products and services. Decision-making in operations can have a decisive effect on both the cost and the attractiveness of the firm’s outputs. Thus the management of operations activities is a critical factor in a firm’s competitive strategy. This is a course that explores operations related decisions in the context of overall business, operations, financial and marketing strategies. Strong emphasis is given to valuation of different operational strategies and NPV analysis. Many types of operations decisions are considered: location, capacity, sourcing, flexibility, and process choice. Risk management and financial evaluation of capital projects will be discussed. In addition to financial evaluation, students will analyze the fit of strategic choices in the competitive context a firm faces. Systems Analysis, for determining if your measurement system is capable), FMEA (Failure Modes and Effects Analysis), and DOE (Design of Experiments). In addition to these analysis tools, there will be a strong emphasis on the process of data acquisition. To support the process of acquiring the right data and learning the analysis tools, you will do a small outside project for the class and a series of in-class simulations. You will learn to use two additional tools that support the questioning that leads to good data acquisition: process mapping (of the process you will be improving) and thought process mapping (of the process you use to solve the client’s problem).

Prerequisite: OMG 402

This course will teach a systematic method for understanding and improving ongoing business processes. The techniques learned in this class provide a systematic method of asking questions, collecting data, and analyzing that data to learn how processes work (or are failing) and what can be changed to improve them. The statistical techniques you will learn are SPC (Statistical Process Control, used as a proactive tool for investigation rather than its traditional role as a reactive tool), MSA (Measurement Systems Analysis, for determining if your measurement system is capable), FMEA (Failure Modes and Effects Analysis), and DOE (Design of Experiments). In addition to these analysis tools, there will be a strong emphasis on the process of data acquisition. To support the process of acquiring the right data and learning the analysis tools, you will do a small outside project for the class and a series of in-class simulations. You will learn to use two additional tools that support the questioning that leads to good data acquisition: process mapping (of the process you will be improving) and thought process mapping (of the process you use to solve the client’s problem).

Prerequisite: OMG 402

We repeatedly observe top executives caught off-guard when faced with “nonmarket” threats such as proposed government regulations or activist pressure. But the concept of strategy beyond markets extends further than reactively responding to threats. Managers also have the opportunity to shape the nonmarket environment in ways that advantage their firm. In this course, we will develop a framework for constructing nonmarket strategies and integrating them with market strategies. We will cover a broad range of topics, including the legislative process, regulation, activism, corporate social responsibility, and crisis management. We will also study the special challenges facing global firms and innovative firms. Class sessions will be highly interactive and will emphasize the real-world applicability of the frameworks and theories we discuss in class.

TBD

In contrast to the external reporting perspective of Corporate Financial Accounting (ACC 401), Managerial Accounting and Performance Measurement (ACC 410) focuses on strategic decision making within the organization. The course is oriented towards training business professionals to comprehend and utilize their organization’s internal accounting system to assist them in strategic decision making. The course provides students with a framework to understand accounting systems, and demonstrates how such an understanding of the underlying cost structures facilitates managers in evaluating profitability of individual products and customers.

In addition, the course delves into issues of performance measurement, with special emphasis on the C-suite and the role of corporate governance actors such as the board in effectively monitoring CEO (and CFO) performance. In addition to covering the basic conceptual principles underlying managerial accounting, the course has a significant data analytics component with MS Excel and Stata being the primary data analysis tools used (the course outline indicates sessions where we will analyze data). Examples of data analytics exercises include – (i) using publicly available financial reporting data (under GAAP) to analyze cost structures for specific industries, companies or macroeconomic cycles, (ii) using publicly available CEO (and CFO) compensation data to analyze the mapping between pay and performance, (iii) studying the role of corporate governance in mitigating “excess” compensation being paid to the CEO (or CFO).

Prerequisites: ACC401 and STR401; STR403 (may be taken concurrently)

This course draws on a mix of concepts from economics, strategy, and technology to frame and understand issues relating to the management of digital products, services, and platforms. It is targeted at students who wish to pursue product management or similar roles in technology firms, or in firms that invest in technology companies. The course focuses on the interconnections between technology, business models, and user experience. Topics covered include the economics of digital products, innovation, platform architecture, design, monetization, and growth.

Prerequisite: CIS 401

This course covers digital business strategy for both online and traditional firms. Topics include retail business models, business model innovation, and AI. We examine market entry, development, and monetization strategies for a number of different firms. Recent firms have included: Autodesk, Best Buy, Dropbox, Haven, IPSY, JoyRun, OpenTable, PayPal, Shoes of Prey, SalesForce, Tiktok, Wealthfront, and Zume. The culmination of the course is a team project in which students examine the digital strategy of a firm of their choosing.
 

Note: students who have taken CIS 440 are not allowed to take CIS 414.
 

Prerequisite: CIS 401

The course expands and develops students’ analytical tool kit through “hands on” training in the effective use of spreadsheet-based tools for advanced managerial analysis. Students perform quantitative analysis of advanced problems in options pricing, investments, corporate finance, marketing, and operations. The course enhances and reinforces the analytical skills developed in earlier MBA classes such as formulating and solving large-scale business problems using quantitative models, risk simulation and sensitivity analysis. Spreadsheet tools introduced in this class include Visual Basic for Applications (V.B.A.) and stochastic optimization using Optquest. Students who successfully complete the course should possess cutting-edge skills in spreadsheet business modeling and analysis.

Prerequisite: GBA411 or equivalent

The rise of social media has empowered customers in an unprecedented way. They are well connected with each other through platforms like Facebook and Twitter, and they can easily express and distribute their comments, criticisms, or endorsements publicly to large audiences in real time. This fundamental media revolution not only forces companies to actively manage their presence and engage with customers on social media platforms but also offers them a golden opportunity to extract intelligence from the vast amount of unstructured data. Technology and strategies are increasingly intertwined in this new frontier of innovation and competition.

This course draws on a unique blend of social media strategies and the rapidly evolving information technologies supporting these strategies. We will discuss issues related to the monitoring and analyzing of social media for companies in different industries. The learning objectives of this course include: (1) gaining a deeper understanding of social media and its implications in the business world; (2) becoming comfortable with text data; and (3) being able to understand and apply several commonly used methods to analyze text data.

(Same as MKT 437)

This course examines the major issues involved in marketing on the Internet. Among the topics studied are: new product opportunities on the Internet; the changed role of advertising; the Internet as a two-way communication medium with consumers; targeting individual consumers; word-of-mouth among consumers on the Internet; the Internet as a distribution channel; and marketing research on the Internet.

Prerequisite: MKT 402

(Same as FIN 446)

This course provides an introduction to the evolving use of technology in financial markets and applications. One area of focus is “blockchain” technology in financial transactions, markets, permanent historical records and cryptocurrencies. The other major area of focus is innovations such as peer-to-peer transactions and the use of artificial intelligence in evaluating and funding investments. Throughout we will consider the prospects for the success of the new technologies, asking questions such as: How revolutionary are the various parts of Fintech? What are the hidden pitfalls of the technology/business models to individuals, companies and/or society? How will major financial institutions and governments react? What changes are required in legal rules (including internationally) to accommodate Fintech? The course will require working with large data sets (the blockchain) and specific cryptocurrency implementations. While computer programming skills are not required as a pre-requisite, success in the course will require that students learn the basics of the computer science concepts of public-key cryptography, data verification, and simple programming structures (loops, branching).

This course gives an overview of supply chain management in a wide variety of industries such as: groceries, style goods, consumer electronics and services. The impact of shifts from traditional channels to e-commerce will be emphasized. New initiatives introduced to address these new challenges, such as vendor managed inventory (VMI), variety postponement, cross docking, real options contracts and quick response, will be studied and applied both in class and assignments. Supporting software, such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and supply chain tools, will also be discussed.

Prerequisite: OMG 402

Success of service management critically depends on managing the integration of business processes with customers as well as all related support systems (technology, human resources, information flow). This integration presents a challenge to service managers who need to address significant variation in customer expectations and requirements while controlling costs and remaining competitive. This course provides a foundation for the analysis and improvement of businesses, paying particular attention to the service sector. The type of analysis learned in this course is required in virtually every industry as companies work to improve their bottom-line performance. The best way to improve performance is through a holistic approach, where the structure of processes, information and technological requirements, and the managerial implications, are considered concurrently.

Prerequisite: OMG 402

For many firms, the operations function marshals the majority share of a firm’s assets and resources while producing products and services. Decision-making in operations can have a decisive effect on both the cost and the attractiveness of the firm’s outputs. Thus the management of operations activities is a critical factor in a firm’s competitive strategy. This is a course that explores operations related decisions in the context of overall business, operations, financial and marketing strategies. Strong emphasis is given to valuation of different operational strategies and NPV analysis. Many types of operations decisions are considered: location, capacity, sourcing, flexibility, and process choice. Risk management and financial evaluation of capital projects will be discussed. In addition to financial evaluation, students will analyze the fit of strategic choices in the competitive context a firm faces. Systems Analysis, for determining if your measurement system is capable), FMEA (Failure Modes and Effects Analysis), and DOE (Design of Experiments). In addition to these analysis tools, there will be a strong emphasis on the process of data acquisition. To support the process of acquiring the right data and learning the analysis tools, you will do a small outside project for the class and a series of in-class simulations. You will learn to use two additional tools that support the questioning that leads to good data acquisition: process mapping (of the process you will be improving) and thought process mapping (of the process you use to solve the client’s problem.

Prerequisite: OMG 402

This course will teach a systematic method for understanding and improving ongoing business processes. The techniques learned in this class provide a systematic method of asking questions, collecting data, and analyzing that data to learn how processes work (or are failing) and what can be changed to improve them. The statistical techniques you will learn are SPC (Statistical Process Control, used as a proactive tool for investigation rather than its traditional role as a reactive tool), MSA (Measurement Systems Analysis, for determining if your measurement system is capable), FMEA (Failure Modes and Effects Analysis), and DOE (Design of Experiments). In addition to these analysis tools, there will be a strong emphasis on the process of data acquisition. To support the process of acquiring the right data and learning the analysis tools, you will do a small outside project for the class and a series of in-class simulations. You will learn to use two additional tools that support the questioning that leads to good data acquisition: process mapping (of the process you will be improving) and thought process mapping (of the process you use to solve the client’s problem).

Prerequisite: OMG 402

The topics treated in this course span a wide spectrum of issues, concepts, systems, and techniques for managing projects effectively in today’s complex business environment. Students are led through a complete project life cycle, from requirements analysis and project definition to start-up, reviews, and phaseout. Important techniques for controlling project costs, schedules, and performance are studied. The course employs a combination of lectures, case analyses, business/project simulations, videos, Internet resources, and group discussions to develop the conceptual understanding and operational skills needed for effective managerial role performance.

Prerequisite: OMG 402