Master of Business Administration
Design Your Own MBA
At Fairfield University's Dolan School of Business, each MBA student who comes to us is unique. Each has a different academic and professional background, a different idea of how best to learn, and different career goals for the future. No two people are the same, and a Dolan MBA allows you to customize your curriculum based on your uniqueness.
Because one size does not fit all, our students are given tremendous flexibility to design their own plans of study to suit their backgrounds, learning styles, and aspirations. With fewer required courses and more electives, students build the curriculum they want, mixing and matching a vast selection of business courses from all areas of Fairfield Dolan. Students with non-business backgrounds require 42 credits of coursework, whereas those with business backgrounds require 36 credits to complete the MBA.
In order to maximize one's competence and confidence as a manager, every student is required to take one course from every subject area, such as, accounting, analytics, economics, finance, management, and marketing. This will help students develop broad functional knowledge to foster effective managerial decision-making.
Every Dolan MBA student identifies a concentration, enabling the student to develop discipline-specific knowledge. The concentration requires completion of four advanced level courses from one of the following disciplines: accounting, analytics, AI, cybersecurity, economics, finance, financial technology, management, or marketing. It is possible in some concentrations to earn a specialization if the student completes specific upper-level courses.
Course Modality
Courses may be offered fully on campus, synchronous online, asynchronous online or hybrid depending upon the type of course and the modality most suited to facilitate knowledge dissemination.
Course Waiver Policy
A minimum of 36 credits must be earned to complete the MBA. Waiving the 5400-level courses allows for higher level courses to be taken. Students admitted to the Dolan MBA program may be able to waive up to six 5400-level courses (ACCT 5400, DATA 5400, ECON 5400, FNCE 5400, MGMT 5400, MKTG 5400) on the successful completion of undergraduate business course(s) and/or work experience. For undergraduate courses to be considered for waivers, the student’s undergraduate degree generally must have been earned from an AACSB-accredited business school within five years of the date of enrollment in the graduate program.
Coursework Details
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Subject Area Courses | ||
| Select one course in Accounting | 3 | |
| Select one course in Analytics | 3 | |
| Select one course in Economics | 3 | |
| Select one course in Finance | 3 | |
| MGMT 6503 | Legal and Ethical Environment of Business | 3 |
| Select one course in Marketing | 3 | |
| Concentrations 1 | ||
| Select a concentration in one of the following areas: | 12 | |
Accounting 2, 3 | ||
Analytics 3 | ||
Artificial Intelligence 3 | ||
Economics | ||
Finance 3 | ||
Financial Technology 3 | ||
Management | ||
Marketing 3 | ||
| Electives 4 | ||
| Choose 2-4 elective courses from any Dolan graduate program | 6-12 | |
| Total Credits | 36-42 | |
- 1
At least one concentration course must be designated as a research course. (See the section on MBA concentrations below.)
- 2
Only students with a bachelor's degree in accounting or the equivalent may pursue this concentration.
- 3
STEM-designated concentration.
- 4
Candidates without a business-related academic or professional background will be required to take a total of 42 credit hours.
Accounting Concentration
Specialization Option: Taxation3
To be eligible for admission to this area of concentration, students must have an undergraduate degree (BS or BA) with a major in Accounting or the equivalent. The equivalent of an undergraduate degree in Accounting includes the successful completion of: Intermediate Accounting (six credits), Advanced Accounting (three credits), Cost Accounting (three credits), Auditing (three credits), and U.S. Taxation (three credits). Deficiencies will be handled on a case-by-case basis.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Required Concentration Course | ||
| Select one course from the list below. The remaining courses can be used as an elective concentration course. | 3 | |
| Issues in a Regulatory Reporting Environment 1 | ||
| Research on Contemporary Issues in Accounting 1 | ||
| Tax Planning 2 | ||
| Elective Concentration Courses 3 | ||
| Select three courses from the following: | 9 | |
| Property Transactions: Regulatory and Tax Issues | ||
| International Accounting | ||
| Law of Commercial Transactions: Advanced Studies in the Uniform Commercial Code | ||
| Accounting for Governments, Hospitals, and Universities | ||
| Topics in Accounting Systems and Data Analytics | ||
| Issues in Internal Audit | ||
| Audit Issues in a Global Environment | ||
| Forensic Accounting | ||
| Issues in Accounting Ethics | ||
| Financial Statement Analysis | ||
| Effective Communications for Accounting Professionals | ||
| Seminar: Special Topics in Accounting | ||
| Practicum in Accounting | ||
| Independent Study | ||
| Tax of Property Transactions | ||
| Entity Taxation | ||
| Property Transactions: Regulatory and Tax Issues | ||
| International Taxation | ||
| Law of Commercial Transactions: Advanced Studies in the Uniform Commercial Code | ||
| Partnership Taxation | ||
| State and Local Taxation | ||
| Seminar: Contemporary Topics in Taxation | ||
| Research on Contemporary Issues in Taxation 1 | ||
| Practicum in Taxation | ||
| Independent Study | ||
| Total Credits | 12 | |
- 1
Designated research course.
- 2
Designated research course, only if choosing the specialization in Taxation.
- 3
In consultation with the Director of Graduate Accounting Programs, the student chooses either 3 accounting courses or, if seeking the specialization in Taxation, 3 taxation courses.
Analytics Concentration
Students in the Analytics concentration take four courses: three advanced graduate courses from the department (DATA), and one advanced graduate course from any department in Dolan.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Required Concentration Course | 3 | |
| Leading with Analytics and AI | ||
| Elective Concentration Courses | ||
| Select two courses from the following: | 6 | |
| Data Engineering for Business Analytics | ||
| Data Design and Visualization | ||
| Analytics Consulting and Strategy 1 | ||
| Statistical Modeling for Business Intelligence 1 | ||
| Business Intelligence 1 | ||
| AI Systems for Business 1 | ||
| Big Data Management and Data Ops | ||
| Sports Analytics | ||
| Generative AI Applications in Business | ||
| Autonomous and Agentic AI for Business | ||
| Contemporary Topics Seminar | ||
| Select one advanced (6000-level) Dolan graduate course | 3 | |
| Total Credits | 12 | |
- 1
Designated research course.
Artificial Intelligence Concentration
Based on student interest and background, the AI concentration offers two options. Option 1 is for students who would like an understanding of AI without taking all AI-based courses. Option 2 is for students who would like a deeper understanding with more AI courses.
The subject area courses will be required, electives will vary based on whether DATA 5405 is taken or waived. (DATA 5405 can be waived based on the successful completion of an online test-out exam.)
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Option 1 | ||
| Prerequisite Courses | ||
| Programming Fundamentals for Business Analytics | ||
| Data Engineering for Business Analytics | ||
| Required Concentration Courses | 12 | |
| AI Systems for Business | ||
| Sports Analytics | ||
| Generative AI Applications in Business | ||
| Autonomous and Agentic AI for Business | ||
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Option 2 | ||
| Prerequisite Courses | ||
| Programming Fundamentals for Business Analytics | ||
| Data Engineering for Business Analytics | ||
| Data Design and Visualization | ||
| Required Concentration Courses | ||
| Select four courses from the following: | 12 | |
| AI Systems for Business | ||
| Big Data Management and Data Ops | ||
| Sports Analytics | ||
| Generative AI Applications in Business | ||
| Autonomous and Agentic AI for Business | ||
Economics Concentration
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Required Concentration Course | ||
| ECON 6275 | Managerial Economics and Firm Decision-making 1 | 3 |
| Elective Concentration Courses | ||
| Select three courses from the following: | 9 | |
| Macroeconomics for Business Leaders | ||
| Cost Benefit Analysis 1 | ||
| Public Finance and Budgeting | ||
| Economics of the Nonprofit Sector | ||
| Healthcare Management | ||
| Healthcare Economics 1 | ||
| Econometrics: Regression Analysis 1 | ||
| Applied Time Series Analysis and Economic Forecasting 1 | ||
| Total Credits | 12 | |
- 1
Designated research course.
Finance Concentration
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Required Concentration Courses | ||
| FNCE 6530 | Corporate Finance | 3 |
| FNCE 6540 | Investment Analysis 1 | 3 |
| Elective Concentration Courses | ||
| Select two courses from the following: | 6 | |
| Portfolio Management | ||
| International Financial Management 1 | ||
| Global Financial Markets and Institutions | ||
| Derivative Securities 1 | ||
| Fixed Income Securities | ||
| Capital Budgeting | ||
| Financial Risk Management | ||
| Research Methods in Finance | ||
| Contemporary Topics Seminar | ||
| Blockchain and Digital Assets | ||
| Decentralized Finance | ||
| Algorithmic Trading | ||
| Ethical Considerations in and Regulation of FinTech | ||
| Total Credits | 12 | |
- 1
Designated research course.
Financial Technology Concentration
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Required Concentration Courses | 9 | |
| Blockchain and Digital Assets | ||
| Decentralized Finance | ||
| Ethical Considerations in and Regulation of FinTech 1 | ||
| Elective Concentration Courses | 3 | |
| Select one course from the following: | ||
| Data Design and Visualization | ||
| Generative AI Applications in Business | ||
| Investment Analysis | ||
| Global Financial Markets and Institutions | ||
| Algorithmic Trading | ||
| Strategic Management of Technology and Innovation: The Entrepreneurial Firm | ||
| Total Credits | 12 | |
- 1
Designated research course.
Management Concentration
Specialization Options: Global Strategy, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship or Strategic Human Resources
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Required Concentration Course | ||
| MGMT 6504 | Managing People for Competitive Advantage | 3 |
| Elective Concentration Courses | ||
| Select three courses from the following: | 9 | |
| Human Resource Strategy - An Artificial Intelligence & Human Intelligence Approach | ||
| Negotiations and Dispute Resolution | ||
| Strategic Management of Technology and Innovation: The Entrepreneurial Firm 1 | ||
| Employee Performance Management and Rewards for Competitive Advantage 1 | ||
| Entrepreneurship | ||
| Social Entrepreneurship | ||
| Strategies for Environmental and Social Sustainability | ||
| Cross Cultural Management and Sustainable Leadership 1 | ||
| Law and Human Resources Management | ||
| Labor Relations | ||
| Career Planning and Development | ||
| Global Competitive Strategy | ||
| Contemporary Topics | ||
| Total Credits | 12 | |
- 1
Designated research course.
Global Strategy, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Specialization
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| To earn a specialization in Global Strategy, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, students must complete the following: | ||
| Required: | ||
| MGMT 6508 | Strategic Management of Technology and Innovation: The Entrepreneurial Firm 1 | 3 |
| Select two courses from the following: | 6 | |
| Negotiations and Dispute Resolution | ||
| Entrepreneurship | ||
| Social Entrepreneurship | ||
| Cross Cultural Management and Sustainable Leadership 1 | ||
| Total Credits | 9 | |
- 1
Designated research course.
Strategic Human Resources Specialization
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| To earn a specialization in Strategic Human Resources, students must complete the following: | ||
| Required: | ||
| MGMT 6505 | Human Resource Strategy - An Artificial Intelligence & Human Intelligence Approach | 3 |
| Select two courses from the following: | 6 | |
| Negotiations and Dispute Resolution | ||
| Employee Performance Management and Rewards for Competitive Advantage 1 | ||
| Cross Cultural Management and Sustainable Leadership 1 | ||
| Law and Human Resources Management | ||
| Labor Relations | ||
| Career Planning and Development | ||
| Total Credits | 9 | |
- 1
Designated research course.
Marketing Concentration
Specialization Option: Marketing Analytics
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Required Concentration Courses | ||
| MKTG 6510 | Advanced Consumer Behavior for Managers | 3 |
| MKTG 6520 | Research for Marketing Insights and Decisions 1 | 3 |
| Elective Concentration Courses | ||
| Select two courses from the following: | 6 | |
| Introductory Storytelling in Marketing and Advanced Storytelling in Marketing | ||
| Artificial Intelligence in Marketing | ||
| Customer Experience 1 | ||
| Marketing Analytics | ||
| Strategic Brand Management | ||
| Advertising Management | ||
| Advanced Marketing Strategy | ||
| Category Management and Shopper Insights | ||
| Digital Marketing and Analytics with AI | ||
| Social Media Analytics and Strategy | ||
| Advanced Marketing Analytics | ||
| Pricing Strategies and Analytics | ||
| Experimental Research | ||
| Contemporary Topics | ||
| Total Credits | 12 | |
- 1
Designated research course.
Marketing Analytics Specialization
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| To earn a specialization in Marketing Analytics, students must complete the following: | ||
| Required: | ||
| MKTG 6520 | Research for Marketing Insights and Decisions 1 | 3 |
| Select two courses from the following: | 6 | |
| Artificial Intelligence in Marketing | ||
| Marketing Analytics | ||
| Category Management and Shopper Insights | ||
| Digital Marketing and Analytics with AI | ||
| Social Media Analytics and Strategy | ||
| Advanced Marketing Analytics | ||
| Pricing Strategies and Analytics | ||
| Experimental Research | ||
| Contemporary Topics | ||
| Total Credits | 9 | |
- 1
Designated research course.
Accounting
ACCT 5400 Introduction to Accounting 3 Credits
This course examines the basic concepts necessary to understand the information provided by financial and managerial accounting systems. The focus is on interpretation of basic information, as students learn about internal and external financial reporting. Topics include: accrual accounting; revenue and expense recognition; accounting for assets, liabilities, and equities; accumulation and assignment of costs to products and services; and budgeting.
ACCT 6500 Accounting Information for Decision-Making 3 Credits
Prerequisite(s): ACCT 5400.
This course emphasizes the use of accounting information by managers for decision-making. It is designed to provide managers with the skills necessary to interpret analytical information supplied by the financial and managerial accounting systems. Financial accounting concepts based on profit, liquidity, solvency, and capital structure are used in the process of employing management accounting tools to decisions and evaluate organization performance and changes in cost, profit and investment centers.
ACCT 6510 Issues in a Regulatory Reporting Environment 3 Credits
This course brings together technical accounting and reporting concepts and theories with a focus on the financial accounting information that is required to be filed with regulatory agencies, the most predominant being the Securities and Exchange Commission. This course aims to provide an in-depth conceptual understanding of regulatory reporting requirements coupled with an appreciation of how these regulations affect the quality of information in publicly available corporate reports. Students will enhance their ability to analyze and understand unique and complex future accounting issues and possible solutions. The course is taught seminar style with students leading the discussions of cases and research.
ACCT 6515 Property Transactions: Regulatory and Tax Issues 3 Credits
This course covers concepts that are relevant in practice for both a public and private accounting and taxation setting. Drawing on and integrating complimentary law and tax topics, the course will consider issues such as: real estate used in a trade or business or held for the production of rental income, ownership of a principal residence, and indirect ownership of real-estate interests in the form of securities under federal law, including a REIT, as well as secured transactions and bankruptcy. Crosslisted with TAXN 6515.
ACCT 6520 International Accounting 3 Credits
The primary focus of this course is the study of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Particular emphasis will be placed on developing an understanding of significant differences between the current United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and IFRS standards. Students will also learn the pros and cons of U.S. GAAP and IFRS approaches for select technical accounting issues. Some other non-IFRS related topics include International Taxation, International Transfer pricing and the impact of culture on the development of accounting standards and practices throughout the world.
ACCT 6525 Law of Commercial Transactions: Advanced Studies in the Uniform Commercial Code 3 Credits
This course provides students with a foundation in the Law of Commercial Transactions. The course begins with a review of the principles of common law contracts which underpins many aspects of the Uniform Commercial Code. This course entails an advanced study of several provisions of the Uniform Commercial Code (hereinafter referred to as "UCC" or "the Code"). The sections of the Code to be studied include Article 2 Sales, Article 2A Leases of Goods, Articles 3 and 4 Negotiable Instruments and Bank Deposits and Collections, and Article 9 Secured Transactions. With an emphasis on case analyses and/or problem sets, students taking the course will have the opportunity to improve their critical thinking and written and oral communication skills, particularly as they relate to the legal settings associated with the UCC. Crosslisted with TAXN 6525.
ACCT 6530 Accounting for Governments, Hospitals, and Universities 3 Credits
This course examines the generally accepted accounting principles applicable to governmental entities (as issued by GASB) as well as accounting principles applicable to not-for-profit entities (as issued by FASB). The focus will be on the financial statements and reports prepared by state and local governments and financial reporting for the wide array of not-for-profit entities with an emphasis on the contrast of these entities with for-profit accounting.
ACCT 6550 Topics in Accounting Systems and Data Analytics 3 Credits
This course addresses technological topics of current interest to the accounting profession. Topics such as accounting information systems, cybersecurity, enterprise resource planning systems, and business intelligence may be discussed, but the focus of the class will be development of computer skills for extraction, data visualization, and cleaning and analysis of accounting data.
ACCT 6555 Issues in Internal Audit 3 Credits
This course covers internal audit from a broad perspective. Course topics cover three main areas: internal audit basics, risks, and metrics. During the course, students will develop critical thinking skills (particularly employing professional skepticism) and learn to effectively communicate their professional opinions.
ACCT 6560 Audit Issues in a Global Environment 3 Credits
This course will expose students to the global profession of auditing, with a primary focus on public company auditors. Topics will vary any given semester, but may include the following: the different international organizations that set auditing standards and enforce auditing standards; the impact of culture on auditing standards and practices throughout the world; the impact of International Financial Reporting Standards on international and U.S. auditing rules; the evaluation of audit evidence; auditor independence; materiality; internal controls; computer assisted audit tools and techniques; fraud detection and forensic accounting. The course is taught seminar style, with students leading the discussions of cases and current articles. Assignments are designed to develop students' written and oral communication skills, analytical skills, and critical thinking skills.
ACCT 6565 Forensic Accounting 3 Credits
This course provides students with a foundation in investigative accounting. Topics covered include identifying, investigating and documenting fraud and providing litigation support for forensic engagements. With an emphasis on case analyses and/or independent research, students taking the course will have the opportunity to improve their critical thinking and written and oral communication skills, particularly as they relate to the legal settings associated with investigative accounting.
ACCT 6570 Issues in Accounting Ethics 3 Credits
This course investigates ethical problems in contemporary accounting practice. The goal is to increase students' ethical perception so they are better able to identify, consider, and ultimately act on the ethical issues they may face in their professional accounting career, regardless of specialty area (e.g., audit, tax, and corporate accounting). The course is taught seminar style, with students leading the discussions of cases and current articles. Assignments are designed to develop students' written and oral communication skills, analytical skills, and critical thinking skills.
ACCT 6575 Data Analytics in the Accounting Profession 3 Credits
This course covers the application of data analytics techniques in assurance and tax. Students will gain hands-on experience applying contemporary data analysis techniques to collect, clean and analyze large sets of data in order to address discipline-specific problems. Students will also learn to use appropriate visualizations and reports to meaningfully present analysis results.
ACCT 6580 Financial Statement Analysis 3 Credits
The course is designed to increase and extend the knowledge of the student in financial statement information and topics introduced in undergraduate courses in intermediate and advanced financial accounting through lecture, problem solving and case analysis. A critical examination of both objective and subjective aspects of financial reporting will be undertaken with both quantitative as well as qualitative assessments of financial information emphasized.
ACCT 6585 Effective Communications for Accounting Professionals 3 Credits
In this course, students will practice communicating effectively in accounting settings. Topics include considering the communication needs of accountants' diverse audiences, adapting communications to varying purposes, and writing and speaking clearly and concisely in both preparing accounting-specific documents and in presenting accounting-focused information. Crosslisted with TAXN 6585.
ACCT 6900 Seminar: Special Topics in Accounting 3 Credits
This course presents recent practitioner and academic literature in various areas of accounting, including guest speakers where appropriate. Topics change semester to semester, depending upon faculty and student interests.
ACCT 6970 Research on Contemporary Issues in Accounting 3 Credits
This research seminar engages students in utilizing an analytical lens to develop and present recommendations for emerging issues, recent pronouncements of accounting rule-making bodies, and/or unresolved controversies in contemporary financial reporting and practice. Students apply AI-informed methods of data mining, information synthesis, forecasting, and evaluation to discipline-specific questions in accounting. Emphasis is placed on the systematic evaluation of AI-generated analyses and recommendations, including their accuracy, bias, and implications for organizational decision-making and performance. Alongside developing their analytical and critical thinking skills, students strengthen their professional communication skills.
ACCT 6980 Practicum in Accounting 3 Credits
This course builds on the in-class lessons covered during the student's graduate studies by providing the student with the opportunity to apply their academic knowledge to a professional accounting context. As such, it is an experiential learning activity. Successful completion of the practicum will entitle students to three credits that count as a graduate-level accounting elective. Enrollment by permission of the department chair or designee. This course may not be repeated for credit.
ACCT 6990 Independent Study 3 Credits
This course provides students with an opportunity to develop research skills while exploring a specific contemporary accounting issue with a full-time faculty member specializing in the area of the discipline. Students are expected to complete a significant research paper as the primary requirement of this course. Enrollment by permission from department chair or designee only.
Analytics
DATA 5400 Applied Business Statistics 3 Credits
Using spreadsheet software, this hands-on course teaches a variety of quantitative methods for analyzing data to help make decisions. Topics include: data presentation and communication, probability distributions, sampling, hypothesis testing and regression, and time series analysis. This course uses numerous case studies and examples from finance, marketing, operations, accounting, and other areas of business to illustrate the realistic use of statistical methods. Previously BUAN 5400.
DATA 5405 Programming Fundamentals for Business Analytics 3 Credits
This course introduces the fundamentals of programming with a focus on core computational concepts and AI-assisted coding techniques that apply across general-purpose programming languages. Students will begin by exploring program structure, control flow, and data manipulation, while learning to harness AI tools to enhance problem-solving, debugging, and code development. Through concise lessons, quizzes, and interactive coding challenges, the course demonstrates how programming languages such as Python and R, combined with AI-augmented development, are utilized in contemporary Business Analytics environments. The course concludes with a comprehensive project that showcases both programming competency and the effective integration of AI-driven coding support in real-world analytical workflows.
DATA 5410 Analytics Programming for Business 1.5 Credits
This course focuses on quantitative modeling and analyzing business problems using spreadsheet software, such as Excel and its add-ins. Topics include descriptive analytics, visualizing and exploring data, predictive modeling, regression analysis, time series analysis, portfolio decisions, risk management, and simulation. Business models relevant to finance, accounting, marketing, and operations management are set up and solved, with managerial interpretations and "what if" analyses to provide further insight into real business problems and solutions. Open to MS Management students only. Previously BUAN 5410.
DATA 6100 Fundamentals of Analytics 3 Credits
This is an introductory level graduate course focusing on spreadsheet modeling to analyze and solve business problems. Topics include descriptive analytics, data visualization, predictive modeling, time series analysis, and data mining. Contemporary analytical models utilized in finance, marketing, accounting, and management are set up and solved through case studies. Previously ISOM 6500.
DATA 6500 Leading with Analytics and AI 3 Credits
This course provides a broad overview to the analytics profession, with a focus on data driven leadership, hands-on skills in analytics and AI, and ethics. Starting with a foundation of analytical framing, the course moves on to more advanced topics like data visualization and summarization, descriptive and inferential statistics, spreadsheet modeling for prediction, linear regression, risk analysis using Monte-Carlo simulation, linear and nonlinear optimization, decision analysis, and data storytelling. The course includes an introduction to prompt engineering and other AI basics, as well as discussions on ethics in the profession. The course culminates with a group research project using curated big data datasets, as well as individual exercises in problem framing intending to be a component of a capstone experience. Previously BUAN 6500.
DATA 6505 Data Engineering for Business Analytics 3 Credits
This course introduces fundamental techniques for collecting, preprocessing, and transforming data for business analytics and AI applications. Students develop hands-on skills in modern data processing and data mining, with an emphasis on feature engineering—both traditional and multimodal. The course explores how to convert raw data into meaningful, analyzable forms that power advanced analytical and machine learning models. Key topics include handling diverse data types, integrating information from multiple sources such as text, images, and videos, and applying methods for data acquisition and cleaning. By the end of the course, students will understand how effective data preparation and feature design serve as the foundation for predictive, descriptive, and AI-driven analytics introduced in more advanced courses.
DATA 6510 Data Design and Visualization 3 Credits
This course introduces data design and management. Starting from the traditional relational data model and database fundamentals, the course offers a hands-on introduction to Structured Query Language (SQL) for defining, manipulating, accessing, and managing data, accompanied by the basics of data modeling including entity relationship modeling and diagrams. The course also offers an introduction to NoSQL and data warehousing approaches to handling Big Data. The course further touches upon how artificial intelligence is shaping the field, including query generation and database design from natural language questions. The course concludes with a comprehensive data warehousing project that gives each student the opportunity to integrate and apply the new knowledge and skills learned from this class. Previously BUAN 6510.
DATA 6515 AI Ethics and Governance 3 Credits
This course focuses on governance frameworks for AI systems, including transparency, accountability, data privacy, consent, fairness, and social impact. Students will critically analyze AI governance frameworks drawn from sources such as the EU AI framework, NIST, and explainable AI (XAI) literature. Topics include assessment of transparency and risk, and the formulation of policy and governance recommendations. The course includes weekly readings, quizzes, case studies, and hands-on workshops. The final project centers on designing an AI governance framework for a real or realistic AI deployment.
DATA 6520 Analytics Consulting and Strategy 3 Credits
Prerequisite(s): DATA 6500.
With the rise of analytics for cutting-edge business innovation, the industry needs business leaders who can solve an organization’s most important problems by asking and answering questions using data. These business consultants need to bridge both the data analytics and business fields. This class tries to provide a “real world” consulting experience through a project-centric experiential approach, in addition to case studies of analytics consulting and business problem solving using descriptive, predictive and prescriptive analytics. When possible, class projects will be client-driven using community partners. Students work in teams using analytics to answer the client’s current and important business questions using data. The students will approach these as business analytics consultants by using effective project management to gathering requirements, using continuous client engagement to deepen understanding of the problem, suggesting ways in which to explore the question and its possible solutions through data, running different data models to approach the solution, working with clients to come up with effective analytics strategies, making business presentations based on findings, incorporating the inevitable changes that come with real world projects, and recommending strategic solutions based on their findings.
DATA 6530 Statistical Modeling for Business Intelligence 3 Credits
Prerequisite(s): DATA 5400 or placement exam.
This course introduces analytical techniques used for decision-making under uncertainty. Topics include time series and other forecasting techniques, such as Monte Carlo simulation, to assess the risk associated with managerial decisions. Specifically, we will cover data collection methods, time dependent models and analysis, advanced solver, time series techniques, exponential smoothing, moving averages, and Box-Jenkins (ARIMA) models. Application examples include financial models - stock prices, risk management - bond ratings, behavior models - customer attrition, customer likes/dislikes, buying patterns - propensity to buy, politics - identify swing voters, and sales. Previously BUAN 6530.
DATA 6535 Advanced Sports Analytics 3 Credits
Sports analytics is transforming the way teams, leagues, players, coaches, referees, and fans perceive and appreciate their favorite pastimes and games, including major team sports such as baseball, basketball, football, soccer, cricket, and rugby, more individualized sports like tennis and golf, and brand-new innovations such as e-sports. In this course, students will gain experience in framing analytical questions in sports, discover and evaluate cutting-edge research and findings in sports analytics, develop hands-on skills in using and implementing sports analytics solutions, and learn how to communicate findings to a non-analytical audience in an impactful and actionable way. This course culminates in a scholarly sports analytics research paper.
DATA 6540 Business Intelligence 3 Credits
Prerequisite(s): DATA 6510.
Modernly, business intelligence has become far more interactive. This course provides an advanced application and overview of the new techniques for building interactive dashboards and tools now prevalent in this profession. Additionally, with data overload happening on every level, the importance of good data storytelling has soared. Using programming languages and environments such as Tableau and R, this course introduces students to the business intelligence profession and teaches the skills necessary to develop and deploy cloud-based interactive apps to assist in data and analytical storytelling, including insights into user interface design (UI) and user experience design (UX). The course concludes with a comprehensive project. Previously BUAN 6540.
DATA 6545 AI Systems for Business 3 Credits
Prerequisite(s): DATA 6505.
This course provides an advanced understanding of the principles and practices of data science and AI engineering, with a special focus on business applications. It covers the design, development, deployment, and maintenance of AI-powered systems across their full lifecycle. Emphasizing practical relevance, the course applies AI and data-driven tools to business analytics. Programming tutorials and case studies introduce topics such as AI lifecycle management, foundation models, and AutoML. Students are expected to actively participate in the course deliverables through independent assignments, lab work, and group projects. The course culminates with a final project in predictive analytics, as well as individual exercises in modeling and interpretation intending to be a component of an analytics capstone experience.
DATA 6550 Big Data Management and Data Ops 3 Credits
This course introduces the fundamentals of Big Data management and its implementation in the public cloud. Topics include classic theories of data architecture, dimensional database design, data pipelines, and data governance, supplemented with the latest developments in the emerging field of DataOps. The theory is grounded with hands-on experience building databases and data pipelines with the Modern Data Stack.
DATA 6560 Sports Analytics 3 Credits
Sports analytics is transforming the way teams, leagues, players, coaches, referees, and fans perceive and appreciate their favorite pastimes and games, including major team sports such as baseball, basketball, football, soccer, cricket, and rugby, more individualized sports like tennis and golf, and brand-new innovations such as e-sports. In this course, students will gain experience in framing analytical questions in sports, discover and evaluate cutting-edge research and findings in sports analytics, develop hands-on skills in using and implementing sports analytics solutions, and learn how to communicate findings to a non-analytical audience in an impactful and actionable way. This course culminates in a scholarly sports analytics research paper.
DATA 6570 Generative AI Applications in Business 3 Credits
Artificial intelligence is becoming far more prevalent in the business and analytics worlds, yet many analytics professionals are excluded from participating in this new wave because they lack the strong coding foundations that are typically needed to implement this new technology from scratch. However, recent advances in AI/ML have coincided with desktop and cloud tools that can be deployed far more easily to generate new models without complicated coding requirements. This course will teach students how to discover, use, and daisy-chain such tools to solve real-world business problems in ways that would otherwise be impossible.
DATA 6575 Autonomous and Agentic AI for Business 3 Credits
Prerequisite(s): DATA 6545.
This course introduces students to autonomous AI applications including agents. Fundamental knowledge, such as the architectures of the deep neural networks, extraction of high-level features representing unstructured data, backpropagation, and stochastic gradient descent, are also reviewed. Additionally, students get hands-on experience building autonomous AI models. Topics covered in this class can include model building and optimization, image classification, natural language processing, generative models, and so forth. These topics cover the foundations and the latest developments in the field of autonomous AI.
DATA 6900 Contemporary Topics Seminar 3 Credits
This course draws from current literature and practice on information systems and/or operations management. The topics change from semester to semester, depending on student and faculty interest and may include: project management, e-business, management of science with spreadsheets, e-procurement, executive information systems, and other socioeconomic factors in the use of information technology. Previously ISOM 6900.
DATA 6990 Independent Study 3 Credits
This course provides an opportunity for students to complete a project or perform research under the direction of an Information Systems and Operations Management (ISOM) faculty member who has expertise in the topic being investigated. Students are expected to complete a significant project or research paper as the primary requirement of this course. Enrollment by permission of the ISOM Department Chair only. Previously ISOM 6990.
DATA 6999 Capstone: Business Analytics Applications 3 Credits
Prerequisite(s): 18 or more credits of DATA courses at the 5000-level or higher.
This capstone course for the MS Business Analytics program is to be taken in the last term before graduation. The purpose is to apply and integrate knowledge and skills learned in the program (statistics, modeling, data management, data mining, etc.) to a live data analytics project. The course is project-based, with students collaborating on their work under the guidance of faculty members. Application areas and format of the projects may vary, depending on faculty, dataset, and budget availability. However, the work should be rich enough to demonstrate mastery of business modeling and technology, with each student making a unique, demonstrable contribution to completion of the work. Previously BUAN 6999.
Business
BUSN 6980 Business Immersion Practicum 1-3 Credits
This course builds on the in-class lessons covered during the student’s graduate studies by providing the student with an opportunity to apply their academic knowledge to a professional context. As such, it is an experiential learning activity. Successful completion of the practicum will entitle the student to three credits that count as a graduate-level elective. Enrollment open only by permission of the Director of Graduate Programs or designee.
Economics
ECON 5380 Econometrics 3 Credits
Prerequisite(s): ECON 5275, MATH 5417.
This course provides students the analytical tools necessary to test theories of microeconomic behavior through the lens of mathematical and statistical methods. These econometric methods have practical applications for any field where there is data recording events. The
course further considers useful techniques and limitations of econometric analysis as well as practical applications of methods useful for bypassing data problems in measuring quantitative economic relationships. Undergraduate equivalent: ECON 4380.
ECON 5400 Principles of Economics for Business 3 Credits
This course examines the fundamentals of economic analysis from both the micro and macro perspectives; from individual consumer behavior to the choices firms make, as well as framing the aggregate economy and indicators that measure global economic activity. The basics of supply and demand, market structures, international trade, fiscal, and monetary policy are covered. A case study approach is utilized to facilitate discussion of real world examples of economic decision making in action.
ECON 5410 Principles of Microeconomics 1.5 Credits
This course is designed to provide an introduction to the underlying concepts and theories of microeconomics. Students will learn ideas and methodologies that help them to understand how markets behave, and how they are impacted by local, national, and international events. They will explore the behavior of consumers and producers in markets for goods and services, as well as global economic structures. They will assess the outcomes of market activity, and explore alternative methods of allocating resources when markets are determined to have failed.
ECON 5415 Statistics for Business 1.5 Credits
Statistics is defined as a branch of mathematics dealing with the collection, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of masses of numerical data. This course will teach students the fundamentals of statistical analysis with an eye towards economic and business applications. Students will also learn about the limitations of statistics, and how to properly apply principles and present analytical results.
ECON 6275 Managerial Economics and Firm Decision-making 3 Credits
This course will put mathematical, finance, and statistical tools to work to solve firm-level, applied microeconomic problems. The objective of the course is to build a set of strategies that help guide managerial decision-making through case studies and problem-solving exercises. The central point is that good business decisions depend on vast amounts of information that is provided to decision-makers by skilled professionals from a wide variety of disciplines. The tools developed in this course will help students to do this work in a sophisticated way.
ECON 6320 Macroeconomics for Business Leaders 3 Credits
This course endows current and future business leaders with the knowledge needed to understand the macroeconomic environment they inhabit. It first illustrates the indicators used to analyze trends in economic activity, inflation, and labor market dynamics. The topics discussed include the business cycle, monetary and fiscal policy, the future of long-run economic growth, and income differences across countries. Case studies focus on how to respond, as a business, in a changing macroeconomic environment.
ECON 6321 Cost Benefit Analysis 3 Credits
This course is a practical introduction to Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA), as a quantitative monetary assessment method that can aid in effective decision-making. The course introduces students to the principles and techniques of preparing a CBA, including microeconomic foundations, valuation methods, discounting, the impact of risk and uncertainty, and distributional consequences. The course includes applications of CBA to a wide range of business decisions and public policy issues (e.g. public, development, health, and environmental projects).
ECON 6323 International Economics 3 Credits
The objective of this course is to provide a graduate level analysis of modern international trade theory, trade policy, international finance and international economics. The course material is complemented with cases from the Harvard Business Review to link theory with real-world applications. Course topics cover concepts related to the benefits and consequences of international trade and globalization, the global economic and financial system, international capital flows, exchange rate determination, and foreign exchange markets.
ECON 6410 Public Finance and Budgeting 3 Credits
This course will examine the proper role government has to play in today's economy and will provide the fundamental and technical skills necessary to understand public budgeting and finances. Topics include the reasons for government involvement in the economy (market failure and redistribution), budgeting techniques at all levels of government, and sources of tax revenue. There will be a strong emphasis on issues related to state/local governments. By the end of this course students should have a strong understanding of the budgetary process at all levels, but in particular at the state/local level of government. Crosslisted with PUAD 5410.
ECON 6430 Economics of the Nonprofit Sector 3 Credits
This course will examine both the role that nonprofits play in the U.S. economy and how charitable organizations are managed and financed, including the interplay between the government and the Third Sector. Particular attention will be paid to distinctions between successful (impactful) nonprofits and those that are less effective in pursuing societal needs. New forms of philanthropic organizations will be examined, including benefit corporations and social marketing enterprises. In addition, new ethical practices, including impact investing, will be surveyed. Case studies will be utilized to illuminate the economic circumstances that can impact Individual nonprofits. Crosslisted with PUAD 5430.
ECON 6455 Healthcare Management 3 Credits
This course covers the management and financial aspects of healthcare provision in the United States. The transitions that are underway in the market that have influenced the manner in which healthcare is provided will be examined. The course will also discuss the rising cost of treatment and changes in the how services are provided. Students will examine the structure of management within various healthcare organizations, hospitals, networks, and small providers, and how that influences quality of care. The final part of the course will examine the financial nature of various organizational forms within the medical industry. Crosslisted with PUAD 5455.
ECON 6560 Global Financial Markets and Institutions 3 Credits
This course examines financial markets in the context of their function in the economic system. The material deals with the complexity of the financial markets and the variety of financial institutions that have developed, stressing the dynamic nature of the financial world, which is continually evolving. Crosslisted with FNCE 6560.
ECON 6602 Healthcare Economics 3 Credits
This course begins by applying microeconomic theory to the health sector of the U.S. economy with a focus on financial incentives throughout the healthcare system. Topics include the demand for healthcare and health insurance, quality improvement, managed care and the role of government. The U.S. experience is compared to healthcare systems in other countries. Evidence-based skills include cost analysis and business plan and budget development. Crosslisted with NURS 7602.
ECON 6801 Econometrics: Regression Analysis 3 Credits
Prerequisite(s): DATA 5400 or equivalent.
This course provides students the tools necessary to apply statistical methods to data in order to test economic theories, to inform government and private policy makers, and to instruct businesses on consumer behavior, pricing considerations, and cost considerations. In this course we will learn how to measure relationships between economic variables using rigorous econometric techniques. This includes understanding the purpose and methods of ordinary least squares (OLS) regression for cross-sectional and panel data for continuous data, as well as learning models for discrete choice data. We will learn the basic theory and practical means of performing these regressions as well as the methods of statistical inference for hypothesis testing, and students will apply this knowledge to datasets throughout the semester.
ECON 6802 Applied Time Series Analysis and Economic Forecasting 3 Credits
Prerequisite(s): DATA 5400 or equivalent (familiarity with linear regression).
This course provides students with the analytical tools necessary to analyze time series data in order to examine past trends and to forecast future ones. Students will learn practical time series forecasting techniques with particular emphasis on the ARIMA method and conditional volatility (ARCH) models and they will perform a variety of data analyses on the computer using R/Rstudio. These methods are extensively employed in economic, financial and business forecasts and can be used for various purposes such as stock market analysis, economic forecasting, risk assessment, budgetary analysis, Census analysis, yield projection, and sales forecasting. To gain a deeper understanding of how the methods work, their theoretical underpinnings will be discussed to some extent, however, the course is mainly concerned with the applications of these techniques in forecasting economic time series.
Finance
FNCE 5400 Principles of Finance 3 Credits
This course examines the fundamental principles of modern finance that are helpful in understanding corporate finance, investments, and financial markets. More specifically, the course examines the time value of money; the functioning of capital markets; valuation of stocks, bonds, and corporate investments; risk measurement; and risk management. Students learn to use sources of financial data and spreadsheets to solve financial problems.
FNCE 6500 Stakeholder Value 3 Credits
Prerequisite(s): FNCE 5400.
This course examines business decision-making with the aim of creating and managing value for stakeholders. Accordingly, students learn how to lead and manage a business in a competitive environment. This involves the formulation of corporate objectives and strategies, operational planning, and integration of various business functions leading to greater stakeholder value. Topics include investment and strategic financial decision-making. A business simulation facilitates the learning process.
FNCE 6530 Corporate Finance 3 Credits
Prerequisite(s): FNCE 5400.
This course provides an exploration of theoretical and empirical literature on corporate financial policies and strategies. More specifically, the course deals with corporate investment decisions, capital budgeting under uncertainty, capital structure and the cost of capital, dividends and stock repurchases, mergers and acquisitions, equity carve-outs, spin-offs, and risk management.
FNCE 6540 Investment Analysis 3 Credits
Prerequisite(s): FNCE 5400.
This course examines the determinants of valuation for bonds, stocks, options, and futures, stressing the function of efficient capital markets in developing the risk-return trade-offs essential to the valuation process.
FNCE 6545 Portfolio Management 3 Credits
Prerequisite(s): FNCE 6540.
Students examine how individuals and firms allocate and finance their resources between risky and risk-free assets to maximize utility. Students use an overall model that provides the sense that the portfolio process is dynamic as well as adaptive. Topics include portfolio planning, investment analysis, and portfolio selection, evaluation, and revision.
FNCE 6555 International Financial Management 3 Credits
Prerequisite(s): FNCE 6530.
The globalization of international financial markets presents international investors and multinational corporations with new challenges regarding opportunities and risks. This course examines the international financial environment of investments and corporate finance, evaluating the alternatives available to market participants in terms of risk and benefits. Topics include exchange rate determination, exchange rate exposure, basic financial equilibrium relationships, risk management including the use of currency options and futures, international capital budgeting and cost of capital, and short-term and international trade financing.
FNCE 6560 Global Financial Markets and Institutions 3 Credits
This course examines financial markets in the context of their function in the economic system. The material deals with the complexity of the financial markets and the variety of financial institutions that have developed, stressing the dynamic nature of the financial world, which is continually evolving.
FNCE 6565 Derivative Securities 3 Credits
Prerequisite(s): FNCE 6540 (concurrency allowed).
This course offers in-depth coverage of financial derivative securities, such as options futures and swaps. The course focuses on the principles that govern the pricing of these securities as well as their uses in hedging, speculation, and arbitrage activities.
FNCE 6570 Fixed Income Securities 3 Credits
Prerequisite(s): FNCE 6540.
This course deals extensively with the analysis and management of fixed income securities, which constitute almost two-thirds of the market value of all outstanding securities. The course provides an analysis of treasury and agency securities, corporate bonds, international bonds, mortgage-backed securities, and related derivatives. More specifically, this course provides an in-depth analysis of fixed income investment characteristics, modern valuation, and portfolio strategies.
FNCE 6575 Capital Budgeting 3 Credits
Prerequisite(s): FNCE 6530.
This course examines the decision methods employed in long-term asset investment and capital budgeting policy. The course includes a study of quantitative methods used in the capital budgeting process: simulation, mixed integer programming, and goal programming. Students use these techniques and supporting computer software to address questions raised in case studies.
FNCE 6580 Financial Risk Management 3 Credits
Prerequisite(s): FNCE 6540.
This course focuses on the evaluation and management of corporate and portfolio risk. More specifically, this course examines the methods of evaluating and managing risk with the objective of contributing to value maximization. Risk assessment methodologies such as value-at-risk (VaR) and cash-flow-at-risk (CaR) are analyzed and used extensively.
FNCE 6595 Research Methods in Finance 3 Credits
Prerequisite(s): FNCE 6540.
This course, open to MS in Finance students only, deals extensively with applied research methods in finance, a highly empirical discipline with practical relevance in the models and theories used. The central role of risk distinguishes research methodology in finance from the methodology used in other social sciences, necessitating the creation of new methods of investigation that are adopted by the finance industry at an astonishingly fast rate. For example, methods of assessing stationarity and long-run equilibrium, as well as methods measuring uncertainty, found a home in the finance area. This course covers traditional and new research methods that are directly, and in most instances, solely applicable to finance problems.
FNCE 6900 Contemporary Topics Seminar 3 Credits
This course presents recent practitioner and academic literature in various areas of finance, including guest speakers where appropriate. Topics vary each semester to fit the interests of the seminar participants.
FNCE 6990 Independent Research Seminar 3 Credits
Prerequisite(s): FNCE 6595.
This course, open to MS in Finance students only, provides participants with the opportunity to explore a financial topic of interest in depth, immersing students in detailed investigations requiring substantial research and analysis.
FNCE 6991 Blockchain and Digital Assets 3 Credits
The sudden rise in the value of Bitcoin and other digital assets focused the world's attention on cryptocurrencies as a means of payment. Blockchain technology powers Bitcoin and has been hyped as the next new, transformative technology. This class will first discuss the technical underpinnings of blockchain and review key concepts such as decentralization and consensus algorithms. The class will then discuss practical applications of blockchain technology. It will then then examine blockchain as an asset and review the dynamics of the cryptocurrency markets. It will conclude with the discussion of the future of blockchain.
FNCE 6992 Decentralized Finance 3 Credits
Prerequisite(s): FNCE 6991.
Decentralized finance (DeFi) allows parties to trade in a peer-to-peer, decentralized manner by replacing financial institutions and other intermediaries with blockchain-based smart contracts and by replacing traditional, physical currencies (e.g. U.S. dollars) with cryptocurrency (e.g. stable-coins pegged to a physical currency). This course will examine how FinTech companies are disrupting the traditional financial services industry and assess the pros and cons of these new technologies. Students in this course will also survey relevant aspects of banking and securities law, with a focus on current regulatory issues pertaining to DeFi and considerations of the future regulatory landscape.
FNCE 6993 Algorithmic Trading 3 Credits
This class introduces the necessary background knowledge and processes to design and implement algorithmic trading models including an introduction to financial markets, mechanics, participants, order types and execution, microstructure, and more. The course walks students through the process of generating trading strategies, quantifying the trading process, risk-based modeling concepts, back-testing and optimization techniques, technology and infrastructure, regulatory compliance, and key metrics of algorithmic trading model performance evaluation.
FNCE 6994 Ethical Considerations in and Regulation of FinTech 3 Credits
Prerequisite(s): FNCE 6992 (concurrency allowed).
While FinTech provides the world of finance with exciting new opportunities and innovations, they come with a new set of ethical considerations and potential new regulations. Ethical issues include potential breach of privacy of the data obtained through social media and other means. Artificial intelligence and machine learning and the use of large datasets of proprietary data could unintentionally lead to discrimination and adverse effects on diversity and inclusion efforts. Since much of the FinTech applications are linked to the internet, avoiding cyberattacks poses a large risk to successful implementation of any models. Successful leaders in the field of FinTech must understand ethical considerations associated with FinTech. It is also crucial for the manager to understand current regulation of FinTech and anticipate possible new regulation. This course will consider these and other ethical and legal considerations associated with FinTech.
Management
MGMT 5400 Organizational Behavior 3 Credits
This course examines micro-level organizational behavior theories as applied to organizational settings. Topics include motivation, leadership, job design, interpersonal relations, group dynamics, communication processes, organizational politics, career development, and strategies for change at the individual and group levels. The course uses an experiential format to provide students with a simulated practical understanding of these processes in their respective organizations.
MGMT 5410 Understanding Organizations 1.5 Credits
This course examines micro level organizational behavior theories as applied to organizational settings. Topics will include motivation, leadership, interpersonal relations, group dynamics, and strategies for organizational culture and change.
MGMT 6500 Leadership 3 Credits
Prerequisite(s): MGMT 5400.
Effective leadership provides a competitive advantage for an organization in the marketplace. The goal of this course is to enhance students' ability to successfully lead in an innovative, dynamic, global environment, building their confidence level to successfully lead in the 21st century. Building from a best practice "real-world" approach students will be given the opportunity to increase their knowledge and skill level through self-assessments, case studies, assignments, and experiential learning. An impactful set of strategies and techniques will be presented, covering situational leadership theories and practices, leading in multiple geographies and cultures, navigating team/organizational dynamics, influencing and motivating meaningful change, shaping culture, and creating vision and strategic direction.
MGMT 6502 Law and Ethics for Critical Reasoning in Business 1.5 Credits
This course is designed to provide a solid basis in legal and ethical reasoning that can support effective decision-making about a wide range of complex business issues. Employing active learning methods, it efficiently provides students with the capacity to think independently in an informed, carefully reasoned way. Course content includes select legal topics, rules and concepts, models of legal reasoning and ethical analysis, and the relationship between the two.
MGMT 6503 Legal and Ethical Environment of Business 3 Credits
This course helps students be more responsible and effective managers of the gray areas of business conduct that call for normative judgment and action. The course is designed to develop skills in logical reasoning, argument, and the incorporation of legal, social, and ethical considerations into decision-making. The course teaches the importance of legal and ethical business issues and enables students to make a difference in their organizations by engaging in reasoned consideration of the normative aspects of the firm. Using the case method, the course provides an overview of current topics, including the legal process, corporate governance, employee rights and responsibilities, intellectual property and technology, and the social responsibility of business to its various stakeholders.
MGMT 6504 Managing People for Competitive Advantage 3 Credits
This course focuses on effectively managing people in organizations by emphasizing the critical links between strategy, leadership, organizational change, and human resource management. Topics include the strategic importance of people, leading organizational change, corporate social responsibility, implementing successful mergers and acquisitions, and fundamentals of human resource practices. Discussions interweave management theory with real-world practice. Class sessions are a combination of case discussions, experiential exercises, and lectures.
MGMT 6505 Human Resource Strategy - An Artificial Intelligence & Human Intelligence Approach 3 Credits
Human Resource (HR) Strategy serves as the critical link between human resource management (HRM) and organizational success. Human capital, which is knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA) of people, is the strategic asset of the firm that acts on all other assets to make them productive. In today's fast-evolving business landscape, leveraging both Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Human Intelligence (HI) is essential for creating dynamic, HR strategies that enhance a firm’s competitive advantage. This course explores how HRM functions—including talent acquisition, training and development, performance management, compensation strategies, and employee relations—can be optimized using AI while maintaining the essential human judgment and ethical considerations necessary for effective people management.
MGMT 6506 Navigating Law, Ethics, and Investment in the Green Economy 3 Credits
This course examines the intersection of sustainability, law, and finance to explore how policy, regulation, and private capital interact to shape the clean energy economy. With a focus on both U.S. and global frameworks, students will analyze the role of environmental law, administrative enforcement, and government incentives in supporting innovation and shaping market behavior. Students will explore how legal risk, ESG mandates, and regulatory complexity impact business strategy and investment decisions. Through readings, simulations, and real-world case studies - including venture financing of clean tech firms and ethical dilemmas in global supply chains - students will build practical fluency in how sustainability issues influence corporate governance, entrepreneurial ventures, and international dealmaking. Topics include environmental and administrative law, the Inflation Reduction Act, public-private partnerships, venture capital, ESG and CSR distinctions, international clean energy negotiations, and state-level green investment policies. Weekly instruction will incorporate current events and culminate in group-based legal and investment simulations.
MGMT 6507 Negotiations and Dispute Resolution 3 Credits
Prerequisite(s): MGMT 6500.
This course uses the theories of negotiation and alternative dispute resolution, along with extensive experiential exercises, to build individual negotiation skills and to help students manage disputes from a business perspective. The course emphasizes ways of managing both internal and external disputes.
MGMT 6508 Strategic Management of Technology and Innovation: The Entrepreneurial Firm 3 Credits
This course begins by presenting cutting-edge concepts and applications so that students understand the dynamics of innovation, the construction of a well-crafted innovation strategy, and the development of well-designed processes for implementing the innovation strategy. It then focuses on the building of an entrepreneurial organization as a critical core competency in the innovation process. Concurrent with this, it focuses on the development and support of the internal entrepreneur or "intrapreneur" as part of the process of developing organizational core competencies that build competitive comparative advantages that, in turn, allow the firm to strategically and tactically compete in the global marketplace. Topics explored include technology brokering, lead users, disruptive technologies and the use of chaos and complexity theory in the strategic planning process.
MGMT 6515 Professional Development 0 Credits
The purpose of this course is to aid the process of professional career development at the graduate level. Students will develop professional resumes, practice interviewing skills, and develop a robust LinkedIn social media presence for networking in the job market.
MGMT 6525 Employee Performance Management and Rewards for Competitive Advantage 3 Credits
This course builds on the foundational evaluations and reward concepts covered in "Managing People for Competitive Advantage." Students explore in some depth the employee performance management, compensation, and reward systems in organizations. Topics may include 360 degree feedback programs, ESOPs, profit sharing, gain sharing, and the strategic use of employee benefits. The course focuses on how employee performance management, compensation, and reward systems can lead to a competitive advantage for firms.
MGMT 6530 Entrepreneurship 3 Credits
This course covers entrepreneurship and small business management. The course focuses on the development of entrepreneurial start-up ventures from the point of view of the founding entrepreneur. The course explores characteristics and skills of successful entrepreneurs, the stages of growth of entrepreneurial businesses, the crises in start-up ventures, and issues confronting family and small business management. Students may create their own start-up business plan in conjunction with faculty as the primary course requirement.
MGMT 6531 Social Entrepreneurship 3 Credits
This course is about understanding how entrepreneurial skills can be used to craft innovative responses to pressing social needs. These skills are opportunity recognition, assembling resources, launching a venture, scaling it and finally ensuring its sustainability. There will be an emphasis, throughout the course, on how exemplar for-profit enterprises have been able to successfully contribute to widespread economic well-being and social development while enjoying significant profitability. Students will appreciate that the pursuit of profit and poverty alleviation need not be mutually exclusive domains and the institutional requirements that are needed to ensure this outcome.
MGMT 6532 Strategies for Environmental and Social Sustainability 3 Credits
This graduate level course provides an overview of topics related to environmental and social sustainability with a focus on how strategy and innovation at the business level help to create sustainable societies and infrastructures. This course has three major objectives: to increase students’ knowledge of key global sustainability related trends; to teach students to think strategically on environmental and social challenges; to help students understand the promises and limits of modern business approaches to sustainability. The course combines talks, case studies, and class discussions on management theory, tools, and frameworks shaping the business-environment interface, and evolving requirements for business success. Several guest lecturers will discuss how they have addressed sustainability within their company.
MGMT 6540 Cross Cultural Management and Sustainable Leadership 3 Credits
This course develops a framework for distinguishing the various stages of cooperative relationships across national cultures, which have distinct characteristics and call for different modes of behavior. The stages of this framework include: identifying a cross-cultural win-win strategy; translating the strategy into viable action plans; executing the strategy and making cross-cultural collaboration happen; and assuring that emerging synergistic organizations become self-initiating entities. The course identifies and discusses in detail the necessary managerial skills for the support of each of these stages.
MGMT 6545 Law and Human Resources Management 3 Credits
Prerequisite(s): MGMT 6503.
This course examines law and public policy issues relating to employee rights and obligations, including employment discrimination, OSHA, pension and benefit issues, minimum wage, and workers' compensation. The course provides a basic overview of the law and its relevance to human resource strategy and operations.
MGMT 6555 Labor Relations 3 Credits
Prerequisite(s): MGMT 6505.
The dual aim of this course is to acquaint students with the dynamics of the labor-management relationship and to make them better negotiators and managers of workplace conflict. Toward these ends, this course examines the processes of bargaining and dispute resolution, primarily in the context of the unionized environment. Case studies, law cases, and experiential exercises are used to explore issues such as negotiations strategy, mediation, and arbitration. Successful models of cooperative relations between management and labor are also covered.
MGMT 6560 Career Planning and Development 3 Credits
Prerequisite(s): MGMT 6500.
This course provides students an opportunity to explore career planning and development issues from two perspectives, as a job-seeking candidate and as an employer engaged in the hiring and development process of employees. The course will provide theoretical background on a number of career development topics, including: career development over the life span, career transitions, work-family balance, and post-retirement issues. Cases on individuals negotiating career issues such as new roles associated with promotion, managing technical or entrepreneurial careers, aspects of derailment and family issues will be presented. The second part of the course will be devoted to experiential activities that are designed to enhance one's career planning skills. Students take a self-assessment survey and participate in workshops on resume creation, mock interviewing, and social media applications associated with the job search.
MGMT 6584 Global Competitive Strategy 3 Credits
This course considers the formulation of effective policy and accompanying strategy actions, and the management of such policies and actions. It examines the role of the general manager in this process and presents the diversified issues and problems the management of a business firm may be required to consider and solve in strategic planning. This course also examines the problems and tasks of strategy implementation and the general manager's function of achieving expected objectives and establishing new ones to assure the continuity of the business organization. Students are required to prepare a business plan as part of this course.
MGMT 6900 Contemporary Topics 1-3 Credits
This course examines recent practitioner and academic literature in various areas of management. Topics vary each semester. Guest speakers may be invited as appropriate.
Marketing
MKTG 5400 Marketing Management 3 Credits
This course examines analytical and managerial techniques that apply to marketing functions with an emphasis on the development of a conceptual framework necessary to plan, organize, direct, and control the product and strategies needed for promotion, distribution, and pricing of a firm's products. The course also considers the relationship of marketing to other units within a firm.
MKTG 5410 Marketing in the Digital World 1.5 Credits
This course will provide students with the understanding of the role of marketing in the modern corporation. The course integrates the fundamental concepts of marketing with the newest trends in digital and social media marketing. Emphasis will be placed on how firms execute marketing strategy utilizing the latest digital tools. Open to MS Management students only.
MKTG 6500 Customer Value 3 Credits
Prerequisite(s): MKTG 5400.
This course examines the concept of customer value with the goal of understanding how it can be used to achieve customer satisfaction, which in turn generates loyalty and, ultimately, a long-term customer-firm relationship. Topics include the nature of the costs and benefits associated with the notion of customer value, measuring and analyzing customer value and satisfaction, and understanding the associated concepts of customer loyalty and customer relationship management. The class consists of a mix of lectures, case analyses, in-depth qualitative research projects, and opportunities for practical applications, such as a marketing simulation.
MKTG 6505A Introductory Storytelling in Marketing 1.5 Credits
Prerequisite(s): MKTG 5400.
Storytelling is an essential part of marketing communication. This course will allow students to understand the power of "the story" in a marketing context in how brands can effectively communicate, persuade, and influence key audiences. Students will learn to leverage brand stories in building long-term relationships with customers. Students will acquire the basics of storytelling drawing from its inter-disciplinary nature including the models and science behind it. They will also learn about the critical elements and techniques used in storytelling. Students will work on in-class assignments using established brands to identify good story ideas along with ways to capture target audiences’ attention. They will not only learn to understand and critique brand stories but also be able to craft and execute holistic brand-customer stories through various promotional mix platforms.
MKTG 6505B Advanced Storytelling in Marketing 1.5 Credits
Prerequisite(s): MKTG 6505A.
Storytelling with data is an essential part of marketing communication. This course will allow students to use data for effective brand-customer storytelling within an overarching brand strategy framework. Students will learn to apply the critical elements, techniques, including story angles and hooks in effectively communicating a brand-customer story backed with data. Students will work on an in-class project that entails research design, data collection and analysis to not only create a powerful data-oriented, brand-customer story but also to implement this story on at least one promotional mix platform.
MKTG 6510 Advanced Consumer Behavior for Managers 3 Credits
Prerequisite(s): MKTG 5400.
This course offers an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the behavior of consumers in the marketplace, covering concepts from the fields of economics, psychology, social psychology, sociology, and psychoanalysis. Topics include motivation, perception, attitudes, consumer search, and post-transactional behavior.
MKTG 6515 Artificial Intelligence in Marketing 3 Credits
Prerequisite(s): MKTG 5400.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Marketing provides a comprehensive overview of the theory and practical application of AI within the field of marketing. This course equips students with theoretical and practical expertise in core AI concepts like machine learning, LLM, NLP, and generative AI, and their direct application across vital marketing functions, including advanced audience targeting, data-driven personalization, modern SEO/AEO/GEO, media buying, content creation, social listening and predictive analytics. The curriculum emphasizes leveraging AI for strategic decision-making while adhering to ethical use and privacy regulations. Students will be prepared to drive socially responsible, strategic decision-making and gain a competitive advantage.
MKTG 6520 Research for Marketing Insights and Decisions 3 Credits
Prerequisite(s): MKTG 5400.
This course provides an overview of the risks associated with marketing decisions and emphasizes developing skills for conducting basic market research. Topics include problem formulation, research design, data collection instruments, sampling and field operations, validity, data analysis, and presentation of results.
MKTG 6525 Customer Experience 3 Credits
Customer experience (CX) occurs every time a customer interacts with a company via any channel, at any time, for any purpose. Creating word-class, end-to-end customer experiences has become an innovative way to gain sustainable competitive advantage, but it requires a deep understanding of both the customers and how they interact, as well as a commitment to change business processes based on that understanding. In this course, students will learn how to create compelling customer experiences along the whole process of customer touch-points, from prospect to purchase. Topics to be covered include pre-purchase profiling and segmentation of prospects, persona development, experience mapping, and the role of technology platforms and artificial intelligence that drive advanced customer journeys. The class consists of a mix of lectures, case analyses, and a project that includes designing, planning, and executing a complete Customer Experience for a selected brand/organization.
MKTG 6530 Marketing Analytics 3 Credits
Marketing analytics is the practice of leveraging data to drive marketing decision-making and strategy. This course introduces students to essential analytical techniques used to collect, analyze, visualize, and interpret marketing data including the ethical challenges with AI, machine learning and big data. Through a combination of theoretical concepts, hands-on exercises, and simulations, students will develop skills in data-driven marketing, optimization, and predictive modeling. By the end of the course, students will have gained hands-on experience with marketing data technologies and developed the ability to make data-driven marketing decisions.
MKTG 6535 Strategic Brand Management 3 Credits
Prerequisite(s): MKTG 5400.
This course focuses on the theory and conceptual tools used to develop and implement product and service branding strategies, as means for insuring brand awareness, acceptance, and success, or "equity," in the marketplace. The course highlights the importance and impact of the brand in the marketplace, identifies various decisions involved in creating successful brands, provides an overview of different means for measuring brand effectiveness, and explores the existence of customer-brand relationships. The course incorporates three general modules: Module 1: Identifying/Developing Brand Equity; Module 2: Measuring Brand Equity; Module 3: Managing Brand Equity.
MKTG 6540 Advertising Management 3 Credits
Prerequisite(s): MKTG 5400.
This course provides a comprehensive overview of advertising and promotional processes, and develops strategies facilitating managerial decisions in the areas of advertising, public relations, sales promotion, and direct marketing. This course analyzes the importance and influence of advertising in the changing marketplace; provides students with an integrated approach for analyzing marketing communication opportunities; develops the capability for designing, implementing, and evaluating advertising campaigns; and promotes an understanding of the different methods of measuring advertising effectiveness.
MKTG 6550 Advanced Marketing Strategy 3 Credits
The course will focus on the importance of an effective marketing strategy in order for businesses to make key marketing decisions and be successful. In this course, students will learn to strategically analyze and solve marketing problems from a decision maker’s perspective. Students will focus on solving four fundamental marketing problems known as the “First Principles of marketing strategy” that firms face when designing and implementing marketing strategies. In order to develop an effective marketing strategy, most critical decisions must address that 1) All customers differ; 2) All customers change; 3) All competitors react and 4) All resources are limited. Application of the principles will cover all elements of the marketing mix including topics such as research and development, demographic targeting and segmentation, pricing, product forecasting, marketing channels, sales force distribution and media allocation.
MKTG 6560 Category Management and Shopper Insights 3 Credits
Fee: $105 Graduate Business Lab
Prerequisite(s): MKTG 5400.
In this course, students will learn how retailers and manufacturers engage in a collaborative process to manage a product category at retail for the purpose of optimizing shopper satisfaction to increase revenues and profits. The course imparts students with hands on training on how to analyze retail POS (Point of Sales) data (syndicated scanner data). An emphasis will be given to data interpretation and implication on strategic and tactical decision making related to product assortment, shelf set, promotion, and pricing decisions for the purpose of generating store traffic, improving shopper loyalty, and ultimately increasing revenues and profitability. Students will learn how to leverage insights through a combination of case studies, workshops and by creating compelling, fact-based presentations.
MKTG 6570 Digital Marketing and Analytics with AI 3 Credits
Prerequisite(s): MKTG 5400.
This course develops a strategic and analytical understanding of digital marketing, artificial intelligence, and data‑driven decision making, and their implications for organizations and consumers in a dynamic business environment. Students apply contemporary digital marketing tools and analytics to design, integrate, and evaluate marketing strategies across digital channels, including web, search, social media, email, and mobile platforms. The course emphasizes the responsible integration of artificial intelligence—such as large language models, generative engine optimization (GEO), and agentic AI—into marketing planning, execution, and performance measurement, while addressing ethical, legal, and governance considerations essential to building and managing a sustainable digital marketing ecosystem.
MKTG 6575 Social Media Analytics and Strategy 3 Credits
MKTG 6575 focuses on the power of social media analytics and strategy in enabling businesses to make informed, ethically sound decisions. Students will explore key strategies and techniques, including social listening, social CRM, and social network analysis, to create effective campaigns and optimize resource allocation. The course offers hands-on experience with major social media platforms, where students will develop content, design paid campaigns, and analyze performance data, all while addressing legal and ethical considerations in data collection and management. By the end of the course, students will earn industry-recognized certifications and gain proficiency using AI. The course integrates lectures, case studies, interactive discussions, and an experiential learning project, helping students transform data into actionable insights to elevate social media marketing strategies.
MKTG 6580 Advanced Marketing Analytics 3 Credits
With unprecedented growth in data availability, companies are increasingly focusing on data driven decision making in marketing. As most of this data is multivariate, an understanding of statistical techniques used to analyze it gains paramount importance. The objective of this course is to develop skills with a range of procedures for multivariate data analysis involving dimension reduction, pattern recognition, classification, and prediction. Students will engage in experiential exercises that require utilizing statistical software to organize and analyze data, interpreting the results, and presenting actionable conclusions for decision making.
MKTG 6583 Pricing Strategies and Analytics 3 Credits
Fee: $75 Graduate Business Lab
Pricing is the only element of the marketing mix that generates revenue. The other marketing instruments typically drive cost in the process of creating customer value, which is recaptured through effective pricing. This course establishes a foundation for effective pricing decisions by teaching key economic, analytical, and behavioral concepts associated with costs, customer behavior, and competition; introduces students to advanced pricing techniques that aim to create additional value, including dynamic pricing, segmented pricing, pricing structures, and promotions; and highlights practical applications of these approaches within specific industry contexts. Through a mixture of lectures, case studies, and analytical techniques, the course will prepare students to address strategic and tactical issues related to pricing.
MKTG 6590 Experimental Research 3 Credits
Experiments are widely used in marketing research to investigate cause and effect relationships, such as the impact of a price change on sales, or the impact of a new promotional campaign on brand awareness, or the impact of a change in the ingredients of a product on brand acceptance. This course is intended to acquaint the student with the basic topics of experimental design and analysis. It is intended to provide an understanding of the components of an experiment, the various types of experimental designs, the analysis of experimental results, and when experiments are indicated as a research option.
MKTG 6900 Contemporary Topics 3 Credits
This course examines recent practitioner and academic literature in various areas of marketing, incorporating guest speakers as appropriate. Topics vary each semester to fit the interests of the seminar participants.
MKTG 6990 Independent Study 3 Credits
MKTG 6999A Capstone Project: Marketing Analytics and Strategy 3 Credits
Prerequisite(s): Four courses from: MKTG 6510, MKTG 6520, MKTG 6530, MKTG 6550, MKTG 6570, MKTG 6580, MKTG 6583.
In this course, students demonstrate how the knowledge and skills learned in the MS in Marketing Strategy and Analytics program can be applied to business problems. Students will demonstrate this competence by providing socially responsible strategic recommendations to a local organization to solve a business problem in order to gain competitive advantage. Students undertake a major research project as a central activity in this course, drawing on the expertise and research methodologies they have developed in the program.
Taxation
TAXN 6505 Tax of Property Transactions 3 Credits
This course introduces students to the income tax laws impacting real property transactions. After the course, students should be able to identify tax issues stemming from various types of real property transactions and activities, as well as plan for the consequences of, and make recommendations for alternatives to, contemplated property transactions.
TAXN 6510 Entity Taxation 3 Credits
This course introduces students to the fundamental concepts, rules, and tax planning applications of the federal income taxation for different business entities including corporations, partnerships and trusts, in addition to estate and gift taxes. After the course, students should be able to identify the tax planning implications of different income taxation concepts and rules pertaining to business entity transactions including formation, operations, distributions, liquidation, and other transactions between the entity and its owners or beneficiaries.
TAXN 6515 Property Transactions: Regulatory and Tax Issues 3 Credits
This course covers concepts that are relevant in practice for both a public and private accounting and taxation setting. Drawing on and integrating complimentary law and tax topics, the course will consider issues such as: real estate used in a trade or business or held for the production of rental income, ownership of a principal residence, and indirect ownership of real-estate interests in the form of securities under federal law, including a REIT, as well as secured transactions and bankruptcy. Crosslisted with ACCT 6515.
TAXN 6520 International Taxation 3 Credits
This course helps students develop a conceptual understanding of the federal income tax provisions applicable to non-resident aliens and foreign corporations. After the course, students should be able to identify the tax issues associated with the generation of U.S. taxable income by foreign individuals and corporations, as well as plan for the consequences of, and make recommendations for alternative structuring of, intended U.S. transactions and activities by these particular taxpayers.
TAXN 6525 Law of Commercial Transactions: Advanced Studies in the Uniform Commercial Code 3 Credits
This course provides students with a foundation in The Law of Commercial Transactions. The course begins with a review of the principles of common law contracts which underpins many aspects of the Uniform Commercial Code. This course entails an advanced study of several provisions of the Uniform Commercial Code (hereinafter referred to as "UCC" or "the Code"). The sections of the Code to be studied include Article 2 Sales, Article 2A Leases of Goods, Articles 3 and 4 Negotiable Instruments and Bank Deposits and Collections, and Article 9 Secured Transactions. With an emphasis on case analyses and/or problem sets, students taking the course will have the opportunity to improve their critical thinking and written and oral communication skills, particularly as they relate to the legal settings associated with the UCC. Crosslisted with ACCT 6525.
TAXN 6530 Partnership Taxation 3 Credits
This course introduces students to the fundamental concepts of the federal income taxation of partnerships and partner-partnership transactions. After the course, students should be able to identify tax issues stemming from various partnership transactions and activities, including those between the partnership and the partners, as well as plan for the consequences of, and make recommendations for alternative structuring of, intended transactions and activities.
TAXN 6540 State and Local Taxation 3 Credits
This course helps students develop a conceptual understanding of the constitutional limits on a state's power to impose taxes, the determination of state-specific taxable income, the sales and use tax system, and various other state taxes. After the course, students should be able to identify the tax issues associated with the conduct of business in multiple states, as well as plan for the consequences of, and make recommendations for alternative structuring of, intended multi-state transactions and activities.
TAXN 6550 Tax Planning 3 Credits
This course develops a framework for understanding how taxes affect business decisions, and provides students with the tools to identify, understand, and evaluate tax planning opportunities in various decision contexts, such as investments, compensation, organizational form choice, and multinational endeavors. Open only to students enrolled in MS Accounting, MBA Taxation, or Taxation Grad Cert programs, or by permission from the department chair or designee.
TAXN 6575 Data Analytics in Accounting 3 Credits
This course covers the application of data analytics techniques in assurance and tax. Students will gain hands-on experience applying contemporary data analysis techniques to collect, clean and analyze large sets of data in order to address discipline-specific problems. Students will also learn to use appropriate visualizations and reports to meaningfully present analysis results.
TAXN 6585 Effective Communications for Accounting Professionals 3 Credits
In this course, students will practice communicating effectively in accounting settings. Topics include considering the communication needs of accountants' diverse audiences, adapting communications to varying purposes, and writing and speaking clearly and concisely in both preparing accounting-specific documents and in presenting accounting-focused information. Crosslisted with ACCT 6585.
TAXN 6900 Seminar: Contemporary Topics in Taxation 3 Credits
This course presents recent practitioner and academic literature in various areas of taxation, including guest speakers where appropriate. Topics change semester to semester, depending upon faculty and student interests.
TAXN 6970 Research on Contemporary Issues in Taxation 3 Credits
This research seminar engages students in utilizing an analytical lens to develop and present recommendations for emerging issues, recent pronouncements of tax rule-making bodies, and/or unresolved controversies in contemporary tax policy and practice. Students apply AI-informed methods of data mining, information synthesis, forecasting, and evaluation to discipline-specific questions in taxation. Emphasis is placed on the systematic evaluation of AI-generated analyses and recommendations, including their accuracy, bias, and implications for organizational decision-making and performance. Alongside developing their analytical and critical thinking skills, students strengthen their professional communication skills.
TAXN 6980 Practicum in Taxation 3 Credits
This course builds on the in-class lessons covered during the student's graduate studies by providing the student with the opportunity to apply their academic knowledge to a professional taxation context. As such, it is an experiential learning activity. Successful completion of the practicum will entitle students to three credits that count as a graduate-level taxation elective. Enrollment by permission of the department chair or designee. This course may not be repeated for credit.
TAXN 6990 Independent Study 3 Credits
This course provides students with an opportunity to develop research skills while exploring a specific contemporary taxation issue with a full-time faculty specializing in the area of the discipline. Students are expected to complete a significant research paper as the primary requirement of this course. Enrollment by department chair permission only.
The Dolan Career Development Center provides professional development services that enrich graduate students’ academic experiences and inspire tomorrow’s business leaders. For more information, reference the Career Development section of this catalog.