MBA Curriculum

Below are recommended courses that M&O deems beneficial to individuals whose academic and career interests are in accounting, marketing, entrepreneurship, management and organization (i.e. consulting), logistics and supply chain, and information systems.

Accounting

  • BUMO 756 Industry and Competitor Analysis

Marketing

  • BUMO 754 Global Strategy
  • BUMO 756 Industry and Competitor Analysis

Finance

  • BUMO 714 Executive Power and Negotiation
  • BUMO 754 Global Strategy
  • BUMO 756 Industry and Competitor Analysis
  • BUSI 771 New Venture Finance and Venture Capital

Logistics and Supply Chain

  • BUMO 714 Executive Power and Negotiation
  • BUMO 754 Global Strategy
  • BUMO 756 Industry and Competitor Analysis

Information Systems

  • BUMO 720 Organizational Change
  • BUMO 751 Implementing Strategy: Organizing to Compete

“Companies hire MBAs to become their future leaders." (Gary Albert, CEO, Wetfeet, March 2003)Therefore, the following leadership electives complement all fields of study:

  • BUMO 712 Leadership Development
  • BUMO 714 Executive Power and Negotiation
  • BUMO 720 Organizational Change
  • BUMO 758 Leadership Skills
  • BUMO 758A Special Topics: Networks and Influence

Students interested in the areas of Entrepreneurship, New Venture Creation and Venture Capital are encouraged to consider the following electives:

  • BUMO 732 New Venture Creation
  • BUMO 752 Strategic Growth in Emerging Companies
  • BUMO 758 Special Topics: Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the Established Firm
  • BUMO 771 New Venture Finance and Venture Capital

Career Services Search and Strategy Tips for Those Interested in Pursuing Careers in the Management and Organization Industries

Skills Grades Prior Experience
• Leadership
• Communication
• Teamwork
• Interpersonal
• Critical, strategic thinking
• Problem solving
• People-oriented
• Well spoken
• Analytical
• Independent
• Creative 		Important Important

Recommended courses for those with an academic and career focus in Management and Organization.

BUMO 712

Leadership Development

 

Spring ’06 BA, DCE, DCW

 

CP:

Spring ’06 CP

 Prerequisite: BUSI 663. Focuses on developing skills to inspire, influence and organize others to accomplish key goals. Building on leadership theories, course includes assessment & role-playing activities, discussions, cases, and exercises to assess and develop personal capabilities.

BUMO 714

Executive Power and Negotiation

 

Spring ’06 DCE

Summer I ’06 DCE, DCW

Fall ’06 BA, SG, DCW

 

CP:

Spring ’06 CP

  

Negotiations knowledge and skills through a series of readings (the use of power during bargaining exchanges, principles of effective listening, and bargaining strategies and tactics) and through the opportunity to practice negotiating.
BUMO 720

Organizational Change

 

Winter ’06 DCW

 

 Prerequisite: BUSI 663. Develops the fundamental change knowledge and skills of MBA students who plan to work with organizations as change agents, internally as managerial employees or externally as outside consultants. Draws on literature from organizational behavior, human resource management and strategic management to identify models as prescriptions of change.
BUMO 732

New Venture Creation

 

Spring ’06 SG

Summer I ’06 DCW

Summer II ’06 DCE

Fall ’06 DCE

 

CP:

Spring ’06 CP

 Prerequisite: completion of MBA core requirements. BMGT majors only or permission of department. Creating new ventures, including evaluating the entrepreneurial team, the opportunity and financing requirements. Skills, concepts, attitudes and know-how relevant for creating and building a venture; and preparation of a business plan. These approaches are not limited to new or growing enterprises.
BUMO 751

Implementing Strategy: Organizing to Compete

 

Spring ’06 DCE

Summer I ’06 DCW

Summer II ’06 SG

 

 

CP:

Fall ’06 CP

Prerequisite: completion of the MBA core requirements. BMGT majors only or permission of department.

 

Co-requisite: BUSI 690.

 

 Organizational dynamics of competitive advantage. Impact of alternative organizational structures, planning and control systems, human resource management practices, and executive leadership styles on the implementation of archetypically different strategies.
BUMO 752

Strategic Growth for Emerging Companies

 

Spring ’06 BA, DCE

 

CP:

Spring ’06 CP

For BMGT majors only.

 

 Explores the key elements of mastering the move from being a successful small company to achieving industry significance. Supplemented by readings, video and guest speakers, the course highlights the application of practical lessons leading to strategic growth and subsequent emergence as a player.
BUMO 754

Global Strategy

 

Spring ’06 DCW

Summer II ‘06 BA

Fall ’06 DCE

 

CP:

Spring ’06 CP

 Co-requisite: BUSI 690. The problems and policies of international business enterprise at the management level. Management of a multinational enterprise as well as management within foreign units. The multinational firm as a socio-econometric institution. Cases in comparative management.
BUMO 756

Industry and Competitor Analysis

 

Spring ’06 SG, DCE, DCW

Summer II ’06 DCE

Fall ’06 DCW

 

CP:

Fall ’06 CP

 Recommended: BUSI 690. This industry and competitor analysis seminar provides students with the conceptual framework and analytical tools for understanding the dynamics of industry structure and how competitors actually interact in the marketplace. An understanding of the dynamics of competition and industry evolution is an important input in the development of an effective competitive strategy.
BUMO 758

Special Topics: Innovation & Entrepreneurship within the Established Firm

 

 

Summer I ’06 SG

Fall ’06 DCE

 

 Prerequisite: None This course will look at how established firms manage the innovation process, with special reference to the problems of strategy and organizational design for exploiting innovation. To what extent should firms encourage commercialization internally via the creation of new ventures (i.e., spinoffs) versus trying to commercialize new products and services within existing organizational structure? Should the innovation be exploited within an existing business unit or as part of a new business unit? How and under what conditions does entrepreneurship work, and when should established firms distance themselves from such processes? The course will also explore the strategic use of corporate venture capital funds as well as strategies of the acquisition of disruptive technologies through mergers.
BUMO 758

Special Topics: Networks and Influence

 

Spring ’06 SG

Fall ’06 DCE

 

 

 Prerequisite: None Focuses on social capital and networks; how to build them, maintain them, and leverage them to achieve personal influence, a track record of success, and organizational goals. Draws on relevant cutting-edge research developments in organizational behavior, industrial and organizational psychology, sociology, communications, and implementing strategy. Uses a variety of learning approaches, including cases, small group exercises, projects and analysis. Non-majors should review their registration eligibility in the statement preceding the BUMO courses.
BUMO 758 Special Topics: Launching the Bio-Tech Start-Up Prerequisite: None Revolutionary advances in biotechnology will transform how we treat disease and ailments, the materials used for many daily products, and the very food we consume. This course examines the business of biotechnology, the challenges biotech firms face, and the skills needed to manage the organization through these challenges. Several speakers from the local biotech industry will share their insight as part of this class. The course begins with an overview of the Biotechnology industry, followed by a systematic examination of the stages and hurdles associated with growing a biotech firm from invention to a fully functioning, viable organization. Students taking this class will gain insight into the biotechnology industry, learn the critical skills needed to sustain and manage biotech firms, and be exposed to the experience of several local industry participants.
BUMO 758

Special Topics:
Managing Strategic Alliances

 

Summer II ’06 DCW

   Fueled by ever increasing globalization, technology and intense competition, alliances commonly occupy a top-priority status for firms. In many, if not all industries, alliances are pervasive and part of how business is conducted. Further, their frequency and potential impact on firm performance is expected to continue to grow. However, alliances are difficult to pull off.  This course helps participants understand the challenges of managing various types of alliances. The course examines the motivations behind alliance formation, identifies the issues that arise when establishing and managing the alliance relationship, and looks at how management practices influence alliance failure or success.

BUMO 758

 

Special Topics:
International Entrepreneurship

 

Winter ’06 DCW

   Explores the unique elements of creating international ventures with emphasis upon practical differences between ventures that are “born international” and those that simply end up operating in multiple national markets.
BUSI 771

New Venture Financing

 

Spring ’06 BA, DCW

Summer I ’06 DCE

 

CP:

Spring ’06 CP

Fall ’06 CP

 For BMGT majors only. Development of skills for financing new ventures (both small and potentially large). Exploration of various funding sources. Criteria used in evaluation and decision process, including commercial banks, venture capital companies, small business investment companies, underwriters, private placement-financial consultants, mortgage bankers, and small business innovative research grants (U.S. Government). Topics will include: methods of financing, techniques for valuing new businesses, financial structure, and evaluation methods used by investors and lenders.


Visit the Blackboard course database for more course information.