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BSB Course Descriptions

GSB

GBIS

GSB 599 Business Communication
Specifically designed for nonnative speakers who want to refine their fluency, communication and writing skills in English while acquiring a better understanding of American business customs, culture and cross-cultural social, academic and business issues. This course provides three hours of academic credit, but does not count toward the requirements for a graduate degree.

GSB 611 Economics for Managers
Economics is the foundation for all business applications. This survey course in macro and micro economic theory establishes student understanding of economic principles and policies and their impact on business and its environment.

GSB 612 Financial Accounting
This course introduces students to basic accounting principles, including the preparation of external financial statements and the analysis of specific financial statement components and corporate disclosures.  The course prepares studentsto understand the relevance of financial statement information to management and external users. The course also examines the fundamentals of financial statement analysis and differences between generally accepted accounting principles and international financial reporting standards.

GSB 613 Statistics
This course examines statistical procedures used to solve problems in business and management. Course topics include: descriptive statistics, the binomial and Poisson distributions, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, and regression analysis.

GSB 614 Organizational Behavior
This course introduces both the theory and practical application of organizational behavior, which is the study of how individuals and groups impact behavior within an organization. Students will learn about decision-making, motivation theories, individual and group behaviors, leadership, power and organizational politics, and organizational culture.

GSB 615 Financial Management
This course introduces students to basic financial management with an emphasis on financial statement analysis, time value of money applications, bond and stock pricing, risk and return analysis, and capital budgeting decisions.  Students will use and develop skills with Microsoft Excel.  Cases and technology exercises may be used to illustrate real-world applications. 

Prerequisites: GSB 611, 612 and 613

GSB 617 Business Law
This course focuses on the study of law as it relates to the manager. Topics include agency, partnership, commercial code, corporate law, environmental law and the legal liability of directors.

GSB 621 Economics of the Firm
This course is a study of economic analysis and its use in formulating business policies. Topics include the economics of strategy, concepts of costs and profits, production functions, demand theory, competition, price output decisions, marketing strategies under various market structures and business criteria for investment.
Prerequisites: GSB 611, 612 and 613

GSB 622 Management Information Systems
This course explores and assesses the current and future role of information technology in business, from both a management and a user perspective. Topics include: the strategic role of IT, distributed computing, hardware and operating systems, software development tools and processes, relational databases, security concerns, ethical issues, privacy issues, enterprise applications, intelligent systems, role and influence of IT on business processes, and the influence of web technologies on e-business and m-business. Hands-on experiences include web, database, spreadsheet, graphical user interface (GUI) tools, and computer security techniques. Case studies are also used to facilitate discussions focused on the course topics.
Prerequisites: GSB 611,612 and 613

GSB 623 Corporate Social Responsibility
This course explores the relationship between the self-interest of the corporation to create value and generate profits, and the concept of corporate citizenship and the responsibilities of business to the society in which it operates. It focuses on the economic, legal and ethical considerations involved in addressing the responsibilities of businesses to all of the corporate stakeholders, including shareholders, employees, customers, regulators, suppliers, communities, and society generally.

GSB 624 Organizational Analysis and Design
This course is an analysis of the phenomena and theories of large, complex, formal organizations. The course examines the organization as an economic, social, bureaucratic and political system with regard to such factors as structure, change and decision making. Listed also as LIS 756.

GSB 625 Financial Decision Making
This course explores emerging topics in the financial field, including initial public offerings, mergers and acquisitions, bankruptcy, leasing analysis, working capital management, capital structure and dividend theory. Special topics may include real estate finance, financial planning, pension fund and mutual fund analysis and beginning investor theory. Cases and technology exercises may be used to illustrate real-world applications. 

Prerequisite: GSB 615

GSB 626 Marketing
This course is a study of marketing concepts, topics, and theories presented to provide an understanding of marketing and buyer relationships. The course analyzes the elements of the marketing mix for successful planning, strategy and control of marketing campaigns including product, price, promotion and physical distribution. Covered topics also include issues related to customer satisfaction, marketing research, market segmentation, and current marketing issues and trends.
Prerequisites: GSB 611

GSB 701 Managerial and Cost Accounting
This course explores cost accounting concepts. The analysis and measurement of costs are studied in relation to managerial decision making. Students examine managerial accounting procedures and develop problem solving techniques required by business managers to operate effectively and efficiently. Topics emphasized include costing methods, cost-volume-profit analysis, budgeting and variance analysis, capital budgeting techniques and activity-based costing and management. 

Prerequisite: GSB 612

GSB 702 Taxation I
This course introduces the student to the principles of federal individual income taxation. The course reviews the background and theory of the federal tax system. Emphasis is given to applying the theory to practical applications and problem solving.
Prerequisites: GSB 612

GSB 703 Taxation II
This course introduces the student to the principles of federal income taxation as it applies to corporations, partnerships, estates and trusts. The course reviews the background and theory of the federal tax system. Emphasis is given to applying the theory to practical applications and problem solving. Completion of Taxation I before taking this course is strongly encouraged.
Prerequisites: GSB 612 and GSB 702

GSB 704 Advanced Financial Accounting I
This is a course in intermediate theory of financial statements. It examines special accounting problems for current assets, current liabilities, long-term assets and long-term liabilities.
Prerequisites: GSB 612

GSB 705 Advanced Financial Accounting II
This course studies special accounting problems relating to owner’s equity, earnings per share, pensions, leases, statements of changes in financial position and changing prices
Prerequisite: GSB 612

GSB 706 Advanced Accounting
This course examines accounting principles as they relate to consolidations, business combinations, foreign currency transactions and translation, hedging, partnerships, state and local governments, and private not-for-profit organizations.
Prerequisite: GSB 704; Recommended: GSB 705

GSB 707 Auditing
This course is an introduction to audits of financial statements by certified public accountants. The course covers the business, ethical, and legal environment of the profession, the audit process, application of the audit process to transaction cycles, audit sampling, and reports on audited financial statements. Techniques learned in the course can also be used by internal and government auditors.
Prerequisite: GSB 612; Recommended: GSB 704 and GSB 705

GSB 721 Entrepreneurship
This course is a practical exploration of the elements of entrepreneurship – from opportunity recognition and assessment through the development of marketing, financial, and operational plans with which to pursue an opportunity. Building upon class lectures, readings and interactions with fellow students and guest speakers, students apply the entrepreneurial decision-making process by formulating and presenting a new venture business plan.

GSB 722 Entrepreneurial Consulting
Students are exposed to a practical exercise in consulting in this course. Through a combination of guest consultants, lectures, readings and a consulting project for an existing business, students will explore not only how to utilize consultant services but how to perform them as well.

GSB 723 Operations Management
This course focuses on the concepts and methods utilized in planning, directing and controlling the “transformation process” of resources into goods and services. Employing the integrated, process-based analytical framework developed in this course, students will utilize selected business cases and in-class experiential learning exercises to connect the course’s ideas and techniques to their real-world application.
Prerequisite: GSB 613

GSB 731 Investment Analysis
This course examines how to achieve individual and institutional investment objectives. It includes analysis and evaluation of various investment strategies including the evaluation of equity securities. It also provides an in-depth analysis of various techniques for valuing equities such as discounted cash flow methods and multiples.
Prerequisite: GSB 625

GSB 732 Derivatives
This course examines the use of futures, options and swaps to manage the exposures that confront a corporation. The course explains what each of these instruments is, how each is priced, how each is useful to manage the exposures confronting a firm and how each is useful in enhancing return for the firm.
Prerequisites: GSB 611, 615 and 625

GSB 733 International Trade and Financial Markets
This course examines the principles underlying the benefits of free trade and the impact of government controls on trade such as quotas and tariffs. It also explores the problems, policies and techniques of financial decision making in an international context by discussing the relationships between interest rates, inflation rates, and foreign exchange rates; and emphasizing the determination and management of foreign exchange risk through international money and capital market operations.
Prerequisite: GSB 625

GSB 734 Finance in the Health Care Sector
This course examines the institutional setting, goals and financial policies of organizations in the health care field. Special attention is given to cost-benefit analysis, fund accounting, insurance, subsidies and government regulation with respect to evaluating alternative sources of revenue and cost in health care services.
Prerequisite: GSB 615

GSB 735 Forecasting
In this course, students receive practical experience in effectively forecasting business activity using statistical software packages as a means for data interpretation. Topics include data collection methods using Internet resources, regression analysis and variable transformation techniques using economic and financial databases, short-term forecasting techniques including moving averages and exponential smoothing and applying Box-Jenkins (ARIMA) models to seasonal data sets.
Prerequisites: GSB 613

GSB 736 Real Estate Finance
This course examines both the residential and commercial real estate markets and the valuation and underwriting methods that support financing these markets. Traditional mortgage and securitized debt and equity financing will be discussed. Case studies will be used to apply and expand on the concepts presented. Mastery of the financial principles taught in GSB 615 is essential for success in this course.
Prerequisites: GSB 615

GSB 737 Special Topics in Finance
This course provdes students with specific seminars and/or research projects which address emerging topics in a particular field of finance.  Students discuss the particular topics at an in-depth level.  Potential topics encompass investments, real estate finance, international finance, financial management, capital markets, financial institutions, and financial modeling.  Depending on the topic, critical reviews of selected journal articles, guest lectures, empirical research projects and papers, as well as student presentations, may be an intergral part of the course.
Prerequisite: GSB 625

GSB 741 Health Care Administration
This course introduces students to the American health care delivery system. It provides an overview of various scientific, social, educational, governmental and economic forces that shape the health care system and studies the historical development of health care management systems.

GSB 742 Health Care Law
Students examine the legal environment of the health care industry, including a review and analysis of relevant statutes and policies of federal and state jurisdictions, as well as case law affecting the industry.

GSB 743 Health Care Issues
This course will look at many of the most important developments within the health care industry. The focus of the course is on current issues. Topics include strategic planning and marketing strategy models.

GSB 751 Human Resource Management
This course is an introduction to the principles of human resource management. Students will develop an understanding of HR functions and the issues organizations face including the recruitment and selection process, managing performance, salary administration, equal opportunity, employee relations, labor management and employment law and federal regulation compliance.

GSB 752 Employment Law for Managers
This course examines the laws, regulations and court decisions that govern employment law as it is practiced today. Together these laws, regulations and cases provide the environment in which the employment relationship exists in business today. The course is intended to provide graduate students with a basic understanding of the terminology, fundamental principles and concepts of current employment law. Special emphasis is placed on discrimination laws.

GSB 754 Managerial Communications
This course focuses on how managers can effectively use communication techniques to organize individuals and groups and achieve organizational goals. Students develop effective personal strategies for persuasive oral and written communication, presentation skills, listening skills and group facilitation.

GSB 755 Negotiation and Conflict Management
The course is designed to give a student the skills and strategies necessary to negotiate in any organizational context. The basic elements involved in different negotiating situations are covered, including intraorganizational negotiations and negotiation situations external to the organization. Alternative conflict resolution processes such as mediation and arbitration are also addressed.

GSB 761 International Business
This course examines international company behavior in a global environment with an emphasis on the business leader’s role and the decision making function. Students analyze the development and implementation of strategies conducive to success in global markets.
Prerequisite: GSB 626

GSB 762 Asia in Transition
This course, which is taught in China, gives students the opportunity to get an up-close view of the rapid economic growth in Asia. This trip to China examines the unique ways China’s corporate sector is adapting to a new way of doing business. Learn about China’s unique form of market economy, which it describes as a social market system.

GSB 763 European Business
This course, which is taught in Europe, is designed to give students insight into the management problems associated with conducting business in an international setting. Using the case study method and visits to European corporations and government agencies, students learn about management practices and the European Economic Union.

GSB 764 Global Marketing Management
This course examines international business activities with special emphasis on the global marketing environment. Students evaluate marketing mix variables such as product, promotion, physical distribution and pricing policies that drive management decisions.
Prerequisite: GSB 626

GSB 766 South American Business
This course, which is taught in Buenos Aires, Argentina, is designed to provdie students with the opportunity to study aspects of international business conucted in South America.  The course also provides insights into the cultrue and society of Argentina.  The in-country experience includes corporate visits and lectures by local university professors.

GSB 767 Internal Residency
The Internal Residency is designed to introduce students to real-world organizational problems and issues in a foreign setting.  Students will work with organizations and businesses in the specified country to help improve and/or strengthen each organization's resiliency and/or capacity.  The course is applied in orientation and intensive in duration.  The culture, history, political economy and relationship of the specified country to global events will be discussed as part of the residency. 

GSB 771 Marketing Research
This course provides a comprehensive understanding of market research procedures and introduces both quantitative and qualitative methods commonly accepted to ensure marketplace success. Emphasis is placed on students developing a marketing research project.
Prerequisite: GSB 613 and GSB 626

GSB 772 New Product Marketing
This course analyzes marketing concepts and disciplines relating to the planning, development and introduction of new products and services. Covered topics include processes and approaches to opportunity screening, production formulation, packaging, pricing strategies, test marketing and risk management through the early stage of the life cycle.
Prerequisite: GSB 626

GSB 773 Consumer Behavior
This course enables students to effectively design consumer-oriented marketing strategies. Through case studies and their own research, students examine consumer behavior theories as well as contemporary consumer research on fast-changing marketing trends.
Prerequisite: GSB 626

GSB 774 Marketing Strategy
This course examines tactical and strategic options available to management when preparing marketing plans. It identifies the major activities managers must complete to make responsive decisions to the marketing environment, including market position, market share and future growth.
Prerequisite: GSB 626

GSB 775 Competitive Intelligence
Competitive Intelligence (CI) is a discipline - using legal and ethical means - for efficiently discovering, developing and delivering timely, relevant new knowledge about the external environment to facilitate effective decision-making. This course provides an overview of CI within and organizational setting and provides tools and techniques to practice the profession (including consulting work). The core focus is to review CI best practices regarding the leveraging of information as knowledge assets for decision-making in business enterprise. Listed also LIS 884.
Prerequisite: Instructor's Permission

GSB 782 Public and Non-Profit Management
As a study of bureaucracy in the public and non-profit sectors, this course covers such topics as organization, structure, efficiency and administrative reform. Attention is placed on the difference between public/non-profit administration and private sector administration.

GSB 784 Knowledge Management
This course provides an awareness of current theories and foundation of knowledge management with an emphasis on for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. Students are introduced to knowledge assets and their organizational value. Students examine analytical tools and techniques for knowledge acquisition, assessment, evaluation, management, and organization and dissemination. This course also provides an analysis of commercially available documents, databases and applications packages, reviews best practices and experiences, and addresses knowledge management project design and implementation. Listed also as LIS 880.
Prerequisite: Instructor's Permission

GSB 785 Information Policy
An overview of information policy issues, both intra- and inter-organizational, related to knowledge management. One major cluster of topics covered includes the role, the organization and the effect of information services within the organization. A second major cluster concerns policy issues relating to inter-organizational creation and use of information, including economic, legal and social issues, and broad policy concerns such as transborder data flow and national information policies. Listed also as LIS 755.
Prerequisite: Instructor's Permission

GSB 790 Leadership Seminar
This seminar course will enable students to learn about different leadership styles and practices. Projects, case studies and group presentations will be the primary content of this course. Upper-level corporate executives with backgrounds in not-for-profit, entrepreneurial organizations and global corporations will be invited as guest lecturers. Case-study format will allow students to examine the legal, ethical and economic responsibility of the leadership role. Students will be expected to give group presentations on their case study findings. Enrollment in this honors course will be by invitation of the instructor only. Students must have completed all core and foundation courses and have at least a 3.5 GPA to be eligible.

GSB 791 Strategic Management
This is a course in strategic management that builds upon and integrates the curriculum’s core subjects to develop management decision-making skills. Students examine how executives effectively formulate and implement strategies most conducive to a firm’s success and growth in a global economy. The course may include a business computer simulation that helps students develop and hone their management skills. Students analyze case studies of multinational firms. Students typically take this course in their final semester.
Prerequisites: All foundation and core courses and advisor approval.

GSB 795 Directed Study
This course is available with the consent of the instructor and approval of the dean.

GSB 798 Management Practicum
This capstone course is for students who wish to gain practical experience in a structured professional management environment. The practicum enables students to arrange an employment and study experience which is monitored by a full-time faculty member and an on-site supervisor. In the semester prior to their practicum, students must complete a practicum agreement, which must be approved by a faculty supervisor.
Prerequisite: Students must be in good academic standing and must have completed a minimum of 14 of the 18 courses required for the graduation.

GBIS Information Systems Courses

GBIS 710 Introduction to Programming
This course covers object oriented programming (OOP) concepts and principles such as objects, polymorphism, inheritance, encapsulation, etc. A few design patterns and best programming practices in solving real-world challenges is covered using and OOP approach.  This course will also serve as an introduction to an object-oriented programming language, including some advanced concepts such as exceptions, I/O, threads and developing Swing/GUI applications.

GBIS 722 Systems Analysis & Design
This course introduces the fundamentals of information systems analysis and design by covering a variety of current methods, tools, and techniques. The course will cover system development activities in the context of when they typically occur. Most of the course will be devoted to learning and practicing the techniques and processes used by the systems analyst at each phase within the systems development cycle. This course allows the student to role-play as a systems analyst and project leader, with emphasis on the decision-making process during a systems development project.

GBIS 725 Computer Networks
This course introduces students to data communications and computer networks. Topics covered in this course include an overview of the OSI framework including layers and functions, TCP/IP, modem protocols, LAN, internetworking and WANS.

GBIS 727 Decision Support Systems
In this course, students examine a set of information systems which specifically support managerial decision makers: decision support systems, group decision support systems, executive information systems, data warehouses, expert systems, and neural networks. Over the semester, students will explore and discuss the development, implementation, and application of these systems, how these systems can be applied to current business problems, as well as how organization issues impact the implementation and usage of these systems. This will involve developing conceptual knowledge of these systems as well as gaining practical expertise in several software packages employed for decision support.
Listed also as LIS 757.

GBIS 739 IT Management
The objective of this course is to introduce the student to issues and practices of information technology managers. Topics include the discussion of team staffing, organization and departmental operations (such as scope and budgeting), project contracts, estimating and budgets, outsourcing issues and IT audit frameworks. In addition a strategy component explores the topics of the Information Systems environment and how it can contribute to the direction of the business, investment in information technology, and long-range planning. Students will also analyze appropriate case studies in IT Management.
Prerequisites: GBIS 722 and GBIS 725.

GBIS 741 Business Database Systems
This course introduces the basic knowledge needed to analyze, evaluate, design, administer, implement and maintain database systems in business. Emphasis is placed on database and information resource management in an organization. Topics include fundamental concepts of business database systems, different data models, database schemas, data integrity the role of databases as a means for managing data resources, database reporting, data normalization, and the role of databases in decision making in business. In addition, students will develop applied skills in database creation and manipulation using SQL, SQL Server Express, VB.NET, and DB2.
Prerequisite: GBIS 710.

GBIS 742 Computer Security Fundamentals
This course provides the student with an introduction to information security and management. Topics include a basic understanding of digital crimes and criminals, computer security threats, vulnerabilities including worms and viruses, database security, control and protection methods, hardware and software concerns, policies, cryptographic techniques, authentication techniques and protocols, authorization and confidentiality, and legal, ethical and privacy issues associated with information security.

GBIS 744 LAN Administration
This course provides the student with a thorough study of LANs. Topics covered include LAN design, maintenance and upgrading, LAN troubleshooting, LAN tools and analyzers and LAN administration. Much of the course will be hands-on, giving students experience in setting up and administering a LAN. Examples of topics covered are network configuration, installing device drivers, network services (file, print and communication), performance monitoring, security, and installation of upgrades, license monitoring and security.
Prerequisite: GBIS 725

GBIS 747 Enterprise Systems and Project Management
This course introduces the student to enterprise information systems, including ERP and CRM systems, and the skills required for effective IT project management. Topics include enterprise information requirements, information infrastructure, managing client/server and distributed environments, systems integration methods, relationships among component systems, process flow and workflow modeling methods, business process integration, performance and scalability issues, types of middleware, project management skills, project management methods and practices, risk analysis and software tools. Students will analyze cases involving enterprise systems and will work on a midrange or mainframe component of an enterprise system implementation. Students will also engage in project management exercises using a software tool such as MS Project. Prerequisites: GBIS 710 & 722.

GBIS 751 E-Commerce and Web Application Development
The objective of this course is to introduce the student to issues, practices and implementation of e-commerce applications. Students will study the historical underpinnings of e-commerce, the business case issues driving the adoption and ongoing evolution of such systems, key implementation risk factors, the various styles of current implementations, and maintenance issues. In addition, after preparing a site design, students will implement an e-commerce system including web graphics, animation and multimedia, using web tools and technologies such as XHTML, Javascript, DreamWeaver, Fireworks, Flash and PHP or ASP.NET.
Prerequisite: GBIS 710.

GBIS 752 Wireless and Mobile Computing
This course presents the student with the latest in wireless technologies and m-business. Topics include wireless networks, wireless carriers, location-based technologies, wireless platform operating systems and microbrowsers, wireless marketing, wireless security issues, Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), Wireless Markup Language (WML), Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME), and mobile CRM. Students will engage in the applied development of client/server applications using web technologies such as WML and J2ME.
Prerequisite: GBIS 710 and 725.

GBIS 763 Computer Forensics
This course introduces the student to computer forensics, most specifically cyber crime scene analysis of workstations and techniques associated with storage media analysis. Topics include an introduction to computer forensics, the history of cybercrime, the act of collecting and preserving digital evidence, the formation of a cybercase, building a digital crime case, workstation hardware and software analysis, and the preservation and recovery of digital evidence. Students will analyze case studies of cybercrime forensics. In addition, students will engage in hands-on exercises in computer forensics activities.
Prerequisite: GBIS 742.

GBIS 764 Cryptography
This course provides the student with a study of the basic theory and practice of cryptographic techniques used in computer security. Topics include key encryption techniques, hashing methods, public encryption techniques, encryption vulnerabilities, digital signatures, digital certificates, authentication, key exchange, and cryptographic protocols at various layers. Students will engage in programming projects that emphasize various encryption algorithms.
Prerequisites: GBIS 710

GBIS 765 Network Security and Intrusion Detection
This course provides the student with an in-depth study of various network attacks techniques, methods to detect them and practices to defend against them. Topics include firewalls, intrusion detection, tracing, monitoring, network logs, breach identification, security breach response, denial of service (DOS) threats, session hijacking, DNS server attacks, routing attacks, VPNs, and IPSEC. Much of the course will be hands-on, giving students experience in detecting intrusions and breaches, and in executing corrective and preventive actions.
Prerequisite: GBIS 742 and 744.

GBIS 770 Advanced Topics in Information Systems
A specific topic of interest in the information systems/information technology field is explored in depth.

GBIS 773 Data Mining for Business
This course presents the student with data mining techniques and applications, specifically in business. The topics covered include foundations, knowledge discovery in databases (KDD), traditional statistics, IFNs, decision trees, Bayesian learning, association rules, data warehouses, next generation databases, an overview of commercial tools and graphical tools used for data mining, data preparation, and feature selection. Students will analyze case studies concerning business applications and data mining projects. In addition, students will engage in hands-on data mining exercises.
Prerequisite: GBIS 741.

GBIS 783 Master's Project
GBIS 786 Practicum
These are capstone courses for students in the CIS and MIS programs. One of these two courses is required for students in the CIS program; both are electives in the MIS program. Students who choose a master’s project will implement an in-depth project that has been pre-approved by a supervising professor. Those who choose a practicum will gain practical experience in a structured professional environment, which must also be pre-approved by a supervising professor.
Prerequisites: CIS students must have completed a minimum of 12 courses, and MIS students must have completed a minimum of 13 courses. Students who choose to complete a practicum must be in good academic standing. Written approval of the professor who will be supervising the project or practicum is required for registration.

GBIS 787 Master’s Thesis
The master’s thesis is an independent research document in which a student demonstrates his or her ability to integrate both technical expertise and IT domain knowledge. Normally, it is undertaken during the student’s final year in the master’s program and can be substituted for the Master’s Project or Practicum. The thesis must represent an original contribution or a very extensive and in-depth study of a topic that extends far beyond the curriculum treatment of the topic. The thesis may include empirical studies, system evaluation or theoretical work. The scope and the details of the thesis must be formally approved in writing by a supervising professor.
Prerequisites: CIS students must have completed a minimum of 12 courses and MIS students must have completed a minimum of 13 courses. Written approval of the professor who will be supervising the thesis is required for registration.

GBIS 795 Directed Study
This course is possible with the consent of the instructor and approval of the dean.

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