Graduate Course Descriptions

GSB 599 Business Communication (3 credit hours)
Specifically designed for non-native 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 (3 credit hours)
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.
Course Objectives

GSB 612 Financial Accounting (3 credit hours)
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 students to 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.
Course Objectives

GSB 613 Statistics (3 credit hours)
This course examines statistical procedures used to solve problems in business and management. Topics include: descriptive statistics, the binomial and Poisson distributions, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, and regression analysis.
Course Objectives

GSB 614 Organizational Behavior (3 credit hours)
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.
Course Objectives

GSB 615 Financial Management (3 credit hours)
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
Course Objectives

GSB 617 Business Law (3 credit hours)
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.
Course Objectives

GSB 621 Economics of the Firm (3 credit hours)
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
Course Objectives

GSB 622 Management Information Systems (3 credit hours)
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, GSB 612 and GSB 613 
Course Objectives

GSB 623 Corporate Social Responsibility (3 credit hours)
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.
Course Objectives

GSB 624 Organizational Analysis and Design (3 credit hours)
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.
Course Objectives

GSB 625 Financial Decision Making (3 credit hours)
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, mutual fund analysis, and beginning investor theory. Cases and technology exercises may be used to illustrate real-world applications. 
Prerequisite: GSB 615
Course Objectives

GSB 626 Marketing (3 credit hours)
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
Course Objectives

GSB 701 Managerial and Cost Accounting (3 credit hours)
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
Course Objectives

GSB 702 Taxation I (3 credit hours)
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
Course Objectives

GSB 703 Taxation II (3 credit hours)
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
Course Objectives

GSB 704 Advanced Financial Accounting I (3 credit hours)
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
Course Objectives

GSB 705 Advanced Financial Accounting II (3 credit hours)
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; Recommended: GSB 704
Course Objectives

GSB 706 Advanced Accounting (3 credit hours)
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
Course Objectives

GSB 707 Auditing (3 credit hours)
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
Course Objectives

GSB 721 Entrepreneurship (3 credit hours)
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 (3 credit hours)
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 (3 credit hours)
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
Course Objectives

GSB 731 Investment Analysis (3 credit hours)
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 (3 credit hours)
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 (3 credit hours)
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 (3 credit hours)
This course examines the institutional setting, goals, and financial policies of organizations in the health care field. Special attention is given to performance analysis at both the enterprise and departmental levels, strategic financial planning and capital structure, capital investment decision making, and the management of financial risk.
Prerequisite: GSB 615

GSB 735 Forecasting (3 credit hours)
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 (3 credit hours)
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 securitization debt and equity financing will be discussed. Case studies will be used to apply and expand on the concepts presented.
Prerequisites: GSB 615

GSB 737 Special Topics in Finance (3 credit hours)
This course provides 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, papers, and student presentations, may be an integral part of the course.
Prerequisite: GSB 625

GSB 741 Health Care Administration (3 credit hours)
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 (3 credit hours)
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 (3 credit hours)
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 (3 credit hours)
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 (3 credit hours)
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 (3 credit hours)
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 Resolution(3 credit hours)
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 (3 credit hours)
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 (3 credit hours)
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 (3 credit hours)
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 (3 credit hours)
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 (3 credit hours)
This course, which is taught in Buenos Aires, Argentina, is designed to provide students with the opportunity to study aspects of international business conducted in South America.  The course also provides insights into the culture and society of Argentina.  The in-country experience includes corporate visits and lectures by local university professors.

GSB 767 International Residency (3 credit hours)
The International 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 (3 credit hours)
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 (3 credit hours)
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 (3 credit hours)
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 (3 credit hours)
This course examines tactical and strategic options available to management when preparing marketing plans. It identifies the major activities, which 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 (3 credit hours)
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 776 Special Topics in Marketing (3 credit hours)
This course provides students with the opportunity to explore in depth a particular topic in the field of marketing.  Potential topics may include business-to-business marketing, sales marketing and integrated marketing communication.  Depending on the topic, critical reviews of selected journal articles, guest lectures, empirical projects and papers, as well as student presentations, may be an integral part of the course. 
Prerequisite: GSB 626.

GSB 778 Special Topics in Management (3 credit hours)
This course provides students with specific seminars and/or research projects, which address emerging topics in a particular field of management. Students discuss the particular topics at an in-depth level. Depending on the topic, critical reviews of selected journal articles, guest lectures, empirical research projects, papers, and student presentations may be an integral part of the course.

GSB 782 Public and Non-Profit Management (3 credit hours)
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 (3 credit hours)
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 (3 credit hours)
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 (3 credit hours)
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 (3 credit hours)
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.
Course Objectives

GSB 795 Directed Study (3 credit hours)
This course is available with the consent of the instructor and approval of the dean.

GSB 798 Management Practicum (3 credit hours)
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.