elective Courses
ACCOUNTING
ACCT 70120 Corporate Financial Reporting
2 credit hours
The objective of this course is for students to read, understand, and critically evaluate financial statement information. These skills are necessary for business analyses and understanding the financial press. ACCT 70120 builds on ACCT 60120 by addressing additional topics related to deferred income taxes, leases, retirement plans, controlled entities, and foreign operations. Journal entries, financial statement presentation, and financial statement footnote disclosures are examined. In addition, the rationale underlying the reporting requirements and management incentives for manipulating those requirements are explored. The text is supplemented with articles in the popular or financial press and actual financial statements.
ACCT 70150 Financial Instrument and Fair Value Reporting
2 credit hours
The objective of this course is for students to read, understand, and critically evaluate financial statement information related to financial instruments and other items measured at fair value. ACCT 70150 builds on ACCT 60120 by addressing additional topics related to passive stock investments, securitizations, derivatives, stock compensation, and asset impairments. Journal entries, financial statement presentation, and financial statement footnote disclosures are examined. In addition, the rationale underlying the reporting requirements and management incentives for manipulating those requirements are explored. The text is supplemented with articles in the popular or financial press and actual financial statements.
ACCT 70160 Sustainability: Accounting and Reporting
2 credit hours
The scope of sustainability includes the environment, labor, community and product.
This course examines a wide range of issues in these areas including current
practices of sustainability evaluation and reporting. The greatest focus will be
on the environment. Topics in this area include regulations, voluntary
disclosures in corporate annual reports or free-standing reports, accounting for
emissions trading schemes and end-of-life product disposal and the role of
attestation services.
ACCT 70200 Strategic Cost Management
2 credit hours
This course is concerned with the development and use of cost information to create,
communicate, implement and control strategies. This course requires you to take
theoretical constructs, and using the firm's internal accounting system, apply
them to actual, real-world managerial problems. Accordingly, this course is a
problem-solving course, and as such requires you to gain familiarity with the
topics by working on problems taken from practice. The topics covered include
use of cost accounting in various internal decisions, transfer pricing,
activity-based costing, customer profitability reporting, to name but a few. We
will discuss both the benefits and limitations of accounting information in the
context of various decisions and performance evaluation. This course is
not about technical journal entries, detailed calculation of process costing,
alternative computational methods of variances etc. Many of these cost
accounting topics are described at a conceptual level. The focus is on the use
of cost information in the context of various decisions and understanding the
incentives of the parties involved in the decision. The textbook, selected
problems at the end of each chapter and cases form the basis of the class
discussions. One does not need any cost accounting background to take this
course. We will build from basics.
ACCT 70570 Accounting Fraud Examination
2 credit hours
The course will focus heavily on frauds committed against the organization
(occupational fraud) and frauds committed on behalf of the organization
(financial statement fraud). Major recent financial statement frauds (e.g.,
Enron, Worldcom, Tyco) will be analyzed, corporate governance issues will be
addressed, computerized data mining approaches will be investigated, and the
nature and scope of accounting litigation support services will be studied.
finance
FIN 60710 Land Conservation Financing
1 credit hour
This course covers the public and private financial mechanisms available to protect
environmentally sensitive land and green space generally. Topics will include
such alternative public financing mechanisms as traditional tax-subsidized
programs, ballot initiatives, and finance programs, and private financing
mechanisms such as use of tax crediting programs to attract low cost private
capital. Public/private partnerships and sophisticated new development methods
such as small growth and conservation development will be discussed.
FIN 60720 Real Estate Development Process
2 credit hours
This is a first course in real estate development, designed to expose students to the
practice of development from project inception to completion and subsequent real
estate asset management. Course objectives include: 1) developing familiarity
with institutional features of the real estate industry (legal and regulatory
processes, real estate markets, financial markets, etc.); 2) exploring the
practical problems of real estate development; and 3) exposing students to
professionals from the development industry. The course will be taught jointly
by Notre Dame faculty and real estate practitioners.
FIN 70230 Business Forecasting and Data Mining
2 credit hours
Forecasts may be either subjective or objective. A subjective forecast can be prepared by
reading extensively about a situation and the economy and then combining this
information through some unspecified judgment process to come up with a
forecast. The objective approach to forecasting involves developing a model,
which is generally constructed by studying past relationships between the item
to be forecast and the factors thought to affect it. This course concentrates on
these objective methods of forecasting. Economic forecasting in general, and
this course in particular, are designed to explain the nature of the real world;
the intent is to integrate theory and application.
FIN 70330 Commercial Banking
2 credit hours
This course is designed to give an overview of commercial banking, particularly from
the perspective of the commercial banker. After an overview of where commercial
banks fit into the financial services industry and how they are regulated, we
then take a look at their typical structures and gain some insight into
understanding their financial statements and evaluating their performance.
You'll also learn about how banks fund themselves, including regulatory issues
regarding their capital. We then spend significant time on a bank's lending
function, looking at various types of borrowers; loan structures; collateral
arrangements; the lending decision process and documentation; and how a bank
monitors its loan portfolio. Then, we'll look at the products and services banks
market, and how they market them, including international banking and the role
banks play to meet their customers' offshore needs. Finally, you'll learn about
relationship management: how banks prospect for customers and how they nurture
and build existing client relationships. We look at large, multinational banks,
as well as regional and local banks. Several bankers will be guest speakers to
cover certain topics from their day-to-day perspective. By the end of the
semester, you should have gained an insight into commercial banking and the
integral role the banks play in the financial functioning of our economy and
with their individual customers.
FIN 70400 Corporate Restructuring Mergers & Acquisitions
2 credit hours
The objective of this course is to facilitate understanding of corporate merger and
acquisition activity, restructurings, and corporate governance. This includes
exploring the theory and evidence regarding these topics, the motives for these
transactions, the sources of value-added, and managerial incentives to engage in
or resist these activities. In this class, you will learn how to apply
discounted cash flow and other techniques for valuation purposes. Case projects
and valuation assignments will be used to apply financial theory and valuation
techniques in real-world situations. Classroom discussion of current M&A
related activities will be used to reinforce key concepts. The structure of the
class is a combined lecture/class discussion format with a great deal of
emphasis on active learning. We will rely heavily upon case studies of past
events and news articles of current events to illustrate how financial theory
can be applied in an actual business environment.
FIN 70410 Mergers & Acquisitions Practicum
2 credit hours
The objective of this course is to understand various aspects of the corporate
acquisition market, including sources of acquisition synergies, valuation and
pricing of acquisition targets, takeover defenses, the roles of management
incentives and compensation, financing methods, the roles of insider and
institutional shareholders, and regulations and taxes.
FIN 70430 Financing the Corporation
2 credit hours
This course will focus primarily on how corporations raise money in various ways to
meet their funding needs, both short- and long-term. The first portion will look
at domestic, U.S. dollar funding mechanisms and the second portion will cover
funding in foreign currencies. The course will cover private and public debt
markets, the Eurobond market and how multinationals use derivatives to manage
their required international financing.
FIN 70440 Financial Policy
2 credit hours
The course provides a framework for the evaluation for corporate financial policy decisions. Topics covered include financial statement analysis, financial planning, working capital management, the dividend decision, leasing, options, warrants, convertibles, risk management, and international financial management. Emphasis is placed on practical applications and the use of financial methods in decision-making.
FIN 70450 Bond Issue Process
2 credit hours
This course will go through the same process major corporations use in issuing debt
in the public markets, either U.S., European, or global. We will work with a
major investment bank in the process and the class will interact directly or via
conference phone on a weekly basis with the bank to execute the debt issuance.
This will include developing the financing strategy, looking at various
alternatives in the market, negotiating standard documentation, and executing a
swap as part of the process. Most semesters, this will be a "mock" issue, but on
occasion, the class will work on a real time financing to be undertaken by the
University.
FIN 70460 Working Capital Management
2 credit hours
This course emphasizes the set of decisions and problems that financial and operating managers face in determining short-term financial policy, setting terms when structuring contracts and deals, and managing business processes of the company. Major topics include identifying working capital elements and their relationships to company operations, financial analysis, cash forecasting, banking relations, cash-flow systems, and short-term investment, and borrowing strategies.
FIN 70480 Bond Markets and Instruments
2 credit hours
This course examines fixed income securities and markets. The primary goal is to give
students an introduction to major concepts and skills used in fixed income
anlysis. It should also benefit students considering the CFA Program. Topics
covered include: bond mathematics, bond sectors and instruments, interest rate
risk, duration and convexity, term structure and volatility of interest rates,
valuing bonds with embedded options, mortgage backed and asset-backed
securities, interest rate risk management, and calculations of spot rates and
forward rates.
FIN 70490 Economic Incentives in Contracts
2 Credit Hours
This is a graduate level course on financial contracts with an emphasis on investor protection. The main focus of this course will be on understanding underlying principles of contracts and develop skills to apply them to various corporate finance problems. We will explore how corruption, incentives, monitoring, discretion, limited liability, threshold behavior, hold up problem, and legal environments influence financial contracts. Applications include compensation contracts, free cash flow problem, financial crisis, bank lending, bankruptcy, corporate control, and spinoffs. Through these examples, students will hopefully walk away with the ability to recognize pitfalls that appear in daily business activities, and thereby become better managers or professionals in variety of business activities.
FIN 70520 Funding New Ventures
2 credit hours
This course examines financing the startup of a new venture. The course includes
bootstrapping, and the characteristics and merits of financing with equity and
debt, venture capital, and angels. Students learn how to prepare a financial
plan, including projecting sales and capital expenditures, designing pro-forma
income statements, balance sheets, and sources and applications of funds
statements.
FIN 70610 Equity Valuation
2 credit hours
This course covers the theory and practice of security valuation for both stocks and bonds. The emphasis is on equity analysis as it applies to the aggregate market, alternative industries, and individual companies. The central theme of the course will center on the pricing of equity securities using the discounted cash flow procedure.
FIN 70620 Options Markets
2 credit hours
This course examines options markets, serving as an introduction to the dynamicworld
of derivatives. The goal is to provide rigorous applied training that prepares
students for employment with firms where derivatives are either of primary
importance (e.g., investment banks, trading firms) or secondary importance
(e.g., corporations having interest rate or foreign exchange rate exposure that
requires hedging). Topics include fundamental pricing relations and models
(e.g., the Black-Scholes and binomial models), trading strategies for
individuals and corporations (e.g., covered calls, protective puts, spreads,
etc.), and risk management. Although both financial and commodity derivatives
are discussed, the course emphasizes financial derivatives for which the
underlying assets are stocks, bonds, or foreign exchange.
FIN 70630 Futures Markets
2 credit hours
This course examines futures markets, serving as an introduction to the dynamic world
of derivatives. The goal is to provide rigorous applied training that prepares
students for employment with firms where derivatives are either of primary
importance (e.g., investment banks, trading firms) or secondary importance
(e.g., corporations having interest rate or foreign exchange rate exposure that
requires hedging). Topics include fundamental pricing relations and models
(e.g., the cost of carry model), trading strategies for individuals and
corporations (e.g., cash and carry trades, program trading, and portfolio
insurance), and risk management. Although both financial and commodity
derivatives are discussed, the course emphasizes financial derivatives for which
the underlying assets are stocks, bonds, or foreign exchange.
FIN 70640 Applied Investment Management
6 credit hours
The Applied Investment Management (AIM) course will provide an opportunity for students to blend the theory of investments with the practical demands of hands-on investment management. Academic objectives include an understanding of the process of establishing and implementing a portfolio strategy, detailed knowledge of the mechanics of trading and the current theories of market microstructure, the principles of fundamental equity valuation, technical analysis, and portfolio management concepts such as performance evaluation, active structured and passive (i.e., indexing) strategies. During the semester the students will complete several written assignments to ensure mastery of the underlying concepts. The practical objectives will be achieved by hands-on management of a real portfolio. At the outset the class will establish portfolio management policies and objectives that are consistent with those of the University. They will actively manage this portfolio throughout the semester in accordance with the established goals.
FIN 70650 Fixed Income Securities I
2 credit hours
FIN 70660 Advanced Derivatives and Risk Management
2 credit hours
This course is intended to follow an introductory derivatives course. It uses basic
conceptsinvolving options and futures as a springboard for studying risk
management and financial engineering. Risk management and financial engineering
have a symbiotic relationship. For instance, a financial engineer (on the supply
side) might design a product such as a creditdefault swap that can be used by a
risk manager (on the demand side). Thus, these topicsare related and can be
studied jointly. The goal is to provide rigorous applied training that prepares
students for employment with firms where derivatives are either of primary
importance (e.g., banks, trading firms) or secondary importance (e.g.,
corporations having interest rate or foreign exchange rate exposure that
requires hedging). Specific topics include swaps, interest rate forwards and
options, advanced derivatives and strategies (e.g., credit derivatives, exotic
options), financial risk management techniques (e.g., VAR) and applications, and
organizational risk management.
FIN 70670 Investments
2 credit hours
This course follows the second MBA core finance course, which covers the traditional
investment topics of portfolio theory, the Capital Asset Pricing Model, and
market efficiency. This course builds on that background by focusing primarily
on the major different types of investments such as stocks, bonds, and options.
For each investment type, the course covers terminology, mechanics, pricing,
uses, and risk analysis. In addition, it covers how secondary markets work to
facilitate trading securities.
FIN 70680 Trading and Markets
2 credit hours
This course examines the general nature of organized trading by examining how bid and offer prices are determined, how market rules evolve, and what markets should be built. While markets for products and services are discussed, the focus is on the trading of financial securities. Existing centralized equity exchanges face competition from new alternative trading systems made possible by today's information technology. This course also examines the impact and implications of this dynamic.
FIN 70690 Investment Principles
2 credit hours
This course is an introduction to investments and is intended to develop critical
thinking and problem solving skills within the context of investments. The
course covers portfolio theory, asset pricing, bonds, stocks, market efficiency,
and basic derivatives. The course is meant to introduce one-year MBAs to
investments and to prepare them for other second year investments courses such
as Fixed Income, Equity Valuation, Trading and Markets, Options, Futures, and
AIM.
FIN 70700 Real Estate Fundamentals
2 credit hours
An introduction to the principles and practices of real estate. Topics to be
covered shall include land use patterns and regulation, real estate finance,
valuation, real estate law, brokerage and transfers, urban economics, and real
estate development.
FIN 70710 Real Estate Valuation and Income Property Investment
2 credit hours
Techniques of real estate valuation used by appraisers and other real estate professionals
with emphasis on quantitative market-based methods; the use of and relationships
between market comparable, direct capitalization, and discounted cash flow
valuation methods; income property analysis including the effects of financial
leverage and taxes; pro forma construction, analysis, and software tools; market
analysis case studies are considered.
FIN 70720 Real Estate Finance & Capital Markets
2 Credit Hours
This course considers such topics as the contractual features and underwriting
requirements of residential and commercial first mortgages; credit risk,
duration and convexity characteristics of mortgages; construction debt,
alternative lending markets, private equity markets and deal structures;
mortgage secondary markets including the GSEs and "private-label"
securitization; introduction to real estate securities structuring; portfolio
theory and the cost of real estate capital.
FIN 70820 Mathematical Methods in Financial Economics
4 credit hours
This interdisciplinary course is designed to foster interaction between finance and mathematics at Notre Dame. For each unit of the course, the mathematical components of the financial problem as well as the problem itself will be addressed. The following topics in financial economics will be included in the course: Arbitrage pricing of financial assets, Pricing of stock options, Risk assessment, Portfolio decisions and risk management and Equilibrium pricing of financial assets. These topics will be addressed in continuous and discrete time. The necessary mathematical background from differential equations and probability theory will be provided. Students will work in interdisciplinary groups to develop final projects which use quantitative methods to address current issues in financial economics such as what risk management techniques led to the sub-prime lending crisis.
FIN 70850 Credit and Liquidity Crisis
2 credit hours
This course will take a close look at the myriad factors that contributed to the
collapse of the financial markets in September, 2008 and how various leaders
reacted in an attempt to save the global economy and prevent another Great
Depression. We will study and critique the key players (Paulson, Bernanke, Cox,
Dimon, Fuld, Mack, Blankfein) and entities (Bear Stearns, Lehman, AIG, Morgan
Stanley, Goldman Sachs, major U.S. commercial banks, the U.S. Treasury, the
Federal Reserve, the SEC, the ratings agencies) involved in the melt-down of the
financial markets. This course will focus on who acted ethically and who behaved
unethically before and during the crisis. What behaviors contributed to this
calamity and how best to "regulate" (legislatively and morally) the financial
services industry in the future in order to minimize the possibility of
repeating this catastrophe will also be a key topic of this course.
MANAGEMENT
MGT 70100 Advanced Statistical Methods for Managers
2 credit hours
In Advanced Statistical Methods for Managers students learn a variety of topics
that go beyond basic statistics in order to make evidence based managerial
decisions when data consist of multiple variables and/or complicated data
structures. Specific topics include advanced regression techniques, simple and
factorial analysis of variance and covariance, chi-square goodness of fit and
tests of independence, inference for proportions, multivariate analysis of
variance, discriminate analysis, classical test theory, and exploratory factor
analysis. The emphasis throughout the course will be on (a) gaining a conceptual
understanding of the method, (b) how to apply the method to other examples and
situations, (c) how to implement the method using SPSS, (d) implications for
conclusions that can be drawn from observational and experimental research, and
(e) how to interpret the results of the analysis in an effort to learn from data
and help guide managerial decisions.
MGT 70420 Innovation and Design
4 credit hours
We will explore how to do innovation, both at the individual level - how can we
become more innovative - and organizationally - how can we make the
organizations we lead more innovative. We will start with a very basic
definition of innovation as, "new ideas that matter," and then we will spend the
semester developing a much richer and more nuanced understanding of what that
means and how to do it well. We are going to learn about innovation as much by
living it as by studying it. Innovation requires heightened abilities to notice,
remember, unlearn, see, hear, recognize, and understand. Innovation involves
curiosity, wonderment, inquisitiveness, synthesizing, linking, probing,
exploring, experimentation and prototyping. It also involves risk taking.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained applies to innovation too.
MGT 70430 Negotiation
2 credit hours
The purpose of this course is to introduce the theory and processes of negotiation
as it is practiced in a variety of settings. The course is designed to be
relevant to the broad spectrum of negotiation problems that are faced by
managers and professionals. Thus, the content is relevant to students interested
in marketing, real estate, consulting, entrepreneurship, or mergers and
acquisitions. In addition, the course will emphasize negotiations that occur in
the daily life of the manager.
This course is designed to complement the technical and diagnostic skills
learned in other courses at Notre Dame. A basic premise of the course is that
while a manager needs analytic skills to discover optimal solutions to problems,
a broad array of negotiation skills is needed to get these solutions accepted
and implemented. The course will allow participants the opportunity to develop
these skills experientially and to understand negotiation in useful analytical
frameworks. Considerable emphasis will be placed on simulations, role playing,
and cases.
MGT 70460 International Management
2 credit hours
Often, international business is conducted with and through people from various
cultural backgrounds. Cultural differences, if not understood and bridged, can
be significant barriers to the implementation and success of a business venture.
This course focuses on the management of the multinational corporation (MNC).
The objective of this course is to provide MBA students with a basic
understanding of how to conduct business across cultures and borders. Particular
attention will be given to: specific managerial challenges and opportunities
faced by MNCs; knowledge and conceptual frameworks necessary to understand and
manage MNCs; the political, economic and legal environments in which MNCs
operate; the effect of national cultures on international management; the
strategy and organization of MNCs including entry strategies, strategic
alliances, joint ventures as well as organization structures and issues of
control and coordination; topics related to individual behavior within MNCs,
such as motivation and leadership in a global context and international business
careers.
MGT 70490 Organizational Consulting
2 credit hours
The primary intent of this course is to enhance the student's capabilities in three
key areas that are important for consultants. The first of these builds
specifically on the core Problem Solving course, and it is the ability to
successfully develop a solution to a difficult problem faced by a business
organization. This course provides a "live client" on which students will
practice their problem solving skills and a number of the deliverables
specifically concern the problem solving process. The second area is the ability
of consultants to facilitate solution implementation and this course extends the
treatment of that topic beyond the problem solving course. In addition to the
solution, students are expected to assist the client by offering advice on
implementation. Finally, the third area is the ability to successfully execute a
consulting engagement, from entry through exit. This includes preparation in
advance of the engagement, the process of disciplined inquiry, the evolution of
the problem statement, the effective communication of the business case, and the
effective communication of the solution along with a "roadmap" for effective
implementation.
MGT 70500 Entrepreneurship
2 credit hours
The goals of this course are to give students a broad understanding of the field of
entrepreneurship and an introduction to the critical tools necessary to create a
successful new venture. This course is designed to simulate the "real-life"
activities of entrepreneurs in the start-up stage of a new venture concept and
to determine if a demand exists for their product or service. In the past,
several of these concepts have gone on to become actual businesses. In addition,
the course facilitates networking with entrepreneurs and other students who are
considering becoming entrepreneurs.
MGT 70510 Commercialization Analytics
2 credit hours
New venture failure estimates range from as low as 50% to as high as 95%. The
reason? Inability to commercialize the product or service. Commercialization is defined as the process or cycle of introducing a new
product into the market, and it is arguably the most important component in
determining a ventures success. As Peter Drucker states in his book Innovation
and Entrepreneurship, "The test of an innovation, after all, lies not in
novelty, its scientific content, or its cleverness. It lies in its success in
the marketplace." This course will provide the framework for understanding the
questions to be answered about the commercial viability of a product or service,
and will employ tools to assess and make needed changes throughout the lifecycle
of a venture to optimize success.
MGT 70525 Launching New Ventures
2 credit hours
This course is focuses upon launching a new venture. Topics to be examined include
growth and cash management, sustaining the differentiated/competitive advantage
of the venture, crisis management and new venture human resources issues. This
course will use an action learning pedagogy Students will be expected to apply
what they learn in real business situations.
MGT 70540 Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries
2 credit hours
Entrepreneurs and micro-enterprises can be found throughout the world. Understanding the role
that entrepreneurial activity and micro-enterprises play in building economies
is important to the understanding of international commerce. Issues such as
cultural and governmental influences on entrepreneurship, micro-lending and
strategic alliances are examined in this course. Upon the completion of this
course students are prepared to serve as consultants to third-world
micro-enterprises.
MGT 70560 Venture Capital Fundamentals
4 credit hours
The objective of this course is to provide students with an understanding of the methods and approaches used by venture capitalists to evaluate new business ventures and to develop and negotiate investment terms. The emphasis on the perspective of the venture capitalist distinguishes this course from other courses that emphasize the perspective of the entrepreneur.
Most sessions will be led by various venture capitalists and industry professionals, many of whom are members on Notre Dame's Irish Angles network. Projects will focus primarily on seed and early stage business ventures, but the fundamental approaches and philosophies taught are largely applicable to later stage venture capital investments.
MGT 70580 Family Enterprise Strategy
2 credit hours
What do Toyota, Gallo, Hallmark, and Walmart all have in common? All are family-owned
or family-controlled enterprises. Family-controlled businesses are one of the
most important engines of the world economy, especially in developing nations.
Over 60% of the world's commerce is derived from family businesses, including
over the half the jobs in the United States. While business courses generally
focus on public companies because of access to data, there is now more in-depth
research available demonstrating the longer-term value creation of businesses
where a family retains control. This team-taught course explores the unique
challenges and opportunities these businesses face in the intersecting systems
of family, ownership, and management. Theories of family enterprise operation
will be discussed, using the case study method. We will pay particular attention
to the process of generational succession and family business continuity
challenges for both ownership and leadership, including governance policies,
family dynamics, and strategic planning. Reading assignments will be drawn from
a text and supplemental handouts. The final project in this course will be a
Continuity Plan for a family business which each student will write,
incorporating materials from readings, case studies, lectures, and discussions.
MGT 70650 Business Intelligence
2 credit hours
This course will cover several techniques needed to capitalize on the unprecedented
availability of information and to meet the growing demand for better and faster
decision support from such information. This course material will provide an
understanding of various methods used to extract knowledge from data, such as
data mining, as well as with important tools to improve managerial
decision-making. Cases from finance, management, marketing, and operations will
be used as illustrations.
MGT 70690 Strategic Business Technology
2 credit hours
This course exposes the students to how technology is being used to change the competitive landscape within industries and among corporations. By examining a set of cases, the students learn how some businesses have transformed their competitive environment through the use of technology. The students then will be required to research how a specific company has used technology to enhance its competitiveness and how an emerging technology can potentially be used to provide a strategic advantage. The final project in the class involves examining the potential impact of such technology on the business models within a specific industry.
MGT 70710 Supply Chain Management
2 credit hours
Increasing customer expectations and global competitions continue to force companies to be
more efficient in controlling the flow of materials throughout the supply chain.
To achieve the goal, many ideas and methods have been developed and used by
companies in Supply Chain Management (SCM) environments. The course is designed
to (a) investigate the issues that most managers encounter in the contemporary
SCM and (b) develop students' analytical ability to solve practical problems in
SCM, including inventory coordination, location, distribution planning, etc. The
course is highly integrative and inter-disciplinary, requiring knowledge and
ideas in Operations Management/Research, Logistics, Marketing and Statistics.
MGT 70720 International Operations
2 credit hours
This course focuses on what it takes for a company to attain manufacturing excellence in a global economy. Common characteristics in the organization and management of world-class manufacturing companies are examined. This course emphasizes the formulation and implementation of global manufacturing strategy, which requires making a series of coordinated decisions regarding structural, infrastructure and inter-functional elements in manufacturing. Topics covered include manufacturing strategy, product design and development, JIT and MRP-II, global supply chain management, flexibility and time-based competition, workforce management, and organization for global operations and managing joint ventures.
MGT 70750 Spreadsheet Decision Modeling
2 credit hours
Managers today must increasingly make decisions on issues that are complex and have
quantitative aspects. This course explores how spreadsheet-based tools can
improve this type of decision making. All tools are studied in the context of
real-world applications from several business functions: operations, finance,
and accounting. Specific applications include logistics systems, process
improvement, portfolio selection, financial planning, options pricing, and cash
balance analysis. General principles that can enhance the choice and application
of these tools will be discussed. Only a basic familiarity with spreadsheets is
assumed.
MGT 70910 Business Model Innovation
2 credit hours
The objective of this advanced strategy class is to help students develop the
ability to improve firm performance through strategic business model innovation.
Although significant elements of this class will focus on strategy frameworks
and theoretical tools for understanding business models, we will also work on
developing leadership skills for advancing frame-breaking ideas in both dynamic
and rigid organizations. Core theoretical models of bounded rationality and core
rigidities will be examined to understand the structure of psychological and
organizational resistance to fresh leadership and ideas. The fundamentals of
"blue ocean" strategies will be examined deeply in addition to a range of cases
in a wide variety of industries. The underlying theme to the course will be to
help students develop a rigorous and continuous method of thinking
outside-of-the-box to consider how sustainable competitive advantage can be
achieved through market-making and dramatic strategic initiatives rather than
just incremental strategy and just-better-than-the-competition execution.
MGT 76030 Business on the Frontlines
4 credit hours
Objectives of the course: 1) Increase the overall awareness of how
business can be a force for good in society, particularly in war-torn
areas; 2) Introduce basic concepts in developmental economics and peace
through commerce; 3) Delve more deeply into the specific political, cultural,
economic, and business challenges of a specific war-torn country; 4)
Investigate, based on field visit, both the activities of local and/or
international businesses in a war-torn region and the positive/negative impact
of those business activities.
End products of the course: 1) Detailed case study of the
positive/negative impact of the activities of local and international businesses
in a war-torn region to be published; 2) Perhaps an increased commitment, and
certainly a better understanding, on the part of students of the possible impact
that business can have in the most difficult of circumstances.
MANAGEMENT COMMUNICATION
MBCM 60400 Management Speaking
2 credit hours
This course will provide you with an opportunity to improve your spoken communication
skills in a variety of settings from informal meetings to large, formal
presentations. Speaking experiences include business briefings, informative
talks, persuasive speeches, and television news interviews. You will receive
instructor feedback as well as peer review on every aspect of oral
communication, including delivery, nonverbal behavior, content, organization,
and visual support. Small sections promote personal student-professor contact
and provide time for individual coaching.
MBCM 60420 Management Writing
2 credit hours
Because the most important ideas in business end up in writing, and because writing can
frequently become a career sifter, this course will focus on the written word as
a principal means of implementing business strategy and solving managerial
problems. This course will focus on the basics of written expression in a
business context, including the communication process, critical thinking,
audience analysis, message development, correspondence, and document design.
MBCM 60490 Persuasion
2 credit hours
Every day we are bombarded with messages meant to influence us. This course introduces
you to the dynamics of social influence. Through class discussion, activities,
and lecture, you will learn about classic and contemporary research on
persuasion and how organizations are putting these findings into practice. You
will learn how to craft persuasive messages, how to evaluate the attempts of
others to persuade you, and how to recognize unethical attempts at persuasion.
MBCM 70450 Corporate Communication
2 credit hours
Few issues can affect stock prices faster than a corporate crisis or a negative
story in the news media. In the course of their careers, managers will confront
a series of issues related to corporate communication, including reputation
management, media relations, legislative and government affairs, employee
communication and crisis management. Other issues will include investor
relations, corporate philanthropy, identity, image and issue advertising. You
will examine the intersection of three separate yet related groups: the public,
the press and private enterprise. You will also focus on communication programs
intended to improve and influence public opinion and public policy on behalf of
companies, industries, organizations and causes.
MBCM 70500 Conflict Management
2 credit hours
Conflict is a central feature of human behavior on interpersonal, organizational,
societal, and international levels. In this course, we explore the psychology of
disputes, the nature and sources of conflict, and the ways in which conflict and
human emotion can disrupt or make business organizations dysfunctional. As we
examine the nature of conflict, we'll explore behavioral responses and
theoretical approaches to it, and offer a wide range of alternatives to working
through conflict. This course is highly practical and will offer you an
opportunity to apply current research findings as you interactively participate
in conflict resolution.
MBCM 70520 Intercultural Communication
2 credit hours
Intercultural Communication, a two-credit graduate elective course, examines the concepts
associated with culture and communication; analyzes intercultural communication
case situations; and integrates conceptual understanding with "real life"
intercultural experiences and observations. This course will be taught in a
lecture-reading-discussion/in-class exercise format. Course Objectives: To
cultivate an appreciation for the importance of intercultural communication in
business and society;To develop an understanding of the intercultural
communication process;To expand your skills in analyzing intercultural
communication situations;To improve your self-awareness and communication
behavior in intercultural settings;To examine the ethical issues related to
intercultural communication.
MARKETING
MARK 60550 Consumer Behavior
2 credit hours
Managers wishing to serve customers' needs can build effectively upon an understanding of
the field of consumer behavior. This seminar offers an in-depth exposure to this
interesting area. Prior work in consumer behavior is not required; the course
will begin at an introductory level. Illustrative topics include the consumer
marketplace, consumer motivation, consumer perception, consumer attitudes,
consumer decision-making, cultural and social influences, advertising and
salesperson influences, market segmentation and marketing and advertising
regulation. The seminar will include the examination of a number of significant
academic research studies as well as marketing applications.
MARK 70100 Marketing Research
2 credit hours
Market information is critical for firms. Without it, organizations operate blindly and
the likelihood of misinformed and erroneous decisions is greatly increased.
Accordingly, the goal of the course is to inform participants how to engage in
market research. Specifically, students will learn a) to critically evaluate
what information is necessary to make more informed decisions, b) the various
approaches organizations use to obtain the information, and c) the most commonly
used techniques necessary to analyze the data.
MARK 70110 Competitive Growth Strategy
2 credit hours
In this course you will learn and apply an actionable framework for building growth
strategy that applies to any organization: small, large, for-profit, non-profit.
The core of the process is uncovering the broad landscape of growth
opportunities and then zeroing in on deeply understanding the value sought by
customers and breaking down that value (both known and unknown) into actionable
parts. You'll learn how to then build a growth strategy plan around a unique
value proposition that leverages the firm's key capabilities and corrects for
existing points of non-value. Plans will also emphasize how to build a
customer-centric perspective into the organization. Each student will be
involved in a team growth strategy project, building a growth plan for either a
for-profit or non-profit organization.
MARK 70120 Marketing Analytics
2 credit hours
The gap between marketing theory and marketing practice has narrowed considerably
due to the availability of data and practical methods of analyzing and using
that data. Students will learn how theoretical models are implemented to make
practical decisions; this includes formal models as well as simple marketing
metrics. Representative topics include marketing return on investment, customer
lifetime value, other key performance indicators, and optimal marketing mix
allocation decisions. This course is appropriate for individuals considering
careers in brand management, product management, retail management, or
consulting.
MARK 70150 Qualitative Market Research
2 credit hours
Qualitative research methods are spreading rapidly among firms across industry boundaries,
in recognition of the fact that marketers often have no systematic intuition
about or affinity for the segments to which they cater. As managers are exhorted
to "get closer" to the consumer, they must divine unarticulated needs and
anticipate intersections of their own industry with others. This course is
designed to help you distinguish the actual lived experience of consumers from
the assumptions of the firm. That is, you will seek authentic consumer insight.
Our emphasis is on the managerial implications of prolonged engagement with
consumers. You will analyze and interpret the experiential and functional
dimensions of product/service/brand essence. You will learn to conduct rapid
appraisals using qualitative methods, and to supervise diagnostic research into
marketing problems. The class will observe a seminar-workshop format, and depend
for its energy upon discussion of ongoing field research projects that student
teams will conduct in naturalistic settings. This course will be immediately
useful to careers in consulting and entrepreneurship, technology, category and
brand management, new product development, advertising and marketing research.
MARK 70300 Brand Strategy
2 credit hours
More and more firms of all types have come to the realization that one of the most valuable assets they have is the brand names associated with their products or services. This course will take an intensive, hands-on look at how brands are created, nurtured and extended. Our premise is that brands are an essential, often overlooked component of any company’s success. We will move quickly to a real-world exploration of the why’s, what’s and how’s of brands.
Brand Strategy is an advanced MBA elective that addresses important branding decisions faced by organizations. Its basic objectives are to: provide insight as to why brands matter; develop a working knowledge of the concept of brand equity and how it is built; develop familiarity with the important issues in planning and evaluating brand strategies (brand vision, brand positioning, brand elements, IMC plan, measurement, etc.); provide the appropriate theories, models, and other tools to make better branding decisions; and provide a forum to apply these principles.
In the course, emphasis is placed on understanding psychological principles at the customer level that will improve managerial decision-making with respect to brands. One aim of the course is to make these concepts relevant for any type of organization (public or private, large or small).
MARK 70501 Advertising Management
2 credit hours
Advertising Management provides an opportunity to learn the management process through which
organizations, taking a collaborative approach to consumers, develop and present
messages of value that engage targeted audiences and encourage attitudinal,
emotional, and behavioral responses. In cases, we explore advertising
decision-making in corporations that take a consumer-centered approach to
marketing. This course is intended to serve students who anticipate careers as
brand managers and as marketing managers.
MARK 70550 Culture, Consumption, and Marketing
2 credit hours
Contemporary marketing requires a holistic understanding of fantasy and behavior as they interact in marketplaces around the globe. This course will help you comprehend, stimulate, manage and resist desire as you unpack the forces that shape and reflect the culture(s) of consumption. You will grasp the market as a complex system of material and metaphysical interactions, and learn to manipulate these interactions in a pro-social, ethical manner. Tempering interdisciplinary perspectives with a symbolic cast and combining the techniques of systematic introspection with participant observation, you will examine the many ways that consumption ramifies throughout daily life. Marketer and consumer misbehavior will also be probed. Cultural, sub-cultural, generational, class, life course and group influences on marketing and consumption will be investigated. Semiotic interpretation, cross-cultural analysis, scenario planning, trend projection and other frameworks are employed throughout the quarter. This course is especially useful if you want to comprehend the "human" aspects of marketing, especially as they influence the "technical", and if you seek insight into the deep structure of your own motivations. Its most immediate relevance is to careers in consulting and entrepreneurship, category and brand management, new product development, advertising and multicultural marketing.
MBA ethics
MBET 60320 Marketing Ethics
2 credit hours
This course examines a range of ethical issues facing marketing managers. Traditional
topics such as ethics in marketing research, selling, advertising and pricing
are covered. Emerging ethical issues such as international marketing,
competitive intelligence, social cause marketing and corporate policies are also
examined. The class is taught using a seminar format, and the opportunity exists
for students to examine ethical problems in marketing that are of personal
interest.
MBET 60330 International Business Ethics
2 credit hours
International business raises enormous ethical challenges in terms of globalization,
environment, development, corruption and cultural and religious diversity. This
course focuses on these challenges in the context of corporate decision-making.
Students are encouraged to enhance their sensitivity for differing, sometimes
conflicting, values and to develop ethical reasoning abilities. Various methods
are discussed to formulate and implement ethical corporate policies for
international business.
MBET 60370 Ethics in Finance and Banking
2 credit hours
This course builds on the previous course "Conceptual Foundations of Business Ethics"
and focuses on the ethics in financing and banking. It includes seven weekly
sessions covering the following topic areas: Ethics and Economics, Trust in
Corporate Decision Making, Ethics and IPO Pricing, Ethics in Corporate Finance,
Ethics in Banking, and Ethics in Investment. The course pursues a strongly
interdisciplinary approach. Faculty specializing in economics, financing,
banking, and ethics will help the students to analyze thee topic areas and
explore their ethical implications. These topics will lead the class in their
area of expertise.
MBET 70500 Values-Based Multinational Management
2 credit hours
Globalization is galloping across our world at a dramatic pace - enhancing global productivity
but leaving many people behind in the process. As the key integrating
institutions, multinational enterprises deserve much of the credit for the
productivity, but are also inextricably involved in the associated social
destruction. The objective of this course is to enhance the awareness and
understanding of future business executives, governmental officials, or managers
of nongovernmental organizations about the evolving role of the multinational
enterprise, and how that role should be managed.
MBET 70540 The Business of Sustainability
2 credit hours
The main goal of the course is to explore how to create extraordinary business value
through sustainability and social responsibility. The primary topics covered in
the course related to sustainability and social responsibility are (a) the what
- current and future trends; (b) the when - conditions under which business
value can be created; (c) the how - understanding how to integrate into
strategy, daily practices, and the entire value chain. This course does not go
into the why due to time constraints and it is assumed that all attending are
interested in the topic. Rather the course is focused on pragmatic aspects.
Therefore by the end of the course, students will have a general understanding
of how to apply sustainability and social responsibility in the business
sector.Because seven weeks is too short to become experts in applying
sustainability and social responsibility, the course is designed as the
beginning of a learning journey that will hopefully extend long into their
business careers. Thus, the methodology of the course is highly experiential and
interactive. Also students will be left with resources for further learning to
guide them.
MBET 70600 Spirituality and Religion in the Workplace
2 credit hours
The goal of this course is to provide students with insights and tools that will
help them to achieve a spirituality of work based on their own experience of God
and of work. The course is offered in the Judeo-Christian tradition, involves
readings from the Jewish, Protestant, Catholic and Buddhist perspectives, and is
intended as an elective open to all persons sincerely interested in reflecting
on the link between religious faith and work. Part I of the course will identify
and critically analyze, from a multi-disciplinary perspective, certain dominant
values and beliefs operative in the U.S. workplace, where most of us spend most
of our time. Part II will draw on various resources of biblical and
extra-biblical traditions to establish a foundation on which a spirituality of
work can be built. Part III will consider more fully what religious believers
realistically can and should try to do by way of prayerfully integrating faith
and work, with attention to the critical role of individual and communal prayer
in the ongoing effort to live out one's faith in and through one's work.
MBET 70610 Spirituality of Work
2 credit hours
This exploration of the spirituality of work will begin with a consideration of the
theology of work, including an overview of the theological perspectives on work
that have emerged over time in the Christian imagination, the factors that
shaped these perspectives and the influence of the same on contemporary
attitudes. The theological foundation will lead to a more detailed consideration
of the spirituality of work. The discussion regarding a spirituality of work
will include: (1) definitions of spirituality, Christian spirituality, and work;
(2) the need for workers to form a spirituality of work; (3) the contours of a
spirituality of work: (4) the relationship of a spirituality of work to
corporate and personal prayer (with particular attention to its place in the
Catholic sacramental and liturgical imagination). Finally, the various
dimensions of a spirituality of work that are indicated above will be
appropriated to contemporary workplace settings, with particular attention being
given to the students' chosen business fields. The questions to be considered
include: How might an awareness of the spiritual dimension of work impact one's
role in the workplace, i.e., as an employee or employer, co-worker, manager,
business partner or investor, corporate officer, etc.? What influence does the
spirituality of work have on one's work habits and presence in the workplace?
What bearing does the spirituality of work have on the overall vision, policies
and priorities of a business? What are potential areas of tension in the secular
business world for a person whom is mindful of the spirituality of work?
MBET 70620 Ethics in Emerging Markets
2 credit hours
The economic and social importance of the emerging markets in the global economy is tremendous and still growing. The business opportunities in the emerging markets are great; so are the obstacles and challenges. In this course, we examine both the business challenges and the opportunities facing companies operating in the emerging markets. We will devote special attention to sub-Saharan Africa, which a recent McKinsey Quarterly article projected as “the developing world’s next great success story.” We will also give attention to emerging markets in Latin America, Asia and elsewhere.
The course will take a case- and discussion-based approach to ethical challenges and opportunities on the personal, organizational and societal levels of moral behavior. It is hoped that by the end of the course students will be better equipped to ethically navigate the difficulties and capitalize on the opportunities of doing business in emerging markets. It also hoped that students will see how exercising business leadership in the global arena can represent a great opportunity to make a positive difference consistently with the values and beliefs that incline them to ask ever more of business and of themselves.
MBA GENERAL
MBGR 60210 Ten Years Hence Lecture Series
1 credit hour
This course will explore issues, ideas, and trends likely to affect business and
society over the next decade. The series of lectures will feature a wide range
of experts on economic demography, biotechnology, religious fundamentalism, oil
and peace, futurism and work, natural resources, and more. No examinations or
graded assignments. Students must attend all lectures; no unexcused absences.
Open to any Notre Dame undergraduate or graduate student.
MBGR 60220 Boardroom Insights
1 credit hour
In this course, corporate leaders and senior executives reflect on critical issues,
concerns and experiences, sharing their insights in a mix of lecture and
discussion sessions designed to stimulate ideas and provide an opportunity for
dialog. Topics will vary from speaker to speaker, ranging across the spectrum of
business to expose students to the opportunities and challenges inherent in
today's global business environment. Speakers will select ideas they feel are
relevant and valuable to students' development as they prepare for a
professional career.
MBGR 60420 Entrepreneurial Insights
1 credit hour
Entrepreneurial Insights is an interdisciplinary course in which students are introduced to entrepreneurship through a series of weekly lectures offered by guests with in-depth experience across a broad spectrum of industries. Topics vary, but typically include: innovation, opportunity recognition and evaluation, product design and development, technology commercialization, capitalization and funding, legal issues, intellectual property, sales, marketing, social entrepreneurship, and economic development.
MBLW 70180 Sports Media and Management
2 credit hours
This course provides a historical, theoretical and practical look into the various
facets of sports administration from a business perspective. To this end,
readings, lectures and research assignments will: (1) give students a global
overview of the sports business in general; (2) describe the cultural nuances
that are specific to the business aspects of professional sports such as
football, baseball, hockey, basketball, etc., as well as amateur sport
organizations; (3) identify markets, target audiences, as well as methods
employed to communicate to selected groups; and (4)examine in a comprehensive
manner the economics of each sports business sub-sector.
MBGR 70190 The Business of Energy
3 credit hours
The course focuses on issues and challenges faced by business entities comprising
the largest and most important segment of our economy - energy. Large,
integrated oil and gas producers will be highlighted as well as power generators
and transmission companies (primarily regulated oil and gas utilities) and
producers of alternative fuels. Energy efficiency and related smart grid
initiatives will be explored.
MBLW 70600 Business Law for Managers
2 credit hours
Business Law for Managers provides the graduate student of business with a general
overview of the legal system as that institution relates to the business
community. The course's primary focus is on the law of torts, contracts and
sales, legal procedure(s), employment law, entity selection and related tax
issues.