MSBA/MBA Dual Degree (Archive 2018-2019)

1.00

SBS 700 is the first required course in Suffolk's graduate programs. The course is based on the precepts of experiential learning. Based on the idea that people learn best by participating in meaningful activities, this course provides students with the opportunity to learn about and experience first-hand the many complexities of business and the role of top managers. To accomplish this, students will work in small groups as they take on the roles of top managers in a hands-on behavioral simulation.

MBA students only

1.00

This course teaches students ethical frameworks to lead and manage organizations that go beyond the standard legal compliance and risk management approaches, and that embrace the more inclusive principles of sustainability and corporate responsibility. This course will set forth the fundamentals of managerial ethics and will prepare students for the complex, multilevel managerial and leadership integrity challenges that corporations face today.

MBA students only

3.00

This first-semester MBA course introduces students to the topic of world-class clusters as a multi-level phenomenon. Beginning from the macro level of analysis and proceeding to the micro level, the course covers a panoply of concepts and frameworks for understanding why world-class clusters emerge at specific locations in the first place and then regularly succeed in transforming themselves to keep up with and even lead the pace of change in their respective industries. In the group projects that they conduct for this course, students are expected to emulate the characteristics of high-powered teams found in world-class clusters: the course thus begins with conceptual understanding of world-class clusters and then proceeds to have students emulate the behavior that can be observed in world-class clusters.

1.50

This course introduces the basic tools and concepts of microeconomics (2 classes) for supply and demand analysis; for consumer market behavior; and for production, cost, and pricing decisions in different market structures. Greater emphasis (4 to 5 classes) in the course is on the macroeconomic topics of national economic performance, the economic role of government and fiscal and monetary policy, and the banking and financial system in the current economic environment. The course is intended for MBA students who have no recent academic background in economics.

MBA-625 or SBS-604 (may be taken concurrently)

3.00

This course provides students with Operations Management concepts, techniques, and tools to design, analyze, and improve operational capabilities in any organization. Students will understand and analyze common OM decisions on managing inputs (materials, information, finances, and human resources) and processes to deliver desirable outcomes to customers. Topics covered include operations strategy, process analysis, quality management and lean operations, capacity analysis, inventory management, product development, supply chain management, project management, revenue management and pricing, decision analysis, and forecasting. Software tools used may include MS Excel, Visio, and Project Management. This course will contain experiential learning components related to Boston's world-class industries, which may include guest lectures, simulation exercises, or visits to local organizations.

3.00

This course deals with the structure and information content of the three principal financial statements of profit-directed companies, namely the income statement, balance sheet, and statement of cash flows. It develops skill in using accounting information to analyze the performance and financial condition of a company, and to facilitate decision making, planning and budgeting, and performance appraisal in a managerial context. This course also contains an experiential component by offering guided inquiry and real company cases.

1 course from each of the following groups: MBA-615 or SBS-603; MBA-625 or SBS-604; MBA-640 or ACCT-800; These courses may be taken prior to or concurrently with MBA-650.

3.00

This course introduces the basic principles of corporate finance. The main focus is on fundamental principles such as time value of money, asset valuation, and risk and return tradeoff. Topics to be covered also include cost of capital, capital budgeting, and capital structure.

3.00

At its core, marketing is about providing consumer value. The practice of doing this is changing constantly-driven by rapid and far-reaching changes in technology; globalization; and the evolution of consumer values, practices, and lifestyles. This course will present themes, theories, and trends that are critical for: 1. understanding the business of creating, capturing and sustaining value; 2. introducing students to the global, consumer, and technological realities of marketing in the 21st Century; and 3. providing students with a sound foundation to explore marketing in further depth in upper-level elective courses. This course also contains an experiential component. .

Please email Hillary Sabbagh at [email protected] to register for a travel seminar.

3.00

The Immersion course provides an opportunity for students to link their program work to hands-on experience and visits to real-life global companies. The highly experiential, intensive course combines classroom learning with a direct business and cultural experience. Students will work in teams directly for a client or several clients, solving real challenges, using their analytical skills, knowledge, and experience to develop feasible solutions. Required for all MBA students, the course will be offered globally or nationally to accommodate a variety of student needs.

This course was formerly ISOM-815

3.00

Introduces the importance of information as an organizational resource, role of big data in organizations, and the application of tools to provide high quality information. Students will be able to select the most appropriate data management tool (e.g., SQL vs. non-SQL databases) to business scenarios. Develops the skills needed to succeed in today's big data environment through the application of data management techniques, cases and exercises. Students will become proficient in designing databases using entity relationship modeling and normalization, in building and querying databases of various sizes with Access and SQL (an industry standard), preparing high quality data and applying data visualizing techniques. Students will complete a series of business-oriented hands-on exercises, prepare cases, and complete projects on database design and big data.

3.00

Provides students with an understanding of the nature of enterprise integration and enterprise software, business process reengineering, the implementation within organizations, and strategies for maximizing benefits from enterprise systems. To manage complex business processes in today's multi-national, wired and wireless world, firms need integrated software packages to manage their global business. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are used to support a wide range of business functions for all companies across industries. With ERP systems, business managers are able to make decisions with accurate, consistent, and current data. Intensive lab projects on the SAP ERP System with real life business scenarios are utilized to reinforce understanding of enterprise systems functionality and business process concepts.

3.00

This course teaches students how to build and maintain data warehouses, and how to analyze and use this data as a source for business intelligence and competitive advantage. Students study data mining concepts and the use of analytics tools and methods for producing business knowledge. Topics include extraction, transformation and loading; decision support systems; text, web and data mining models as well as data presentation/visualization including dashboards, scorecards and various charts. Students build a data warehouse and practice the extraction and filtering process used to produce high quality data warehouses. Students will use tools such as MS Excel, SAP Lumira, Tableau and SAP Business Warehouse.

3.00

This course introduces students to the concepts and applications of data analytics on large data sets for managerial decision making. Students will learn foundation skills needed to extract valuable information out of data, including various descriptive and predictive analytics techniques. Students develop knowledge of data visualization and interpretation coupled with conveying data, results and insights. Issues on data acquisition, storage and management will be discussed.

3.00

Analyzes various real world business problems and explores the full scope of MS Excel's formulas, functions and features to create data models and present solutions. Students analyze data, design custom charts, graphs, PivotTables and Pivot charts, create three-dimensional workbooks, build links between files and endow worksheets with decision-making capabilities. Students conduct What-If Analysis, utilizing Scenario Manager, Solver, Data Tables and Goal Seek. This course provides the skills necessary to pass the Microsoft Office Specialist Certification in Excel.

3.00

Predictive analytics make predictions about unknown future events. It is crucial for companies to ask the right questions, perform rigorous analysis, and take actions that will result in the most desirable outcomes. This course develops students' capability in applying the core concepts and techniques of predictive analytics to identify opportunity, recognize patterns, predict outcomes, and recommend optimal actions within the context of organizational decision-making. Topics include: business analytics life cycle, data pre- processing, linear and nonlinear regression, tree-based methods, model assessment and selection, and resampling methods.

Take ISOM-835

3.00

This course is built upon the predictive modeling course and covers a broad collect of data mining and business intelligence techniques, including logistic regression, discriminant analysis, support vector machines, clustering methods, network analysis, association rule mining, text mining, etc. It focuses on turning data into business intelligence and eventually use data and analytics to create business value. The course takes a holistic approach of business analytics, starting from identifying and defining business questions, evaluating data quality, cleaning and preparing data to selecting models, interpreting outcomes, and communicating analysis and results to technical and management audiences. Throughout the course, students are involved in hands-on analysis using large sets of real data from a variety of industries. A term project and a formal presentation of the project are required.

3.00

This course teaches students critical thinking and problem solving skills in the context of two essential ingredients of collaboration: leading people and teams, and managing projects. Students will learn concepts and processes that support building and launching high performing teams that can manage complex projects efficiently and effectively. Students will collaborate experientially to solve problems facing Boston's world-class industry clusters.

3.00

This course introduces students to three essential ingredients of innovation: Entrepreneurial Thinking, Information Technology in an Age of Disruption, and Law as Framework. Entrepreneurial thinking is a critical element in the creation, growth, and sustainability of an organization. In new ventures, entrepreneurs drive innovation with limited resources and within a flat organization. Information technology, strategically selected and implemented, can provide a significant, competitive advantage. Students will survey the increasingly complex, evolving, and highly competitive business environment in which ethical, legal, economic, and regulatory forces are continuously reshaping the global marketplace both to create and limit competitive opportunities. This course will contain experiential components, relating to Boston's world-class industries.

Take MBA-701, MBA-710, MBA-721, MBA-730, and SBS-700

1.00

This course involves synthesizing and applying the content from Values Based Decision Making through two deliverables, both of which require reflection on the MBA experience. Students will consider the external clients they have worked with in their client oriented classes and the MBA curriculum through an ethical lens. They will focus on identifying organization-based ethical issues and values, applying ethical frameworks to analyze them, and making an argument as leaders or managers for an ethical solution. This course will offer application and synthesis, taught towards the end, allowing students to creatively apply ethical perspectives to what they learned in the MBA.

MBA students only. SBS-700, MBA-701, MBA-710, MBA-615(or SBS 603), MBA-625(or SBS 604), MBA-635, MBA-640(or ACCT 800,) MBA-650, MBA-660, MBA-720(or MBA-721), MBA-730, and MBA-745(may be taken concurrently)

3.00

This course introduces students to the fundamentals of the global business environment in a way specifically relevant to innovation in world-class clusters. The course has a three-part format: 1. global business fundamentals; 2. opportunity recognition, validation and planning; and 3. experiential term group project in the elaboration of a proposed innovation. Global business fundamentals include the complexities of operating in the international economic environment, the theory and practice of trade, the global integration and local responsiveness of the multinational firm, the internationalization decision of firms, as well as the different modes of entry.

SBS-700, MBA-701, MBA-710, MBA-615(or SBS 603), MBA-625(or SBS 604), MBA-635, MBA-640(or ACCT 800,) MBA-650, MBA-660, MBA-720(or MBA-721), MBA-730, and MBA-745(may be taken concurrently)

3.00

Students engage in a variety of learning activities, such as case studies, computer simulations, examinations, project reports, and most especially, experiential exercises involving competition. Students will develop a multi-functional general management perspective. The course is designed to help students integrate and apply their knowledge and techniques learned in the core courses of the MBA program into an overall view of the firm, evaluate the environment, and speculate on the future direction of the organization. Students will also learn about the principal concepts, frameworks, and techniques of strategic management, they will develop the capacity for strategic thinking, and they will examine the organizational and environmental contexts in which strategic management unfolds. This course will make extensive use of experiential activities and projects designed to get students to experience the dynamics of competition right in the classroom.

MBA students only. SBS-700 MBA-701 MBA-710 MBA-615 MBA-625 MBA-635 MBA-640 MBA-650 MBA-660 MBA-720(or MBA-721) MBA-730 MBA-745 MBA-750 MBA-760 (MBA 745, MBA-750 and MBA-760 may be taken concurrently with MBA 770)

3.00

The final course in the MBA curriculum ties together the integral components of the four industry clusters, strategy and business fundamentals to the experience of leading change. Students experience the change process personally through a simulation. Students then apply their learning to an applied project based in one of the four clusters that is team-based, client-focused, grounded in research, and integrates MBA concepts as required with a final presentation to a live client. As part of understanding change, students will also evaluate the wider societal impacts of the business change. Finally, students reflect on their MBA program in total, revisiting their career plan and vision. This course uses multiple approaches, defining, understanding and experiencing the strategic value of change at the organizational, team, and individual levels.