Business Administration (Master's)

This course covers the concepts and principles that underlie corporate financial statements, including the balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement. The use of accounting reports by both internal and external users is considered. Topics include assets, liabilities, cash flows, profits, revenues, expenses, financial ratios, efficiency, productivity, profitability, budgeting, cost analysis, and management. Case studies are examined in detail using the balance sheets of public companies to consider a company’s performance and future potential. The course concludes with the application of innovative accounting approaches to ensure that the organization is financially successful in the short term and long run and can strategically compete in the global STEM based business environment with a sound financial profile.

 This course focuses on applying analytical methods for data analysis to support managerial and strategic organizational decision making. Topics include descriptive statistics for summarizing data, probabilistic analysis for quantifying uncertainty, sampling and statistical inference for hypothesis testing, and linear regression analysis for prediction and forecasting. The course has a key emphasis on data analytics and forecasting in the science, technology, engineering, and management domains to ensure that the organization makes viable decision in the complex and ever-changing global business environment.

This course covers the concepts, models, and frameworks for formulating, analyzing, and implementing corporate and organizational strategy. It focuses on the fundamental dimensions of strategy, and how to differentiate between organizational strategy, operations, and tactics. Topics include eliciting corporate values and formulating objectives, analyzing market opportunities and risks, developing long- range strategies, industry analysis, competition, differentiation, and diversification. The course also considers the challenges of managing strategic change, the impact of emerging technologies on business strategy, globalization, and the “triple bottom line” (economic, social, environmental). Extensive case studies are covered in the science, technology, engineering, and management domains to ensure that organizational strategy maps to the current complex global business environment.

The Capstone is the final component of a student’s graduate studies. This is a two-course sequence designed to be broadly integrative. Capstones will have concentration-specific modules and Learning Outcomes. The methodology for this Capstone Project is a simulation-based case study. The student’s objective is to incorporate concepts learned throughout the MBA program to address a strategic challenge facing a host organization. Capstone Part 1 will review and reinforce key concepts from the MBA program through a series of case studies of actual companies, to help students build the skills and abilities they will need to succeed on the simulated summative case study case they will undertake in Capstone Part 2. In Part 2, students will be provided a set of data and documents for an organization (such as quarterly reports, letters to shareholders, strategic plans, market data), and a description of issues and objectives for the study. Students will produce a final written document and (hypothetical) formal presentation to the organization’s key contact. This final report must show that the student has significantly applied concepts from strategy and finance, demonstrated their ability to collect and analyze primary data from a subject entity, and fully addressed the agreed-upon issues to provide novel recommendations that the entity could implement.

Following WIL5002, students will be required to take this course every term they do an internship. The course will follow up on what was laid out in WIL5002.

This class is a guide through a professional internship to ensure that the internship provides professional learning experiences that will be applied to the professional arena. Students undertake a significant experiential learning opportunity, typically with a company or community-based organization. The internship represents an educational strategy that links classroom learning and student interest with the acquisition of knowledge in an applied work setting. Through direct observation, reflection and evaluation, students gain an understanding of the internship site's work, mission, and audience, how these potentially relate to their academic study, as well as the organization's position in the broader industry or field. Students will produce a critical reflection on their internship experience demonstrating how they have addressed specific learning goals.