Graduate Courses

Accountants and the accounting profession play an important role in society. The role is examined through an-in-depth study of accounting ethics, professionalism, and the public interest. Students learn about and analyze the history, legal, and ethical responsibilities of professionals and the profession. The course also will expose students to stakeholder theory and global sustainability issues. Major ethical theories are introduced and analyzed before applying them to ethical and justice issues, moral reasoning, and ethical decision making. Students are encouraged to adopt the objectivity, integrity, and ethical standards necessary to serve society as an accounting professional.

This course examines acvanced topics in financial statement auditing, such as: influence of capital market intermediaries, auditor litigation, due diligence of issues and clients, detecting errors and fraud, analytical procedures, impairment reviews, going-concern assessment, integrating substantive audit procedures with COSO, Sarbanes-Oxley prescribed reviews of internal controls over financial reporting, risk detection and assessment/quantification, and hands-on computer assisted audit tools and techniques (CAATTs)

Presents an overview of Earth’s critical environmental problems and issues, including global climate change, air pollution, water pollution, biodiversity loss, plastic waste, and deforestation, among others. Discussed are physical and chemical processes such as atmospheric processes, the greenhouse effect, oceanic circulations, ecosystems, and other relevant scientific concepts. Examined are impacts on water resources, agriculture, food, poverty, inequality, and biodiversity. Also discussed are opportunities for climate adaptation and resilience, e.g., climate adaptation strategies, policies, and planning at the community, city, national, and global levels to reduce and manage risk.  

Explores the major statutes and policies used, at both the federal, state and local levels, to protect humans and the environment against exposure to harmful substances, including the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Superfund, the Resource Conservation & Recovery Act, and laws designed to regulate toxic substances. Examines the challenges of global air pollution, including climate change and ozone depletion. Looks also at alternative legal mechanisms for advancing environmental policies (such as voter initiatives and common-law actions) and the role of market mechanisms in addressing environmental problems. Analyzes the roles of the local and federal governments and businesses to dealing with environmental challenges and explores resources available to entrepreneurs. Also addressed are environmental ethics, environmental rights, and environmental justice

Explores the latest applications and developments in sustainable and clean technologies in various sectors including in energy, agriculture, transportation, housing, water, food, and consumer goods. Reviews the science and economics of the leading technology solutions such as solar energy, fuel cell and energy storage as well as the developments in the underlying sciences in material science, chemistry, agricultural sciences, microbiology among others. Examines the recent investments in sustainable solutions to identify future technological and business trends and opportunities.

Explores the development process of innovative sustainable products, services and processes. Dives into the principles of effective and efficient execution of product, service, or process development processes. Examines how products or services are designed, brought to market, and scaled as well as how certain processes are designed and adopted inside an organization. Introduces students to prominent theories, best practices, and important special cases to provide them with a practical understanding of practices adopted in the industry. The class will entail lecture, case analyses, class discussions, and a small project.

This course presents insight from a variety of academic disciplines, including management, psychology, sociology, and economics, to understand the processes through which people work together in organizations. Focus on topics such as leadership, motivation, decision-making, communication, organizational culture, and performance management.

This course adopts a thematic approach to applying economic concepts to solving contemporary real-world business problems. These problems are analyzed from the perspective of an entrepreneur, a business manager, and an economic policy maker. Specific themes include understanding economic terminology, issues and methods; identifying determinants of supply and demand; understanding the economics of the firm, characterizing alternative market structures, measuring aggregate demand and supply, and understanding the implications of various government economic policies.

This course broadens MBA students' perspective and helps them develop in-depth understanding of international business theories and practices. Students will learn about complex issues in different political, legal, economic, monetary, and socio-cultural systems and how they influence business operations. Students will study the key theories, government policies, and current trends of international traded and foreign direct investment. Students will also examine various market entry modes, strategy choices, as well as organization and management approaches. Through this course, students will acquire skills and knowledge necessary for evaluating international opportunities and challenges and for managing international expansion and operations

Concepts, principles, processes, and implications relevant to gaining competitive advantage in the global marketplace are examined. Topics include analysis of the company environment, identification of the company's competitive strategy, assessment of segments and identifying target markets, entry and expansion into the global marketplace, development of global positioning and marketing strategies, and standardization and adaptation strategies

This course will examine marketing management and planning factors and techniques required for success in a global environment. Students will develop an appreciation for the external forces which shape the international marketer’s decisions and will study strategic decision-making used by international firms as they enter and adapt to new cultures and nations.

The factors present in the external environments of business relative to business law and political entities that must be dealt with by business managers. Interrelated ethical considerations will be explored, along with such topics as agency, contracts, business organizations, property, the court system, and business interfaces with local, state, and federal governments.

This course examines key issues and problems involved in managing human resources on a global scale. In addition to comparative analysis of traditional HRM areas such as staffing, training, performance appraisal, and compensation, special topics include expatriate preparation, repatriation, and managing an international and culturally diverse workforce.

This course sensitizes students to the broad range of environmental issues affecting business and society today. It examines how society’s increasing concern for the natural environment is having a major impact on business firms as well as how business is affecting the environment. Theoretical frameworks and case studies are used. A strategic approach is emphasized.

This course will identify and examine critical business ethics issues for the 21st-century enterprise, studied through the frameworks of (a) applied organizational ethics and (b) sustainable development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Special emphasis will be placed on ethical leadership, ethical reasoning and decision-making, the skills of ethical leadership, and the imperative of sustainable development as a lens for examining business as a force for good.

This course introduces students to international business finance and the workings of international financial markets. The principal objective of the course is for students to develop an understanding of the basic tools of financial decision-making in an international environment. Key topics of study include exchange rate determination; relationships between inflation, interest rates, and exchange rates; risk management; multinational capital budgeting; and international portfolio theory.

Helps students understand the intricacy of the global political economy by understanding the issues involving international trade and investment for multinational corporations.

Effective business leadership requires a commitment to personal leadership development and formation to fully realize one’s personal goals and maximize the value of the organization and the contribution it makes to stakeholders and society at large. This approach defines valuation in its broadest sense and links one’s development as a principle-based leader to how an organization identifies and implements core values within the enterprise.

This skill application project is a comprehensive implementation plan for the business opportunity identified and evaluated in the Module 3 skill application project. Team taught by veteran educators Kelly Watson and Ellen Enscher, the international strategy project capstone is a community-centered course with a bottoms-up perspective. Each year, the class focuses on a developing country or underserved community and conducts research, including engaging with guest speakers, interviewing community members, and drawing upon past personal cultural experiences of students. A key component of the class’s learning approach is the inclusion of an international trip near the end of the program. This experiential learning facilitates the integration a global mindset while developing improved information retention, empathy, and cultural agility for the students.

This first course sets the stage for the DBA by emphasizing the innovative, global, ethical and sustainable business practices as a force for good, the central theme that runs throughout the program. Aimed to enable a forward-looking mindset to meet the grand challenges of the 21st century, this course will emphasize transformative approaches to business innovation for economic, environmental, and social sustainability in a global context. It will expose students to the process of creative and innovative thinking, and how to challenge assumptions to reframe problems. Topics covered will include human-centered and bottom-up approaches to immersion, design, innovation and enterprise as well as other ways of enabling new ideation, strategies and techniques for developing creative solutions to business problems. The course and the themes throughout the program will enable students to create transformative research and teaching.