International Management Major

This course is designed to introduce students to the field of financial accounting and provide them with a foundational understanding of financial accounting concepts from the perspectives of both internal and external users. A particular emphasis will be placed on GAAP accounting standards, the preparation of financial statements, and the application of accounting information for decision-making. Students will become familiar with financial statements such as the balance sheet, income statement, and statement of cash flows, as well as key accounting books and documents. They will also understand differences in accounting practices across various types of organizations and account for assets, liabilities, owners’ equity, revenues, expenses, and dividends.

This course introduces students to the field of international business with a twofold purpose. Firstly, it examines the external environment of international business, exploring how and why cultures, countries, and regions differ. It also addresses the economics and politics of international trade, while considering critical issues related to business ethics and sustainability in a global context. Secondly, it investigates the internal environment of international businesses, focusing on companies’ operations, the roles of various business functions and the analysis of their strategies and structures. Close attention is given to applying international business knowledge to practical problems and fostering ethical behavior and decision-making.

This course is an introduction to the tools and concepts used in the marketing process for consumer and industrial products as well as for services. The focus is on the basic marketing concepts (product, place, price, promotion) as they relate to the field of global marketing. Emphasis is placed on the increasingly important role of interdisciplinary tools to analyze economic, cultural and structural differences across international markets. Specific consideration is given to the development of integrated marketing programs for a complex, global environment.

This entry-level course in economics covers the fundamentals of macroeconomics and, together with ECN 101, it provides the necessary prerequisites for any other upper-level course in economics. This course introduces students to the study of economics as a field of knowledge within the social sciences. In the first part, focus will be on the definition, the explanation, and the significance of national income, business fluctuations, the price level, and aggregate employment. In the second part, special attention is devoted to the functioning of a payment system based on currency and bank money. Finally, students will discuss the instruments and the functioning of public policy aimed to stabilize prices and maintain high levels of output and employment within the current macroeconomic context. Current economic news will be regularly scrutinized.

This is an entry-level course in economics, covering fundamentals of microeconomics and aimed at students who choose it as an elective or plan to continue their studies in economics. This course helps students develop basic analytical skills in economics and microeconomics. It provides students with a basic understanding of the market system in advanced capitalist economies. It examines the logic of constrained choice with a focus on the economic behavior of individuals and organizations. After a theoretical analysis of the determinants and the interaction of supply and demand under competitive conditions, alternative market structures will be investigated, including monopolistic and oligopolistic forms. The course examines the conditions under which markets allocate resources efficiently and identifies causes of market failure and the appropriate government response. The introduction to the role of government includes its taxing and expenditure activities as well as regulatory policies.

Managerial Finance is an introductory course in corporate finance that teaches students the basic theoretical and practical foundations in financial decision-making. In particular, students will learn about concepts and tools needed for valuing investment projects. Topics covered include the time value of money, valuation of corporate investment projects, the risk/return relationship, capital budgeting, the cost of capital, developing appropriate selection criteria, and short- and long-term financial management. Throughout the course, real-world examples are used to link theory with practice. (This course was previously BUS 326. Students may not earn credit for both BUS 226 and BUS 326.)

This course introduces students to the most common qualitative and quantitative techniques for conducting market research with an emphasis on their application.  The definition of market research problems, the set-up of research plans, and the subsequent data collection and analysis are illustrated and applied by means of real world projects. Students are required to implement, in groups, the skills covered in class, and to prepare a final research report to discuss and present in class.

Strategic management is the study of firms and the political, economic, social and technological environments that affect their organization and strategic decisions. This course considers the external market environment in which firms operate, and provides theoretical foundations, focusing on economic and strategic theories of the firm and introducing key concepts of organizational theory. Practically, the course looks at the creation of competitive advantage of a firm in the global arena. The readings and class discussions include both theoretical concepts and practical case studies. (Junior status recommended)

This course introduces the cutting-edge computing methods for the analysis of business and marketing big data which help in inferring and validating patterns, structures and relationships in data, as a tool to support decisions at all levels of management. Students learn key descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive data mining methods with both supervised and non-supervised machine learning algorithms, which produce information for non-structured and semi structured decision making. While the course introduces a systems approach to business data processing, emphasis will be given to empirical applications using modern software tools such as Data Mining in Solver-Analytics More specifically, students will become familiar with and demonstrate proficiency in applications such as Cluster Analysis, Market Basket Analysis. Logistic Regression, Naïve Bayes Classification, Entropy Calculation, Classification Trees. Engagement-based learning is provided by using real world cases as well as computer based hands-on for real data analysis. Ultimately, working in teams, students will make the month long projects in applying Data Mining analytical techniques on the real world business problems, and will make suggestions for improvement which will be backed by the new information, gained from DM. Projects are presented in groups. Research papers, which are based on the projects, are individual.

This course introduces students to the field of organizational behavior (OB), the study of what people think, feel, and do in and around organizations. It discusses why organizational behavior knowledge is important for organizations, introduces students to the research methods used in the field, and emphasizes the necessity of multiple levels of analysis (individual, team, organization) in OB research. Topics covered in the course include individual differences; emotions, attitudes, and stress; motivation; team dynamics; power and influence; leadership; organizational structure; organizational culture. (Junior status recommended)

This course examines the dynamic process of organizational communication. Situating communication as an essential part of ''organizing'' in our everyday life, it seeks to understand how we can participate in the creation and recreation of effective organizations. Students will learn key issues of organizational communication research such as communication channels, networks, organizational climate, interpersonal relationships within organizations, and organizational cultures. They will also learn how to apply the theoretical/conceptual knowledge to their present and future organizational life through case studies and communication audits.

This course is designed to provide students with an understanding of the monetary dimension of contemporary economies. This includes the nature of the means of settlement, the technology of monetary payments, the banking system and its pro-cyclical, crisis-prone character that requires control and regulation, the response of financial markets to changing policy conditions and perceived risks, and central banks’ operations and goals when setting interest rates. Special attention is devoted to current monetary policy issues with special reference (but not limited) to the practice of the U.S. Fed and the European Central Bank.

This course focuses on the basic concepts of value and risk, and explores the principles that guide strategic investment decisions. Major emphasis is placed on the notion of net present value, the evaluation and pricing of bonds and stocks, and the definition and measurement of risk. The concepts of portfolio risk and expected return, as well as the role of portfolio diversification are carefully investigated. Students are then introduced to market efficiency, portfolio theory and the relationship between risk and return in the context of alternative theories, mainly the capital asset pricing model and the arbitrage pricing theory. (Recommended prerequisite: MAT 200)

This course focuses on the financing decisions of firms. After an introduction to the questions related to the definition of debt policy and the capital structure of the firm, the course investigates the problems related to the issue of securities and dividend policy, as well as the impact of corporate taxes and the costs associated to bankruptcy, financial distress and conflicts of interest. The second part of the course studies the fundamentals of option pricing theory and the valuation of options - with applications to warrants and convertible bonds - and provides an introduction to the use of derivatives for hedging financial risk.

The course introduces the basic principles of econometrics as a set of tools and techniques to quantitatively investigate a variety of economic and financial issues. The application of econometric methods allows studying the relationships between different economic and financial variables, hence providing a natural way to test and confront alternative theories and conjectures, as well as to forecast and simulate the effects of different economic and financial policies. The course approach is mainly focused on applications. A discussion of the main theoretical issues and a systematic analysis of econometric tools are prerequisites for the investigation of a number of economic and financial applications.

This course will provide an in-depth exploration of the key concepts, theories, and research methods in Organizational Psychology. Organizations are complex networks of social relationships between individuals, within groups, and between groups. In this course, students will examine individual, interpersonal, group and cultural behaviors in organizations. Topics to be covered include: group decision-making and communication styles; managing group processes and team design; leadership and power strategies within groups; performance management and work teams; and networking and negotiation within and across groups and organizations.