Part-Time MBA Courses and Electives

This course focuses on the competitive strategy of the firm, examining how firms achieve and maintain superior profitability relative to their competitors in the long run, and the firm's role in building a more just and sustainable world. Starting from overall industry analysis, we cover how firms position themselves to succeed in various competitive contexts based on their resources and capabilities. We then analyze how firms innovate and adapt their capabilities over time, especially in the digital age. We extend our analysis to the scope choices of the firm and discuss how firms can successfully compete across multiple countries and businesses. Throughout the course, case discussions examine and simulate the process through which strategic decisions are made and carried out. Students are placed in the role of decision-makers and frequently asked to analyze the key choices they must make to define, reinforce, and successfully implement the firm's strategy.

Concepts/ principles of business statistics, data analysis, and presentation of results. Topics: exploratory data analysis and graphics, basic inferential procedures including estimation and hypothesis testing, correlation, bivariate and multiple regression analysis, forecasting and predictive modeling using regression, and introduction to the design of experiments. These methods are selected for their relevance to managerial decision making and problem solving.

Basic principles of financial accounting, involving the consecution/interpretation of corporate financial statements.

Supply chain and operations are at the core of how organizations deliver value to their customers. Effectively matching supply and demand is key to the success of any organization and world-class operations can lead to a significant and enduring competitive advantage. In contrast, poorly managed operations and supply chains can result in low customer satisfaction and diminished profit margins, ultimately leading to company failure in the long run. Beyond generating profits, companies around the world are also facing increasing pressure to perform well on the other two dimensions that constitute the ‘triple bottom line’, namely people and the planet. By taking an ‘end-to-end’ view, we will explore a variety of topics related to managing today’s global supply chains, including environmental and social responsibility.

The specific questions this course will address include:

• How can supply chain and operations help firms succeed?
• What are the issues and trade-offs confronting supply chain and operations managers?
• What tools and frameworks can managers use to tackle these challenges and develop and sustain a competitive advantage?
• What are the emergent environmental and social responsibility challenges facing supply chain managers and how should they address them?

Topics covered: operations strategy, process analysis, statistical process control, lean operations, forecasting, inventory management under certain demand, sourcing, environmental and social responsibility in supply chains
 

This course is required for all MBA students because of the financial implications of decisions across all departments and disciplines in business. Managerial decisions can be broken down into two main categories: how to raise capital and how to employ capital. The decisions managers make in this context can add or destroy value. With this context in mind, the course provides students with an understanding of financial markets and the main types of securities that are issued by corporations. The course will leverage basic statistics in understanding of risk of a security as a stand-alone investment and as part of a well-diversified portfolio to provide an understanding of how risk affects required returns of investors. The course emphasizes the concept of time value of money as a basis for decision making. Managers make decisions that affect the cash flows of the firm; the course provides students with a context for thinking about forecasting cash flows, discounting cash flows, and assessing whether the decisions they are considering are value-added for the firm.

Prereq: MBA 6031 (equiv. is also MBA 6030 before course number change in Fall 2022)

Management of the marketing function; understanding the basic foundational marketing concepts and skills in strategy development and planning of operational and strategic levels pertaining to product offering decisions, distribution channels, pricing and communication.

Cost systems introduced as potential sources of sustainable competitive advantage. Focuses on designing cost systems to provide manager with accurate, relevant, and timely information. Prereq: 6030, 6230

Organizational behavior offers a framework for the systematic study of how people behave in organizational settings and involves individual, group, and organizational characteristics that affect people and their behavior at work. In this course we consider how individual workers respond to their job and organization (attitudes and motivation), interpersonal processes and how to make them more effective (decision making, conflict management, teamwork), and the role organizational culture in shaping individual and group behavior. Topics come together as we consider how to effectively lead organizational change.

Prior to Fall 2022 the course number was MBA 6110. Prior to Spring 2023 the course name was Leading Others.

Understanding the ethical environment within which business and managers operate. Focus is on the ethical expectations surrounding organizational activities, firm responsibilities to shareholders and stakeholders, and providing a comprehensive framework for ethical decision-making by individuals. The goal of the class is two-fold. First, to help people in business find a voice and advance a point of view as they go forward with their career. Second, to prepare managers to successfully navigate and manage this critical component of a firm's competitive environment.

With the Carlson School MBA, you can pursue various electives to develop a solid functional expertise in leading career sectors that interest you. Please note specializations are optional to pursue and will not appear on academic transcripts or diplomas.

MBA Electives Site

Management of information systems, information technology (IT) in global organization. Strategic uses of IT. Alignment of IT, organizational strategy, internet/Web technologies, e-commerce customer services. Integration of e-business applications, interorganizational systems, systems implementation. Management of information as resource. Lecture, case analysis, classroom discussion.

Current/emerging technologies in modern Net-enhanced organizations. Internet/Web technologies, including Internet fundamentals, Web communications, Web 2.0/social media, information security, cloud computing, IT-driven innovation, emerging IT trends.

Introduction to some parts of microeconomics that are useful for managers, with attention to the circumstances that give rise to firm profitability. The first half of the course covers supply and demand, price elasticity, and market equilibrium. The second part of the course covers firms with differentiated products and market power, with particular focus on pricing models such as segmentation, bundling, and two part tariffs. Pricing models involve profit maximization and associated conceptual tools. The course touches on game theory and strategic interaction among small numbers of firms and ends with a discussion of market failure and the business opportunities that they sometimes create. The course also emphasizes links to other parts of the core business curriculum. The course makes extensive reference to statistical empirical examples.

Tools to predict/understand ramifications of major economic events. Financial crises. Changes in monetary, fiscal, financial policies. Strategies for promoting long-run economic growth. Examples from U.S., Europe, Japan, developing countries.

Prereq: MBA 6231 (previously MBA 6230)

Introduction to international trade/finance theory and political economy. Institutional governance of international trade/monetary policy, differences in political-economic/sociocultural systems, implications for managerial decision-making.

Outsourcing IT and IT enabled services. Sourcing business/knowledge processes: finance/accounting, human resources, engineering services, data analytics. Strategic global sourcing planning/implementation. Managing offshore service relationships. Prereq: [IDSC 6041 or IDSC 6051 or MBA 6241]

An essential element of every business model is the delivery of services or goods. Some companies astonish customers by a constant stream of new and innovative products. Other companies can deliver their goods or services rapidly or have the absolute cost leadership in their industry. Such world-class capabilities are usually the result of a well formulated and executed operations strategy. Therefore, understanding operations strategy is crucial for business model innovation in a global environment. Topics covered in the course include the operational implications of strategic decisions, such as global facility location, market strategy, methods of market entry, outsourcing, process standardization, global product expansion, social responsibility, sustainability, and ethics. Students conduct an in-depth country analysis from a global perspective to fulfill their international experience as well as a comprehensive assessment of the current trends and impacts affecting global industries and organizations. The course uses supply chain and operations management academic theories and applicable case studies to illustrate and explore the concept of global operations strategy. Students will develop their abilities to: 1. Think strategically, analytically, and creatively from a global perspective. 2. Develop an understanding of formulating and executing global operations strategy 3. Develop a better understanding of the processes underlying various international business models. 4. Understand how people, process and technology are integral to executing an effective global strategy. 5. Maximize the benefit of key partnerships (i.e., HR; Finance; IT) in executing the agreed-upon strategy 6. Practice effective team strategies to maximize results Prereq: [MBA 6221 or equiv]

Today's explosion in global e-commerce and logistics networks means most organizations now face an opportunity to broaden their customer bases and strengthen their brands. At the same time, these firms may face a new set of global competitors including state-supported, foreign companies, or current competitors who have transformed into global marketers. This case-based course arms the learner with a set of frameworks to adapt and lead in today's global marketing arena. The course culminates in a student-designed, real-world, Global marketing plan that launches an offering into an international market. Prereq: MBA 6210/6211

Part-Time MBA Global Experience

Part-Time MBA Global Experience