Professional MBA

Fall  Semester

ACC 801 Financial Reporting and Statement Analysis – 3 Credit
The course provides a comprehensive introduction to the basic concepts, principles, and standards of financial accounting with an emphasis on how financial information is reported to external users and how it is used in resource allocation decisions. The topics covered include the preparation and use of the financial statements, the recording cycle, sales and receivables, inventories and cost of the goods sold, plant assets and intangibles, liabilities and owner's equity, cash flow, EBIT, EBITDA and financial statement analysis. 

BAN 800 Data-Driven Decision Making – 1.5 Credit
This course covers basic statistics tools and concepts to teach students how to apply statistical analysis to managerial decisions. By requiring hands-on statistical analysis using MS Excel, the course also aims to develop the students’ data analysis skills. Descriptive statistics, statistical significance, hypothesis testing and linear regression topics are covered and their applications for a variety of business decision are discussed. 

MGMT 814 Economics for Managers – 1.5 Credit
This is the first part of a two-course module in economics. The purpose of the module is to familiarize students with the main economic concepts and the economic reasoning of an economist. In this part, the focus is on the market economy and on the decision-making problem of the individual units, notably firms. 

MKTG 801 Marketing Management – 3 Credit
Course objectives are 1) Familiarizing participants with marketing concepts and methods used in processes that integrate innovative and productive capabilities of a firm into its products and services in light of its customers' needs, market challenges, and company objectives; 2) Developing skills to apply these concepts and methods in market analysis, marketing strategy development and implementation design through developing a complete marketing plan in a real market environment. 

OPIM 801 Operations and Supply Chain Management   – 3 Credit
This course deals with the design, production and distribution of goods and services. Managerial issues and decision problems include the design, planning, and control of processes at strategic and operational levels. Concepts and tools used in generating solutions to problems and their implementation aspects are discussed. Operating systems from different areas such as manufacturing, service, and transportation are exemplified to expose students to the similarities and differences in their characteristics. Topics include operations strategy, process design and improvement, quality management, capacity and supply chain management.

Spring  Semester

FIN 802 Principles Of Finance – 3 Credit
This course develops an understanding of the theoretical and practical issues relating to financial management. Fundamental financial concepts from the perspective of financial managers/entrepreneurs are examined and practical applications within local and global contexts are discussed. Topics include use of accounting information for decision making/performance evaluation, financial statement & ratio analyses, financial planning, time value of money, capital budgeting, risk-return relationship, capital structure, valuation of financial securities & firms, risk management, and derivatives. 

MGMT 801 Global Business Context – 1.5 Credit
This subject addresses the phenomenon of globalization in connection with a variety of issues that have direct and/or indirect relevance for business and managerial practices. Topics to be covered include: The globalization debate in terms of conceptualization, causal dynamics, socio-economic consequences, and implications for macroeconomic stability, state power and governance. Transnational corporations, globalization versus localization of emerging consumption patterns, information technologies, global financial markets, political and economic consequences of globalization, and accords such as European Union, GATT, and NAFTA will be discussed.

MGMT 808 Ethics in Business – 1.5 Credit
This course examines ideas and perspectives on ethical issues in contemporary business with the objective to expand our capacity for moral inquiry and increase our alertness about consequences of misconduct. We will examine various ethical and moral dilemmas in business decision-making encountering the philosophical issues at the foundation of economic theory and management science. The course will also review recent debacles at corporate world focusing on practical issues such as social responsibility, ethical investments, corporate governance, professional codes of ethics, and morality and future of market-driven societies. 

MGMT 810 Strategic Management – 3 Credit
This course aims to introduce a plurality of perspectives in strategic thinking and action. Strategy as plan, position, perspective and pattern capture the diversity of perspectives that are essential to grasp in managerial practice. 

MGMT 811 Business Simulation – 1.5 Credit
The objective of this 30-hour, one-week, intensive activity is to provide an opportunity for the participants to integrate their knowledge of the various management functions through a computer-based simulation environment. The participants, in teams of four to five, make sequential decisions at the beginning of each period over a certain time horizon and report, at the end each period, how their decisions affect the performance of their respective companies. (Measured in terms of market share, profitability and key financial ratios).

MGMT 899 Graduation Project  – 0 Credit
The program requires the conduct and completion of a project. The project topic and content is based on the interest and background of the student. It is to be approved by the faculty member serving as the project supervisor. At the completion of the project, the student is required to submit a final report. The report is to be approved by the project supervisor.

ORG 801 Organizational Behavior and Leadership – 3 Credit
Organizational behavior is the study of people in organizations-how and why they think, feel and act the way they do. The field, which borrows extensively from the social sciences, includes but is not limited to, topics such as motivation, decision making, leadership, organizational culture, communication, organizational conflict, power and negotiation, team processes, organization change, structure and change. This course is based on a belief that social science has much to offer the practicing manager and that becoming an effective manager of others requires increasing our own self-awareness and a portfolio of managerial skills. Thus, the course combines traditional lectures with the use of cases, group projects and experiential exercises.

The following list of electives is provided here to give candidates some idea about the type of courses offered in the program. Although the actual list of courses may vary every year, the provided list is mostly made up of courses that are offered regularly.

FIN 806 Behavioral Finance - 1.5 Credits
Behavioral finance is a relatively new but quickly expanding field that seeks to provide explanations for people’s financial decisions by combining behavioral and cognitive psychological theory with conventional economics and finance. Neoclassical economists assume that; i) all individuals act rationally to maximize their utility for both monetary and non-monetary gains, and ii) markets are fully efficient and prices reflect all available, relevant information. However, in reality these assumptions often do not hold. Behavioral finance helps explain why and how markets might be inefficient, why people are imperfect processors of information and why they are often subject to biases, errors and perceptual illusions. CFA exam curriculum devotes more and more weight to behavioural finance every year. Portfolio managers, investment advisors, consultants, CFOs and individual investors must have an in-depth understanding of different behavioral biases and their impacts on financial decision making. This course aims to be a guide to understanding the fundamentals of behavioral finance and reasons and impacts of irrational investor behaviour. Throughout the course, we will cover psychological biases that effect the financial decision-making process and examine their impacts on financial markets and on people’s lives. The course will be supported by real-life case studies, analyses of investor behaviour, cases of behavioral interventions to modify investor behaviour and interviews / Q&A sessions with investment practitioners.

FIN 899 Wealth Management  -  1.5 Credits
The course offers a hands-on experience about the practical aspects of financial portfolio management. Along with the concepts covered in the class, students are expected to build a portfolio management notion by thinking on real world problems. The main themes are investment decision making process and investment policy statement, management of individual and institutional portfolios, integrating capital market expectations and asset allocation, technical and practical aspects of portfolio management in traditional asset classes and alternative investments.

MGMT 816 Sustainability Transformation - 3 Credits
The course aims to understand how the business world's transition to sustainable development can be guided and accelerated through action-oriented, interdisciplinary and applied approaches. The course brings a critical perspective to the business world by exploring the intersections between the sustainable development agenda, markets and business organizations from a multi-stakeholder-multi-actor perspective. Topics covered include the reconceptualization of the firm's purpose and its implications for governance, the transformation of financial markets, and transformative networks as agents of change.

MGMT 824 Negotiation Skills - 1.5 Credits
Negotiation skills are something that no executive's toolbox is complete without. This course is a skill- building experience in negotiation. While exploring the major role that negotiation dynamics play in their personal and professional lives, participants will improve their own negotiation skills, allowing them to act consciously and skillfully in tough situations. Participants will also learn to recognize negotiation situations in everyday life and to use them as training- grounds to continue to improve their skills. The learning format includes interactive lectures and role-playing exercises, both in class and online, in which participants will experience negotiations - not as onlookers, but as active parties.

MGMT 841 Digital Transformation and Innovation - 1.5 Credits
The digital transformation that has been happening in the industry is leading to the disappearance of borders between cyber and physical systems and creating synergies between them. In order to maintain and improve their firms’ competitiveness, decision makers need to know the technologies, approaches, and best practices that further this transformation. Digital transformation has also helped recognition of the role of innovation in global competitive environment among other operational priorities (cost, quality, flexibility, and delivery). This course, involve an in -depth discussion into such topics, cases, and best practices.

MGMT 842 Technology Management - 3 Credits
The focus of the course is on the key concepts, models, and methods that enable manager to effectively manage the development and utilization of technologies. The goal is to develop an awareness of the range, scope, and complexity of the phenomena, issues, and problems related to economics and management of technology and technological innovations. In that respect, tools for technology creation, search, assessment, selection, implementation, utilization,and divestment will be analysed. Technology planning and strategy making will be other topics to be covered. Besides these micro issues, the course will extend the discussion to cover macro issues of technology management by studying how industries and firms are transformed by new technologies, how new industries are formed, and what factors affect the innovation performance. In other words, a systems perspective will be used to develop insights into the conditions under which particular structural arrangements and systems are likely to facilitate technological development. By doing so, the course will enable the integration of technology, operations and business strategy. In short, the participants will develop a better understanding of the complex issues surrounding the managerial tasks with respect to technology.

MGMT 871 Design Thinking and the Power of Storytelling in Business - 1.5 Credits
This course aims at introducing students to new concepts and methods: design thinking and storytelling. Design thinking promotes user-centered innovation, experimentation to cope with the uncertainties that firms face during the innovation process, which rests on some principles, such involvement of users to the innovation or product/service development and design process, problem framing, leveraging empathy with users, experimentation, and diversity. Offering a new method of problem solving, Design Thinking emphasizes the importance of experimenting, learning-by-doing, listening customers, iterations until finding a satisfying solution to the problems. Entrepreneurs or managers challenge with not only creating viable solutions to the problems and solutions/innovations to customers and stakeholders where narratives and stories always helped to communicate their vision, and how their innovations would shape the future. Although these stories have improved the communication between and within the firms and their stakeholders, the power of storytelling in business has been widely ignored. Today, with the rise of social media and new communicational channels and tools, storytelling has become more and more critical talent/competence. Providing students with practice-based skills is critical in this course, for this aim, they are required to work on two projects. One of them is based on practicing design thinking process and principles, which students are requested to frame a problem, develop a viable solution, develop a prototype as ensuring user/customer involvement and conduct various experiments to understand the viability of the solution. Second project focuses on storytelling practices; students are required to craft an effective story for the innovation/solution that they develop for the first project. They are also requested to deconstruct and analyze the stories told by classmates.

MGMT 896 Managerial Skills Development - 1.5 Credits
Managerial Skills Workshop is a series of seminars and hands-on activities designed to develop various team and professional skills of the MBA students to support them as they embark on their careers.

MKTG 804 Digital Marketing Strategy - 3 Credits
This course focuses on how brands can reach consumer networks, build strong customer relationships and influence the digital pathway to purchase. Applying a digital marketing strategy in five steps, the course aims to provide practical examples on how products, ideas and behaviors spread and become popular. Digital advertising mix channels will be introduced and its principles will be covered. Finally, measurement and monitoring of digital marketing activities and agile marketing elements and their effects will be discussed.

MKTG 807 Sales Management - 1.5 Credits
Sales Management The goal of the Sales Management course is to examine the elements of an effective sales force as a key component of the organization's total marketing effort. The course will extend student’s understanding of marketing's reach and potential impact in achieving its overarching goals. Course objectives include understanding the sales process, the relationship between sales and marketing, sales force structure, customer relationship management (CRM), use of technology to improve sales force effectiveness, and issues in recruiting, selecting, training, motivating, compensating and retaining sales people.

MKTG 819 Trade & B2B Marketing -  1.5 Credits
Although the majority of the market is B2B, marketing discipline is basically interested in B2C. B2B marketing focuses on fewer customers, sells with bigger lots & has a longer sales cycle. We will focus on characteristics & methods of B2B marketing. Working with sectors & verticals, adopting a UBP approach rather than a USP approach, relationship marketing are basic differences that will be discussed. Since auctions are won or lost at auction requirements preparation stage, a longer view will be explained for the marketing process. We will discuss Trade marketing which will mainly focus on selling to Retailer channels.

MKTG 823 International Marketing   - 1.5 Credits
International Marketing This course aims to familiarize graduate students with the principles and complexities of developing and executing marketing strategies in the global business environment. It is a problem-solving-oriented course designed for MBA students who expect to undertake challenging marketing assignments. In a nutshell, the objective of the course is to present a systematic application of strategic marketing in the global environment. The focus of the course is on the formulation of comprehensive marketing strategies. While the course focuses on North American, Japanese and European multinationals competing in global industries, it also pays special attention to globalizing emerging economy firms. The course is designed for students to develop a critical appreciation of the forces, both external and internal, that are increasingly shaping the marketing function in the global economy in order to recognize, analyze, and evaluate marketing problems encountered in global business operations.

OPIM 857 Practical Business Analytics for Managers  -  3 Credits
Practical Business Analytics for Managers The main objective of this course is for the students to develop a thorough understanding of the role of computer-based information systems (i.e., business analytics, business intelligence, data science and decision support systems) in direct support of evidence-based managerial decision making.

ORG 804 Creativity & Leading Innovations  -  3 Credits
The focus of this course is on the key concepts, models and methods that enable managers to enhance creativity in organizations and to develop an innovative idea of products and services. The goal of this course is to develop a critical mindset about creativity and innovation as complex processes, with a comprehensive review of tools, cases and academic literature. For instance, the course will enable participants to understand the key success factors of innovation, or understand the cognitive biases behind the creative process. In short, the participants will obtain the knowledge and practices to enhance innovative capacity within the workplace.