EPS7500 New Venture Creation

(Formerly Entrepreneurship)

3 CreditsThis course integrates many of the concepts, tools and practices of entrepreneurship. Students will learn to be superior opportunity assessors and shapers, to understand the integration of people and process in entrepreneurship, to write, articulate and present a new venture execution plan, understand the alternatives and trade-offs in financing, starting and operating a venture, and gain a better understanding of their personal entrepreneurial capabilities. Students will engage in feasibility assessment, venture viability analysis and resource acquisition. Students will learn how to conduct rigorous business-planning, and also how to network for resources and to be able to communicate about a new venture in a confident, articulate and effective manner. The course builds on foundation concepts from the Opportunity and Entrepreneurship courses, and is designed for students seriously considering launching a new venture in a variety of contexts (e.g. corporate, family, organization, franchise) or students planning to work in an early-stage venture.

Prerequisites: EPS7200 or EPS7800

NST1060 Oceanography
4 CreditsOver 70% of the globe is covered by ocean. Marine systems are a nexus of life - crucial sources of protein for human populations, reservoirs of minerals, and regulators of the global climate. However, human populations have increased demand for ocean resources in greater numbers than is ecologically sustainable. In addition, the ocean serves as a dumping ground for many types of waste, resulting in waters degraded by pollution. The objective of this course is to give you a basic understanding of the physical, biological, and chemical processes driving ocean fundamentals. In addition, we will examine how human demand on marine resources impacts ocean communities.

This course will stress the importance of the scientific method - both in principle and in practice. Extensive discussion of human environmental impacts on the ocean (e.g., climate change, marine pollution, overfishing) will enhance perspectives of self-awareness and ethical decision-making related to social, economic and environmental responsibility and sustainability (SEERS). Critical analysis is emphasized in class discussions, exam questions, lab reports, written assignments, and the group project. Assignments facilitate development of logical communication skills, appropriate use of graphs and tables, and organizing, synthesizing, evaluating and interpreting scientific information. Through lab and group activities, this course fosters team work and ability to work with others. International and multicultural perspectives are integral to the course, since the oceans influence on human populations is global, both directly on the coasts, and indirectly away from the coasts (via weather, climate, and seafood production).

Prerequisites: None

OIM7800 Operations and Information Management
2 Credits (Core MBA)

If you have taken and passed OPS7200, you cannot register for OIM7800, as these two courses are equivalent

This course focuses on the role of operations and information in executing a firm's strategy and delivering the organization's products and/or services. Within this focus, students learn to apply operations design and strategy in three ways. First, they learn to configure resources and design processes to achieve performance, identify improvement opportunities, and leverage strategic capabilities for sustainable growth. Second, they learn the strategic role of technology and data, and use data for improving the operational model. Third, they study the operational model of innovation to create sustainable value for an organization. With an emphasis on building long-term sustainable models, this course helps managers consider environmental and social impact in their operating models.

OIM3503 Operations for Entrepreneurs
4 Advanced Management Credits

This elective course will examine the real-world operational challenges and execution risks associated with getting a venture started and building a start-up operation from scratch. The class will include case-discussions, a semester-long project and guest speakers. The course will provide students with a set of practical frameworks, decision-making techniques and business management tools that can be used in developing their operational processes and managing their operational resources in a start-up. During each session, the students will be exposed to a different operations-related concept which they will apply to their own start-up venture or to the operation of an existing local start-up in the semester-long project.

We will consider the operational challenges experienced by start-up ventures in a variety of industries. Case studies and class discussions will explore operations topics which are unique to start-ups including: Operational Business Models; Start-up Operation Metrics; How to Find a Supplier/Operations Partner; Product/Service Outsourcing Mistakes; Challenges in Achieving Product/Service Quality Control; How to select a Product/Service Distribution Channel; Managing Start-up Inventory; Challenges in meeting Product/Service Demand; Handling Market Uncertainty and Supply Uncertainty; Importance of Operational Flexibility; Bootstrapping Operational Costs; Operational Scalability.

Local entrepreneurs will serve as frequent guest speakers who can provide real-world insights on their own operational challenges, failures and success as they developed their ventures.

This course is an approved elective for the Operations management concentration.

Prerequisites: (SME2001 and SME2002) or permission of the instructor.

The sophomore management experience MAC and TOM module (SME) integrates two subject streams: Technology and Operations Management (3 credits) and Managerial Accounting (3 credits). This module focuses on the internal organization and processes required for entrepreneurial leaders and managers to successfully test and execute business strategies. To be effective, entrepreneurs and managers must design operations, model the expected performance of operational designs, make decisions that strategically manage costs, and take actions that achieve desired results in an ethical manner. The two streams in this module will help build the skills you need to become ethical entrepreneurial leaders and managers. You will experience how the design of operations impacts measured performance, and how modeling expected results before action is taken leads to improved operational decisions. SME will also provide learning experiences that demonstrate the interconnections between the streams.

SME2002 Managing Operations

3 Intermediate Management CreditsManaging operations is vital to every type of organization, for it is only through effective and efficient utilization of resources that an organization can be successful in the long run. This is especially true today, when we see that significant competitive advantages accrue to those firms that manage their operations effectively. We define operations in the broadest sense, not confining the focus within a set of walls but defining the scope to the thoughts and activities necessary to supply goods and services from their conception to their consumption. This course introduces you to the operational challenges that entrepreneurs and managers face and provides a set of tools to aid you in designing, evaluating and managing business processes to meet your organization's objectives. Throughout the semester we will explore interconnections between operational actions and management accounting analyses.

Prerequisites: FME1001 or equivalent

OIM6111 Operations Management
(Formerly OPS6110)

If you took and passed OPS6110, you cannot register for OIM6111, as these two courses are equivalent

In enterprises of any kind, managing operations effectively is essential to success. The course explores the role of operations in enabling a firm's strategy, affecting its business model, and in creating extensible systems to capture value for multiple stakeholder classes. Students will identify critical systems, design solutions, and apply problem solving practices in ways that could potentially reset competitive conventions or enable a new initiative or venture to overcome constraints posed by a nascent & uncertain operating environment.

QTM3620 Optimization Methods and Applications
(Formerly Operations Research)
4 Advanced Liberal Arts Credits

This course provides an introduction to optimization techniques for decision making with spreadsheet implementation. Topics covered include linear programming, sensitivity analysis, networks, integer programming, nonlinear programming, and multiple objective optimization. Models discussed span different business disciplines including finance, accounting, marketing, human resources, economics, operations, and project management. Throughout the course, learning is reinforced via hands-on computer experience using problems and cases.

Prerequisites: AQM2000

QTM9510 Optimization Methods and Applications

3 Credits

This is a hands-on course in quantitative business modeling designed to give you a practical approach to the main techniques necessary to make better business decisions and provide business insights. Models discussed span different business disciplines including finance, operations, transportation and supply chain, marketing, and human resources. Throughout the course, our focus is going to be on the mathematical and spreadsheet modeling in optimization, and on best practices for developing and solving optimization models. Students will work on an entrepreneurial, experiential case study at the end of the course.

FIN4560 Options and Futures
4 General CreditsThis course is an introduction to options, futures, and other derivative securities. We examine the nature of the instruments, the theory of how they are priced, and strategies in which they are used. Cases address applications in both investment management and corporate finance, covering such topics as risk management, financial engineering, speculation, and arbitrage.

Prerequisites: SME2021 or FIN2000
Recommended: ACC3502

MOB1010 Organizational Behavior
4 Foundation Management CreditsThe content of MOB1010 is equivalent to the material covered in FME1000 and FME1001. Students who are enrolled in FME therefore cannot enroll in this course.Organizational Behavior is designed to help you improve your effectiveness as an individual contributor, team member, and leader in your current and future work environments. This course centers on developing your critical thinking regarding the complex circumstances that surround why people behave as they do in organizations and on using your knowledge to take more effective action and influence individuals and the wider organization in an ethical manner. Topics we will explore include emotional intelligence, behavioral styles, managing diversity, power and influence, negotiations, and culture. To become an entrepreneurial leader in a start-up venture, an established organization, or a social venture, you need to engage your understanding of organizational behavior.

Prerequisites: None