Professional Futures College - Stuart School of Business

Develop financial analysis skills using various quantitative tools and qualitative factors to determine the financial health and risk of companies across industries. The course cover business applications including credit analysis, financial analysis, and investment analysis. The course will also introduce fundamental business concepts that will be used in more advanced application courses such as financial management.

This course applies economic principles to key decisions with organizations and solidifies intuition for understanding the business environments in which organizations operate. A key objective of the course is to develop tools useful in other Stuart courses. Economics is a key foundation for much of what is taught in finance, marketing, business strategy, environmental management, and virtually every other course in the graduate program. Economics is a way of thinking about problems, issues, and decisions that managers face in each of the functional areas of their organization. It stresses the importance of incentives in impacting human decision making and emphasizes the consideration of costs and benefits when making decisions. The course introduces and develops concepts in areas of microeconomics such as competition and market structure, incentive contracts, and pricing. Topics covered range from the most basic demand and supply models to principal-agent models and economics of information. The course will also touch on some of the primary macroeconomic topics (including GDP, inflation, and unemployment), topics in game theory (simultaneous and sequential games), and issues of ethics in economic policy-making pertaining to competitive and oligopolistic markets, pricing, and trade.

To succeed in today's knowledge intensive organizations managers need to understand how individual differences in personality, learning style and cultural values, group dynamics, organizational culture, and human resource management policies shape employee attitudes and behaviors. This course teaches managers creative problem-solving and ethical decision-making, change management, leadership techniques for enhancing social capital and influencing other organizational members, and management tools for multicultural and geographically dispersed teams. Students will relate management concepts and techniques to real-world situations through the extensive use of case studies and experiential exercises.

Power Skills is a comprehensive graduate-level course designed to refine the essential interpersonal and leadership competencies necessary for today's managers. This dynamic program goes beyond traditional "soft skills," delving into the nuanced "power skills" that differentiate competent managers from exceptional leaders. Throughout the course, students will engage in practical exercises to enhance active listening, ensuring clear and effective communication within diverse teams. Students will be tasked with real-world conflict management scenarios, developing strategies to navigate and resolve workplace disputes diplomatically. A special focus is placed on emotional intelligence (EI) – a skill set that is crucial for understanding and managing both personal and team emotions in a professional setting. Interactive sessions on EI will help students recognize emotional cues and foster a supportive work environment. The curriculum emphasizes adaptability, preparing future leaders to pivot strategies in response to the ever-changing business landscape. Through case studies and collaborative group projects, students will learn the art of negotiation, balancing firm objectives with the art of compromise. Teamwork is a pillar of the course, encouraging collaborative problem-solving and collective goal achievement. By incorporating PMI's Talent Triangle®, the program also integrates technical project management, strategic business management, and leadership into the learning outcomes. Upon completion, students will emerge as well-rounded professionals, ready to leverage power skills for career advancement and organizational success in the dynamic workforce of the future.

In this course, the student will learn the concepts and processes that underlie enlightened financial decision making in a global world. Students will explore how to raise debt and equity capital, how to think about what portion of earnings to retain and reinvest and whether to share some earnings with stockholders via dividend payments or repurchase of shares, how to value stocks and bonds, how to distinguish good from bad financial decision rules, how to decide which projects a firm should engage in, how to use futures, options and swaps to manage firm risk, how to ensure good corporate governance, why sustainability can be profitable while still protecting future generations, and how to manage the financial decisions required to effectively operate in a global setting.

How do companies outperform their rivals to become market leaders in today's hyper-competitive global business environment? The answer lies in developing great strategies and executing them flawlessly. Strategic Management is the rigorous business process that helps you develop and execute highly effective strategies. The SM process has three major components: Analysis (of external and internal environments), Strategy (business-level, corporate and functional) and Performance (strategic competitiveness and above-normal profits). The course has a strong experiential learning component. With the help of a strategic management computer simulation game, you will run a simulated company in a highly competitive marketplace to outperform your competitors and become market leader. At the end of the course, you will learn business fundamentals, the strategic management process, strategy formulation and implementation, data-driven decision making, and a good understanding of accounting, finance, human resources, marketing and production. This graduate course is suitable for students with or without a business background.

The course focuses on teaching students how to successfully analyze a business process, research methods of improving a process, and adapt/integrate the improvement methods into the business process in a prioritized and actionable manner.

This course focuses on human resource planning, recruitment, examination, and promotion of procedure. It familiarizes students with the key human resources management factors involved in supervising employees as well as collective bargaining, affirmative action, and employee productivity and performance evaluation. It is directed towards practical applications in dealing with these topics as managers and employees working in their teams or individually and covers employee professional responsibility and behavior. Students in this class will learn to utilize human resource planning, recruiting, interviewing and selection processes to improve organizational outcomes; analyze the legal/cultural aspects of personnel when making organizational decisions; identify the key components of performance management to improve themselves and their direct reports; develop specific solutions to solve critical workplace personnel issues; and apply a variety of motivation and team performance techniques in current and future organizational settings.

This course is designed to foster an understanding of incentives and strategic decision-making as they apply to negotiations. The course has both theoretical and applied components with the objective of addressing both theory and skills as they apply to dyadic and multiparty negotiations, to buyer-seller transactions, to competitors' interactions, to the resolution of disputes, and to the development of negotiation strategies. The theoretical component is focused on an analytical study of strategic interactions using game theory while the applied component is based on a series of simulated negotiations in a variety of contexts including one-on-one, multiparty, and team negotiations. The objectives of the course are to provide an analytical foundation, to show where practice and theory diverge, and to provide a forum where negotiation tools in a variety of business-oriented settings can be actively applied. Instructor permission is required.

This course is designed to provide an introduction to the evolving area of AI, with an emphasis on potential business applications and related managerial insights. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the science behind systems that can program themselves to classify, predict, and offer solutions based on structured and unstructured data. For millennia, humans have pondered the idea of building intelligent machines. Ever since, AI has had highs and lows, demonstrated successes and unfulfilled potential. Today, AI is empowering people and changing our world. Netflix recommends movies, Amazon recommends popular products, self-driving cars learn to navigate safely around other vehicles without human assistance, and programmed robots distinguish trash from dishes that are to be washed. This course focuses on how AI systems understand, reason, learn and interact; learn from industry’s experience on several AI cases; develop a develop a deeper understanding of machine learning (ML) techniques and the algorithms that power those systems, and propose solutions to real world scenarios leveraging AI methodologies. The course also presents students to develop a high-quality proposal to plan and execute the deployment of an AI application at a business enterprise.

This course solidifies AI business knowledge with a focus on the leadership/implementation challenges and opportunities of agentic AI - autonomous systems that can reason, plan, and act independently to achieve business objectives. Students will master executive-level decision making for AI agent deployment, from competitive positioning to organizational transformation. Through lectures, Hands-On learning Sessions, C-suite case studies, strategic considerations, and boardroom-ready implementation plans, students will develop the leadership skills to drive the next generation of AI-powered business transformation.

Introduction to Block Chain will provide students with a basic understanding of the Hyperleder Fabric project sponsored by the Linux foundation. This class will mainly focus on Business applications for Hyperledger Fabric along with the introduction of basic code structures for Hyperledger fabric.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is undergoing a remarkable transformation, evolving from early systems focused on narrow, well-defined tasks to the current era characterized by increasingly sophisticated and versatile AI paradigms. This evolution is marked by a shift towards models capable of understanding context, generating novel content, reasoning through complex problems, and acting autonomously within dynamic environments. Understanding the trajectory of these advancements is crucial for navigating the increasingly complex technological landscape.

Quantitative techniques are very important and useful for analyzing business and financial markets, especially in today’s world of big data. This course reviews the basics of statistics, including sampling and data, descriptive statistics, probability, distributions, statistical inference, the Central Limit Theory, estimation, hypothesis testing, Analysis of Variance, and regression analysis, a widely used statistical technique in business and finance supporting decision-making under uncertainty.

The BUS 571 Capstone Studio course in the Master of Technological Entrepreneurship program provides students with a hands-on, real-world opportunity to complete a project in one of the three following roles: 1. Startup Founder: Bring your startup ideas to your Capstone project. Identify, investigate and/or evaluate the suitability of a product or service to the marketplace. 2. Creative Researcher/Research Commercialization: Apply your talents to investigate and/or evaluate a research-based technology for suitability as a product or service. 3. Corporate Innovator: Make an impact within a business or organization. Work with an existing company to evaluate and/or investigate a product or service opportunity for the company. Students will either build or join a small team to develop a prototype, engage customers and partners, and identify support and/or funding.

The BUS 572 Capstone Studio course provides students with a hands-on, real world opportunity to complete a project in one of the three following roles: 1. Startup Founder: Bring your startup ideas to your Capstone project. Identify, investigate and/or evaluate the suitability of a product or service to the marketplace. 2. Creative Researcher/Research Commercialization: Apply your talents to investigate and/or evaluate a research-based technology for suitability as a product or service. 3. Corporate Innovator: Make an impact within a business or organization. Work with an existing company to evaluate and/or investigate a product or service opportunity for the company. Students will either build or join a small team to develop a prototype, engage customers and partners, and identify support and/or funding.

The course concentrates on the preparation of business plans, methods for evaluating and screening new venture ideas, formulation and implementation of business strategies for new ventures, and the financing of new ventures. The course will also focus on identifying, examining, and evaluating various sources of original and growth capital. Emphasis will be on legal, financial, and tax issues related to capital formation as well as specific problems experienced by the entrepreneur in the high technology space. Topics discussed will include venture valuation, financing startups, financial planning and strategy.

Designed for leaders focused on implementing new ideas, staying ahead of the competition and aligning their people, data and technology to drive digital transformation. First, we discuss the pace of change, and its impact, implications and opportunities. Next, we provide the context and framework to help you identify key areas to digitize, including strategy, core processes, and technology. The course culminates with a capstone project where participants create an action plan for a challenge at a level that is appropriate for their role or responsibility.

The BUS 592 Capstone course in the Master of Technological Entrepreneurship program provides students with a hands-on, real world opportunity to complete a project in one of the three following roles: 1. Startup Founder: Bring your startup ideas to your Capstone project. Identify, investigate and/or evaluate the suitability of a product or service to the marketplace. 2. Creative Researcher/Research Commercialization: Apply your talents to investigate and/or evaluate a research-based technology for suitability as a product or service. 3. Corporate Innovator: Make an impact within a business or organization. Work with an existing company to evaluate and/or investigate a product or service opportunity for the company. Students will either build or join a small team to develop a prototype, engage customers and partners, and identify support and/or funding. Students are required to take BUS 592 in every semester of their program to facilitate application of learning to their project.

Special topics in business administration.

This course provides graduate students with a supervised, immersive, hands-on experience in a US workplace where they will gain exposure to an industry and practical experience with projects related to their interests. Students will work for a minimum of eight weeks, 32 hours/week. Students will be matched with an organization according to their area of study, related experience, and/or relevant skillset.

Environmental policies, the main tools that governments use to achieve environmental goals, cut across a wide swath of pollutants, industries, academic theory, scientific evidence, politics, and stakeholders. Environmental policies affect the daily activities of every citizen and every business. Governments use environmental policy to protect their citizens’ health, develop industries, preserve resources, increase national security, and for hundreds of other goals. This course introduces students to the major rationales for government intervention in environmental affairs, the academic theories on which these interventions are based, the variety of policy approaches that various levels of governments often use to address environmental issues, the political processes involved in the environmental policymaking process, the tools that can be used to evaluate the effectiveness and tradeoffs of policy alternatives, and how these policies may affect government and business competitiveness.

In this course, we will study major U. S. environmental laws which also became the models for environmental laws for many other nations. We will become acquainted with the most important requirements of these laws and explore how they are administered in practice. Using case studies, we will discuss the rights and responsibilities of regulators, regulated entities, and members of the public under these laws. Finally, we will examine how these laws have adapted to address new challenges like global climate change.

This course examines interactions between economic growth and the environment (implications of environmental externalities) and the application of environmental-economic models and technological innovations for managing environmental pollution resulting from economic development activities. Tools and techniques specific for design of environmental management systems are discussed while emphasizing on the importance of analytic tools for proper process mapping, I/O analysis, data collection/analysis, data interpretation, and pollution mapping/reporting. The importance of technological innovations and entrepreneurial activities such as design of companies within companies (CWC) is presented for sustainable design of environmental pollution prevention/control strategies and policies in the areas of solid waste, water/wastewater, air pollution (both particulate and gases/GHGs) management, and climate change. This course emphasizes on the importance of technological innovations, process mapping, and numerical exercises for broadening the insights needed to permit implementation of pollution abatement and control strategies for organizational sustainability.

This course introduces students to the emerging field of industrial ecology and examines how this systems-based approach can be used to move society toward a more sustainable future. Industrial ecology is an interdisciplinary field involving technology (science and engineering), public policy, business administration, and, increasingly, the social sciences. The course introduces strategies and tools such as material and energy flow analysis, life cycle assessment, design for the environment, extended producer responsibility, and industrial symbiosis. Both individual assignments and team projects are a significant part of the learning experience in this course.

The emerging field of environmental finance involves the art and science of using economic incentives, financial tools and market mechanisms to achieve desired environmental outcomes. This course illuminates the role economic theory and, more broadly, economic thinking can play in informing and improving environmental policy. Economics is central to understanding why environmental problems arise and how and why to address them. An understanding of markets -- why they work, when they fail, and what lessons they offer for the design of environmental policies and the management of natural resources -- is central to an understanding of environmental issues. But even before we start thinking about how markets work, it is useful to begin with a more basic question: What is environmental economics? The historical evolution and current developments of market-based mechanisms to address environmental issues will be analyzed. Lessons from environmental markets for acid rain and domestic and international greenhouse gas emissions will be discussed at length. Other environmental markets (smog, renewable energy, water, sustainability indices, and biodiversity) will also be covered.

The course addresses “Environmental Protection and Sustainability” in its broadest sense. It examines interactions between economic growth, and the environment (implications of environmental externalities) and application of environmental-economic models and technological innovations for managing environmental pollution resulting from economic development activities. Tools and techniques specific for design of Environmental Management Systems are discussed while emphasizing on the importance of analytic tools for proper process mapping, I/O analysis, data collection/analysis, data interpretation, and pollution mapping/reporting. The importance of technological innovations and entrepreneurial activities such as design of companies within companies (CWC) is presented for sustainable design of environmental pollution prevention/control strategies and policies in the areas of solid waste, water/wastewater, air pollution (both particulate and gases/GHGs) management and climate change.

The aim of the course is to teach the modern multi-faceted approach of the management of solid and hazardous waste. At the conclusion of class, students should be able to suggest options for waste reduction at source so as to reduce quantities of waste generated, have an array of options to turn waste into economic goods, be able to suggest prevention, treatment, and disposal methods for waste from which the value has been taken out, and have a general feeling for financial aspects in solid and hazardous waste management as well as be able to distinguish the key players in the solid waste field.

This course recognizes the necessity for design of strategic management strategies that can create balance between societal welfare and successes of the organizations. Focusing on the design of CSR strategies, this course evaluates tools and techniques applicable to addressing both the positive and negative impacts of business activities on organizations' internal and external stakeholders including, but not limited to, those associated with environmental, occupational, and ecological risks. While analyzing management tools specific to inducing social responsibility throughout the organization, course emphasizes on the alignment between strategic management of employees and community welfare and organizations' business objectives and performance. The need for developing a business case for CSR is highlighted in order to evaluate potential impacts of CSR before investing capitals or making any business decisions. Utilizing specific reporting requirements, course emphasizes the importance of proper reporting and communication of CSR activities and impacts on organizations performance to capital markets, shareholders, and other stakeholders.

An overview of the modeling market process is provided focusing on externalities, environmental problems, and environmental quality. Economic solutions to environmental problems are discussed using a market approach which includes modeling emission charges, modeling a product charge, modeling per unit subsidy on pollution reduction, and modeling pollution permit trading systems and practice. The course examines institutional economic solutions to address environmental problems such as climate change, global warming, and water scarcity.

This course gives students a practical introduction to the exciting and rapidly growing field of social entrepreneurship. The course will begin by introducing students to major social and environmental challenges around the world by highlighting both local and international social ventures. It will then turn to key concepts regarding social ventures including entrepreneurship, organizational structures (for profit, non profit, and hybrid), financing, marketing, and performance assessment (economic, social, and environmental impact). We will also examine the challenges that are faced in creating and operating social enterprises in different parts of the world. The course includes guest lectures by social entrepreneurs working in different areas (such as health, education, and environment). Students will gain hands-on experience by either developing a business plan for a social enterprise to address a specific real world problem or assisting an existing social venture to improve their impact.

The Environmental and Energy Law Clinic offers a clinical opportunity for students in Stuart's EMS Program. It is also a part of the legal practice of the Chicago Legal Clinic, Inc. Because it is a clinical experience, students will have obligations different from those in most classes. Most important from a professional perspective, clinic cases are professional obligations of the Chicago Legal Clinic, which represents the community organizations for which students are working. Therefore, you have an ethical responsibility to third parties to produce high-quality, timely work product beyond the normal expectations that go along with completing work for a class.

This course attempts to identify and evaluate issues and benefits of industrial sustainable transitions and their relations to the flow of energy and money through the economy. The importance of the energy and resources supplied to the economy by energy transformation systems are presented while considering management of the environmental externalities of energy use bound by technological and resource constraints. Development of sustainable energy systems, considerations of the alternative energy production to substitute for fossil fuels, and evaluations of the end use and the upstream effects of the energy demands are considered while supporting the notion of transitional engineering for sustainability.

This course addresses the finance and economics of energy and covers the principles and tools necessary to conduct sound decision-making and analysis. It will guide students to achieve a strong foundation in leading best practices that apply to the field of energy finance and economics. New energy markets are developing, and environmental regulation is targeting the energy sectors. As a result, it is critical to understand the fundamentals of how these markets operate so that optimal energy policy can be designed. The course is designed into the following sections: an overview of energy finance and economics; financial and economic analysis in the energy industry; and energy risk management and related topics.

This course is designed to give students a detailed understanding of the requirements and practices involved in carrying out a successful, long term environmental compliance program for industrial and commercial facilities. It builds on students’ basic understanding of the underpinning environmental statutes and regulations.

This course covers statistics tools that are critical for managers in enabling their firms to have a competitive advantage. The course includes descriptive statistics, probability, sampling, estimation, hypothesis testing, linear regression, ANOVA, time-series, and goodness-of-fit tests. The models address problems in a variety of business functional areas and business processes. The focus of the course is on using business analytics to build models and using software to aid in decision-making.

This is the capstone course for the EMS Program. The goal of the course is to help future senior executives understand how firms compete in a global marketplace and society and how they make money by creating sustainable competitive advantage. Essentially, this involves creating an alignment or fit between the organization and trends in the next economy/marketplace, the definition and strategy of the firm, and the firm’s organizational structure. We will refer to this as the business model which both tells the story of the business and analyze the numbers to show that the story can make a profit. The course will emphasize an integrated view of the firm and the connections between and among the various functions and levels of activity in the firm as well as its relationships and interactions with other players including rivals, suppliers, customers, regulators, and the public. Most cases will take the point of view from the top management/CEO of the firm, but it is the behavior of the firm that we are interested in.

This course is a client-focused, project-based course in which students apply the knowledge and skills they have acquired throughout the program by working on projects related to the sustainability issues facing the client organization.

Student will conduct independent research on an environmental management and sustainability topic.

The course examines digital marketing strategy, implementation and executional considerations for BtoB and BtoC brands and provides a detailed understanding of all digital channels and platforms. Participants will complete the course with a comprehensive knowledge of and experience with how to develop an integrated digital marketing strategy, from formulation to implementation. Using a variety of practical tools and techniques in practical exercises and projects, students will gain an understanding of using digital channels to achieve their marketing goals. Student teams will gain practical experience in usage of channels such as Search – SEO and SEA, Optimization and Marketing Display – Banners, Video and Beyond, Advanced topics Email – Design and Deployment Social – Networks, Media, and Content - Inbound Marketing Mobile and Emerging – Mobile Web, Apps and Ecosystems, Gaming, and beyond.

Spreadsheets are a popular model-building environment for managers. Add-ins and enhancements to Excel have made powerful decision-making tools available to the manager. This course covers how to use the spreadsheet to develop and utilize some of these decision-making aids. Visual Basic for Excel allows the nonprogrammer to create modules for functions, subroutines, and procedures. Topics include forecasting (both regression and time series), decision-making under uncertainty and decision trees, using SOLVER for optimization, and probabilistic simulation using @RISK.

Modern Marketing Research reflects the increasing sophistication of Marketing practice and the data rich environment that confronts market researchers. Throughout this course, we develop a basic knowledge of the use of data in order to understand customers and make marketing decisions ~ practical marketing problem solving. This course introduces the tools that managers use to develop consumer-centric marketing strategies and techniques to make better marketing plans, better product designs, and better decisions. Marketing engineering focuses on specific data-driven marketing tools, regression, cluster analysis, conjoint, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), etc., and their application to specific marketing problems (segmentation and targeting, new product design, and forecasting) utilizing power of R language.

This course provides an introduction to the practice and strategy of marketing. Marketing activities are those processes and functions that enable managers and policy-makers to identify and serve the values and needs of a customer given the capacities of the company, activities of competitors, and inherent constraints in the business environment. Marketers typically refer to these concepts as the "four C's." Based on their understanding of the "four C's," students will then learn how to implement strategy by applying the levers of the marketing mix. These elements are known as the four P's (product, price, place/channels of distribution, and promotion). The treatment of marketing constraints and marketing mix will be motivated by essential foundations from economics, sociology, and consumer behavior. Over the course of the semester, students are expected to transition from thinking about these concepts in isolation to a dynamic, integrative framework. This process includes using the marketing strategy framework to assess business and policy problems from a "multiple objective" perspective: that is, the student will be asked to think about how marketing activities along with those of competitors and collaborators will affect the profitability, sustainability, social, and ethical standing of the firm. The synthesis of these concepts will be carried out through the use of case studies, problem sets, classroom lectures, discussions, and a field project. There will also be a midterm and final exam. The pedagogical style of the course emphasizes the students' role in applying the concepts discussed in the lectures to the situations at hand. The role of the instructor is to provide tools to structure thinking and to stimulate and facilitate analysis of the cases.

This course covers the fundamentals of relational databases including its design and provides an in-depth coverage of SQL which is the de-facto language used to manipulate relational databases. This course places emphasis on understanding the concepts and principles of both relational database design and SQL in a platform/software neutral manner which equip students to work with most database systems used in the modern workplace.

This course provides an introduction as well as hands-on experience in data visualization. It introduces students to design principles for creating meaningful displays of quantitative and qualitative data to facilitate managerial decision-making . Analytics involves the extensive use of computer applications, data (both "big" and "small"), and quantitative methods to help drive business decisions. Students will learn essential theories, concepts, methodologies, and use leading computer tools to visualize and analyze real world data.

This is an introductory course in qualitative and survey methods relevant to basic and applied research problems in businesses (with a focus on marketing). Although this is an introductory course, students should be prepared to engage seriously in how qualitative research is conceived, conducted, implemented, and interpreted in business contexts. The course does not emphasize statistical methods, and ability to quickly acquire working knowledge of basic statistics is assumed. The instructor will make an effort to work with students to cover essentials. Students will also require a good understanding of substantive business contexts. In short, while the course accomplishes several objectives, it will focus on the skills required to design and conduct research studies using qualitative and/or survey methods.

The digital enterprise captures significantly more data about its customers, suppliers, and partners. The challenge, however, is to transform this vast data repository into actionable business intelligence. Both the structure and content of information from databases and data warehouses will be studied. Basic skills for designing and retrieving information from a database (e.g., MS Access) will be mastered. Data mining and predictive analytics can provide valuable business insights. A leading data mining tool, e.g., IBM/SPSS Modeler, will be used to investigate hypotheses and discover patterns in enterprise data repositories. Analysis tools include decision trees, neural networks, market basket analysis, time series, and discriminant analysis. Both data cleaning and analyses will be discussed and applied to sample data. Applications of data mining in a variety of industries will be discussed. Software exercises, case studies, and a major project will prepare the students to use these tools effectively during their careers.

The course examines digital marketing analytics strategies, platforms for data ingestion, preparation, and reporting. The course focuses beyond social media marketing analytics. Digital marketing analytics is foundational to Digital Marketing because analytics is the language used to optimize and connect results across all digital marketing tactics – search, social media, email marketing, display ads, video ads, etc. An effective digital marketer is well versed in data and is a data translator for a business. Becoming well versed in analytics and data requires the cultivation of both technical and soft skills. This course aims to arm students with such skills.

Over the past few decades, many quantitative models have been developed to analyze fundamental problems in marketing. This course will introduce a selection of important models which are used for marketing tasks such as demand modeling, elasticity analysis, price response analysis, and promotion planning. The underlying econometric theory of these models will be presented with emphasis on gaining hands-on experience in implementing and running these models on real marketing data. This course will provide a solid foundation to perform advanced marketing analytics.

This course covers contemporary or cutting edge topics in the marketing analytics field offered on an irregular basis typically in a seminar style. Instructor permission is required.

Students can conduct in-depth research, usually on an independent and solo basis, under the guidance of a full-time faculty member. Typically, a student signs up with a faculty member who is willing to supervise his/her independent research on a particular marketing analytics-related topic. The student has to complete the independent study form, develop a one-page proposal outlining the purpose, process, and product (expected outcomes) of the independent research project, and submit it to the program director and instructor for approval.

This course is designed to develop each student’s financial analysis skill set. Throughout this course, students will be exposed to a variety of companies and industries with the goal of using various quantitative tools and qualitative factors to determine the financial health and risk of a company. The material covered in this course will correspond to various business applications including credit analysis, financial analysis, and investment analysis. During the latter part of this course, students will be exposed to advanced case study analysis using a team-building approach. MBA 501 will also introduce fundamental business concepts that will be used in other MBA courses.

This course has the following objectives: (a) to offer a comprehensive presentation of Microsoft Office Excel 201x; (b) to acquaint students with the proper procedures to create workbooks and worksheets suitable for coursework and professional purposes; (c) to enhance and reinforce students' analytical skills and their ability to intelligently use information; (d) to teach the art and science of spreadsheet modeling; (e) to expose students to different approaches, support tools, and analytical methods for decision making; and (f) to improve students' critical thinking skills.

This course applies economic principles to key decisions with organizations and solidifies intuition for understanding the business environments in which organizations operate. A key objective of the course is to develop tools useful in other Stuart courses. Economics is a key foundation for much of what is taught in finance, marketing, business strategy, environmental management, and virtually every other course in the graduate program. Economics is a way of thinking about problems, issues, and decisions that managers face in each of the functional areas of their organization. It stresses the importance of incentives in impacting human decision making and emphasizes the consideration of costs and benefits when making decisions. The course introduces and develops concepts in areas of microeconomics such as competition and market structure, incentive contracts, and pricing. Topics covered range from the most basic demand and supply models to principal-agent models and economics of information. The course will also touch on some of the primary macroeconomic topics (including GDP, inflation, and unemployment), topics in game theory (simultaneous and sequential games), and issues of ethics in economic policy-making pertaining to competitive and oligopolistic markets, pricing, and trade.

To succeed in today's knowledge intensive organizations managers need to understand how individual differences in personality, learning style and cultural values, group dynamics, organizational culture, and human resource management policies shape employee attitudes and behaviors. This course teaches managers creative problem-solving and ethical decision-making, change management, leadership techniques for enhancing social capital and influencing other organizational members, and management tools for multicultural and geographically dispersed teams. Students will relate management concepts and techniques to real-world situations through the extensive use of case studies and experiential exercises.

In this course, the student will learn the concepts and processes that underlie enlightened financial decision making in a global world. Students will explore how to raise debt and equity capital, how to think about what portion of earnings to retain and reinvest and whether to share some earnings with stockholders via dividend payments or repurchase of shares, how to value stocks and bonds, how to distinguish good from bad financial decision rules, how to decide which projects a firm should engage in, how to use futures, options and swaps to manage firm risk, how to ensure good corporate governance, why sustainability can be profitable while still protecting future generations, and how to manage the financial decisions required to effectively operate in a global setting.

This course provides an introduction to the practice and strategy of marketing. Marketing activities are those processes and functions that enable managers and policy-makers to identify and serve the values and needs of a customer given the capacities of the company, activities of competitors, and inherent constraints in the business environment. Marketers typically refer to these concepts as the "four C's." Based on their understanding of the "four C's," students will then learn how to implement strategy by applying the levers of the marketing mix. These elements are known as the four P's (product, price, place/channels of distribution, and promotion). The treatment of marketing constraints and marketing mix will be motivated by essential foundations from economics, sociology, and consumer behavior. Over the course of the semester, students are expected to transition from thinking about these concepts in isolation to a dynamic, integrative framework. This process includes using the marketing strategy framework to assess business and policy problems from a "multiple objective" perspective: that is, the student will be asked to think about how marketing activities along with those of competitors and collaborators will affect the profitability, sustainability, social, and ethical standing of the firm. The synthesis of these concepts will be carried out through the use of case studies, problem sets, classroom lectures, discussions, and a field project. There will also be a midterm and final exam. The pedagogical style of the course emphasizes the students' role in applying the concepts discussed in the lectures to the situations at hand. The role of the instructor is to provide tools to structure thinking and to stimulate and facilitate analysis of the cases.

The course focuses on teaching students how to successfully analyze a business process, research methods of improving a process, and adapt/integrate the improvement methods into the business process in a prioritized and actionable manner.

Modern organizations of all kinds face unprecedented disruption and change, driven in part by the universal impacts of technology, globalization and extreme forms of capitalism that push for better performance in the face of greater competitive threat. While change happens to or threatens an enterprise, its managers routinely face a choice – calmly protect what has historically worked or embrace and drive change as the new leadership paradigm. This course assumes the latter as the only successful approach for positive long-term performance. It is designed as an advanced experience that requires students to bring together foundational concepts they have learned throughout their curriculum, especially leadership, organizational change, strategy and innovation, and apply them to lead a hypothetical strategic change program. Students will, working in small teams, develop a strategic change plan that includes i) a rigorous diagnosis of their business and an articulation of a “burning platform” for change, ii) an innovative strategy, at the company as well as key functional levels, that is designed to drive improved performance, iii) a financial and implementation plan that recognizes the importance of milestones, momentum and organizational interdependencies, and iv) a mobilization and execution plan that engages the organization, puts structure, accountability and effective communication around strategic projects, and allows for iteration and improvement as the organization learns. Students will appreciate that change leadership is today’s standard of leadership and is relevant in any management role and in any type of organization.

This course is designed to foster an understanding of incentives and strategic decision-making as they apply to negotiations. The course has both theoretical and applied components with the objective of addressing both theory and skills as they apply to dyadic and multiparty negotiations, to buyer-seller transactions, to competitors' interactions, to the resolution of disputes, and to the development of negotiation strategies. The theoretical component is focused on an analytical study of strategic interactions using game theory while the applied component is based on a series of simulated negotiations in a variety of contexts including one-on-one, multiparty, and team negotiations. The objectives of the course are to provide an analytical foundation, to show where practice and theory diverge, and to provide a forum where negotiation tools in a variety of business-oriented settings can be actively applied. Instructor permission is required.

Managerial leadership is one of the primary drivers of an organization's success. Not surprisingly, organizations are demanding effective leadership skills from managers at all levels. This course is designed to enhance students' understanding of leadership in contemporary organizations. Students will develop a conceptual framework of effective leadership in multinational organizations. Besides discussing leadership skills and traits, particular attention will be devoted to exploring the influence of organizational and societal context on leadership. This course will be taught with an experiential learning approach. Through self-assessments, case analyses, and a variety of other exercises, students will augment their leadership skills.

Healthcare is one of the most fundamental human problems around the world. Besides food and water, every one of the seven billion people on earth needs healthcare. Yet, the current systems of healthcare delivery have inadequacies in providing quality care to all. In this respect, technological innovations have begun to contribute creative solutions to the many problems that healthcare delivery systems face with access to care, affordability of care, and consistent quality of care. This course focuses on how the management of technology and innovation and business and strategy principles can converge to understand the trends, problems, and potential solutions to the American healthcare delivery system and to other systems around the world. The course aims to acquaint the student with the issues and potential solutions of managing the healthcare delivery system. The healthcare sector has unique characteristics as both a social and business enterprise where private and public organizations and enormous resources are involved. The student will gain knowledge about the structure of the healthcare delivery system and how technology and innovation are contributing to some solutions to its most pressing problems of access, affordability, and quality of care. The student will also gain knowledge about the key technology dimensions and forces that shape the industry.

This course gives students a practical introduction to the exciting and rapidly growing field of social entrepreneurship. The course will begin by introducing students to contemporary understandings of poverty, its causes, and traditional poverty alleviation strategies. It will then turn to key concepts regarding social ventures including entrepreneurship, organizational structures (for-profit, non-profit, and hybrid), financing, marketing, and performance assessment (social and environmental impact). We will also examine the challenges that are faced in creating and operating social enterprises in different parts of the world. The course includes guest lectures by other Stuart School of Business faculty and social entrepreneurs working in different areas (such as health, education and environment). Students will gain hands-on experience by either developing a business plan for a social enterprise to address a specific real world problem or assisting an existing social venture in developing a business plan geared towards an expansion of its services. It is expected that the plans can be entered into a variety of social venture competitions.

This course is designed to provide an introduction to the evolving area of AI, with an emphasis on potential business applications and related managerial insights. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the science behind systems that can program themselves to classify, predict, and offer solutions based on structured and unstructured data. For millennia, humans have pondered the idea of building intelligent machines. Ever since, AI has had highs and lows, demonstrated successes and unfulfilled potential. Today, AI is empowering people and changing our world. Netflix recommends movies, Amazon recommends popular products, self-driving cars learn to navigate safely around other vehicles without human assistance, and programmed robots distinguish trash from dishes that are to be washed. This course focuses on how AI systems understand, reason, learn and interact; learn from industry’s experience on several AI cases; develop a develop a deeper understanding of machine learning (ML) techniques and the algorithms that power those systems, and propose solutions to real world scenarios leveraging AI methodologies.

The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to the growing range of connected devices that send data across the Internet. The IoT is now a reality due to the convergence of several technologies. This course will provide students with a basic understanding of the need, implementation, and business value of Internet of Things. This class will mainly focus on Business applications for IoT along with the introduction of how these systems could be implemented in the ‘real world’. The class will consist of a set of theory lectures and hands-on labs. The theory section will cover the business needs for a IoT, the business processes required to create an industrial grade IoT application and the logical steps to design a IoT. The hands-on labs will provide the basic knowledge to become familiar with the IBM Cloud with a focus on IoT applications, how to setup the cloud to receive sensor readings from IoT, and how to create a dashboard to display the reading values over time, and setup ‘alarms’ for ‘out of band’ sensor readings. There will be six labs and one final team project. All of these projects will be completed in the IBM cloud based IoT environment. The course also gives you the opportunity to earn a globally recognized IBM digital badge in IoT.

Adoption of Data Science concepts, methods and tools improve enterprise decision-making and performance. This course will include both the IBM online Data Science and Enterprise Design Thinking courses. Upon successful completion of these courses, IBM Badges for Data Science and Enterprise Design Thinking will be awarded. Additionally, the Python language that is preferred by industry will be taught for developing business analytical models. By the end of the semester, you will be well-prepared to solve business problems and identify opportunities. The primary machine learning tools are IBM WATSON Studio (cloud), Python, Jupyter notebooks and Mural for design thinking. The text, readings, and software lab experience will enhance your personal competitive advantage.

For Western MNCs, some of the most intriguing growth opportunities in the Next Economy exist in low-income segments, the so-called markets at the bottom of the income pyramid, in emerging and underdeveloped countries of the world. Historically, MNCs targeted the customers at the top of the pyramid in these countries because their business models worked well for them. But as these bottom-of-the-pyramid markets become more economically profitable, MNCs need to make a serious attempt to evaluate and target them. In order to successfully compete for customers in these markets, MNCs should design innovative business models that could represent a radical departure from the way they do business in more advanced countries. This course is about such business model innovation. Students will learn tools of international market opportunity analysis, foreign market entry strategies, the social, economical, and ethical factors affecting decisions to serve low income customers, the stringent requirements of the customers at the bottom of the pyramid, and business models to profitably serve these customers.

China has become a major business destination for companies around the world. The success of managers and entrepreneurs around the world today may depend on how well they do business with Chinese customers, suppliers, and partners. One of the best ways to understand this is through immersion. This course involves a business study mission trip to some of the epicenters of Chinese business, such as Shanghai. Students will be able to visit foreign and local manufacturing and service companies located in China, listen to business leaders and government officials, and enjoy the cultural immersion experiences. Students will attend several briefing sessions prior to the visit and a debriefing session following the visit. Instructor permission is required.

This course is structured to provide students with a rigorous understanding of how to start, grow, and sustain innovative businesses. It begins with cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset and progresses through design thinking, customer discovery, and strategic financial planning. Each module is designed to build on the previous, incorporating elements like global market positioning and ethical business practices. Students will conclude the course by learning to effectively communicate their business ideas through compelling pitches aimed at securing funding and driving business growth.

The course concentrates on the preparation of business plans, methods for evaluating and screening new venture ideas, formulation and implementation of business strategies for new ventures, and the financing of new ventures. The course will also focus on identifying, examining, and evaluating various sources of original and growth capital. Emphasis will be on legal, financial, and tax issues related to capital formation as well as specific problems experienced by the entrepreneur in the high technology space. Topics discussed will include venture valuation, financing startups, financial planning and strategy.

The course Entrepreneurial Finance has been one of the most popular electives for the past quarter century at top graduate business schools. The course is designed for students interested in becoming an entrepreneur, working at an entrepreneurial firm, investing in entrepreneurs and/or anyone interested in the topic of finance and/or entrepreneurship. The course is open to all MBA students. A background in finance is not required. This is a course that focuses on teaching the practical application of the topics mentioned earlier.

Designed for leaders focused on implementing new ideas, staying ahead of the competition and aligning their people, data and technology to drive digital transformation. First, we discuss the pace of change, and its impact, implications and opportunities. Next, we provide the context and framework to help you identify key areas to digitize, including strategy, core processes, and technology. The course culminates with a project where participants create an action plan for a challenge at a level that is appropriate for their role or responsibility. After completing the course, students will learn how to build a digital transformation vision, skills and leadership qualities key for the 21st century executive.

Special topics in business administration.

Independent study in business administration.

“Why do some companies outperform others?” That question is particularly important to ask in industries like the tech sector, which are fiercely competitive. Companies competing in these industries find it difficult to achieve competitive advantage and sustain it over the longer run. In this course, you will learn about 21st century competition, the forces driving it, and the challenges it poses for companies. Using that as the backdrop, you will learn how to analyze a company's external and internal environments and develop powerful strategies that allow companies to gain a sustainable competitive advantage even in fast-cycle markets. The course will describe companies that have successfully outperformed their competitors even in the fiercely competitive markets of the 21st century.

Why are markets commonly believed to be the best way of allocating resources and organizing economic activity? This course will answer this critical question while examining its implications for pricing, market entry and exit, short-term and long-term business strategies, and the forecasting of key market variables. The course introduces fundamental topics in the economic analysis of markets, and some of the analytical tools used to study them, as a means to build economic intuition and fostering an understanding of a variety of market conditions and market forces.

Spreadsheets are ubiquitous in today’s business environment. The Excel Essentials course is designed to empower beginner and intermediate users to maximize their productivity and enhance the business value of their Excel skills. This course will equip you with the fundamental knowledge to leverage the potential of spreadsheets. Throughout the course, you will embark on a step-by-step journey, starting with the basics and gradually progressing to more advanced topics. Whether you are new to Excel or have been using it for a while, this course will help you refine your skills and uncover hidden features to supercharge your productivity.

In this course, you will learn about Innovation and International Strategies. The course is made up of 5 modules. Modules 1 through 3 cover innovation strategies including topics like technology adoption life cycle, the product life cycle, disruptive innovation and blue ocean strategy. In Modules 4 and 5, you will learn how companies expand into international markets and compete there. You will learn about how companies make decisions like the rationale for going international, international market selection, entry strategies and the different types of international strategies. You will learn how successful companies compete globally and outperform their competitors.

Good decision making and strategy do not exist in isolation: the success and profitability of a business depends not only on its own strategic moves but also those that other firms make, especially competitors. Understanding the strategic linkages among firms can therefore be immensely valuable. Economics and Game theory offer tools that can specifically enhance one's understanding and ability to exploit such strategic linkages. This course will layer game-theoretic considerations on top of economic considerations in the marketplace. In doing so, we will identify the key actors, their objectives, potential actions, and predicted outcomes, as well as ways to strengthen the position of a business in the market. We will also demonstrate when to expect governments to intervene in markets, either because markets may have failed or because the government may have been persuaded to intervene by key stakeholders.

The Comprehensive Excel Masterclass is designed to provide participants with advanced skills in Excel, focusing specifically on leveraging Excel dashboards to effectively display key performance indicators (KPIs) and support data-driven decision-making. The course combines theoretical concepts with practical exercises and examples to reinforce learning. The course begins by introducing participants to essential finance skills related to loans, project budgeting, and planning. A significant portion of the course is dedicated to Excel dashboards, which are effective tools for visually presenting performance data (KPIs). Participants will learn how to create compelling dashboards using advanced Excel features while engaging in hands-on exercises. They will explore techniques for data visualization, creating interactive charts, and incorporating dynamic elements into their dashboards. Note: This course assumes a basic understanding of Excel functionalities such as creating formulas, working with worksheets, and basic data manipulation.

This is the first of a two-semester sequence in advanced-level mathematical economics. It introduces students to economic models, microeconomics theory, equilibrium analysis and optimization problems. The course examines various market settings such as competitive markets, oligopolies, and monopolies; the course addresses contexts involving the firm decision making under uncertainty, and game theory. Focus is on major topics of economic analysis and the tools used to study them. Some mathematics background, particularly calculus and matrix algebra, is essential.

This course provides a comprehensive introduction to econometrics; linear and nonlinear regression, popular probability distributions, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, sample size and power, endogeneity and instrumental variables estimation, models of panel data, and maximum likelihood estimation. Students will become familiar in using STATA and other advanced statistical software and research databases.

This is the second course in the two-course sequence in mathematical economics. It focuses on optimization problems in addition to discussing nonlinear programming, Kuhn-Tucker conditions, and dynamic analysis. In addition, it continues discussion on game theory and explores its use in modern economics and business through examinations of classic and current papers. Students are also introduced to models used in modern macroeconomics.

The course introduces Bayesian estimation, and emphasizes simulation-based inference, statistical computing, discrete choice, limited dependent variables (truncation, censoring and sample selection), time series analysis including advanced forecasting techniques. This course intends to integrate modern theories and empirical applications in a manner that many useful tools will be discussed. The course is heavily project oriented and is organized around Big Data applications and statistical packages. Students will be expected to work with modern statistical packages and large datasets.

Spreadsheets are a popular model-building environment for managers. Add-ins and enhancements to Excel have made powerful decision-making tools available to the manager. This course covers how to use the spreadsheet to develop and utilize some of these decision-making aids. Visual Basic for Excel allows the nonprogrammer to create modules for functions, subroutines, and procedures. Topics include forecasting (both regression and time series), decision-making under uncertainty and decision trees, using SOLVER for optimization, and probabilistic simulation using @RISK.

This course introduces doctoral students to the history and evolution of thinking in the management discipline. It focuses attention on theories of leadership and innovation, and showcase contributions of influential thought leaders in management. It also includes epistemological perspectives with substantial potential for enhancing business research. Finally, it will address fundamental approaches and criteria for successful theory development.

This course is a required course for all PhD students at the Stuart School of Business. It offers a comprehensive overview of the General Linear Model at both univariate and multivariate research levels. The course will review measurement issues (reliability, types of validity), multiple regression analysis, ANOVA, MANOVA, step-down analysis, factor analysis, structural equation models (exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis), discriminant analysis, redundancy analysis, canonical correlation analysis, repeated measures analysis, categorical data analysis, contingent valuation method, conjoint analysis, cluster analysis, multidimensional scaling, correspondence analysis, choice models, and relatively new areas such as multi-level analysis, meta-analysis, data warehousing, data mining, and neural networks. Additionally, nonlinear models will also be discussed. Students will be introduced to SAS and other software packages.

This course will cover the characteristics, valuation and risk management of fixed income instruments. These instruments include bonds, repos, interest rate derivatives, inflation indexed securities, mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities, CDOs and default swaps. The focus will be on understanding how these instruments are structured and used. Term structure modeling and hedging techniques will be presented, with a minimum of mathematics.

This course develops the primary quantitative tools used in the portfolio selection process. The applied focus of the course centers on the process of moving from a data set of historical information to the formulation of a forecasting model, the estimation of mean-variance efficient portfolios, and the testing of efficiency hypotheses within an in-sample and post-sample setting. The course covers the estimation of efficient portfolios, factor models, forecasting models, and risk analysis.

The digital enterprise captures significantly more data about its customers, suppliers, and partners. The challenge, however, is to transform this vast data repository into actionable business intelligence. Both the structure and content of information from databases and data warehouses will be studied. Basic skills for designing and retrieving information from a database (e.g., MS Access) will be mastered. Data mining and predictive analytics can provide valuable business insights. A leading data mining tool, e.g., IBM/SPSS Modeler, will be used to investigate hypotheses and discover patterns in enterprise data repositories. Analysis tools include decision trees, neural networks, market basket analysis, time series, and discriminant analysis. Both data cleaning and analyses will be discussed and applied to sample data. Applications of data mining in a variety of industries will be discussed. Software exercises, case studies, and a major project will prepare the students to use these tools effectively during their careers.

The primary objective of this course is to provide doctoral students an overview of introductory topics in corporate finance including capital structure, agency theory, corporate governance, payout policy, compensation, mergers and acquisitions, diversification, equity issuance, private equity, and financial intermediation. We will focus on both theories and empirics of financial economics in the area of corporate finance. Students should expect a rigorous course with substantial academic rather than applied content, and expect an intensive reading list. Another objective is to train students to read, understand, and present background papers in corporate finance and recognize the interesting/important problems in corporate finance in the "right" institutional structure.

This course focuses on the two main silos of risk in the financial industry, namely, credit risk and operational risk. The course will also discuss asset and liability management, interest rate risk management, integration of credit risk and market risk, regulatory and compliance issues and performance measurement and capital management. The quantitative aspects of the course include: volatility and correlation modeling, Monte Carlo simulation, stress-testing scenarios analysis, and extreme and tail events modeling.

The world of investments is changing rapidly as investment responsibilities and power move into the hands of individuals. This course discuss the properties of investment instruments, different investment theories, and the professional investors. Topics include the characteristics of various financial assets, the time series and cross sectional of returns, asset pricing theory and empirical methods, mutual funds and hedge funds. Moreover, there is a reading list of the most influential academic papers in the investment field, students are required to understand and follow the most advanced development in the investment field.

This course is intended as an in depth review of the following areas of finance: (1) utility theory and expected utility valuation techniques; (2) the Markowitz portfolio problem and the CAPM model; (3) the APT theory and general linear arbitrage factor model; (4) single period consumption-based asset pricing models; (5) state preference theoretic approaches; (6) multi-period discrete time utility based models and associated mathematical techniques; (7) equilibrium and price bubbles in the preceding model (the "Lucas" model); (8) basic binomial derivative pricing; and (9) Ito's Lemma, Black-Scholes, and related models.

This course is intended as an in depth review of the following areas of finance: (1) continuous time risk neutral pricing; (2) jump diffusion models; (3) continuous time utility optimization modeling (with dynamic programming); (4) consumption CAPM modeling; (5) non-time seperable utility modeling; and (6) behavioral finance.

This seminar will acquaint students with quantitative models used in marketing research literature. It will survey a variety of econometric models ranging from basic choice models to the latest structural models which have been used to analyze problems in the marketing domain. In summary, the course will provide an overview of the quantitative modeling field in marketing. The emphasis will be on understanding the estimation procedure employed to estimate these models.

This course focuses on modeling and analytical skills by introducing (1) an integrated view of the production and logistics functions in organizations by discussing models such as facility location, capacity allocation, warehousing, transportation, forecasting, inventory management, and risk-pooling models and (2) how firms interact with each other in a supply chain by discussing topics such as value of information, supply chain contracting and coordination, price-based and quantity-based revenue management. In addition to developing quantitative modeling skills, this course focuses on data analytics in the supply chain context and the interface of supply chain analytics and customer analytics. The course will help students (1) gain an understanding of various aspects, issues, and initiatives in contemporary supply chain practice and (2) develop their ability to conduct quantitative research in supply chain management using recent literature published in top tier journals.

The focus of this course would be to stay up-to-date with cutting edge academic research in the field of marketing analytics. Students will read and implement quantitative models to optimize marketing predictions. Students would need to be reasonably well-versed in a variety of analytics approaches coming in and capable of learning new methods that appear in the literature through interaction with large data sets. The emphasis would be on critical discussion of cutting-edge marketing analytics techniques and application, self-study of methods and current digital platforms to keep pace with trends and breakthroughs in the field, and research idea generation.

This course focuses on the following: (1) analyzing social networks through statistical descriptors of networks (link analysis, centrality, and prestige), network clustering (modularity and community detection), dynamics of information and epidemics spreading (threshold and information cascade models), and network visualization algorithms (spring-like layouts, multidimensional scaling, Gephi). (2) applications of text and document analysis using natural language processing and part-of-speech tagging, sentiment analysis, and topic modeling. (3) assessing collective intelligence using recommender systems, collaborative filtering, and machine learning, in particular deep learning.

This course has the following objectives: (a) to teach students the link between analytics and business value; (b) to expose students to techniques useful to for visualizing and for drawing insights from complex data; (c) to introduce methods for both gaining insights from historical data (descriptive data mining) and predicting possible future outcomes (predictive data mining); (d) to enable students to use decision analysis to develop an optimal strategy when faced with several decision alternatives given risk-preferences and uncertain event outcomes; and (e) to improve students' critical thinking skills.

This course is in lieu of MSC 691 that PhD-MSC legacy students can register for after they have already completed the MSC 691 credit requirements for graduation.

This course provides a systematic exposition of the primary mathematical methods used in finance and the financial markets. Mathematical concepts and methods discussed are precalculus, calculus, and probability and statistics. Applications include simple and compound interest, annuities and mortgages, forward and futures contracts, bond pricing and duration and convexity, option pricing and strategies, solution of equations of value, optimization, volatility, elementary portfolio theory, Black Scholes option pricing, Binomial Option Pricing, and statistical inference. The learning method includes doing problems in class, quizzes, Final Exam, films, supplementary reading of relevant articles.

Quantitative techniques are very important and useful for analyzing business and financial markets, especially in today’s world of big data. This course reviews the basics of statistics, including sampling and data, descriptive statistics, probability, distributions, statistical inference, the Central Limit Theory, estimation, hypothesis testing, Analysis of Variance, and regression analysis, a widely used statistical technique in business and finance supporting decision-making under uncertainty.

Modeling using databases and python programming is ubiquitous in the modern financial industry and business in general. In this course, students will learn how to implement quantitative models using Microsoft Excel, SQL, and Python. Models will include those statistical methods, time series, and valuation models most widely used in industry. Numerical techniques including Monte Carlo simulation, optimization, and root-finding will also be covered. Particular attention will also be paid to project management and testing.

The course is a survey of asset pricing theory. The fundamentals of bond and option pricing are covered as well as the CAPM, APT, and the Fama-French models. Excel spreadsheet modeling is used to illustrate and understand the concepts of Markowitz's Mean Variance Optimization, equity valuation, option pricing, and utility theory. The course places a special emphasis on the relationship between macroeconomic conditions and investment opportunities.

This three-credit foundation course, mainly for Master of Science in Finance (MSF) students, will examine the mechanism, pricing, trading, and risk management of financial derivatives. Specifically, the students will learn options, forwards, futures contracts, swaps, OTC derivatives, arbitrage-free pricing, risk-neutral pricing, binomial trees, the Black-Scholes-Merton approach, and the Monte Carlo simulation for derivatives pricing. Numerical examples in this course are paper-and-pencil-based, spreadsheet-based, or Python-based. Students will implement a simple derivatives trading strategy using trading software. At the end of the semester, a student should know the mechanism, terminologies, and basic properties of futures, options, and OTC Derivatives; be able to implement speculative, hedging, and arbitrage trading strategies using futures and options; be able to determine a price of futures/forward, options, and OTC Derivatives using non-arbitrage arguments, option bounds, a binomial model, Black-Scholes-Merton model, Monte Carlo Simulation, etc.; and understand dynamic delta hedging and other Greeks for financial risk management purposes.

The primary objective of this course is for the student to develop his/her financial analysis skills. This course will focus on key accounting concepts, financial ratios, forecasting techniques and industry issues which are critical in interpreting and analyzing external financial reports. Additionally, advanced analysis skills will be introduced, which should enable the student to look beyond the numbers (presented in a GAAP/IFRS format) and ultimately obtain a more informed decision regarding the financial strength (value) of the company (security). Throughout this course students will be involved in “hands-on” financial analysis by working on class exercises/problems, discussing special topical readings and completing an assigned case.

The practice of financial engineering requires skill in financial theory and practice, mathematics and programming. This course includes instruction in all of these areas. In this class, students will learn mathematical and computational methods that are applicable to the pricing and risk management of derivatives. The class provides an introduction to options pricing theory, covering stochastic calculus, the Black-Scholes partial differential equation, risk-neutral valuation and hedging portfolio replication. The course will focus on important numerical techniques used in finance, including variance reduction techniques in Monte Carlo Simulation and finite difference methods applied to partial differential equations. These methods will be applied to the pricing of exotic options. In this class, students will learn to program and implement financial models in Matlab.

Upon completion of this course, students should know the strengths, weaknesses, appropriate uses, and ways of implementing the major term structure models that are in common use. The course will begin with bootstrapping of forward curves, principal component analysis, and a review of basic fixed income derivatives (swaps, swaptions, caps, and floors). We will then implement short rate models, such as Ho-Lee, Black-Derman and Toy, and extended Vasicek/Hull-White, followed by the Helath-Jarrow-Morton model and market rate models. Students will implement these term structure models in Excel/VBA and Matlab.

The primary objective of this course is for students to develop a strong understanding (and interest) of financial management related topics including: cost of capital, capital budgeting, capital structure decisions, working capital management, dividend payout policy, debt and equity financing, mergers & acquisitions, and corporate governance. Throughout this course, students will apply corporate finance topics to current company examples, which will be facilitated by class discussion, in-class exercises/problems, and assigned topic homework problems.

The primary goal is for students to develop an understanding of key investment banking concepts and applications. Students will be exposed to topics such as comparable companies’ analysis, precedent transaction analysis, discounted cash flow analysis, leverage buyouts, venture capital, and sell-side and buy-side mergers and acquisitions. During the course, students will interact with real company scenarios and will be required to use investment banking applications to solve in-class examples and problems. In the latter part of this course, students will work on an assigned case pertaining to a specific investment banking topic. This case will include a comprehensive data set and require Excel modeling. Because this is a “hands on” course, it will require both the student’s attendance and participation to learn the core concepts that are necessary to perform well on the class exams and apply the necessary material to the assigned case and homework problems.

The primary goal is for students to develop an understanding of equity valuation processes and applications. Topics discussed in class will include dividend discount, free cash flow, residual income, and market-based valuations as well as private and distressed company valuations. Throughout this course, students will apply equity asset valuation topics discussed in class to real world examples and in-class problems/exercises. During the latter part of this course, students will work in a group environment to complete and present an equity research report for a selected U.S. public company. Because this is a “hands on” course, it will require both the student’s attendance and participation to learn the core concepts that are necessary to perform well on the class exams and apply to the group equity valuation project.

This course will cover the characteristics, valuation and risk management of fixed income instruments. These instruments include bonds, repos, interest rate derivatives, inflation indexed securities, mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities, CDOs and default swaps. The focus will be on understanding how these instruments are structured and used. Term structure modeling and hedging techniques will be presented, with a minimum of mathematics.

This course develops the primary quantitative tools used in the portfolio selection process. The applied focus of the course centers on the process of moving from a data set of historical information to the formulation of a forecasting model, the estimation of mean-variance efficient portfolios, and the testing of efficiency hypotheses within an in-sample and post-sample setting. The course covers the estimation of efficient portfolios, factor models, forecasting models, and risk analysis.

This class surveys machine learning techniques for empirical research in finance and business, including: 1. Linear machine learning algorithms for prediction and classification, including lasso and ridge regression, logistic regression, linear discriminant analysis. 2. Nonlinear machine learning algorithms, including decision trees, naïve Bayes, k-nearest neighbors, and support vector machines. 3. Ensemble algorithms, including bagging, random forests, and boosting models. 4. Neural networks, including RNNS, LSTM, as well as NLP for sentiment analysis. Students use Python to build scripts that encapsulate the algorithms presented. Various financial and business-related data sources will be used to develop a hands-on understanding of dimension reduction, regression, classification, and clustering. Emphasis will be given to performance evaluation of various models using, for example, confusion matrices, classification reports, and various graphical constructs.

The course covers various issues related to investment and its risk management, including many statistical techniques around asset returns and asset volatilities. Chief among these is value-at-risk (VaR) analysis, which over the past 20 plus years has become established as the industry and regulatory standard in measuring market risk. Students are required to master spreadsheet modeling of risk models, as well as various backtesting procedures. When time allows, useful R packages and more real-life data examples are also presented, to expose students to a much larger set of quantitative tools.

The extensive use of leverage by individuals, corporations, hedge funds and private equity managers has led to a significant increase in the demand for models that analyze credit risk exposures. For many users, the credit risk function has evolved from models used to analyze the quality of an individual borrower to models that aggregate exposure across borrowers, industries and geographic regions. This course provides an extended overview of the exciting and rapidly developing field of credit risk analysis.

This course introduces the econometric theory and practice of time series analysis, with an emphasis on practical skills. Students coming to the class should have some basic knowledge about statistics including hypothesis testing (t-test and F-test), correlation and regression analysis based on ordinary least square estimator. This course develops a portfolio of techniques for the analysis of time series data. This course covers difference equation, modeling with stationary time series, modelling with volatility (ARCH and GARCH), modelling with trend, unit root, and non-linear time series models. Students will be given access large database to practice the skills during the semester.

Energy markets and ESG investing play essential roles in both the real economy and financial markets. This course is designed for graduate students and upper-level undergraduates in finance, business, engineering, science, environmental management, and entrepreneurship. It is particularly relevant for students interested in trading, analytics, risk management, and financial solutions to energy and environmental challenges. The course introduces ESG investing and energy markets, with a focus on data-driven analysis of energy prices and related risk factors. It begins with ESG investing and financial approaches to environmental and social issues, highlighting their connection to energy markets. It then covers key analytical tools, including Monte Carlo simulation, hedging, Value-at-Risk, event studies, Granger causality, copulas, and cointegration. Through lectures, case-based learning, assignments, and presentations, students will develop both foundational knowledge and practical expertise. The final project includes a business proposal, a quantitative exercise, and a research component.

High frequency trading is concerned with the development of robotic trading algorithms within a real time market environment. This course will be concerned with the development of high frequency models and the assessment of their performance.

This course provides an introduction to financial markets and their role in the global economy. Designed for students in business and finance, this 3-credit course examines the structure and operation of major markets, including equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, and others. Students will develop an understanding of key financial instruments, market participants, terminology, and institutional frameworks. By the end of the course, students will be able to explain how these markets function and conduct basic research and analysis across different asset classes.

Most new ventures are not created by financial analysts. However, the success of a new venture is vitally dependent upon the strength of its financial controls. Knowledge of finance is also an important determinant of an entrepreneur's ability to convey information about his company to banks, regulators, and potential investors. This course provides entrepreneurs with the financial knowledge that they require to create successful new ventures.

MSF 597 Independent Study allows students to undertake research projects under the supervision of a full time faculty member.

Special topics in finance.

This course provides an understanding of the fundamental theories, key practices and underlying values that provide the framework for contemporary American public administration. It will discuss the political and administrative values affecting the theory and practice of public administration in the United States; review the historical development of American public administrative systems and processes; examine key issues facing public administrators in the light of both traditional and contemporary values and views; critically evaluate administrative approaches to public service delivery; and explore contemporary strategies to address critical problems in a rapidly changing world.

PA 502 builds awareness and understanding of the behavior of individuals and groups in organizations, preparing managers to be more effective within their organizational contexts. Topics include individual differences in motivation, perception, culture and learning style, group and organizational dynamics, and the impact of organizational structure and culture on behavior. Leadership techniques for influencing other organizational members, creative problem-solving and decision-making, ethics and values-based managing are covered. This course helps students relate basic theories, concepts, and techniques to real-world situations through the extensive use of case studies.

This course provides hands-on training and practice in the styles of writing and related communications skills needed by all public managers, including memoranda, letters, and formal reports. Emphasis is placed on learning and practicing effective writing and communication related to real-world administrative and managerial situations relevant to the student's particular current or chosen professional position.

The goal of this course is to assist students functioning as strong advocates in their future careers and to help them prepare for their thesis or final project presentation. This is an advanced research and writing course. Public Advocacy is the study of effective argument. The course is designed to allow students to focus their prior learning experiences through problem analysis and advocacy. Using individual topics, students will address the problems of advocacy including different types of advocacy situations requiring different information, analyses, and presentations. Substantive topics of current interest and controversy will be discussed in the context of developing and advocating a particular position.

The course has the learning objective of becoming aware of the general management challenges that the use of information technology presents for governments and to be able to develop appropriate policies that address these challenges. Upon completion, students should be able to apply best practices to the management of computer hardware, software, networking, and other technologies in government and appreciate how the use of electronic government technology can transform government and be able to help governments develop and manage effective programs of e-government use.

This course focuses on human resource planning, recruitment, examination, and promotion of procedure. It familiarizes students with the key human resources management factors involved in supervising employees as well as collective bargaining, affirmative action, and employee productivity and performance evaluation. It is directed towards practical applications in dealing with these topics as managers and employees working in their teams or individually and covers employee professional responsibility and behavior. Students in this class will learn to utilize human resource planning, recruiting, interviewing and selection processes to improve organizational outcomes; analyze the legal/cultural aspects of personnel when making organizational decisions; identify the key components of performance management to improve themselves and their direct reports; develop specific solutions to solve critical workplace personnel issues; and apply a variety of motivation and team performance techniques in current and future organizational settings.

This course will focus on the three sets of key questions: (1) mission and vision ("What areas or activities should we be working in or on?"); (2) strategy and operations ("How can we perform effectively in this area?"); and (3) leadership (“What leadership skills are needed to develop and implement strategies effectively?”). We will cover both strategy formulation ("What should our strategy be?") and strategy implementation ("What do we need to do to make this strategy work?"). All organizations – government agencies as well as non-profit or private companies with a public purpose – face substantial challenges that demand strategic responses, often in uncertain economic, social, or political contexts. To deal effectively with these challenges, managers need knowledge and skills in strategic management and leadership: setting and aligning goals with the organization’s mission; handling complex trade-offs between demand for services and resource constraints; defining measures of success; motivating staff and other stakeholders; developing relationships with relevant groups; dealing with crises and environments in transition; and leading organizational change. In short, the course emphasizes the multiple, related requirements of the leader/manager's job: analysis, creativity, and action.

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to public budgeting, governmental accounting and related areas of public fiscal administration. The course will give students a basic understanding of the concepts and skills needed to evaluate budget processes and documents and to assess the financial condition of governments. It is also designed to provide students with an understanding of the public finance environment and an opportunity to explore practical challenges in managing government resources. Emphasizing best practice models and case studies, the course will focus primarily on local government finance with some reference to state governmental policies and practices and nonprofit organizations.

Resource Development in the Nonprofit Sector provides insight and learning into fundraising, marketing, and strategic planning in the nonprofit sector. This course offers an in-depth look into finding and securing the resources necessary to the success of nonprofit organizations.

Performance management is a process of measuring progress toward specific organizational goals and objectives through the use of quantitative indicators of efficiency, effectiveness and quality. It is an essential tool that can help nonprofit and government leaders and staff plan and manage the programs and services they offer to customers, clients, and the public. This is an applied course which will help students understand performance management concepts, develop specific performance measures, and apply performance management techniques to solve real world problems in both the nonprofit and public sectors.

The effective development, planning, execution, and communication of special projects are critical to all types of public service organizations and private sector organizations. Service organizations, healthcare providers, nonprofits, government organizations, and private sector organizations constantly pursue new initiatives and projects to address the demands of their constantly changing environments. This course will offer an introduction to basic concepts and methods for directing projects and will provide students with tools that prepare them for success in project management. Examples in this course will be drawn from both the public and private sector. The course will be divided into the following components: • Project Plan Definition (Purpose, Goals, Objectives, Expectations, Roles, and Quality Management, Approach and Ground Rules) • Scope of the Project (Definition, Costs, Benefits, Risks, Products, Deliverables, Milestone, and Impacted Business Areas) • Assumptions (Specific and Measurable) • Constraints (Limitations to the Project, Related Projects, Critical Dependencies) • Quality Management Approach (Activity Reviews/Walkthroughs, Tools and Techniques, Test Approach, Performance/Quality Standards, Quality Management Roles, and Training) • Project Management Approach (Work Breakdown, Basis of Estimates, Project Effort Estimation, Project Standards, Project Roles and Responsibilities, Change and Issues Management Approach, Communication and Control Approach) • Attachments (Any pertinent work, flow charts, and approvals that need to be added to flesh out the project) • Project Budget • Project Impact Report • Approvals (Sign-off sheets)

This course gives students a practical introduction to the exciting and rapidly growing field of social entrepreneurship. The course will begin by introducing students to contemporary understandings of poverty, its causes, and traditional poverty alleviation strategies. It will then turn to key concepts regarding social ventures including entrepreneurship, organizational structures (for profit, nonprofit, and hybrid), financing, marketing, and performance assessment (social and environmental impact). We will also examine the challenges that are faced in creating and operating social enterprises in different parts of the world. The course includes guest lectures by the Stuart School of Business faculty and social entrepreneurs working in different areas (such as health, education, and environment). Students will gain hands-on experience by either developing a business plan for a social enterprise to address a specific real world problem or assisting an existing social venture in developing a business plan geared towards an expansion of its services. It is expected that the plans can be entered into a variety of social venture competitions.

A city’s built environment begins with its underlying foundation or infrastructure. Historically, infrastructure had been built and financed by individuals and the private sector, but most infrastructure today is in the public domain. Governments plan, budget, and finance their fixed assets or capital facilities. This course will examine the capital budgeting process and its evolution, the linkages between the capital budget and the capital improvement plan, methods and techniques of financing capital improvements, prioritization of capital projects, capital budgeting concepts and investment strategies and evaluation techniques.

This course deals with contemporary public safety and security management in communities for public safety professionals, public administrators, and law enforcement officials who deal with public safety issues existing in post-9/11 American society. Examines the relationship between police/public safety policy, operations, and administration. Addresses various current problems and issues through case studies. Focuses mainly on the City of Chicago and surrounding metropolitan area.

This course considers the role played by the nonprofit sector in the larger American society and economy. Topics include major organizational forms, financial management, human resource policies, leadership, board-executive relations, and private-public connections.

Nonprofits and the Public Sector provides an overview of the complex and important relationship between government and nonprofits. This course includes a review of the history, funding schemes, the differences between grant and contract funding, recent trends, and more.

This course is a strategy, competitiveness, and leadership laboratory for public sector managers and leaders of the 21st century. Students will gain an understanding of IIT Stuart's unique core concept of strategic competitiveness as well as frameworks from theories of entrepreneurial government, strategic management, and economic competitiveness. Students will critically analyze conventional frameworks for relevance to various contexts across the public sector in the rapidly changing Next Economy. Cases discussing the public sector's efforts to transform its management processes to meet the challenges of the Next Economy and to successfully interact with the business community are emphasized. The course employs a dynamic classroom environment using case method, class discussions, and group projects. Students will appreciate the challenges, complexities, and characteristics needed to effectively lead and be successful in the competitive global economy by delving into questions such as: How do countries, regions, states, and cities compete in the global economy? How do public leaders create innovative economic development strategies by influencing firms' strategic decisions regarding investment and trade? How can public leaders enhance the competitiveness of their business environment by adopting entrepreneurial government strategies? What are best practices for economic development in the Next Economy? .

The 21st century confronts the public sector with new challenges and opportunities. Many of these challenges and opportunities will take place on the community level, and many of those challenges and opportunities will be centered on the notion of social capital and the community. Social capital means the building of and use of community assets -- those resources available to the community through its residents or citizens, association, institutions, and economic life. Using an asset-based community development approach, the objective of this course is to help the student understand and use the concepts of asset-based approaches to social capital and community as it relates to public administration.

This course focuses on the ethical problems and issues faced by individuals in public service organizations. It also examines questions related to corruption, abuse of power, financial impropriety, ethics codes and standards in government and professional fields, whistle-blowing, and other topics related to front-page concerns and individual problems of conscience and judgment. The course traces the growth of concern about the standards of ethical behavior in government in the U.S.

This course will present a variety of tools and techniques to evaluate existing programs and policies to determine and measure their most important elements, and to give policy-makers the necessary information to fund, improve or terminate programs based on empirical evidence regarding factors such as cost/benefit, efficiency, effectiveness, equity, and other important characteristics. Evaluation can also allow policy-makers and staff to focus budgets and efforts to best achieve policy or program goals.

This course considers methods that help design effective Public Policy Design by presenting and examining practical, cost-effective techniques that can be used to make better decisions regarding the allocation of scarce resources. Includes problem identification, goal development, data needs and collection, generation of alternative solutions, projecting impacts, goals-oriented evaluation, and strategies for implementation.

Social Policy is the overarching program that includes aging, education, health, housing, and social welfare policy. Each area represents a major and enduring aspect of public policy concern, in which the need for leadership in public management and policy analysis is critical and can be expected to grow. The Social Policy area of study examines the roles and responsibilities of the public sector in designing, managing, and evaluating human resource programs for at-risk populations in the areas of health, education, and welfare. It is concerned with issues related to distributional equity and equality of opportunity and access, particularly for those least able to help themselves in a market society—the elderly, children, the disabled, the sick and the unemployed. Social policy involves elements of policy analysis, policy design, program evaluation, public management, and program implementation.

Preplanned and emergent events. Roles of community and other nongovernmental organizations will be explored in planning for and responding to these types of events in the 21st century. Students will explore past events in preparation for future success. There will be several tabletop exercises during the course where students will have various responsibilities. Then, those roles will be exchanged with other students to learn from their own experiences. Finally, a capstone project will be developed independently, where students will choose a sector or subsector to develop their projects.

This course provides practical experience in public administration and may be taken only by students lacking extensive work experience in governmental administration.

This course consists of independent reading and analysis centered on particular problems and supervised by a member of the public administration faculty.

PA 595 is a course on special topics in public administration.

The subject matter of this course will vary with the interests and the background of the students and the instructor, and the course may be taken more than once. Instructor permission is required.

PA 599 is a capstone course where students apply concepts and theories they have studied to analyze an organizational or policy problem and deliver a report that normally specifies the problem or task, defines alternatives, and proposes recommended course of action. The recommendation will be supported by reasons and evidence. PA 599 should be taken in the student's last semester.

This course will examine the development and implementation of nine U.S. environmental policy initiatives: 1. Conserve ecologically valuable places. 2. Incorporate environmental considerations into government decisions to fund, approve and conduct projects. 3. Save plant and animal species threatened with extinction. 4. Achieve healthy air quality. 5. Ensure a stable atmosphere and climate. 6. Establish unobstructed, fishable and swimmable waters. 7. Prevent the contamination of land and groundwater by regulating waste disposal practices. 8. Remediate historically contaminated sites. 9. Provide opportunities for public participation in the development, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws. The course will explore the genesis of these policy initiatives, the legislation that was enacted to effectuate these policies, and the practical implementation of this legislation.

Across the world, businesses have become acutely attuned to the rising opportunities and risks associated with sustainability issues including climate change, biodiversity, diversity and inclusion, social justice and ethical governance. As a result, businesses are integrating sustainability throughout their operations, from purpose-setting and strategy development, through innovation, marketing and supply chain management. This course trains future sustainability managers to assess and respond to growing environmental, social and ethical concerns. We will explore how leading companies are adapting for success over multiple time horizons. Emphasis will be how organizations develop sustainability strategies that enable them to build and sustain competitive advantage utilizing traditional management concepts as well as new sustainability practices.

This course introduces students to the emerging field of Industrial Ecology, and examines how this systems-based approach can be used to move society toward a more sustainable future. Industrial Ecology is an interdisciplinary field involving technology (science and engineering), public policy, business administration and increasingly the social sciences. The course introduces concepts and tools such as Material and Energy Flow Analysis, Life Cycle Assessment, Design for Sustainability, Extended Producer Responsibility and Industrial Symbiosis.

The emerging field of environmental finance involves the art and science of using economic incentives, financial tools and market mechanisms to achieve desired environmental outcomes. Environmental markets have proven not only to be drivers of economic growth, jobs and innovation but also powerful agents of social and environmental transformation. Knowledge of environmental risks, compliance obligations and business opportunities from environmental asset class are essential for corporates to stay competitive. The purpose of the course is to introduce environmental finance from a public policy viewpoint and examine its implications to corporations from financial and risk management angle. In doing so, the course will introduce students to fundamental economic concepts underlying environmental markets. Economic concepts involving market failures, externalities and public policy tools will be discussed. The historical evolution and current developments of market-based mechanisms to address environmental issues will be analyzed. Lessons from environmental markets for Acid Rain and domestic and international greenhouse gas emissions will be discussed at length. Other environmental markets (smog, renewable energy, water, sustainability indices and biodiversity) will also be covered.

The SAM 512 course will offer discussion of the basic concepts of Environmental Risk Analysis, Control of Environmental, Work Place Hazards; Industrial Hygiene; and Ecological Risk Analysis. Also discussed are recognition and evaluation of chemical, physical and biological hazards; the human environment; control hierarchies, strategies and technologies; personal protection; criteria and standards; and associated Management and Ethical issues.

This course provides an overview of the modeling market process is provided focusing on externalities, environmental problems, and environmental quality. Economic solutions to environmental problems are discussed using a market approach which includes modeling emission charges, modeling a product charge, modeling per unit subsidy on pollution reduction, and modeling pollution permit trading systems and practice. The course examines institutional economic solutions to address environmental problems such as climate change, global warming, and water scarcity. It also explores the growing importance of using Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) analytics in calculating the impact of climate change.

This course gives students a practical introduction to the exciting and rapidly growing field of social entrepreneurship - the application of business approaches to solving social, economic, and environmental challenges. The course will begin by introducing students to major social, economic and environmental challenges around the world by highlighting both local and international social ventures that are working on these problems. It will then turn to key concepts regarding social ventures including entrepreneurship, organizational structures (for-profit, non-profit and hybrid), financing, marketing, and performance assessment (social, economic, and environmental impact). We will also examine the challenges faced when creating and operating social enterprises in different parts of the world. The course includes guest lectures and visits with social innovators working in different areas (such as health, education and environment). Students will gain hands-on experience by a) developing a business model concept for a for-profit or non-profit social enterprise to address a specific real-world problem, in Chicago or elsewhere, or b) assisting an existing Chicago- based for-profit or non-profit social venture to improve their impact.

This course attempts to identify and evaluate issues and benefits of industrial sustainable transitions and their relations to the flow of energy and money through the economy. The importance of the energy and resources supplied to the economy by energy transformation systems are presented while considering management of the environmental externalities of energy use bound by technological and resource constraints. Development of sustainable energy systems, considerations of the alternative energy production to substitute for fossil fuels, and evaluations of the end use and the upstream effects of the energy demands are considered while supporting the notion of transitional engineering for sustainability.

This course will examine the process for understanding and developing environmental compliance management programs by evaluating the following topics:. 1. The source and development of environmental laws and regulations 2. The process of administrative agency decision making 3. The identification of rules applicable to individual facilities through permits. 4. Permit development and procedures in different media areas 5. Regulatory enforcement mechanisms and procedures 6. Monitoring and reporting 7. Developing internal compliance programs.

This course is a client-focused, project-based course in which students apply the knowledge and skills they have acquired throughout the program by working on projects related to the sustainability issues facing the client organization.

SAM 597 involves the preparation of a high-quality independent study paper.

Student will conduct independent research on a sustainability analytics and management topic.

Students will be presented with models and practices that minimize supply-demand mismatch and therefore maximize companies' own profitability as well as models and practices of collaboration with other companies in a supply chain that minimize risk and environmental costs and therefore maximize the supply chain's sustainability. This course will have an emphasis on the integration of business and technology aspects. We will first introduce an integrated view of the production and logistics functions in organizations such as capacity analysis, inventory management, and logistics management. The course then discusses topics involved in the interaction of a firm with others players in a supply chain such as valve of information, supply contracts, and risk sharing. Finally, the course will introduce models/tools enabling sustainability actions plans, for example, reducing waste in the supply chain, both upstream and downstream.

This course equips students with essential skills for launching and advancing their careers. Through interactive workshops and practical assignments, students will learn how to plan their job search, prepare for career fairs, and build a professional network. The course covers personal branding, resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, and crafting compelling cover letters. Students will explore online tools for career success and receive personalized feedback on assignments. The final weeks focus on enhancing public speaking and presentation skills, culminating in a final presentation that showcases each student's professional growth.

This course is designed to equip students with the essential skills, knowledge, and mindset needed to thrive in today’s dynamic and diverse professional environments. Through a combination of interactive workshops, practical exercises, and real-world applications, participants will develop competencies in communication, leadership, cultural awareness, and innovation while fostering an inclusive and ethical workplace culture. The curriculum begins with foundational learning on U.S. workplace etiquette, communication norms, and legal considerations, followed by hands-on practice to build confidence and adaptability. Students will refine professional communication skills, leverage AI for effective writing, and learn strategies for networking and informational interviews. Leadership development is emphasized through the study of conflict resolution, leadership styles, and team dynamics. The course also introduces design thinking and creative problem-solving to drive innovation, culminating in strategies for promoting equity, inclusion, and bias awareness in professional settings.

Aligned with the Stuart Educational and Professional Development Competency Model, the second-semester course (SSB 512) focuses on preparing students for internship and early career opportunities through intentional skill-building and applied practice. The course emphasizes interview readiness and professional communication, including articulating business competencies through behavioral and case-based responses, leveraging and engaging effectively in networking and informational interviewing for opportunity discovery. Students will also develop a deeper understanding of employer expectations, workplace norms, and recruitment processes across industries. Through interactive workshops, mock interviews, employer-informed activities, and reflective exercises, students will gain the confidence and practical tools needed to compete successfully for internships and experiential learning opportunities.