Oregon MBA Advanced Strategy Courses | Lundquist College of Business

Advanced Strategy and Leadership Specialization

The advanced strategy and leadership specialization of the Oregon MBA prepares students to be future leaders of enterprise through strategies and concepts that resonate with the c-suite and boardroom.

Whatever your interest and passion, to succeed in business, you need a comprehensive and holistic understanding of how business operates. Through the advanced strategy and leadership specialization, students gain a cross-disciplinary perspective emphasizing the business domains of finance, sustainability, entrepreneurship, and sports business with a modern strategy overlay. By taking courses in leadership and negotiation, as well as the Oregon Advanced Strategy course, MBA students pursuing this specialization gain a strong foundation that prepares them to be future CEOs.

To have the advanced strategy and leadership specialization noted on their transcripts, MBA students must take the following courses:

The nine required core courses of the Oregon MBA (Accelerated MBA or Flex MBA take one core course: BE 625)
The specific courses required for the specialization (see below)*
Electives of their own choosing from a wide range available in the Lundquist College of Business, as well as from other colleges and departments across the University of Oregon (recommendations below).

*Note: Course overlap between specializations is not allowed. The same course cannot be used to apply to multiple specializations.

Required Specialization Courses

To earn the advanced strategy and leadership specialization on their transcripts, MBA students must take the following courses:

MGMT 615: Leadership
MGMT 623: Negotiation
BA 661: Oregon Advanced Strategy

ONE OF (finance requirement)*:

ACTG 618: Taxes and Business Strategy
ACTG 625: Financial Reporting
ACTG 631: Financial Statement Analysis
ACTG 662: Strategic Cost Management
FIN 671: Corporate Finance and Valuation
FIN 673: Advanced Topics in Corporate Finance

*Waived for student completing the finance and securities analysis specialization.

ONE OF (sustainable business requirement)*:

MGMT 640: Sustainable Business Development
MGMT 641: Industrial Ecology
OBA 533: Information Analysis for Managerial Decisions
OBA 566: Project Operations and Management Models
OBA 577: Supply Chain Operations and Information

*Waived for student completing the sustainable business practices specialization.

ONE OF (marketing requirement)*:

MKTG 660: Marketing Research
MKTG 665: Marketing Strategy
OBA 588: E-Business

*Waived for student completing the sports business specialization.

ONE OF (innovation and entrepreneurship requirement)*:

MGMT 620: Managing Global Business
MGMT 625: New Venture Planning
MGMT 635: Recognizing Business Opportunities

*Waived for student completing the innovation and entrepreneurship specialization.

Course Descriptions

ACTG 612: FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING
This course is an introduction to accounting, the language of business. An understanding of how financial accounting information is prepared and reported is one of the fundamental building blocks of a business education. This course is designed to assist you in developing an understanding of financial accounting concepts and techniques so you can be an effective and informed user of financial statement information. In this course students will learn to apply accounting rules to reflect underlying economic transactions; understand how differences in measurement rules affect financial statements; understand how manager judgment influences financial statements, and analyze financial statements to make business decisions.

ACTG 618: TAX AND BUSINESS STRATEGY
Focuses on the importance of tax considerations in making business decisions. Objectives for the course are to develop and apply a theoretical tax-planning framework that considers implications of a transaction on all parties, all explicit and implicit taxes, and all costs necessary to implement any tax plans. Among topics considered in the framework are how taxes are accounted for, the organizational form of the entity, the importance of tax planning, and nontax costs. After understanding the framework, the course applies these concepts to specific decision contexts, such as compensation plans, multinational tax planning, and mergers and acquisitions. At the conclusion of the class, students should be able to apply a framework to future decisions dealing with taxes, even as tax laws themselves continue to change.

ACTG 625: FINANCIAL REPORTING
Addresses two primary objectives. The first is to provide students with the technical knowledge necessary to understand the financial reporting system and the numbers produced by that system. The second is to provide students with an understanding of the context within which the financial statement numbers are used. Focused attention will be placed on issues in revenue recognition, receivables, leases, pensions, investments, income taxes, and cash flows. IFRS and U.S. GAAP comparisons are integrated into the course as well. The last section of the course spends time reviewing research linking financial reporting numbers to executive compensation. This course is user-focused rather than preparer-focused, and thus it is essential for any student who has an interest in a career in which financial statement information is an important ingredient to decisions.

ACTG 631: FINANCIAL STATEMENT ANALYSIS
Part of business analysis, financial statement analysis encompasses the evaluation of a company's past performance and risk, as well as prediction of future performance and risk. Such analysis may be useful for financial decisions related to equity valuation, debt valuation, credit risk assessment, and so forth. This course is designed to give preparers and users of financial information a framework for business analysis and valuation using financial statement data. Students apply this framework to a variety of business decisions. The course covers many of the techniques commonly used to analyze financial statements, including disclosure analysis, financial ratios, cash-flow analysis, forecasting, and valuation methods. At the end of the course students have an understanding of how business events are reflected in financial statements; literacy in reading 10-K's and 10-Q's; a working knowledge of the residual income valuation model; experience in applying asset pricing and valuation theories to business decisions. The course assumes a basic working knowledge of accounting, finance, economics and business strategy. Through cases, valuation software, and analysis projects, the course integrates key concepts from each of these areas for application to financial decision-making.

ACTG 662: STRATEGIC COST MANAGEMENT
Theory and application of management accounting techniques to decisions made under uncertainty in complex business environments.

BA 625: BUSINESS LAW AND ETHICS
Effective leadership and ethics are two sides of the same coin, whether in business, politics, or your personal affairs. That's why we made this course the culmination of the required core. Regardless of your chosen specialization, you and all your classmates will come together once more in your last term to take this course.

BA 661: OREGON ADVANCED STRATEGY
Pooling collective knowledge and capitalizing on each other’s insights, students will “bolt their ideas and class-discussed concepts to the ground,” effectively operationalizing Advanced Strategy concepts within an organization. This hands-on process will culminate in students’ final projects, which will demonstrate a firm understanding of the systems approach required to embed the advanced strategy macro values into a firm’s DNA and result in inimitable strategies designed to create long-term shareholder value while emphasizing authenticity, accountability and transparency.

FIN 612: FUNDAMENTALS OF FINANCE
This MBA core course examines the basic principles of finance theory and applies the principles to important decisions facing a corporate manager. The focus of the course is on valuation and how various types of decisions potentially affect the value of a company. The course covers the fundamentals of evaluating investment opportunities, the relation between risk and required return, and the notion of market efficiency. The ways that markets ascertain value and allocate capital are compared to how a firm allocates capital to projects or initiatives. Key decisions faced by corporate managers that are covered include capital structure and mix, dividend policy, corporate cash management; cost of capital evaluation; project analysis and valuation; internal versus external financing; and evaluating and managing a business’s financial risks. By the end of the course, you should be able to value stocks and bonds using discounted cash flow techniques; identify the relevant incremental cash flows of an investment opportunity; estimate the required rate of return or cost of capital; and evaluate whether an investment opportunity adds value to a business.

FIN 613: MANAGERIAL ECONOMICS
The subject of this course addresses competition between businesses operating in typical U.S. product markets. This course has three objectives: (1) to solidify understanding of fundamental tools of economic analysis so that these tools can be used; (2) to develop the role of industry structure and the impact structure tends to have on competitive strategy and profitability; (3) to begin to build skills in competitive analysis, which entails formation of marketing, production, channel, investment, and pricing strategies based on the way competitive forces appear to work themselves out in the market. The concepts covered, which are relevant to managerial decision making, include demand and supply analysis; optimal decision making using marginal analysis; production theory; decision making under perfect competition, monopoly, and monopolistic competition; externalities and public goods; game theory; and moral hazard.

FIN 671: CORPORATE FINANCE AND VALUATION
Application of financial principles to problems of valuation, capital budgeting, and financial policy.

FIN 673: ADVANCED TOPICS IN CORPORATE FINANCE
A case-based course that fosters a deeper understanding of the financial decisions that firms face in the real world by building on the fundamental principles of corporate finance. Cases are used to demonstrate how finance theory is applied to today’s corporate finance decisions. Some of the topics discussed in the course are the impact of dividend policy on firm value; capital structure; real options; managerial incentives; mergers and acquisitions; and corporate governance. Cases are used to motivate discussion on the topics. FIN 673 covers topics not covered in FIN 610, including mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and managerial incentives. Some areas covered in FIN 610 are covered in more depth in FIN 673, such as dividend policy and capital structure.

MGMT 612: MANAGING INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS
Course content is based upon behavioral science concepts and research findings directed toward the understanding of human behavior in various social contexts. Specific objectives of the course include developing an understanding of the design of organizations and their internal systems for achieving performance; the nature of team dynamics and group decision-making, and their influence on organizational performance; and individual cognitive and leadership styles and their impact on group and organizational processes.

MGMT 614: STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
The purpose of this course is to explore the organization as a whole and its interactions with its environment. Students will gain an understanding of critical contingency issues the organization faces in the environment and how it must manage these contingencies through its structure and strategy to gain competitive advantages. The focus will be on diagnosing and assessing organization situations and to show how large and small firms can be more effective and efficient not only in today's world but in tomorrow's as well.

MGMT 615: LEADERSHIP
Development of skills managers need to be effective leaders in organizations, including communicating, problem-solving, influencing, motivating, delegating, and resolving conflict.

MGMT 620: MANAGING GLOBAL BUSINESS
Focuses on the problems of operating across multiple political and cultural boundaries. Possible topics include corporate strategy, the role of multinational corporations, and international joint ventures.

MGMT 623: NEGOTIATION
Covers negotiation theory, including distributive and integrative bargaining techniques, economic complements, game theory, and alternative dispute resolution. Extensive in-class negotiation simulations are part of the course.

MGMT 625: NEW VENTURE PLANNING
Teams of student entrepreneurs engage in customer discovery, business model development, market opportunity assessment, financial modeling, and launch planning for a new venture. Students will develop presentation materials to communicate the opportunity to customers and/or funding sources under the guidance of instructors and community based mentors.

MGMT 635: RECOGNING BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
This course introduces the fundamentals of entrepreneurship, which empowers individuals to confront what others see as insurmountable problems and to seek opportunity through technological and business solutions. This course is designed to be valuable for all MBA students who seek to understand the entrepreneurial process.

MGMT 640: SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
The mandate for corporations to excel not only economically, but also environmentally, remains in place. Yet, many businesses still are not well prepared to take up the cause of environmental stewardship. This is ironic, because in many respects, the environmental movement represents an enormous opportunity for business, both domestically and globally. The purpose of this course is to bring together students from varied backgrounds to appreciate how economic activity impacts the natural environment, to understand the evolution and role of institutions that influence corporate environmental behavior, and to learn how a firm can manage its way to better environmental performance.

MGMT 641: INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY
Industrial ecology represents a systems approach to the design and manufacture of products (and delivery of services) with minimized ecological impact. It breaks from traditional corporate environmental management approaches by looking beyond the boundaries of individual facilities and firms to consider the industrial metabolism within supply chains, industrial clusters, and geographic regions.

MKTG 612: MARKETING MANAGEMENT
This course introduces the concept of marketing, factors that influence marketing management, and the role of marketing in society and business. The class will address the benefits of market analysis, target customer identification, and development of marketing-mix strategies structured to deliver superior customer value and optimize organizational performance. The objective is to develop skills and knowledge in the areas of consumer behavior, market segmentation, targeting, positioning, product, services, price, place, promotion, and strategic marketing with a sustainable, ethical and socially responsible approach.

MKTG 660: MARKETING RESEARCH STRATEGY
Marketing research as a tool for decision-making. Planning research projects; design, measurement, experimental and non-experimental techniques, analysis and interpretation of data; reporting research results.

MKTG 665: MARKETING STRATEGY
Relationship between marketing and other functional areas of a business. Emphasis on case analysis as a means of acquiring both planning and operational skills.

OBA 533: INFORMATION ANALYSIS AND MANAGERIAL DECISIONS
Teaches techniques to develop information to manage risk and improve decisions. These techniques include data-driven approaches for discovering business trends and strategic opportunities, including techniques for data mining and analyzing empirical data.

OBA 566: PROJECT AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT MODELS
Frameworks and solutions for managing complex projects and operations; implementing optimal strategies for producing profitable new products and services in the competitive global business environment.

OBA 577: SUPPLY CHAIN OPERATIONS AND INFORMATION
Strategic and tactical issues pertaining to the distribution and delivery of products and services. Methodologies and systems for designing, tracking, and managing complex global operations.

OBA 588: E-BUSINESS
Fundamental principles of electronic business; effect of e-business on business strategies, processes, customers, and suppliers; assessing the impact of e-business technologies on firm performance.

OBA 612: QUALITATIVE METHODS FOR MANAGERS
This course aims to achieve a level of understanding of statistical inference that enables students to be intelligent consumers of statistical analyses, able to apply some of the more useful analytic techniques including the modeling of relationships among variables and an introduction to classification. Specifically we will cover statistical sampling, estimation, hypothesis testing, and regression (simple, multiple, and logistic).

OBA 613: OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
This course is designed to address the key operations management issues in manufacturing and service organizations that have strategic as well as tactical implications. Students learn to understand the role of operations management in the overall business strategy of the firm; the strategic and tactical linkages between operations function and other functional areas of the firm; and the application of operations management policies and techniques to manufacturing as well as service sector firms. In addition, the course aims to identify and evaluate comparative approaches to operations management in an international context, as well as a range of tools appropriate for analysis of operating systems of the firm.

Electives

BE 510: BUSINESS LAW FOR MANAGERS
Examines key legal subjects that govern business transactions and relationships that all business owners and managers, as well as private persons, engage in—some on an almost daily basis. Topics include contract law for purchasing, selling, financing, and insuring services, goods and real property, as well as company formation and governance and personal estate planning through wills and trusts. Through this course of study students gain practical knowledge and skills for more successfully managing companies, advising clients, and conducting their personal commercial affairs.

FIN 608: WEALTH MANAGEMENT
Private wealth management is a growing and expanding business. The investment marketplace has grown increasingly complex for individual investors. The reality has made it difficult for many individuals to effectively manage their own investments to accomplish their objectives. As a result, many investors are using professional investment managers for assistance in creating and managing portfolios that may be better positioned to perform in a variety of market environments. The focus of this course is on client wealth management rather than the management of personal investments. The goal is to provide the knowledge needed in preparing for a possible career in wealth management. Career opportunities include portfolio managers, financial advisors, private bankers, financial planners, stock brokers, fund managers, investment advisors, and various sales positions in financial services.

FIN 510: IMPACT INVESTING
This course will explore the emerging tools and strategies in impact investing. It will ask the student to apply the core principles of finance and the tools learned in earlier coursework to create investment strategies that deliver both returns and solve a social/community and/or environmental challenge.

FIN 510: COMMERCIAL BANKING
This course will provide the student with an understanding of the operation of a commercial bank. Focus will be primarily on the management of institutions that take deposits and make loans and investments. Analysis of loans and investments will be contrasted with operating and pricing policies through the active use of a bank simulation. This experiential form of commercial bank management education is coincident with industry education and prepares students to enter the banking field with a well-rounded view of the entire institution’s operations.

MKTG 610: BRANDING
More and more firms of all types have come to the realization that one of the most valuable assets they have is the brand name associated with their products or services. Despite this recognition, very little attention has been paid to the subject in management education, especially in graduate business programs. The following statement suggests the severity of the problem. To address this oversight, brand strategy is an advanced MBA elective that addresses important branding decisions faced by an organization. Its basic objectives are to

Provide students with a complete understanding of the consumer and of how consumers develop brand attitudes and behaviors
Increase understanding of the important issues in planning and evaluating brand strategies
Provide a forum for students to apply branding strategies in a variety of domains.

The course places particular emphasis on understanding psychological principles at the consumer or customer level that will improve managerial decision-making with respect to brands. One aim of the course is to make these concepts relevant for any type of organization, whether it's public or private, or large or small.

OBA 544: BUSINESS DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
Covers techniques for structuring and storing business data, focusing primarily on relational database theory with applied skills for business users, including data warehouses, reporting, and normalization.

Advanced Strategy and Leadership MBA Courses and Electives