Course Descriptions
ACTG 610: PASS-THROUGH ENTITIES
This is an introduction to the taxation of pass-through entities—S corporations and partnerships (including limited liability companies)—as they form, operate, and dissolve. In addition, the course develops an understanding of the tax research process, including the hierarchy of research authority, issue identification/framing of “the question(s)”, identification and evaluation of relevant authoritative materials, and presentation of findings.
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 617: TAXATION OF BUSINESS
Covers the basic structure of federal tax law as it applies to corporations and shareholders; tax and economic consequences of the creation, operation and liquidation of a corporation; tax and economic consequences of withdrawals, payments or distributions of assets from corporations; tax and economic consequences of a reorganization; reasons for and rules regarding consolidated tax returns; and theory and application of accounting for corporate income taxes under financial accounting rules.
ACTG 618: TAXES 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.
BE 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.
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.
FIN 562: DERIVATIVE MARKETS AND FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
Derivatives are some of the world’s most liquid and largest securities, playing a role in many investment portfolios. Their use has fundamentally changed asset and liability management. This course is intended to provide an understanding of various risks that corporations face, practical aspects of how these risks are managed, and the tools and instruments that are available to deal with them. The class looks at the role of the derivatives in risk management and uses and pricing of derivatives along with options, futures, swaps, and value-at-risk. By the end of the course, students understand the intuition and mechanics of equity derivatives, assess the values and risks of derivatives, comprehend innovations in derivative markets, and appreciate how these tools can assist managers’ ability to make better decisions.
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 609: MASTERS INVESTMENT GROUP
Finding market opportunities in emerging markets presents investors and managers with issues not just of understanding capital market behaviors but also of firm valuation. Students will research and present the risks and uncertainties in these markets alongside the potential for value creation. The Masters Investment Fund gives students the opportunity to manage an actual fund of emerging market equities, evaluate stock performance, examine future earnings and valuation, benchmark performance, and present results to investment professionals.
All investment fund members are analysts. Analysts monitor the condition and activity of their assigned industry, region, and individual securities within the industry and region. Each analyst is responsible for the following:
- Monitoring the performance of his or her companies;
- Keeping apprised of current news within the assigned industry and region;
- Researching securities in the assigned region and industry; and
- Recommending securities to be bought or sold.
This course is open to all graduate students. It acts as the Strategic Planning Project (SPP) for MBA students who are pursuing the investment management/capital markets career.
FIN 610 ADVANCED TOPICS IN PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT
FIN 610 HEDGE FUNDS
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 675: FIXED INCOME SECURITIES
Provides an understanding of the interest rate risk that corporations face, practical aspects of how these risks are managed, and the tools and instruments that are available to deal with them. The class looks at fixed income securities and their derivatives, their valuation, and the hedging and management of interest rate risk. Students develop tools to explore the theoretical, empirical, and institutional aspects of fixed-income securities and their derivatives, as well as develop an appreciation for how these tools may apply to managerial decisions in other contexts.
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.
FIN 683: CONCEPTS OF INVESTMENTS
Follows FIN 612 (Fundamentals of Finance), which covers the traditional investment topics of portfolio theory, market efficiency, and the capital asset pricing model. This course builds on this foundation by focusing on major types of investments, particularly equity and fixed income markets. The course may also consider mutual funds and options, stocks, and bonds. In order to develop a way of thinking about framing investment decisions, the measuring of risk and the relation between risk, expected return, and security analysis are key themes. Students also broadly consider informational efficiency in financial markets—in other words, the extent to which financial assets are or are not correctly priced. Topics include capital asset pricing vs. arbitrage pricing theory and risk sources vs. risk return.
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.
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.
OBA 612: QUANTITATIVE 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.
