Course Descriptions
BUSI 601 Financial Accounting (3) The course provides the student with an introduction to accounting concepts, the accounting cycle, identifying and journalizing transactions, adjustments and the preparation of financial statements. Accounting information systems and internal controls are introduced. The course then proceeds to each of the major elements of the balance sheet. This “Foundation Accounting” course is required for graduate accounting students whose undergraduate degree includes a specialization other than accounting.
BUSI 602 Accounting for Business Entities (3) This course takes the student beyond the intermediate accounting concepts and into the world of mergers and acquisitions and consolidation accounting. This is followed by foreign currency and bankruptcy accounting. After completing the study of corporate entities, the formation, changes, and liquidation of partnership entities are studied. The course concludes with the study of fund accounting in governmental and not-for-profit entities. This “Foundation Accounting” course is required for graduate accounting students whose undergraduate degree includes a specialization other than accounting. (Prerequisite: BUSI 601 or equivalent)
BUSI 603 Quantitative Methods for Business Decisions (3) This course is aimed at familiarizing the student with the basic statistical techniques necessary to perform the research project (see BUSI 655). Following a brief review of basic statistical techniques the course will concentrate on regression analysis, topics in exponential design and analysis of variance, transformation of data and introductory econometric analysis.
BUSI 604 Federal Taxation of Individuals (3) This course is designed to provide the student with a working knowledge of federal income taxation as it pertains to individuals. Topics include analysis and administration of tax law, research and application to tax issues, scrutiny of tax cases, tax planning strategies, income recognition issues, methods of accounting for tax purposes, use of tax shelters, effects of the alternative minimum tax and the tax treatment of capital gains and losses.
BUSI 606 Managerial Economics (3) Managerial Economics applies economic theory and models such as supply and demand, optimization, elasticity and regression analysis to business decision making within the firm or organization. Students learn how economic forces affect output, hiring, product pricing, demand estimation and market forecasting and how to make profitable decisions to achieve the goals of the firm.
BUSI 607 Corporate Financial Management (3) This course provides an advanced level overview of principles and practices used by the finance professional. In particular, it covers the financial environment, utilizing net present value (NPV), valuation of financial assets, project analysis, opportunity cost of capital, risk and return, capital budgeting, debt and dividend policies, mergers, and planning. (Prerequisite: BUSI 601 or equivalent)
BUSI 608 Special Topics in Accounting (3) This course provides the student with a continuation of BUSI 601 Financial Accounting with coverage on accounting concepts and special topics. In particular, the course focuses on special accounting applications: earnings per share computations, investments, income taxes, pensions, leases and revenue recognition. This “Foundation Accounting” course is required for graduate accounting students whose undergraduate degree includes a specialization other than accounting. (Prerequisite: BUSI 601 or equivalent)
BUSI 610 Business Ethics (3) This course is designed to facilitate a learning environment for students to obtain a basic knowledge of business ethics and moral reasoning, and develop the critical thinking skills and competencies related to ethical issues that are needed in today’s business environment. The course is designed to provide the student with the economic and political foundations of ethical systems, to underscore unethical or questionable business practices and highlight the moral dilemmas facing management.
BUSI 611 Behavioral Issues and Ethics in Management (3) This course is an in-depth examination of ethics, managerial theories and behavioral concepts in planning, organizing, staffing and controlling business organizations. Emphasis is on ethics, practical application of teamwork, leadership, motivation, organizational change and development. Readings in current and classical literature enhance understanding of the development of management thought. Emphasis is on alignment of managerial, financial and organizational goals with behavioral issues in developing and using budgets and standards. Logical steps to reach a decision are analyzed.
BUSI 612 Global Strategic Management (3) This course makes an in-depth review of the changes in management, marketing, finance, and production management resulting from the globalization of world markets. The view is through the experiences, success, and failures of real managers involved in global strategic planning.
BUSI 613 Decision Analysis (3) Managerial decisions are often made in an environment of great uncertainty. Decision analysis provides practical techniques to structure decision problems and quantitative methods to evaluate choices. The course prepares the student to make excellent decisions while considering objectives, alternatives, consequences, and uncertainties and integrating logical processes with other information.
*BUSI 614 Strategic Profitability Analysis (3) This course explores how managers can apply available information systems and accounting data to enable effective, practical understanding of cost and profit. It will consider issues such as value chain analysis, activity based costing, customer profitability analysis, budgeting and performance evaluation. (Prerequisite: BUSI 601 Financial Accounting or equivalent)
*BUSI 615 Contemporary Marketing Perspectives (3) Current thought and best practices in business-to-consumer and business-to business marketing are studied. Application of concepts such as consumer relationship marketing, the lifetime value of a customer, and one-to-one marketing are studied, including the impact of information technology applications on marketing management and the evolution of information systems into e-marketing.
BUSI 625 Financial Modeling (3) This course focuses on the development of microcomputer solutions to financial problems. There is an emphasis on the custom design and implementation of models, using spreadsheet and database applications software. Topics include financial statement modeling, forecasting of free cash flow, leasing and capital budgeting decisions, option pricing and portfolio optimization.
BUSI 651 Professional Auditing (3) This course begins with a review of the important technical tools and techniques needed to become an auditor. These techniques include the identification of audit objectives, the many types of audit evidence required, the internal control evaluation and control risk assessment. Both the utilization of statistical sampling tools and the application of specific audit procedures are reviewed, and audit programs are designed. The course will specifically address the issue of management fraud and other timely topics. Audit reports and standards, analytical procedures, auditing electronic information systems, other services performed by the auditor, as well as ethical and legal liability issues are explored.
BUSI 652 Accounting for Managers (3) This course focuses on the various aspects of a management accounting system that can be utilized to support primary management tasks of organizing, planning, and controlling through more accurate cost information. Technical topics include tools to evaluate product lines, pricing of products and services, and changes in income resulting from selected courses of action. Recent trends in management accounting, including activity-based management, total quality management, just-in-time practices, and performance measurement are explored. (Prerequisite: BUSI 601 or equivalent)
BUSI 653 Federal Taxation of Business Entities (3) This advanced taxation course provides an in-depth study and discussion of current federal tax law with respect to corporations (profit and not for profit), partnerships, estates and trusts. A research project utilizing web-based resources will be required. The effects of international taxation will be considered. The impact of proposed changes in tax laws are integrated throughout the course. (Prerequisite: BUSI 601 and 604 or equivalent)
BUSI 659 Analysis of Financial Statements (3) This course brings together skills learned in accounting and finance courses. These skills are applied in a financial statement context where new analytical skills are developed. Important investment theories are reviewed. Operating, investing and financing activities of a firm are analyzed. The student will learn to identify liquidity problems of a firm. Financial forecasting techniques are introduced and skills are developed to assess company performance. Analytical models are presented for predicting financial distress. Methods are developed to measure the adequacy of profitability. The emphasis of the course is to develop evaluative, analytical, and critical thinking skills. (Prerequisite: BUSI 601 or equivalent)
BUSI 670 Working Capital Management (3) This course is designed to give practitioners and advanced students of finance exposure to the problems and solutions associated with short-term financial management, particularly in the treasury function of a modern corporation. The emphasis of the course is on the liquidity, risk-management, and institutional issues that affect the corporation’s operating or cash cycle. Topics include valuation models for short-term financial decisions, payment mechanisms, and cash management systems, short-term borrowing arrangements, and forecasting techniques. (Prerequisite: BUSI 607 or equivalent)
BUSI 671 Foundations of Professional Financial Planning (3) This course provides an overview of professional financial planning theory and practice in the context of ethical behavior, understanding client needs, and regulatory compliance. Topics include purposes of financial planning, value of objective advice, financial analysis tools, the financial planning process, and the client-advisor relationship.
BUSI 672 Risk Management and Insurance Planning (3) This course addresses business and personal risk management, insurance theory, legal risk principles; insurance contracts; social insurance; insurance companies and markets; insurance pricing, taxation and regulation. The student learns how to determine life, long-term care and disability income insurance needs and recognize risks that can be reduced by insurance.
BUSI 673 Investment Planning and Portfolio Analysis (3) This course presents investment planning concepts, integrated with the techniques of securities analysis and portfolio management, in the context of the financial planning process. Topics include risk and return measurement, traditional and alternative investment choices, valuation techniques, modern portfolio theory, asset allocation, and portfolio performance evaluation.
BUSI 674 Income Tax Planning for Individuals and Businesses (3) This course includes federal income taxation of individuals and businesses. Among topics are tax theory, individual and corporate tax calculations, investments, business entities, cost basis and recovery, property dispositions, passive activity losses, at-risk rules, deficiencies, refunds, penalties, accounting methods, accounting periods, and professional tax planning techniques for most favorable tax treatment.
BUSI 675 Retirement Planning and Employee Benefits (3) This course focuses on planning secure retirements for individuals and designing retirement plans for businesses. Topics include: integration of personal savings, social security and employer retirement plans; reconciling conflicting needs of employees, owners, and cost considerations in the pension plan design; deferred compensation; and non-qualified executive benefit plans.
BUSI 676 Estate Planning (3) Estate Planning covers both tax and non-tax considerations in the disposition of assets and protection of survivors in the event of death. The professional planner will consider both lifetime planning and planning for the conservation and distribution of the client’s estate at death when designing an estate plan. The course includes the estate planning process, working with other members of the estate planning team such as the attorney, the accountant, the trust officer or other trustee, and the life insurance specialist. The course also includes the methods of estate transfer at death, federal gift and estate taxes, issues relating to generation skipping, estate liquidity, estate considerations of special situations, and methods of transfer during life.
BUSI 678 Health Care Financial Management (3) This course introduces the language of accounting and the principles of financial management to the healthcare practitioner using examples of hospitals and other healthcare agencies. Both for-profit and not-for-profits entities are considered. The concepts and applications in this course prepare clinical professionals for the financial decisions confronting their own organizations in a managed care environment. The course also acquaints financial personnel with the current issues and practices unique to healthcare finance. Topics include: financial statement analysis, cash budgeting, capital financing, benchmarking, payment systems, and responsibility accounting.
BUSI 679 Government and Not-for-Profit Finance (3) This course introduces the language and tools of finance for non-financial professionals in public service organizations. The primary objective is to provide the conceptual foundations necessary to use and interpret financial information, and coincidentally an appreciation of the skills and resources needed to generate that information.
*BUSI 681 Business Law for Managers (3) This course provides the coverage of the business law topics relevant to practice in the accounting profession. The course focuses on the law of contracts, agency, real property, bankruptcy, securities regulation, Article 2 (Sales) and Article 3 (Commercial Paper) of the Uniform Commercial Code, debtor-creditor relationships, government regulation and CPA legal liability.
BUSI 691 Introduction to Fraud Examination (3) The student will be introduced to occupational fraud, which includes asset misappropriations, fraudulent financial statements, bribery and corruption. This course will cover the fraud triangle and who commits fraud, the techniques used to detect fraud and the various anti-fraud initiatives that an organization uses to prevent and/or limit fraudulent acts.
BUSI 703 Research Methods (3) This course is designed to provide students with the fundamentals of research design and applications in the business field. The course starts by discussing the fundamentals of the scientific approach for problem solving and inquiry. Then it proceeds to the development of a hypothesis utilizing the appropriate test methods. Steps of the research design and test execution are analyzed. (Prerequisite: BUSI 603)
*BUSI 711 Managing for Internal Innovation (3) This course focuses on innovation management as an ongoing business practice and explores requirements for competitive advantage. The open, organic and collaborative organizational management structure needed for raising and sustaining innovation is analyzed including the policies, processes, and methods required from the idea creation stage through implementation. (Prerequisites: BUSI 606, 607, 611)
*BUSI 712 Strategic Human Resources Management (3) Application of best practices in human resources management is investigated. This entails translation of business objectives and strategies into human resources needs planning and application of disciplined human resources management processes including job definitions, recruiting and selection, motivation and control, performance evaluation, training and development, and succession planning. (Prerequisites: BUSI 606, 607, 611)
*BUSI 713 Managing the Service Organization (3) Students study best practices application in leading the contemporary service organization. The course covers such important areas as developing among all employees a sense of ownership of the brand whose service they are delivering, process mapping, project management techniques, and the management of organization-wide technology applications. (Prerequisites: BUSI 606, 607, 611)
*BUSI 714 Situational and Transformational Leadership (3) The “leader/follower” relationship and best practices in building effective teams are explored. Analyzing both leader and follower behaviors and how to integrate diversity are studied. The course integrates the “needs analysis” and Leadership Effectiveness and Adaptability (L.E.A.D.) instrument and emphasizes the desired takeaways from each stakeholder group in the leader/follower relationship. (Prerequisites: BUSI 606, 607, 611)
*BUSI 731 New Products and Services Development (3) The strategic fundamentals of new products and services development – segmenting markets, selecting targets, and designing value propositions addressing unsatisfied needs of target segments - are discussed and analyzed. Best practices in the development process are assessed with emphasis on how the fastest changing industries adapt and overcome impediments to innovation. (Prerequisites: BUSI 606, 607, 615*)
*BUSI 732 E-Marketing (3) Conduct and management of e-commerce and its opportunities, limitations, risks, and impact of the internet on marketing and media are investigated. Topics include search engine marketing, social networks, mass customization, on-line research, and internet communication and entertainment. Relevance of e-commerce to current business models and competitiveness is emphasized. (Prerequisites: BUSI 606, 607, 615*)
*BUSI 733 Global and Multi-Cultural Marketing (3) Strategic marketing in an era of globalization and multi-cultural diversity, domestically and abroad is comprehensively examined. A review of the global economy, social and cultural awareness, global brand strategy, adaptation of domestic successes to international markets, and opportunities in emerging and developing markets is an important course focus. (Prerequisites: BUSI 606, 607, 615*)
*BUSI 734 Services Marketing (3) This course focuses on service sector marketing. Topics include customer experience research, customer relationship marketing, customer lifetime value, integrated marketing communication, and strategic innovation in new services development. Special emphasis is given to examples and cases from financial services and other industries most relevant to the student population. (Prerequisites: BUSI 606, 607, 615*)
BUSI 754 Contemporary Accounting Issues (3) This advanced course provides comprehensive analysis of accounting theory and practice. Emphasis is devoted to analyzing the application of existing accounting standards and determining the adequacy of such standards. The coverage is extended to examine how accounting as reported by management conforms to the conceptual framework of accounting. Current accounting problems confronting the profession are studied an analyzed. A wide range of topics is covered, including off-balance sheet financing, the historical cost accounting model, present value accounting, and other current issues. (Prerequisites: BUSI [601, 602, 608 except for U.S. accounting undergraduates], 651, 652, and 659)
BUSI 756 Master’s Thesis Continuation (3) Required enrollment if a student cannot complete the thesis in one semester.
BUSI 770 Ethical and Professional Standards for Investment Management (3) This course provides an overview of the laws and industry regulations governing financial reporting and investment management. A code of ethics and professional standards of practice are interpreted in the context of specific situations, including insider trading and soft dollar arrangements. Global performance presentation and statistical reporting practices are discussed. (Prerequisite: BUSI 603)
BUSI 771 Analysis of Equity Investments (3) This course covers the theory and practice of equity valuation for the investment generalist. It presents a comprehensive survey of the prevailing valuation models, using contemporary real-world applications and a thorough integration of accounting and finance concepts. Content includes discounted cash flow methods, relative value models, and technical analysis.
BUSI 772 Analysis of Debt Investments (3) This course describes the features, risk factors and economics of fixed income securities. Valuation techniques are applied to instruments in different sectors of the bond market. Other topics include yield spreads, interest rate risk, term structure, mortgage- and asset-backed securities, derivative instruments, credit analysis, and trading strategies. (Prerequisite: BUSI 673)
BUSI 774 Analysis of Derivatives and Alternative Investments (3) This course provides a comprehensive discussion of investment strategies using derivative instruments and alternative assets. Forwards and futures, options, and swaps are examined in the context of hedging strategies to manage equity market, interest rate, and currency risk. Topics also include alternative investments such as real estate investment trusts (REITs), hedge funds, commodity indexes, private equity and venture capital. (Prerequisite: BUSI 673)
*BUSI 775 Advanced Portfolio Management (3) This course covers advanced topics in portfolio management, emphasizing global investment strategies, risk management tools, and performance evaluation. Topics include exchange rate forecasting, international asset pricing, dynamic asset allocation, style analysis, and attribution. (Prerequisite: BUSI 673)
*BUSI 776 Global Finance (3) This course analyzes the financial environment, risks, goals and challenges of multinational corporations and domestic corporations considering entry into global markets. Topics include balance of payments accounting, international monetary systems, and foreign exchange risk management. Making informed international investment and financing decisions, including those involving e-business and technology is emphasized. (Prerequisite: BUSI 607)
*BUSI 777 Financial Institutions and Banking Relationships (3) The role of financial institutions, the response of institutions to changes in the economy, and their relationships with customers is examined. The course examines asset choices of banks and non-bank institutions and includes financial management topics concerning banking relationships such as forecasting financial statements, bank credit usage, and business valuation. (Prerequisites: BUSI 606, 607)
*BUSI 778 Financial Restructuring and Reorganization (3) This course examines the historical, legal and strategic framework, of business combinations and breakups; their impact on business valuation, financing and corporate governance; and their managerial and operational implications. Study includes mergers, spin-offs, leveraged buyouts, junk bond financing, bankruptcy, and other forms of corporate restructuring. (Prerequisites: BUSI 601 or equivalent and BUSI 607)
*BUSI 780 Capstone: Creating the Comprehensive Financial Plan (3) Students create several group cases and then an individually-produced professional-caliber comprehensive personal financial plan. The course synthesizes knowledge and skills including ethics, analysis, risk management and insurance, investments, income tax, retirement planning, estate planning, regulation and certification requirements, communication, and professional responsibility into a comprehensive whole.
(Prerequisites: Three of the following five courses - BUSI 671, BUSI 673, BUSI 674, BUSI 675 or BUSI 676)
*BUSI 799 Interdisciplinary Capstone Project (3) The MBA program culminates in a capstone project which challenges the learner to synthesize and apply the competencies acquired throughout the program, emphasizing his or her area of specialization. Working within an interdisciplinary project team, learners utilize practices developed in the classroom to solve “real world” business problems.