Courses

• SMG OM 465: Improving Quality: Six Sigma Certification
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: SMG OM 323.
  Six Sigma quality programs help companies deliver near-perfect products and services. People trained as Six Sigma experts are highly sought after on the job market. This course makes students proficient in Six Sigma including its underlying philosophies, tools (for example, statistical process control), and implementation. This course certifies students as Six Sigma Green Belts and is also designed to prepare students so that when they complete one or more quality improvement projects in a post-BU career, they will be ready to test for a "Black Belt."
• SMG OM 467: Global Supply Management
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: SMG OM 323.
  Develops an understanding of the nature of international problems associated with the supply, distribution, and sourcing of products. Issues such as the operational support of market development in foreign countries, international sourcing, country analysis, and the management of supply and distribution activities are covered. A team project is required. 4 cr.
• SMG OM 498: Directed Study in Operations Management
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: Directed study requires consent of the instructor and the department chairman.
  Directed study requires consent of the instructor and the department chairman.
• SMG PL 430: U.S. Health Reform in the 21st Century
  This Law and Public Policy seminar provides an in-depth look at policy issues and legal challenges facing the U.S. health care system as major reforms are implemented, including the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act of 2010, the creation of state health insurance exchanges, antitrust issues in the formation of accountable care organizations, malpractice reform, new payment methods, and alternative approaches to system reform. Students read and analyze articles, business cases, issue briefs, and legal opinions from diverse perspectives to learn how the U.S. health care system came to be and how it will change in the future. 4 cr.
• SMG PL 498: Directed Study in Markets, Public Policy, and Law
  Directed Study
• SMG QM 450: Business Analytics
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: SMG FE 323 ; SMG IS 323 ; SMG MK 323 ; SMG OM 323.
  Improves students' ability to think logically about and to structure complex managerial problems; and to develop Excel-based spreadsheet models that can be used to significantly improve managerial decision-making. The course is taught almost entirely by example, using problems from the main functional areas of business: Finance, Operations, and Marketing. Students learn about the two main types of modeling approaches: optimization models which can help find the "best" solution, and simulation models which allow explicit consideration of risk trade-offs associated with alternatives. 4 cr.
• SMG SI 422: Strategy and Policy
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: SMG FE 323, SMG IS 323, SMG MK 323, SMG OM 323, senior standing.
  Provides students with a powerful set of tools which will prepare them to analyze, formulate, and implement business firm strategy with the aim of attaining sustainable competitive advantage. Adopts the perspective of the general manager, challenging student knowledge in each functional area in the effort to create integrative strategies that serve the needs of shareholders, as well as other stakeholders inside and outside the company. The course includes conceptual readings, which elucidate the fundamental concepts and frameworks of strategic management, as well as case analyses, which enable students to apply their knowledge to real-world situations and managerial decisions. The course culminates with a final project, which requires student teams to perform a complete strategic analysis on a public company, considering its industry environment and dynamics, its strategic positioning and internal resources, and proposing a course of action for the firm to respond to its strategic challenges. 4 cr.
• SMG SI 435: Entertainment Management
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: SMG FE 323 ; SMG IS 323 ; SMG MK 323 ; SMG OM 323.
  (Offered in Los Angeles) Surveys the application of management concepts and principles to the film, television, video, new media and music industry. This course examines administration and finance, development, production, and distribution, and introduces students to the organizations and people (such as studios, independent production companies, talent managers, and agents) who manage, invest, and eventually profit in this creative industry. Much of the class time is spent in discussion of current entertainment industry trends. Students gain the skills to achieve their own entertainment goals. 4 cr.
• SMG SI 438: Talent Representation and Management
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: SMG OB 221 or CAS PS 367 or COM CM 303.
  (Offered in Los Angeles) Using case studies and business models, students examine the manner in which critical players interact and attempt to work together in behalf of clients in an effort to make their "professional dreams" come to fruition. Participants will gain an understanding of the different areas of talent representation, how each one functions in the scope of a talent's career and what the responsibilities are for each position in each area of representation. Participants will also gain a clear view of what the business of Entertainment Representation has to offer as a chosen career. 4 cr.
• SMG SI 443: Art of the Start
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: SMG FE 323, SMG IS 323, SMG MK 323, and SMG OM 323
  Focuses on sales strategy and execution, critical factors in building a successful business. The entrepreneur, having successfully created a novel offering, must create and keep a customer. This course provides students with effective sales skills to create traction with customers and maximize revenue growth. In addition, students learn new frameworks to evaluate the various market channels, trade-offs in strategic partnerships, and approaches to managing a field sales force. The course also addresses identifying early adopters, pricing strategies, and the selling process. Students engage in a field project assisting an entrepreneur with the go-to-market strategy. 4 cr.
• SMG SI 444: Entrepreneurship
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: SMG FE 323, SMG IS 323, SMG MK 323, and SMG OM 323
  Addresses the specifics of planning a business startup or expanding and altering an existing small business, including the feasibility of ideas, market definition, management, and operations and financing requirements. This is a hands-on, experiential learning course requiring integration of previous coursework into a coherent, realistic business plan. Helps students assess and develop their own particular idea and to consider the appropriateness for them of entrepreneurship as a career choice. 4 cr.
• SMG SI 445: Small Business Management
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: SMG FE 323, SMG IS 323, SMG MK 323, and SMG OM 323
  Designed to help students understand the intricacies of running a small company. The course addresses the major problem areas in smaller companies, including valuation, negotiation, deal structure, personnel and compensation, and marketing and financing. Exposes students to a wide range of business activities, emphasizing significant differences between large and small enterprises. The course uses a competitive computer simulation to provide students with the opportunity to "run" their own business. 4 cr.
• SMG SI 451: Organizing for Design and Innovation
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: SMG FE323, SMG IS323, SMG MK323, and SMG OM323; or SMG SI480.
  This course examines how managers and leaders can create the conditions for innovation at the individual, team and organizational levels and how those conditions differ for startup and mature organizations. Managing innovation includes the generation of ideas; the integration of those ideas into new product concepts; and the commercialization of those ideas. While core strategy courses address the questions of what innovations to pursue and whether and when those innovations will bring value, this course addresses the question of how managers can create organizations to deliver sustainable innovations of value. 4 credits. (Spring 2011 pilot course)
• SMG SI 453: Strategies for Environmental Sustainability
  This course focuses on understanding the impact of regulations, customer preferences, and changing industry dynamics that increase the pressure for environmental sustainability in order to evaluate and craft recommendations for firm strategy. This course also helps prepare managers to better understand how to engage these issues with stakeholders, including investors, regulators, and nongovernmental organizations, as well as customers and suppliers.
• SMG SI 455: Leadership and Management of Nonprofit Organizations
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: SMG AC 222 and SMG OB 221
  Introduces students to the structure, scope, and scale of the nonprofit sector in the U.S. and the inter-relationship of the nonprofit, business, and government sectors. Students investigate the major nonprofit sub-sectors such as health, education, arts, environment, religious institutions, international nongovernmental organizations, social services, and philanthropic organizations (such as foundations). Following this overview, the course narrows its focus to the specific application of management topics in the sector including effective board governance, executive leadership, human resources management (including the management of volunteers), operations, resource development (fundraising), marketing, and nonprofit financial management. Class format combines lectures, case studies, student projects, guest speakers from the field, and discussion. 4 cr.
• SMG SI 468: Entrepreneurship in High-Technology Environments
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: SMG FE 323 ; SMG IS 323 ; SMG MK 323 ; SMG OM 323.
  Real estate development is a process rather than a product. Too often, assumptions about occupancy, market absorption, rental income growth, valuation and competition are based on guesswork and interest in specific product types. The course reviews the underlying demographic market data that drives demand; utilizing data such as population and job growth, market and marketability analysis. The focus then shifts to site selection and feasibility analysis, the available methods of gaining site control and the process of assembling the professional team. Later, the course reviews the regulatory control process, along with budgeting and contract award and review of the construction control processes. The course is introductory in nature and assumes students have little or no knowledge about the development process. 4 cr.
• SMG SI 469: Real Estate Development
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: SMG FE 323 ; SMG IS 323 ; SMG MK 323 ; SMG OM 323.
  Real estate development is a process rather than a product. Too often, assumptions about occupancy, market absorption, rental income growth, valuation and competition are based on guesswork and interest in specific product types. The course reviews the underlying demographic market data that drives demand; utilizing data such as population and job growth, market and marketability analysis. The focus then shifts to site selection and feasibility analysis, the available methods of gaining site control and the process of assembling the professional team. Later, the course reviews the regulatory control process, along with budgeting and contract award and review of the construction control processes. The course is introductory in nature and assumes students have little or no knowledge about the development process. 4 cr.
• SMG SI 471: International Entrepreneurship
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: SMG FE 323 ; SMG IS 323 ; SMG MK 323 ; SMG OM 323.
  Designed for students who may at some point be interested in pursuing managerial careers in the international entrepreneurial sector, and covers the development of skills to identify, evaluate, start, and manage ventures that are international in scope. Over the course of the semester, the class "travels" to more than fifteen countries on five continents, and analyze operations at each stage of the entrepreneurial process. The course covers market entry, forming alliances, negotiations, managing growth, and cross-border financing. Support from local governments, and the cultural, ethical, legal, and human resource issues facing the entrepreneur is also covered. 4 cr.
• SMG SI 480: The Business of Technology Innovation
  Open only to seniors and juniors in the College of Engineering. SMG students cannot take this course for degree credit. Provides an introduction to entrepreneurship and business for the engineer. Topics include finding business ideas; recognizing good from bad; understanding the importance of business model; turning technology into a business, including what to sell and how to sell it; the role of engineering within a business; business financial statements; and startups and venture capital, including starting a company or joining a startup. 4 cr.
• SMG SI 498: Directed Study in Strategy and Innovation
  Directed Study