brussels home ~ courses ~ course descriptions

Course Descriptions

MET AD 620 Law, Regulation, and Sustainability

The study of global environmental problems has a direct impact on government, business, and non-governmental organizations. The study of global concerns and problems will be aimed at seeking sophisticated and comprehensive resolutions to maintain the vital balance between economic needs and environmental protection, at home and internationally. Students will examine issues such as climate change, ozone destruction, wildlife extinction, loss of biological diversity, and contamination of air, land, and water in relation to global economic issues and the role of international and domestic environmental law. 4 cr.

MET AD 632 Financial Concepts

Introduction to the concepts, methods, and problems of accounting and financial analysis. Includes accounting principles, measurement and disclosure issue, financial statement analysis, time value of money, cash flow projection and analysis, time value of money, capital budgeting and project evaluation, bone and equity valuation, cost of capital and capital structure. 4 cr.

MET AD 642B Project Management

The introductory course examines the concepts and applied techniques for cost effective management of both long-term development programs and short-term projects. Project management principles and methodology are provided with special focus on planning, controlling, and coordinating individual and group efforts. Other topics include contracts, procurement management, and quality management. MS Project® will provide hands-on practical skills. 4 cr.

MET AD 643B Project Leadership and Communications

To succeed in project management, you must be a strong leader and an effective communicator. This course examines the current philosophies of leadership as applied to project management and identifies various styles of communication and conflict resolution. Through case studies and various exercises, you will develop enhanced leadership, communication, conflict management, and negotiation skills. 4 cr.

MET AD 644B Project Risk and Cost Management

This course introduces the art and science of project risk as well as continuity management and cost management. Managing the risk of a project as it relates to a three-part systematic process of identifying, analyzing, and responding is examined through actual case studies. Students learn how to manage the components of a prject to assure it can be completed through both general and severe business disruptions on local, national, and international levels. Students learn the process of cost management, early cost estimation, detailed cost estimation, and cost control using earned value method. Students study in depth the issues of project procurement management and the different types of contracts for various scope scenarios. 4 cr.

MET AD 646 Program Management and Planning

Programs and projects deliver benefits to organizations by enhancing current capabilities or developing new capabilities for the organization to use. This course will provide a detailed understanding of program management and will present concepts that promote efficient and effective communication and coordination among various groups. Students understand PMI program management processes and use tools that automate and enforce processes for managing scope changes, risk, quality, issues, schedules, resources, releases, and costs. You will learn how to design a program and manage program costs, risks, and communications within the context of Project Portfolios. This course is targeted to senior executives, portfolio managers, program managers, project managers, and their team members, members of a PMO, customers/stakeholders, educators, and consultants. This course introduces processes and knowledge areas from three new PMI standards: Program Management standard, OPM3, and Portfolio Management. 4 cr.

MET AD 709B Case Studies in Current Corporate Financial Topics

Prereq: MET AD 630B.
Finance forecasting and planning; capital budgeting, cost of capital, dividend policy, rate of return, and financial aspects of growth. Readings and extensive use of case studies. 4 cr.

MET AD 711 Leadership and Strategy

This course focuses on the role of the leadership of a corporation in determining and implementing the corporation’s strategy. Through the analysis and the discussion in class of a number of cases, the leadership styles, approaches and methods will be studied, as well as the implications for the strategies of the corporations concerned, and the resulting successes or failures. 4 cr.

MET AD 725B Negotiations and Organizational Conflict Resolution

A communications skills course designed to better understand the nature of conflict and its resolution through persuasion, collaboration, and negotiation. Students will learn theories of interpersonal and organizational conflict and its resolution as applied to personal, corporate, historical, and political contexts. Students will assess their own styles, skills, and values, and develop techniques to better resolve disputes, achieve objectives, and exert influence. 4 cr.

MET AD 739 Marketing Management (Marketing)

Provides basic marketing knowledge and develops analytical and decision-making skills. Marketing tools, issues, programs, institutions, and their relationship to other management functions. Consumer behavior, promotional tools, pricing, distribution channels, product policy, marketing organization, control, and information system. 4 cr.

MET AD 749B International Economics

This course provides an overview of international business economics and theories. International Economics, as an applied economics covers micro and macroeconomic material. 4 cr.

MET AD 795B, 796B Directed Study

Prereq: consent of department chairman and instructor.
Independent study of special topics under faculty guidance. 4 cr.

CAS IR 509 (PO 573) Islam in Middle East Politics

Analysis of Islam in the classical and popular forms; examination of the role of the Muslim religion in the international politics of the modern Middle East, especially Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Libya; their interrelationships and their attitudes toward the West. 4 cr.

CAS IR 524B War and Statecraft

Introduction to the role of military power in the conduct of international affairs. Evaluates the writings of the major philosophers of war and military institutions in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. 4 cr.

CAS IR 535B Diplomacy and Statecraft

Examines the mechanisms and process of diplomacy in historical context, to assess approaches to the implementation of foreign policy, analyze the success and failure of these approaches in different circumstances, and consider wider issues in the application of statecraft. 4 cr.

CAS IR 550B European Integration

Assesses the meaning of "European Union" in its domestic, foreign policy, and economic dimensions. To understand the opportunities and limits of cooperation and conflict, relevant areas of European Community policy are discussed from a functionalist and realist perspective. 4 cr.

CAS IR 577B Foreign Policy of the People's Republic of China

Explores China's perception of its role in the world, its evolution from a regional to a world power, and its security and economic relationships within the international system. Relationships with the superpowers, Third World, and world economy, focusing on technology and capital transfers. 4 cr.

CAS IR 589B North Atlantic/European Security Issues

Examination of the post-Cold War security environment in the North Atlantic/greater Europe context. Exploration of threats to security, mechanisms in place and emerging (NATO, CFE, WEU, etc.), and challenges posed by changes since 1989. 4 cr.

GRS IR 701B International Relations for Practitioners

For master's degree students seeking applied knowledge of core theories, policies, and practices of international relations: power politics, foreign policy, statecraft, diplomacy, international organization, nongovernmental organization, international law, security and defense, armed conflict, espionage, negotiations, globalization, civil society. 4 cr.

GRS IR 704B Global Economic and Development Policy

Intermediate-level survey of the contemporary politics, economics, and policy questions in the international economy: theories of international political economy and international economics; politics of international economic institutions; analyses of industrial development, foreign investment, global and regional trade, and poverty alleviation. 4 cr.

GRS IR 760B The Political Economy of the European Union

Investigates major issues of Western European economic integration, utilizing theories of political/classical economics. Since all previous schemes for economic/monetary integration have failed, identification of conditions, winners, and losers of the integration process is focal. 4 cr.

MET CS 642 IT for Sustainability

This course will focus on IT technology and how an organization can leverage green principles and practices to reduce environmental and budgetary impacts on IT infrastructure. Students will focus on research projects that will consider business-driven green initiatives in their positive impact on the environment. The students have to demonstrate how green IT initiatives can contain cost benefits and can make an organization competitive by being financially sound. 4 cr.

MET LD 630 Leadership – Historic & Social Perspectives

This course will examine the underlying values of organizations and guides students through the evolutionary development of successful leadership models. Students will be exposed to multiple profiles and strategies of renowned leaders with a diverse set of challenges reflecting innovative and evolving methodologies. 4 cr.

MET LD 705 Leadership in a Dynamic Environment

This course will analyze the values, behaviors, and processes that lead people and organizations to become effective leaders in their chosen field and as a consequence to build sustainable and lasting competitive advantages. 4 cr.

MET LD 740 Group and Organizational Dynamics

The role and process of organizations and groups in development theory and practice. Attention given to the role of individual leadership skills and group-think in the shape and implementation of policies. Consideration of the traditions of rational/comprehensive and incremental decision theory: roles and functions, organization, participation, political relationships, and time and information use. Exploration of the relationships between planning, ideology, ethics, social change, and implementation. The course will emphasize analytical, research and communications skills via multiple teaching media. 4 cr.

MET MK 852B International Market Research

Examination of major marketing issues affecting companies operating in a global environment. Students will achieve an understanding of the economic, political and cultural differences among nations as they affect marketing opportunities and operations. Develop skills to identify and evaluate international marketing opportunities. 4 cr.

MET MK 857B International Marketing Strategy

Examination of major marketing issues affecting companies operating in a global environment. Students will achieve an understanding of the economic, political, and cultural differences among nations as they affect marketing opportunities and operations, and develop skills to identify and evaluate international marketing opportunities. 4 cr.

MET OM 735B Statistical Analysis

Statistical and mathematical solutions to business and financial decision-making. Basic concepts of probability theory. Data analysis centers on descriptive and inferential statistics. Sampling estimation, hypothesis testing, regression, and correlation analysis. 4 cr.

MET UA 515 History and Theory of Urban Planning

History, concepts, and methods of contemporary urban and regional planning practice. Governmental, nonprofit, and private settings of professional planning; plans, research, and policy development; uses and implementation of planning. Political analysis of planning issues, such as comprehensiveness, public interest, advocacy, negotiation, and future orientation. Case materials drawn from redevelopment, growth management, land use conflicts, and service delivery. 4 cr.

MET UA 617 Human and Ecological Systems: Living Systems Theory and Application

This is a course on sustainability and human settlement. How can we reconcile the interrelationships between perceived human needs and earth’s living processes? This course explores the theory and practical implementation of current practices of sustainability and living systems thinking, and evaluates humankind, the environment, and how we can coexist. The living processes of community will be explored as a catalyst for healthy change, design initiatives, and implementation. Our understanding will shift from seeing the world as pieces in relationship to seeing it as inseparable ‘wholes’ of systems nested within one another. 4 cr.

© 2008 Boston University in Brussels · Boulevard du Triomphe, 174, Triomflaan · B-1160 Brussels, Belgium
Tel: +32(2) 640 74 74 · Fax: +32(2) 640 65 15
brussels@bu.edu