Management
Note: the courses on this page reflect Summer Term 2008 offerings.
Please check back on December 15 for a list of courses available during Summer Term 2009.
Metropolitan College
UNDERGRADUATE COURSES
MET MG 301 Introduction to Management
A look at the management of an enterprise from the perspective of the chief
executive officer. Covers the functions of organizing for successful management.
Survey of theories and techniques. Examination of case studies. 4 cr.
Top
MET MG 410 Entrepreneurial Management: Starting, Innovating, and Managing
Small-, Medium-, and Large-Sized Ventures
Covers the four key elements of successful entrepreneurial management: choosing
a business, organizing, financing, and marketing. Includes preparing a business
plan, becoming an entrepreneur, raising venture capital, selling, negotiating,
and building an effective organization. Topics given special consideration
are the practice of innovation, the art of leadership, and how to relate talents
to succeeding in an innovative managed venture and technology management. 4
cr.
Top
MET MG 415 Program and Project Management
An examination of project management concepts, including organizational
forms, planning and control techniques, and the role of the project manager.
Develops the skills vital to effective management of multidisciplinary tasks
through lectures, case studies, and business simulations. 4 cr.
Top
MET MG 503 Business in a Changing Society
Prereq: advanced standing or consent of instructor. An examination
of the management process and the social environment in which organizations
operate, including a discussion of the manager's responsibilities to employees,
customers, stockholders, and society. 4 cr.
Top
GRADUATE COURSES
MET AD 657 Economic Sustainability, Development, and Competitiveness
of a Tourist Destination
This course allows the student to understand and learn how to develop
and manage tourism destinations that have the capability to perform effectively
in an increasingly competitive international marketplace in ways that are environmentally,
socially, and culturally sustainable. Topics include: the evolving nature
of competition and sustainability, dimensions of competitive destination and
sustainable destination, the global macro-environment for tourism, the competitive
micro-environment, core resources and attractors, supporting facilities, and
destination policy, planning, and development. 4 cr.
Top
MET AD 725 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.
Top
MET AD 733 Leadership in Management
Provides a comprehensive overview of leadership skills and abilities
through an examination of traditional and contemporary models of leadership.
Students examine personal attitudes and perceptions as they relate to their
leadership abilities and explore such areas as team building, motivation and
reward. This course includes a weekend at the Boston University Sargent Center
for Outdoor Education in New Hampshire. The program fee includes
room and board and
transportation for this weekend of experiential learning. 4 cr.
Top
MET AD 742 Program and Project Management
Examines concepts and applied techniques for cost-effective management
of both long-term development programs and smaller short-term projects. Special
focus on planning, controlling, and coordinating efforts of multiple individuals
and/or working groups. 4 cr.
Top
MET AD 745 Competitive Strategies for Dynamic Environments
Reviews the process whereby organizations establish and pursue goals
within internal and external constraints, resources, and opportunities. Topics
include strategy and tactics; the process of strategic choice and adjustment;
resource assessment; environmental and competitor analysis; stakeholders and
values; and strategy implementation, control, and valuation. 4 cr.
Top
MET AD 754 International Commerce: Middle East
Explores the geopolitical environment of the Middle East and its interaction
with business. This course integrates the cultural impact on trade via governments,
economics systems and local labor. 4 cr.
Top
MET AD 773 International Business Simulation
Prereq: MET AC 630 and FI 631. Through the use of an international
business simulation, students develop the ability to manage in the shifting
international environment by integrating finance, strategy, and marketing skills
to expand their company globally. By selling, exporting, or manufacturing in
up to fourteen countries the simulation is intended to provide the student
with a "real life" approach to international expansion, environmental
stability, inflation and currency issues, financial operations as well as international
sales and manufacturing issues. The objective of the course is to offer an
overview of the factors affecting global business operations in a stimulating
learning environment that is enjoyable and challenging. Intensive course. 4
cr.
Top
MET AD 893 Politics, Public Relations and Public
Policy: The Boston Harbor Clean Up
Offers a unique investigation of how business, advocate groups, environmentalists
and government can affect the outcome of large projects through negotiation,
regulatory process and interaction. Students will gain insights into the legal,
social, environmental and historical context that led to the billion dollar
twenty year project that took the Boston Harbor from a sewage infested environment
to a swimmable national park. The instructor, Mr. Berman, has served as communication
director and spokesman for Save the Harbor/Bay for nearly ten years. He is
one of the region's foremost experts on the restoration as well as the flora
and fauna of the Harbor area. Intensive course. 4 cr.
This course was featured in the BU Bridge: Learning
about the Boston Harbor Cleanup from the waterway’s eyes, ears, and
mouthpiece.
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MET MG 721 International Business Law
Provides the student with an understanding of different legal systems
as they relate to international business transactions. The course builds the
analytical skills required to evaluate legal processes, law, and legislation-related
events in international business dealings. 4 cr.
Top
School of Management
UNDERGRADUATE COURSES
Non-SMG Boston University degree candidates: Permission is
required for SMG courses. Students should go to the SMG Undergraduate Program
Office for permission. For more information, contact the SMG Undergraduate
Program Office at 617-353-2650.
Visiting students can register online, by mail, or in person
at the Summer Term office.
SMG students should register via the Student Link.
Top
SMG IM 345 International Management Environment
Prereq: CAS EC 101, EC 102, and junior standing. Required for International
Management concentrators. Deals with international economic theories and
explores
the intersection between theory and practice. Determinants of international
trade and payments: international trade theory and policy and balance-of-payments
accounting. Explores the implications of trade-promoting and trade-inhibiting
institutions and practices: WTO, NAFTA, European Union, etc. Introduces cultural,
political, and demographic issues for international managers. 4 cr.
Top
SMG IS 479 Innovating with Information Technology
Prereq: SMG IS 323, junior standing. Surveys the organizational implementation, uses,
and impacts of advanced information technology including decision support
systems,
management support systems, and expert systems. Includes a group project
to design and develop a decision support system. 4 cr.
Top
SMG LA 245 Introduction to Law
Prereq: sophomore standing. Sophomore requirement. This course is designed
to provide a broad overview of the American judicial system and fundamental
legal issues. The course examines dispute resolution, torts, contracts, criminal
law, business organizations, employment law, intellectual property, and international
law. The goal is to understand not only the basic rules of law but also the
underlying social policies and ethical dilemmas. 4 cr.
Top
SMG MG 422 Strategy and Policy
Prereq: SMG FE 323, IS 323, MK 323, OM 323, and senior standing.
Senior requirement. SMG MG 422 is only offered for students graduating in
September
2008. Provides students with a powerful set of tools which will
prepare them to analyze, formulate, and implement business unit and corporate-level
strategy with the aim of attaining sustainable competitive advantage. MG 422
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.
Top
SMG OB 221 The Dynamics of Leading Organizations
Prereq: SMG SM 121/122 or SMG SM 299, sophomore standing. Sophomore
requirement. Studies human behavior in organizational settings. Theory and findings
from the behavioral sciences are used to analyze case examples from organizations
and the student's fieldwork in organizations. Topics include leadership, motivation,
groups, and influence. 4 cr.
Top
SMG SM 101 Introduction to Business
A broad introduction to the nature and activities of
business enterprises within the United States economic and political framework.
Course content introduces economic systems, essential elements of business organization,
production, human resource management, marketing, finance, and risk management.
Key objectives of the course are development of business vocabulary and a fundamental
understanding of how businesses make money. 4 cr.
This course is intended for non-business majors. It may not be taken by SMG
students for credit, nor can it be used by Boston University students toward
the Business
Administration
minor.
Non-SMG
students may register for this course directly via the Student Link.
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SMG SM 221 Probabilistic and Statistical Decision Making for Management
Prereq: CAS MA 120, SMG SM 121/122 or SMG SM 299, and sophomore standing.
Sophomore requirement. Exposes students to the fundamentals of probability,
decision analysis, and statistics, and their applications to business. Topics
include probability, decision analysis, distributions, sampling, estimation,
hypothesis testing, and chi-square. Please note that students may not receive
credit for both SMG SM 221 and CAS EC 305. 6 cr.
Top
SMG SM 222 Modeling Business Decisions and Market Outcomes
Prereq: SMG SM 221, CAS EC 101, and sophomore standing. Sophomore
requirement. Examines the use of economic and statistical tools for making
business decisions.
Topics include optimization (including linear programming), multiple regression,
demand modeling, cost modeling, industry analysis (including models of perfect
competition, monopoly, and oligopoly), and game theory. The course emphasizes
modeling with spreadsheets. 6 cr.
Top
SMG SM 299 Management as a System (Intensive)
Required of all SMG students who did not enter as September freshmen
and complete SMG SM 121/122. Prepares transfer students, from both inside
and
outside the Boston University community, for downstream coursework with the
same level of skills and experience as those who matriculated at SMG from
the
beginning. Focuses on managerial functions and the relationships between those
functions. The integration of perspectives is necessary to ensure that the
individual
student understands the complexity, challenge, and excitement of modern management
in the global organization. Emphasis is placed on analytical skills, written
analysis, oral presentation, teamwork, and learning. Students must register
for two sections: lecture and discussion. 6 cr.
Top
SMG SM 411 Charting Your Career Path
Must be taken concurrently with SMG OB 221. The course equips students
with tools to become self-aware and market-ready when joining the work force,
with a focus on résumé and cover letter development, research
techniques, networking tips, and interviewing skills. 0.5 cr.
Top
Graduate School of Management
GRADUATE COURSES
Candidates for the MBA at Boston University are given first consideration
for enrollment in the courses offered by the Graduate School of Management.
Students currently matriculated as candidates for other graduate degrees offered
by Boston University (except Metropolitan College), visiting MBA students from
other AACSB accredited institutions, and MBA alumni from GSM or another AACSB
accredited institution may be granted permission to enroll on a space available
basis, provided that they meet criteria established by the School of Management
for registration as "cross enrolled students" and the student fills
out the appropriate "cross enrollment application." All students must
meet the prerequisites established for enrollment in advanced courses.
All registration for Summer Term courses must be done at the School of Management
Graduate Programs Office, 595 Commonwealth Avenue, Room 104, before May 19 for
classes taking place in the first half of the session, and before July 8 for
classes taking place in the second half of the session.
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GSM ES 700 Executive Presentation
A presenter's delivery skills impact the audience's image of the presenter
and the clarity of the message being communicated. A combination of lecture,
discussion, and hands-on practice and simulation, this course is designed to
help you exercise leadership through verbal communication. 1 cr.
Top
GSM ES 701 Executive Written Communication
This course is a combination of lecture, discussion, and hands-on
practice. It is designed to help you exercise leadership through writing and
understand how strategies of written communication are an essential aspect
of effective management, working relationships in the network era, and overall
business strategy. 1 cr.
Top
GSM ES 711 Career Coaching
Prereq: GSM OB 712/713. For students who want to advance within their
current organization or field, this course provides intensive career coaching
to support the student in moving along to the next career stage. A combination
of professional career coaching and peer coaching are employed. The goal is
to help students set career goals and develop a strategy to reach them. 1 cr.
Top
GSM ES 713 Managing Career Transitions
For students who are looking for a career change, this course will
help to assess where students are in their career and what their goals are
for the MBA program and beyond. They will do a basic self-assessment: interests,
values, and skills. Through networking and other resources, students will do
external exploration on the range of career opportunities available and specific
areas of work which they might want to pursue. From this they will set career
goals and develop an action plan. 1 cr.
Top
GSM ES 715 Developing Your Career Network
This course helps students improve their networking skills and learn
to be more strategic about the selection and deployment of their networks.
The focus is not only on the recruiting process, but also how they can develop
and maintain their professional networks throughout their careers. 1 cr.
Top
GSM ES 717 Creating Your Career Marketing Plan
Here the student will learn about a professional portfolio as a way
of improving his or her personal brand and marketability. The professional
portfolio is the totality of the competencies, experiences, education, and
professional identity that a person offers a potential employer. In this course,
the student
will design and construct his or her unique web-based and/or physical representation
of their professional portfolio. 1 cr.
Top
GSM OB 848 Leadership
Prereq: GSM CD 710 or OB 710/711 or OB 712/713. This course examines
the essence of leadership; its relationship to managing; and the behaviors, attitudes
and perspectives that distinguish leaders. Leadership is considered in a variety
of ways: leadership in crises, at the top, in the middle, and in groups. Case
studies, students' past experiences, instruments, and other learning activities
provide opportunities for students to assess and develop their leadership talents.
3 or 4 cr.
Top
GSM OB 860 Managerial Decision-Making
Prereq: GSM CD 710 or OB 710/711 or OB 712/713. This course examines
theoretical and practical aspects of decision-making. Using a combination of
cases, exercises, and psychological and behavioral instruments, students learn
to understand and manage decision making from various perspectives. An emphasis
is placed on strategic decisions and crisis decisions in a wide variety of
circumstances, including business decisions, personal decisions, and managerial
decisions made during several different types of events. There is a detailed
analysis of managerial decisions made during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Decisions
are analyzed using several models, including rational choice, game theory,
organizational and communications structure, context analysis, cognitive mapping,
and several psychologically based theories. 3 or 4 cr.
Top
GSM OM 726 Creating Value Through Operations and Technology
Prereq: GSM OB 712/713, AC 710/711, QM 716/717 (MK 723/724, FE 721/722 recommended). This MBA core course is case-oriented and focuses on
topics of use to managers in any environment: process analysis, process improvement,
supply chain management, and strategic operations decision-making. The course
emphasizes the importance of effectiveness and efficiency and evaluates the
potential trade-offs between them. 4 cr.
Top
GSM OM 855 Project Management
MSMBA students must take GSM OM 855 or IS 885 to fulfill their requirement.
Projects are increasingly the way that work gets done in companies of all types
and sizes. In this course you will learn the strategic dimensions of project
management, including critical aspects of project selection, definition, planning,
execution, and monitoring. Concepts and approaches for dealing with complexity,
uncertainty, vague mandates, temporary staff, partners, stakeholders, dynamic
risk, and time-critical deadlines are emphasized. Cases and readings cover
a wide range of industry and organizational contexts. This course requires
that students apply these topics and considerations to a real project of their
choice either by analysis of publicly available information or direct field
study. 3 or 4 cr.
Top
GSM QM 717 Data Analysis for Managerial Decision-Making
Prereq: GSM OB 712/713. Managers deal
with a large amount of information in quantitative form. Effective managers
must understand the conditions under which quantitative techniques may be appropriately
applied for decision-making. In this course, students develop skills in using
the computer to examine and report data. The focus is on deriving meaning from
particular data sets, and the use of statistical estimation, hypothesis testing,
and regression/correlation analysis in decision-making. 4 cr.
Top
GSM SP 700 Current Topics in Law and Ethics
This course surveys contemporary issues in selected areas of law and
ethics. We introduce pivotal areas of law, so that students begin to anticipate
legal problems, analyze how to avoid them, and realize how legal principles
can be employed to add value in their chosen fields. The subjects are torts,
contracts, employment law, securities regulation and corporate governance.
We expect that this overview of a few disciplines will encourage students to
explore other legal topics relevant to their business interests. We also offer
an analytic structure that enables students to identify ethical issues in business,
analyze options, and make choices consistent with their own values. 2 cr.
Top
GSM SP 751 Competition, Innovation, and Strategy
Prereq: GSM AC 710/711, MK 723/724, OB 712/713, OM 725/726. "Competition,
Innovation, and Strategy" is an integrative course designed to capitalize on
your understanding of finance, operations management, marketing, and other
functional issues. The course draws on a number of academic disciplines, especially
economics, organization theory, and sociology, to build a fundamental understanding
of how and why some firms achieve and sustain superior performance. We also
study why some firms persistently generate returns that are lower than average.
The course is analytically focused and requires that you evaluate both the
external environment and the internal capabilities of organizations. Corporate
diversification and global management are important topics that are also featured.
GSM students only. 4 cr.
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GSM SP 861 Emerging Issues in Business Law
This course introduces graduate business students to fundamentals of legal
analysis by focusing on timely legal problems of particular interest to business.
Students develop familiarity with substantive legal principles and leave the
course with the ability to recognize legal issues, discuss them intelligently,
and understand why the lawyers seem incapable of giving a simple answer. The
course uses lectures to provide a common foundation of knowledge. It is primarily
discussion based, using a question and answer format to engage students in
the process of legal analysis. Students interested in learning more about the
course are welcome to contact Kabrina Chang at kkchang@bu.edu or
at 617-353-4154. 3 or 4 cr.
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