Courses

• GSM FE 721: Finance 1
  The objective of this course is to introduce the students to the theory and practice of corporate finance, and to provide the students with a set of analytical tools necessary to answer the most important questions related to firms' valuation and investment decision making first under certainty and then under uncertainty. The course can be divided into the following three building blocks: valuation, investment decisions, and the relation between risk and return.
• GSM FE 722: Financial Management
  Financial Management examines three sets of problems: 1) saving and investment decisions by households, 2) investment and financing decisions by corporations, and 3) the role of securities markets and financial intermediaries in the economy. Decisions today affect the timing of and uncertainty about future flows of income; both timing and risk determine the current value of those future flows. This course develops the tools required to analyze these decisions and their interaction within the financial system.
• GSM FE 730: Economics and Management Decisions
  The aim of the course is to present many of the decision problems managers face and to present the economic analysis they need to guide these decisions. In the first half of the course, microeconomic tools are used to structure complicated decision problems about production, pricing, investment, and other strategic issues, address uncertainty through probabilistic forecasts and sequential decisions. An additional goal is to distinguish different market structures and apply competitive strategies using game theory. In the second half, the focus shifts to the study of the national and global economic environments within which companies operate. We identify the drivers of fluctuations in GDP, inflation, interest and exchange rates, and other key features of the economies. Since governments play key roles in determining the fate of economies and companies, the final theme is the rationale for and efficacy of government policy tools.
• GSM FE 810: Finance 2
  This course extends fundamental concepts of corporate finance and asset pricing introduced in the core. Corporate finance concepts covered are capital structure decisions, payout policy decisions, and real options. Asset pricing topics include market efficiency, multi-factor models for the risk and return, arbitrage pricing theory and contingent claim analysis and its use in valuation and risk management. The concepts are illustrated in practical examples that prepare students for their summer internships.
• GSM FE 820: Corporate Financial Management
  This course provides an in-depth analysis of financial considerations relating to corporate growth. It addresses the setting of financial and corporate goals in terms of maximizing shareholder wealth and relationships among working capital, debt levels, capital costs, dividend policy, growth and the value of the firm. It also considers the requisite financial analysis associated with mergers and acquisitions and bankruptcy.
• GSM FE 821: Advanced Corporate Finance
  This course is designed for students who are pursuing careers in corporate finance (such as chief financial officer, treasurer, or controller) in an industrial corporation, in the corporate finance department of an investment banking firm or in investment banking. The course provides follow-up on the basic financial frameworks and analytical methods outlined in introductory courses. Three primary areas are covered: risk management; agency, information, and psychology; and real options.
• GSM FE 822: Fixed Income Markets
  This is a course primarily on fixed-income debt securities and markets. Emphasis is placed on the factors that determine bond yields, factors such as the coupon and maturity structure, liquidity, credit risk, and tax status of the security, and on measures of return and risk, statistics such as the yield to maturity, horizon yield, duration, and convexity. We will cover government debt (Treasuries and municipals), corporate bonds (investment-grade and high-yield), agency (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) and mortgage-backed debt created via securitization (i.e., collateralized mortgage obligations). We will emphasize how interest rate and credit derivatives are used to manage portfolios of fixed-income securities.
• GSM FE 823: Investments
  Introduction to the investment management process. Defining investment objectives and constraints. Introduction to Modern Portfolio Theory, CAPM, Fama- French factors, APT, efficient markets, stock, bond and option valuation models. Immunizing interest-rate risk. Active and passive investment strategies, fundamental analysis, trading practices, and performance evaluation. Introduction to the role of futures and options in hedging and speculation. Arbitrage and hedge fund strategies. Understanding the assumptions underlying the different approaches and their limitations. Topics related to current events and the recent financial crisis.
• GSM FE 827: International Financial Management
  This course analyzes corporations' exposures to financial risks in the global economy. It discusses national currency systems and currency volatility, and how corporations identify, measure and deal with exposure to such volatility. It introduces students to foreign currency markets, currency derivatives markets, and international financing markets that help corporations deal with the various risks they face and take advantage of opportunities that arise in foreign markets.
• GSM FE 829: Futures, Options and Financial Risk Management
  Futures and stock options are recognized as important tools of investment and risk reduction. This course covers the theory of futures and option pricing and develops a framework for analyzing hedging and investment decisions using futures and options. Attention is paid to practical considerations in the use of these investments, tax and accounting issues and the institutional features of the market in which the various instruments are traded.
• GSM FE 850: Private Equity: Leveraged Buyouts
  Private Equity (PE) is a major force in the capital markets, acquiring household names such as Dell, Toys R Us, Neilson, Nieman Marcus, and many more. This course exposes students to, and de-mystifies, the PE world. The focus is centered on LBOs and their position in the alternative asset class. Students learn about the activities of PE firms including formation, fundraising, investing (deal structure, terms, due diligence, governance) and exiting. We also discuss how other industry sectors serve or are affected by PE and who the players are. This is a capstone course that integrates marketing, strategy and finance to further the understanding of business evaluation. Case study and class participation are the primary modes of learning. Course offered jointly with undergraduate course SMG FE 450.
• GSM FE 854: Entrepreneurial Finance
  The focus of FE854 is on the development of financial and business skills to identify, evaluate, start and manage new ventures. A comprehensive understanding of finance is an essential ingredient in the "recipe" for business success. No longer can the assumptions underlying financial projections be treated as "black boxes." In many cases, the answer is less important than the analytical process used to calculate it. Readings for the course will primarily be in the form of case studies, and will be supplemented by guest speakers, presentations, and readings from academia and industry.
• GSM FE 918: Doctoral Seminar in Finance
  This doctoral course, is designed to provide students with an introduction to financial economics. This lecture-based course will cover no arbitrage conditions, preferences and risk aversion, portfolio selection, the capital asset pricing model, asset pricing and dynamic asset pricing. In addition to lectures, this class will include readings and assignments. Open to MBA students with faculty member's permission. Must have strong quantitative background and several courses in finance or economics.
• GSM HM 703: Health Sector Issues and Opportunities
  This course provides a dynamic introduction to the health sector, beginning with the burden and distribution of disease and current patterns of expenditures. While the emphasis will be on the American system, a global context will be developed. The basic elements of insurance and payment, service delivery, and life sciences products will be described, and put in the context of the unique economic structure of the sector. The intense challenges of the sector will be explored, as well as both the ethical issues presented and the opportunities that emerge. Public policy and technological and practice development as drivers of change will be addressed throughout.
• GSM HM 710: Health Service Delivery: Strategies, Solutions and Execution
  This course will provide knowledge and skills needed to develop and implement systems capable of delivering accessible, high quality, efficient health care services. It will draw upon relevant information from disciplinary areas of study including strategy, operations, marketing, finance, law, human resources, quality improvement, and information technology.
• GSM HM 717: Drugs, Devices and Diagnostics: New Challenges, Strategies and Execution
  This course will examine issues and opportunities in life sciences including the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical devices sectors and the life sciences service industry supporting these sectors. The course will investigate who manages these companies and what are the strategies that are used to build successful enterprises. There will be a review of the expertise that is needed in these companies or that must be out-sourced including development, manufacturing, marketing and finance. The principals governing the industry including patent law, regulatory and FDA compliance will be addressed. Formerly titled: Bio-Pharma and Medical Device Companies: Strategies, Solutions and Execution
• GSM HM 801: Bench-to-Bedside: Translating Biomedical Innovation from the Laboratory to the Marketplace
  The subject of the course is the translation of medical technologies into new products and services for the healthcare system. The course begins with a rigorous study of intellectual property, licensing and the core aspects of planning, creating, funding and building new entrepreneurial ventures. Concepts and tools are presented for assessing new technologies and their potential to be the basis for a new entrepreneurial venture. Comparisons will be made of how technologies can be sourced and commercialized out of three very different environments: universities, national laboratories and corporate laboratories. Cross-disciplinary teams of students will be formed which will evaluate translational research projects currently being developed at Boston University and their potential for transformation into a start-up company to commercialize the technology, providing a unique linkage between the scientific research activities of the university and the professional schools. Each week there will be a case study which will discuss examples of both success and failure in technology commercialization. Some of these case studies examine Boston University life sciences spin-out companies, and the founders and CEO?s of these ventures will share their experiences with the class.
• GSM HM 817: Health Information Technology
  This course provides students with the knowledge and skills to evaluate and manage information technology in heath care organizations. In particular it focuses on the role of IT in driving organizational change and supporting quality improvement and elimination of medical errors. Topics include electronic health records, computerized provider order entry, interoperability, management decision support, and provider pay for performance. The perspective of the course is that of the chief information officer (CIO) and other managers and users of health care information systems, not that of the technical specialist. The course will consist of a series of lectures, cases, and discussions - some of which will be led by guest lecturers who are experts in the field of health care information technology and systems. Course requirements include a quiz, a 10-page paper, and a class presentation.
• GSM HM 833: Health Sector Marketing
  This elective provides an in-depth understanding of health sector marketing in the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors for both products and services (hospital, managed care and health services of all types, life sciences, pharma and biotech, medical devices, medical software, and so on). The course explores how the tools of marketing (e.g., consumer behavior, pricing, promotion, channels, branding, segmentation, etc.) can be employed in the rapidly changing health sector with particular attention to changing organizational structures, financing, technologies, market demands, laws, channels of distribution, on-line applications, and regulations which require new approaches to marketing. Topics to be addressed include marketing to physicians, DTC (Direct-to-Consumer) Marketing, new product development particularly for pharmaceuticals and medical devices, adoption of medical and service innovations, typical decision making units in the health sector, and social marketing. (The course is still in development so there will likely be more topics added.) The course will have you keep in mind always while making marketing decisions that medicine, in the purest sense, is a profession with an intellectual discipline, a tradition of service, and an ethical code of conduct, and that service to the patient, as individuals and in the aggregate, is foremost in marketing decision making.
• GSM HM 840: Health Sector Consulting
  This is an applied consulting project course. Students enrolled in this course will be divided into teams of 4 students during the first class; the assignment of teams is largely dependent upon having a shared interest in one of the number of prospective consulting projects. Each team will select from a pre-designated list of business development-strategy-marketing consulting projects. Projects in the past have ranged from developing an international pricing strategy for the introduction of a new product by Genzyme to providing a marketing plan for a web-based entrepreneurial venture (a medical website targeted toward providing health care clinicians with products, services and information related to electromyography) to developing a strategy for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to maintain the loyalty of their referring physicians . Client companies/organizations have requested these projects, are paying the school for the privilege of having an MBA team, and are covering all expenses associated with the projects. In return, they anticipate receiving a consulting report from the student team at the end of the semester. The deliverables for this assignment are the consulting report as well as a 30 minute in-class presentation followed by a 10 minute question-and-answer period. The team may also be asked by the client to make a presentation to the client?s management. These projects constitute a way to apply what you are learning in the MBA program to a real health sector management situation; an opportunity to gain experience and broaden your familiarity with health sector organizations with which you have had little or no direct experience; a way for local, regional, and national health sector organizations to benefit from your expertise and hard work in solving a management problem; and a continuing linkage of the Boston University MBA and Health Sector Management Programs to the health sector community.

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