Courses

• GSM IM 800: Cont Erp Fld Sm
  
• GSM IM 802: Cont Asn Fld Sm
  
• GSM IM 803: Cont Brz Fld Sm
  
• GSM IM 836: Competing in High-Growth Economies
  In this course we focus on the management challenges associated with developing strategies and managing the operations of companies whose activities stretch across national boundaries, especially in high-growth and developing economies. Operating in an international rather than a domestic arena presents organizations with many challenges and opportunities. Having a worldwide operations not only gives companies access to new markets and diverse resources, it also opens up new sources of information and knowledge that stimulate future innovation and strategic moves, as well as assessing Corporate roles in social responsibility. With opportunities, however, come challenges that are more complex, diverse, and uncertain than those faced by companies that operate only within a given nation's borders. As a result of taking this course students will acquire new and useful skill,s competencies, an perspectives that will help them as they consider perusing a career in international management.
• GSM IM 845: Asian Field Seminar
  How do we prepare for the emerging opportunities and challenges that China's economic development and Asia's growing presence continue to create? This two-week seminar through six cities in China and Korea provides future global business leaders with an opportunity to contemplate answers to the above question. We visit companies (both multinational and local) competing in this dynamic market, meet governmental officials to hear about policies and implications, learn from local MBA professors about what they see our strengths and weaknesses are, participate in real market activities, and develop global network of knowledge with local MBA students and BU alumni in the region. Through this process, students will deepen their understanding of the unique nature of opportunities and challenges in the region, become more comfortable with the myriads of cultural and communicational details, and explore professional opportunities located in the region.
• GSM IM 851: European Field Seminar
  The European Field Seminar gives students an appreciation of "competing in Europe." The European competitive landscape is changing rapidly. Three Boston- based class sessions introduce students to topics such as the history of the European Union, European Community Law, Member States, European Monetary Union, and Competition Policy. During a two week period, the class visits a variety of organizations in Europe to learn about relevant competition issues; students experience first-hand how firms are dealing with them (or should be dealing with them). The wide variety of Sectors covered appeals to a broad segment of the MBA population.
• GSM IM 852: Brazil Field Seminar
  This intensive ten day seminar provides students with a broad understanding of the ways in which business strategies can create value at the base of the economic pyramid.* Students will gain first hand experience of how businesses, NGOs (non-governmental organizations), and government are using models of social enterprise to address social and economic issues in the fields of health, education, and the environment in the context of an emerging market - in this case, Brazil. This study program includes extensive site visits throughout the country to social enterprises, multi-national firms, NGO ventures, and government organizations. Students also hear from a wide variety of Latin American specialists in topic areas. A broad range of topics will be covered including: renewable energy, sustainable development, eco-tourism, new models for providing health and education services to underserved populations, social enterprise, micro-enterprise, corporate social responsibility, and public/private partnerships. The course will consist of three pre-departure sessions focused on social enterprise, corporate social responsibility, and emerging markets. Students are also expected to select an individual research track of interest for the duration of the seminar. This seminar is open to all full time and part time MBA and MS.MBA students. Full time students may register for it as a spring elective, part time students can register for it as they see fit, students graduating in May can register for this class in the Spring and still participate in commencement ceremonies, and MS.MBA students may take it in year two. *In global terms, this is the four billion people who live on less than $2 per day. The phrase "bottom of the pyramid" is used in particular by people developing new models of doing business that deliberately target that market, typically using new technology.
• GSM IM 853: Indian Field Semiar
  This program is designed for MBA students who seek to understand the rapidly changing global forces of the health sector, as they intersect with the dynamics of an emerging country, through the vehicle of experiencing and learning about India. Following a series of meetings in Boston, 20 students will travel through India over twelve days in January 2010, visiting Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore. The field study program will include visits to government agencies, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, health sector start-up companies, health centers, research laboratories, and academic research settings. Issues of particular interest include technology and bio-pharma development, effective service delivery with limited resources, the role of entrepreneurial initiative in complex environments, international trade and competition in the health sector, and the potential to leapfrog development in underdeveloped settings. Open to all MBA students.
• GSM IM 885: INTL MGMTFLD II
  This course will allow students the opportunity to utilize and apply their MBA learning to business work experience. Students will secure their internship in a position related to the MBA degree program. The deliverable of the project is a paper in which the students must address how the position will leverage their MBA career growth and industry analysis. The deliverable will be due upon completion of the internship experience.
• GSM IS 705: Mgn Ntwrkd Sys
  
• GSM IS 707: Systems Architecture
  Focuses on Operating Systems for workstations and mainframes with emphasis on the operating system as both a provider of service and manager of resources. It includes discussions and cases in the management of technology and technical people as well as personal issues professionals and managers.
• GSM IS 710: IT Strategies for a Networked Economy
  This case-based course demonstrates the role that information technology plays in shaping business strategy and business models. It provides an overview of the key technologies that are important in today's business environment and introduces organization and management concepts relating to the information technology function. The course also illustrates the relationships between organizational performance and the ability to leverage knowledge assets.
• GSM IS 711: IT Strategies for a Networked Economy
  This case-based course demonstrates the role that information technology plays in shaping business strategy and business models. It provides an overview of the key technologies that are important in today's business environment and introduces organization and management concepts relating to the information technology function. The course also illustrates the relationships between organizational performance and the ability to leverage knowledge assets.
• GSM IS 714: Mastering IT Strategy
  This is a capstone course to integrate the key concepts and approaches to managing IT in modern corporations. Using a set of leading-edge case examples, frameworks, the students will have an opportunity to understand how IT strategy supports current business models while shaping tomorrow's business models. Students will master the intricate challenges of placing IT at the core of modern enterprises. They will have an opportunity to apply their learnings to a company of their choice through a course project.
• GSM IS 827: Platforms and Information Markets
  To thrive in modern economies, managers, entrepreneurs and investors need a thorough understanding of business platforms. Thousands of firms, from Facebook to Salesforce, now operate as open ecosystems that match buyers and sellers, gain value and market share from network effects, and harness their users to innovate. Drawing on cases from social media, entrepreneurship, enterprise software, mobile services, healthcare, and consumer products, students will analyze and learn to negotiate platform startup, convert existing businesses, and make vital decisions on issues of openness, cannibalization, and competition. Students will interact with execs of major firms such as Cisco and SAP and with startups. They will learn to apply concepts from two sided networks, industrial organization, information asymmetry, pricing, intellectual property, and game theory to real problems. Known worldwide for his work on network business models, Professor Van Alstyne provides students with the tools to leverage key principles into hands-on creation and management of real-world platforms.
• GSM IS 828: Managing Information Security
  This MBA elective (also open to undergraduates) will combine a technical and business approach to the management of information. It will address technical issues such as cryptography, intrusion detection and firewalls along with managerial ideas such as overall security policies, managing uncertainty and risk and organization factors. We will examine different aspects of computer security such as passwords, virus protection and managing computer security in dynamic environments. Topics will also include network security and how to secure wireless application and services. These technical details will be placed in a business context. The class will have a practical focus as we examine current best practices. There well be several guest speakers in the security area. This will be a project oriented class and students will present their research projects during the last several classes.
• GSM IS 841: Advanced Business Analytics: Data Mining
  The widespread proliferation of IT-influenced economic activity leaves behind a rich trail of micro-level data about consumer, supplier and competitor preferences. This has led to the emergence of a new form of competition based on the extensive use of analytics, experimentation, and fact-based decision making. In virtually every industry the competitive strategies organizations are employing today rely extensively on data analysis to predict the consequences of alternative courses of action, and to guide executive decision making. This course provides a hands-on introduction to the concepts, methods and processes of business analytics. We will learn how to obtain and draw business inferences from data by asking the right questions and using the appropriate tools. Topics to be covered include data preparation, data visualization, data mining, text mining, recommender systems as well as the overall process of using analytics to solve business problems, its organizational implications and pitfalls. Students will work with real world business data and analytics software. Where possible cases will used to motivate the topic being covered. Prior courses in data management and statistics will be helpful but not required.
• GSM IS 854: Practicing IT Strategy, Management and Delivery
  For future business leaders who want to understand, influence and leverage technology investments more effectively. The course provides effective strategies, pragmatic options, and leading practice alternatives for linking Business and Technology Strategies, defining effective governance and organization models, and successfully delivering new technology innovation. Students will master the complex methods and practices needed to frame a problem and propose an actionable solution that would be expected from future Business Executives and Technology Managers. Students will master the complex methods and practices to frame a problem and propose an actionable solution that would be expected from Business Executives (e.g., CEO, Marketing Executive, CIO, CFO) and Technology Executives (e.g., Product Manager, Consultant, Program Manager, Sales).
• GSM IS 883: Designing Systems for Data Management
  The first objective is to introduce the student the concept of design in information systems. Although the design concepts covered largely focus on data management, it will include high level systems design concepts as well. The second objective of this course is to introduce the student to the practical applications of databases and database management systems. The students will learn the fundamentals of data management starting with the basics of data design. The students will learn querying and managing the data in a database, defining the structures for storing data, and implementing business rules in relational databases using the Structured Query Language (SQL). The two objectives will tie in together as the students will be expected to integrate systems design with data design to design a prototype information system. This exercise will walk the students through the process of eliciting requirements, defining the scope, designing a restricted set of functions, designing the database, implementing the database, and explaining how restricted set of functions will use the data. The programming requirements will be very minimal. Besides the basics of data management, this course will also cover relevant ?in? topics in data management such as database security, data quality management, and data auditing (if time permits).
• GSM IS 889: Telecommunications and Business Networks
  Examines the data communication hardware and software characteristics that are relevant to the applications software designer and presents a general overview of communications network design. Topics include issues in the design and use of both local area networks and wide area networks, the impact of communications technology on organizations and trends in the communications industry are studied.

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