Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular semester. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the Student Link for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

• QST IS 855: Digital Transformation: Immersive Interactions and Insights at Silicon Valley
  This course will be a one week intensive held in Silicon Valley. The course is designed to achieve two objectives. First, to develop an appreciation for the role of Silicon Valley in Digital Innovation and, secondly, to examine how digital innovations are impacting key shifts in specific sectors. Students will be placed into teams and be expected to develop specific insights as the basis to engage in interactions with corporate executives, alumni and follow classmates. Teams will also visit leading companies involved in each sector and develop and present their team's perspective on key digital trends and leadership challenges for their sector.
• QST IS 858: Agile Project Management
  This course is designed to provide students with an overview of agile development methodologies. The course introduces the various methods currently used in the industry and then focuses on the primary methodologies used today, SCRUM and Kanban. Students will learn the tools of these agile development approaches and will be introduced to RALLY Project Management software, the leader in the industry for SCRUM. Students will learn to analyze requirements, create backlogs, schedule "stories" to be developed and delivered, hold standup meetings, and Retrospectives.
• QST IS 878: Business Modeling with Spreadsheets
  This course aims to sharpen students' ability to frame a business problem and organize the relevant information in a way that is conducive to developing a spreadsheet model, and to perform logical analyses in an organized and rigorous fashion. Students will learn how to create a workable prototype of a spreadsheet based upon formula-charts, or a directed-graph diagram, applying principles of spreadsheet engineering to design the spreadsheet in a way that prevents errors. The course will teach students how to design, build, test, and use a spreadsheet, as well as how to process and visualize data in preparation for building a well-structured model. Students will be exposed to settings in which models can be used effectively. They will apply modeling concepts in practical situations and learn to extract insight from models and to use those insights to communicate, persuade and motivate organizational decision making. They will also learn how to formulate a constrained optimization problem with multiple variables for a variety of applications including, Strategy, Operations, Technology Management, Marketing, and Finance. The course will show how to understand how to use sensitivity analysis to evaluate the impact of a parameter on the optimal solution to a problem and cover the key principles for Real-Time Data Capture for Analytic. Finally, students will learn the latest technologies for effectively linking spreadsheets to relational data bases, and to reliably manage large scale spreadsheets. 1.5 cr.
• QST IS 883: Synthesizing Digital Efforts to Deliver Better Outcomes
  Most organizations today -- of all sizes and stages of maturity -- are undertaking internally and externally focused digital initiatives. The success of these programs varies widely and depends on numerous strategic, tactical and technical factors. Foremost among them are how individuals with skills across strategy, design, product/project management, technology, and data science think individually and how they work together collectively. In this class, students will learn and apply leading thinking, practices, and tools used by top digital professionals to design and build digital products. The first half of the course will focus on cloud technology and its effect on organizational structures and product development lifecycles. In the second half of the semester, students will organize into teams to begin work on a digital experience they will design and iteratively realize the following semester in IS890, applying skills they have learned throughout the MSDT as well as new methods including exploratory ethnography, service design, agile/scrum, and data-driven experimentation.
• QST IS 889: Data Management
  The ability to collect, organize, access, analyze and harness data is a source of competitive advantage for some and a competitive necessity for others. Getting an organization to the point where it has a data asset it can leverage is a non-trivial task. Many firms have been shocked at the amount of work and complexity that is required to pull together an infrastructure that integrates its diverse data sources and empowers its managers. This course will provide an introduction to the concepts and technologies that are involved in managing and supporting the data assets of your organization. We will cover data modeling, relational databases, including SQL, data warehousing and business intelligence.
• QST IS 890: Digital Transformation Through Experimentation and Scaled Agile: A Practicum
  This course describes how digital transformation increases the reach and speed of experimentation, and how this in turn both improves execution and supports innovation. The course will examine how successful firms integrate modeling, data gathering, analysis, knowledge synthesis, with both their planning and operations. Managing for such an approach requires not just an agile, but a scaled-agile approach, with multiple parts of the firm co-evolving in a mutually supportive way. Working in small teams, students will apply the concepts to term-length projects. The class will run as an applied studio, with teams providing constructive feedback to each other throughout the term.
• QST IS 898: Directed Study: Info Systems
  Graduate-level directed study in Management Information Systems. 1, 2, or 3 cr. Application available on the Graduate Center website.
• QST IS 899: Directed Study: Info Systems
  Graduate-level directed study in Management Information Systems. 1, 2, or 3 cr. Application available on the Graduate Center website.
• QST IS 912: Platform Strategy & Design
  This class will cover seminal works in the economics of information including the Nobel Prize winning ideas of Akerlof, Arrow, Spence, Stiglitz, and von Hayek. It will proceed through (i) concepts of information, its value and measurement (ii) search and choice under uncertainty (iii) signaling, screening, and how rational actors use information for private advantage (iii) how to price and package information goods (iv) how properties of information cause market failure (v) macroeconomic effects of information (vi) social and legal issues of owning information. Although primarily a theory class, it should be of interest to any student applying information economics in academic, commercial, or government policy contexts. Prerequisites are a graduate course in microeconomics and mathematics at the level of introductory calculus and statistics. Students will produce a major paper suitable for publication or inclusion in a thesis.
• QST IS 919: Research Seminar 2
  This course covers those important Information Systems (IS) theories and topics that are at the organizational level of analysis and below. That is, it focuses on the behaviors of single individuals and small numbers of individuals, such as dyads and teams. This is consistent with an approach to organizational phenomena that distinguishes between micro and macro levels of research, this course being the micro. The focus is on ways that individuals and teams use information technologies to acquire, process, and transfer information, and the effects these technologies have on individual cognition and dyadic and group interactions. It also investigates the design and implementation of information technologies and the impact of these on organizational outcomes. The course is designed to engender students with a broad knowledge of research at the intersection of information technologies and organizations, with an emphasis on theoretical underpinnings and methodological choices.
• QST IS 990: Current Topics Seminar
  For PhD students in the Information Systems department. Registered by permission only.
• QST IS 998: Directed Study: Info Systems
  PhD-level directed study in Management Information Systems. 1, 2, or 3 cr. Application available on the Graduate Center website.
• QST IS 999: Directed Study: Info Systems
  PhD-level directed study in Management Information Systems. 1, 2, or 3 cr. Application available on the Graduate Center website.
• QST LA 245: Introduction to Law
  Provides a broad overview of the American judicial system and fundamental legal issues. 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.
• QST LA 343: Discrimination and the Law: Implications for Business
  Many companies struggle with how to support diverse employees, and the need to do so has become even more urgent in the wake of events like the death of George Floyd. Navigating these issues requires understanding how the lived experiences varies systematically among different ethnic groups, genders, gender identities, and sexual orientation. Successfully addressing inequities and adopting practical solutions necessitates understanding the history of racism, sexism, and other "isms" in America. This course will address these and other relevant issues in the context of the corporate environment. It will cover doctrinal issues regarding the ethical and legal obligations of corporations as it relates to managing discrimination in the workplace (e.g., history of antidiscrimination legislation, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964), but will also delve into some of the more practical aspects of the tools and techniques companies can or should adopt to achieve a more inclusive work environment. 4 cr.
• QST LA 346: Business, Justice, and Responsibility
  This course explores the legal and ethical challenges a leader will face in a highly regulated, complex, global business. We will explore societal issues such as lying, bias, fraud, corruption, stereotyping, religious freedom, discrimination, and whistleblowing, and consider the responsibility of a business and its leaders to address these challenges, and to create a more just society. Students will also consider the competing roles of business, the legislature, and the courts in addressing societal issues. By reading Supreme Court opinions and business cases, participating in oral arguments, engaging in efforts to make social change, and studying current events, students will deepen skills in analyzing ethical dilemmas and thinking critically. This course will teach students to view decisions through multiple frames, develop empathy, and train them to engage in a meaningful, substantive dialogue -- written and spoken -- about sensitive topics in a professional setting.
• QST LA 355: Employment Law and Public Policy
  An in-depth look at the legal issues involved in the employer/employee relationship. Such topics include: discrimination, affirmative action, harassment, the hiring process, employee testing, and terminating employees (for cause, layoffs). Discussions will focus on the duties and rights of both parties through the stages of employment, from hiring and managing your workforce, to benefits, conditions of employment, and downsizing.
• QST LA 360: Real Estate Law
  Real estate can generate spectacular wealth and contribute to unprecedented financial losses. Real estate is an essential component of every business that requires a physical location to operate. Real estate is where we sleep, where we attend school, where we work, where we play, where we go when we are sick -it quite literally is beneath everything we do. Every real estate transaction begins and ends with legal principles. Mastering the basics of property law puts one in a superior position. Knowledge of real estate law is imperative for those who plan to invest in or manage property on a larger scale. This course provides an overview of real estate law for tenants, present and future property owners, developers, investors, and public policy advocates. We examine the nature of real property and property ownership, residential and commercial real estate transactions, and selected issues of real estate development.
• QST LA 365: Securities Regulation
  The securities industry is highly regulated by a complex set of federal laws designed to "protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation." (www.sec.gov/about/whatwedo.shtml) Federal law governs the issuance of securities ("going public"), regulates companies whose shares are being traded (known as "issuers"), and makes rules for everyone working in the securities industry, including bankers, brokers, dealers, and investment advisors. Those issuers and financial institutions (and their employees or directors) who violate the myriad of federal laws regulating securities face civil litigation from shareholders, enforcement actions by the Securities and Exchange Commission, and criminal charges from the Department of Justice. This course will focus upon the key federal statutes that regulate securities and participants in the securities markets: the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Sarbanes-Oxley, the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and several criminal statutes that are utilized for violations of securities regulation. We will read statutes and case law, and use examples and guest speakers to understand the application of the law in real life. The class is intended for students interested in careers in finance or leadership in a public company. The goal is not to create securities lawyers, but to give students an awareness of the regulation and the legal risks involved in the securities market.
• QST LA 430: Entertainment Law
  (Offered in Los Angeles) Covers the basics of entertainment law, including constitutional, contracts, labor, and employment law and intellectual property rights. Students develop a clear understanding of the applicable laws and how these laws have been applied in the past, how they are applied today, and how they might be amended and applied in the future. Students learn applicable legal concepts, practical insights, and an appreciation of how to deal with lawyers and the law in their entertainment business futures. It is intended to provide a good conceptual understanding of the law and demonstrate its relevance through case study, reading, guest speakers, field trips, and intense discussion. The application of the law to the digital now, the digital future and the Internet now crucial, indeed central, to any discussion of entertainment will be included throughout and be the subject of an entire class toward the end of the course. The law to be explored will be constitutional, copyright, trademark, contracts, labor, employment, and remedies and their application to and use within the entertainment business.

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