Courses

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

• QST MS 775: Business Impact Modeling
  The ability to take on unstructured problems and generate useful insights/solutions is something that cannot easily be taught. But, it can certainly be learnt through practice and guidance. For most quantitative problems in graduate courses, the decision options, goals, and analytical approaches are pre-defined. In practice, however, business problems are usually ill-defined, "messy", where the decisions are initially ambiguous, goals are unclear, and the relationship between decisions and outcomes are indeterminate. While each business problem is distinctive, a disciplined approach to problem solving can be incredibly useful across many career contexts. The concepts and exercises in this course will sharpen our professional ability to structure a messy problem and do some disciplined analysis on it. Examples will be drawn from Strategy, Operations, Technology Management, Marketing, and Finance to expose us to the broad applications of the concepts and tools learned in this class.
• QST MS 776: Data Management for Managers
  This course introduces students to techniques for building database systems and for mining datasets to make effective use of information assets. Students will learn a variety of skills including: • Prepare SQL queries to retrieve information from a relational database • Analyze a business situation to determine information‐management needs • Design and implement a relational database to address those needs
• QST MS 777: AI for Business Challenges
  Students will gain firsthand experience with language models like GPT, learning the intricacies of model fine-tuning, prompt engineering and its various frameworks, and deployment strategies through interactive sessions and real-world projects. The course also delves into advanced issues critical to the responsible implementation of AI including privacy, ethics, bias, data integrity, and challenges like mitigating hallucinations in AI outputs. By the end of the course, participants will be equipped not just with theoretical knowledge but also with practical skills, empowering them to harness the potential of Generative AI in innovative and strategic ways.
• QST MS 779: Business Experimentation with AI
  This course equips students with the skills to innovate through iterative experimentation, using generative AI and digital tools to rapidly ideate, test, and refine business solutions. Through hands-on, team-based projects, students will learn to apply a structured approach to solving complex challenges, preparing them to lead and thrive in rapidly shifting business landscapes.
• QST MS 784: Insights and Analytics Client Project
  In this client project, small student teams will undertake a growth opportunity investigation that relies on competitive assessment, trend analysis and customer insights to evaluate, size and place a value on potential market entry, acquisition or organic growth opportunities.
• QST MS 785: Innovation Tournament Project
  Build a prototype of a new product or service innovation based on a concept developed by students in the Innovation and Entrepreneurship course. Develop a commercial launch plan that includes a customer acquisition model, operations scale up, investment sequencing, and timeline. Assemble the business plan to attract investors, demonstrate a return on investment. Pitch the plan to a panel of actual investors.
• QST MS 786: Customer Experience Client Project
  In this client project, small student teams will redesign a customer or employee experience. They will map the customer journey, prioritize a touchpoint for redesign, use design thinking to generate a new experience at the touchpoint and validate the idea with potential customers. They will complete their project by creating a prototype of the new experience.
• QST MX 700: Online MBA Launch
  During this module, students are introduced to the various learning platforms of the program, meet their peers, and learn about important university and Questrom policies and resources. In addition, students receive tips and best practices for learning success in an online learning environment.
• QST MX 710: Creating Value for Business and Society
  Graduate Prerequisites: (QSTMX700) - This module discusses the role of the manager in business and society. Topics include the economic foundations of business, the impact of digital transformation and information, the power of the consumer in co-creation as well as other global business forces on how managers both capture and create value for society.
• QST MX 720: Managing Performance with Data
  Graduate Prerequisites: (QSTMX710) - Students learn the role data plays in managing the performance of the organization. Topics include: analyzing financial statements and accounting metrics, financial analysis for business planning, using statistics to drive business decisions, and metrics for financial, marketing, and operational performance.
• QST MX 730: Leading with Integrity
  Graduate Prerequisites: (QSTMX710) - This module discusses the role of human capital in the organization, as well as key principles of leadership and ethical decision-making. Topics include: developing a global and diverse work-force, leading through change, managing conflict, power, and politics, and leveraging high-performance teams.
• QST MX 740: Managing Risk
  Graduate Prerequisites: (QSTMX710 & QSTMX720 & QSTMX730) - Identifying and managing risk is critical to effectively leading in today's business environment. Topics include: assessing environmental, social, regulatory, financial, operational and brand risk; and then developing processes for measuring, monitoring and when possible managing those risks.
• QST MX 750: Leveraging Global Opportunities
  Graduate Prerequisites: (QSTMX710 & QSTMX720 & QSTMX730) - The world of business is changing at a rate faster than ever in history requiring leaders to identify and implement strategies for differentiation. Topics include: developing competitive strategies, managing the marketing mix for target segments, optimizing the global value chain, and analyzing global markets and trade systems.
• QST MX 760: Fostering an Innovative Mindset
  Graduate Prerequisites: (QSTMX710 & QSTMX720 & QSTMX730) - Leaders in today's organizations must work to understand and identify creative solutions to leverage known and unknown opportunities. Topics include: applying principles of design-thinking, managing the innovation portfolio, analyzing growth opportunities, and driving corporate and entrepreneurial innovation.
• QST OM 223: Creating Value with Operations & Supply Chain Management
  Pre-requisite: QSTSM 131; CASEC 101 or QST BE101; QSTBA 221; sophomore standing. This course focuses on the elements of operations management that are of particular importance in the context of new product development, including product and process design, process analysis, supply chain configuration, inventory management, and capacity and production planning.
• QST OM 323: Operations and Supply Chain Management
  Undergraduate Prerequisites, Questrom students only: QST AC221; MO221; QM221; QM222 or BA222; SM131; SM132; SM275 - Component of QST SM323, The Cross Functional Core. Focuses on the elements of operations management that are of particular importance in the context of new product development. These include: product and process design, process analysis, supply chain configuration, inventory management, and capacity and production planning. A semester-long business plan explores the interaction between operations management and marketing, information systems, and finance decisions.
• QST OM 351: Supply Chain Risk and Sustainability
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: QSTSM 131 and sophomore standing - This course explores initiatives that enable a company to reduce its environmental impact. We will study the initiatives based on where the impact occurs in the supply chain: within the four walls of the company, at extended suppliers, in logistics, and at customer or use phase. We will start with making a business case for sustainability, learning about the complex structure of supply chains, and different ways to assess environmental impact. In addition, we will cover food waste, sustainable agriculture, green product design, eco-labeling, sustainable business models, and supply chain risk management. Effective Fall 2025, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, The Individual in Community.
  BU Hub Learn More

  • Historical Consciousness
  • The Individual in Community
• QST OM 353: Project Management
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: QST SM131 and sophomore standing - Formerly OM453. Focuses on project management from two perspectives. First, the course explores management of projects on a day-to-day basis at the functional, operational level, dealing with the management of tasks, resources, risks and timelines within an individual project. The course also covers project management on a more strategic level, program management, which identifies linkages between and among a portfolio of projects at the business unit or firm level. The course covers the tools, techniques, roles, and responsibilities that are critical in managing programs effectively and managing projects to completion.
• QST OM 365: Improving Quality: Six Sigma Certification
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: QST QM221 or equivalent - Formerly OM456. Six Sigma quality programs help companies deliver near-perfect products and services. People trained as Six Sigma experts are highly sought after on the job market. This course makes students proficient in Six Sigma including its underlying philosophies, tools (for example, statistical process control), and implementation. This course certifies students as Six Sigma Green Belts and is also designed to prepare students so that when they complete one or more quality improvement projects in a post-BU career, they will be ready to test for a "Black Belt."
• QST OM 440: Supply Chain Strategy
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (QSTOM323) - Explores the ability of an organization's operations to satisfy its strategic requirements by investigating the influence of decisions made about the structure capacities, facilities, technology, and vertical integration and infrastructure workforces, quality, production planning and control, and organization of an organization's operations and its capabilities. These decisions are considered in the context of different types of performance improvement plans organizations use: quality management, lean, reengineering, supply chain management, strategic alliances, and performance management. 4 cr.