Markets, Public Policy & Law

• QST LA 365: Securities Regulation
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (QSTLA245 & QSTFE323) - 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 450: Law and Risk Management
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (QSTLA245) - Due to the financial crisis of 2008, the industry has re-aligned its business models to a risk-based approach for products and services. In response to this paradigm shift, Advanced Business Law, now known as Law and Risk Management, will focus on the identification, assessment, and management of operational and regulatory risk in the context of the law. Topics covered will continue to include contract risk, commercial financing, the Uniform Commercial Code, agency liability, bankruptcy, products liability, and real estate. The class will emphasize legal issues as a component of effective strategic business planning with a particular emphasis on duties and liabilities for corporate accounting. Group work includes contract drafting, interpretation, and negotiation. This course in part supplements many of the legal issues central to the accounting concentration and addresses many of the topics on the Regulation section of the CPA Exam.
• QST LA 498: Law Directed Study
  Directed study in Law. 2 or 4 cr. Application available on Undergraduate Program website.
• QST PL 498: Directed Study in Markets, Public Policy, and Law
  Directed study in Markets and Public Policy. 2 or 4 cr. Application available on Undergraduate Program website
• QST PL 710: Introduction to Business Law
  This course will survey contemporary issues in selected areas of law and ethics. We will 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 will also offer an analytic structure that enables students to identify ethical issues in business, analyze options and make choices consistent with their own values.
• QST PL 833: Business Law and Discrimination
  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.
• QST PL 835: Managing Your Workforce
  All students of Management will be employees and/or managers, yet very few know their rights or their responsibilities in those roles. Understanding the legal contours will help students better navigate their career, make smarter management decisions, and hopefully correct behavior or policies before they become lawsuits.
• QST PL 855: Energy Sector Market Dynamics
  This course is designed as a multi-dimensional approach to understanding the fundamentals of the global energy sector as it is currently configured. The goal of the course is to provide the student a clear and practical understanding of all the major aspects of energy production and use, both in the United States and globally. We will disaggregate the entire sector and then rebuild it, so that it is not so overwhelming to understand. This course should serve as a basis for the student either interested in pursuing a career in energy or seeking a fundamental understanding of energy-related issues as they affect other sectors. The course will provide students a thorough grounding of today¿s energy sector by offering a historical understanding of how the energy sector has evolved, because current approaches for energy production, delivery, use, and pricing remain heavily dependent upon a legacy of decisions and investments over the past century. After reviewing some of the major social and environmental challenges that the energy sector now poses, the course will conclude with some conjectures on the future direction for the energy sector. This will help students identify possible career paths in the energy sector, of which there are many: consulting, banking, asset management, technology ventures, project development, utilities, government policy, think-tanks, corporate social responsibility, and NGOs.
• QST PL 861: Emerging Issues in Business and Law
  You ask your outside lawyer or your company's legal department whether you can undertake some activity without violating the law. You are annoyed when you are told "Well, maybe. It depends". You want a yes-or-no answer, not a game of twenty questions. Why can't your lawyers give you a straight answer' Why do they make everything more complicated' What language are they speaking' Most business people ask these questions. If you do business you cannot avoid dealing with lawyers. You can allow your interactions with lawyers to frustrate you, or you can learn how lawyers think so that you can better manage them. Emerging Issues in Business Law 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.
• QST PL 895: Action Learning Directed Study in Public Policy
  ALDS: PUB POL
• QST PL 898: Directed Study: Markets, Public Policy, and Law
  Graduate Prerequisites: Consent of instructor and the department chair - Graduate-level directed study in Markets, Public Policy, and Law. 1, 2, or 3 cr. Application available on the Graduate Center website.
• QST PL 899: Directed Study: Markets, Public Policy, and Law
  Graduate Prerequisites: Consent of instructor and the department chair - Graduate-level directed study in Markets, Public Policy, and Law. 1, 2, or 3 cr. Application available on the Graduate Center website.
• QST PL 998: Directed Study: Markets, Public Policy, and Law
  Graduate Prerequisites: Consent of instructor and the department chair - PhD-level directed study in Markets, Public Policy, and Law. 1, 2, or 3 cr. Application available on the Graduate Center website.
• QST PL 999: Directed Study: Markets, Public Policy, and Law
  Graduate Prerequisites: Consent of instructor and the department chair - PhD-level directed study in Markets, Public Policy, and Law. 1, 2, or 3 cr. Application available on the Graduate Center website.
• QST QM 323: Analytics
  Undergraduate Prerequisites, Questrom students only: QST AC221; MO221; QM221; QM222 or BA222; SM131; SM132; SM275 - Component of QST SM 323, The Cross Functional Core. Teaches quantitative methods and modeling techniques that will improve the student's ability to make informed decisions in an uncertain world. The two major modules of the course are models for optimal decision-making and decision- making under uncertainty. The first module focuses on methods and predictive models for decision-making; how optimization models are used to identify the best choice; and how choices change in response to changes in the model's parameters (sensitivity analysis). The second module covers the measurement and management of risk and Monte Carlo simulation. Throughout the semester, we will perform hands-on analysis that will improve Excel modeling skills; discuss the ethical use of data analytics; and learn to recognize pitfalls and biases in quantitative decision-making. cr. N
• QST QM 716: Business Analytics: Data Analysis and Risk
  The overall goal of this course is to improve student ability to learn from data, specifically to 1) assess the validity of conclusions that have been drawn from statistical analyses; 2) recognize the extent to which variation characterizes products and processes, and understand the implications of variation on organizational decisions when interpreting data; and 3) portray, summarize and analyze data to support operational and strategic decisions associated with the core business models. Students will increase their understanding of the use of probabilities to reflect uncertainty; how to interpret data in light of uncertainty to assess risk; and how to build and interpret regression models, which can be used to inform core business and organizational decisions.
• QST QM 717: Data Analysis for Managerial Decision-Making
  Graduate Prerequisites: (QSTMO712 OR QSTMO713) - The overall goal of this course is to improve student ability to learn from data, specifically to 1) assess the validity of conclusions that have been drawn from statistical analyses; 2) recognize the extent to which variation characterizes products and processes, and understand the implications of variation on organizational decisions when interpreting data; and 3) portray, summarize and analyze data to support operational and strategic decisions associated with the core business models. Students will increase their understanding of the use of probabilities to reflect uncertainty; how to interpret data in light of uncertainty to assess risk; and how to build and interpret regression models, which can be used to inform core business and organizational decisions.