Course Offerings by term

This course takes students step by step through the practical core of entrepreneurship. Students learn design thinking, how to identify a problem or void in the marketplace, and then build a business to solve it. By creating a customer-driven feasibility study students acquire the knowledge necessary to analyze a business idea. Students will develop market research to evaluate customer and business needs. Students gain a practical tool set that will allow them to look at their next entrepreneurial endeavor objectively.

Consumer behavior lies at the crossroads of marketing, psychology, economics and anthropology. We employ theories developed in these fields to help predict how consumers will respond to various marketing stimuli. We examine the impact of purchase involvement on consumer decision making; the various kinds of decision models used by consumers; and the influence of attitude, culture, demographics, emotions, learning, memory, motivation, personality and perception on our behavior as consumers. Consumer behavior attempts to understand the consumption activities of individuals as opposed to markets.

This course is designed to introduce students to the strategic importance of various operations decisions (process and plant layout, capacity planning, job design, forecasting, quality control, inventory and supply chain management). We take both a theoretical and practical approach, beginning with a brief review of the fundamental purpose of management. We explore the strategic role of operations, study some of the problems and challenges that managers face and examine the theories and strategic tools available to tackle these issues. We take this a little further by analyzing how managerial philosophy, attitudes toward work, technology and culture can affect successful implementation of an operations strategy.

Sustainability Management addresses global warming and consequences such as extreme weather and biodiversity degradation. Following stable climate conditions, we are now confronted with the uncharted territory of the Anthropocene. Management must engage with these wicked issues marked by complexity. Students will gain an understanding of the consequences of climate change for strategies and organizational dynamics. Pre-requisites: BA 2020 and junior standing.