Catalog of Courses for Graduate Commerce
Global Strategy and Systems provides an overview of global business from both a strategic process perspective and the organization as a system. It introduces a broad conceptual framework involving strategic and critical thinking, business planning, and general management functions. It provides a foundation for the other core modules that develop more specific concepts and techniques. Restricted to MS in Commerce students.
This course covers the use of cost data in strategic planning and control to facilitate the development and implementation of business strategies. Restricted to MS in Commerce students.
Financial Accounting incorporates the perspectives of accounting, corporate finance, and economics to help students understand financial statements and the judgments and incentives underlying accounting choices. The course will use an integrated, cross-disciplinary view of financial reporting and will include major accounting topic including assets, liabilities, equity, off-balance-sheet financing, measurement issues, valuation, and the analysis. Restricted to MS in Commerce students.
Marketing and Quantitative Analysis introduces the marketing management processes that can be applied to various global markets. Topics include understanding market metrics, consumer market dynamics, consumer behavior and social/cultural trends, organizational buying behaviors, market segmentation, global branding, management of goods and services in diverse markets, and marketing decision systems. Restricted to MS in Commerce students.
Organizational Behavior examines human behavior both within the organization and within the global business environment. It discusses personal effectiveness and interpersonal skills in a global climate. Topics include cross-cultural differences, global and virtual teams, leadership, conflict resolution, decision making, creating high-performance teams. Restricted to MS in Commerce students.
Financial Management covers basic corporate finance including cost of capital, capital budgeting, valuation of stock and bonds, working capital management, and international finance. Prerequisite: Restricted to MS in Commerce students.
GCOM 7140 is a research-oriented class that examines how firms can leverage customer analytics to successfully create, manage, and grow brands. The class provides marketing managers and operational business leaders with the analytical tools to develop and operationally execute brand strategies that enhance customer engagement and loyalty.
Consumer Behavior and Pricing Strategy integrates our understanding of consumers from research in marketing, psychology, and behavioral economics. We will take the perspective of a marketing manager and employ this knowledge to develop, execute, and implement effective marketing strategies. Prerequisite: M.S. in Commerce students only
This course will expose you to the knowledge and skills required of, 1) brand managers as they successfully launch and manage branded products/services over time, and 2) brand consultants who consult brand managers on the best strategies and techniques for managing brands. You will also learn the process for conducting a brand audit through a group semester project.
Examines ways to design, develop and execute effective integrated, web, and social marketing programs. The course uses a business planning model which allows students to justify, build, and execute social and digital marketing programs with bottom line ROI. Students learn to identify and measure high value market segments, use web and social research to evaluate competitors and convince management of the value of digital and social marketing.
Developing innovative products is the lifeblood of the firm, yet many product introductions fail due to improper design, unrealistic expectations or a failure to understand the consumer. This course will dissect the new product development process, including creative ideation, concept testing, prototyping, and entry strategies. Concepts such as open source innovation, disruptive technologies, and the diffusion of innovations are also considered.
Through labs, assignments, and a capstone project, students build, evaluate, & deploy predictive ML/AI models using low-code technologies and learn how to apply these concepts to create value & support real-world applications. Students will also learn managerial considerations employing analytics initiatives to create business & societal value. No prior experience with coding, machine learning, or AI is assumed or expected.
This course aims to provide students with a practical understanding of Artificial Intelligence technology. It covers key factors for the successful development, deployment, and management of AI, machine learning, and other algorithmic approaches to automated decision-making. Students will better understand the societal impacts of AI, ethical considerations in the use of AI, the limitations of AI, and approaches to balance AI risks and benefits.
The course provides an overview of the fundamentals necessary to conduct data analytics with Python including understanding Python objects, data types, structures, packages, and data flow statements; and, reading, writing, manipulating, and plotting data. Students will perform predictive analytics via machine learning using industry-standard packages.
Students will learn how to communicate effectively with data and data structures. This includes how to evaluate potential sources of data, aggregate data values from multiple sources, and compile creative, professional, and descriptive visualizations from that data. Students will learn the best type of chart or figure for different situations and how to format those visualizations to maximize the impact to the viewer.
Provides an overview of the concepts, technologies, and tools necessary to support and improve electronic commerce, with emphasis on tools and methodologies for measuring and enhancing digital presence. The two major areas covered are web analytics and search analytics. Through a semester-long group project, the course focuses on how these concepts can be used to measure, analyze, and improve user experience, web traffic, and conversion rates.
The course covers advanced predictive and classification techniques, including stepwise regression, logistic regression, cluster analyses, factor analysis, and path analysis structural equation modeling. We apply these techniques to a current Hilton Hotels data set, examining how employee perceptions of their workplace impacts customer satisfaction. The statistics packages used in the class are IBM-SPSS and R-Studio. No prior training on R-Studio is needed or expected to do well in this course.
The primary objective of Project Management is to provide a blend of theoretical knowledge and practical skills necessary for the effective management of projects. To this end, the course is closely tied to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK, as espoused by the Project Management Institute) and consists of seminars on such topics as planning, stakeholder management, human resource management, global/virtual teams, risk management. Prerequisites: Restricted to MS in Commerce students.
This course provides students with an introduction in how to effectively fill the role of Project Manager. It covers a blend of conceptual knowledge and practical skills necessary for the effective management of complex projects.
This course is designed to provide a broad overview of management consulting and other related advisory services professions while also helping students develop skills that are broadly applicable in these professions as well as in other fields (business, politics, not-for-profit, etc.). Working both individually and in teams, students will gain an appreciation of what makes consulting and advisory services unique from other areas of business.
This course is focused on harnessing the power of unstructured data to perform advanced analytical techniques. Students will be exposed to big data technologies (NoSQL, Hadoop, etc.) to understand how to manage and interact with large, complex data sets. We will also cover various analytical and machine learning techniques that can apply to these data, with particular attention to text data from reports, articles, and social media.
This course provides a manager's view of cybersecurity and privacy that contains an overview of methods for managing and mitigating cybersecurity risk in organizations. Further, this course includes an emphasis on applying analytics to understand cybersecurity threats. The course will also explore the role of privacy in society.
This course is first in a two-seminar sequence that introduces students to the science and business of the biotechnology industry. The course will explore cutting edge translational research that is shaping current commercialization and industry trends. Students will engage directly with primary research literature and learn from leading scientists and industry executives. Example topics include AI, gene editing/therapy, precision medicine, tissue engineering, biomanufacturing, synthetic biology.
This course is second in a two-seminar sequence that introduces students to the science and business of the biotechnology industry. In addition to continued exploration of translational research, this course will focus on deeper scientific and commercialization topics specific to the industry, including operational and financial perspectives across all stages of organizational maturity. Students will learn from industry leaders who are commercializing, analyzing, and investing in biotechnology.
This course focuses on how to successfully commercialize breakthrough technologies that have high potential to generate social and/or economic value. Issues related to identifying market needs and potential, developing commercialization plans, and understanding business models and entrepreneurial strategy are covered. As an introduction, this is not an appropriate course for students who minored in or have a strong foundation in entrepreneurship.
This course covers the theory and practice of corporate financial reporting. It highlights the development of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and accounting policy choices at the macro (standard setter) level and the micro or company level. Cases are used to evaluate accounting conventions, particularly with regard to how those decisions reflect economic reality and the quality of earnings. Restricted to MS in Accounting Students.
This course is designed to expand your knowledge of financial reporting from a user's perspective. To do this, we use firm disclosures to explore: how analysts use financial information to value the firm, how some managers attempt to alter perceptions of firm value, and how accounting rules can impact perceptions of firm value. Restricted to MS in Accounting Students.
This course develops a framework for understanding the uses and financial reporting of derivatives as used in the banking system. The course will focus on a discussion of contract specifications, business uses and valuation of the three main classes of derivatives: futures & forwards, swaps and options. It will then focus on how to account for these types of derivatives. Restricted to MS in Accounting Students.
This course helps students understand how behavior, psychology and biases influence the preparation, interpretation, and auditing of accounting information. The class will explore theories and research on judgment and decision making, and how those theories apply to aspects of financial reporting and auditing. Restricted to MS in Accounting Students.
Includes the planning, processes (gathering evidence), & judgments required to render an opinion on an entity's internal controls and financial statements. Deals with evidence theory, risk identification & professional judgment. Audit methodology is examined through a study of auditing standards & the concepts & procedures developed to implement those standards. Other topics include data analytics, auditor independence, materiality & audit reports.
Intensive study of advanced auditing topics, including how auditors are using data analytics to respond to new challenges facing the profession. Topics will be covered primarily through (a) professional and academic readings and (b) a case-based approach that will allow for a hands-on experience with data analytics tools and techniques. Prerequisite: Auditing.
This course provides hands-on, real-life experience in accounting analytics. Students gain exposure to data analysis tools, digital evidence, and investigative techniques while studying examples of and learning how to combat "white-collar" crime. A case study method is employed, so students learn from past occurrences of fraud, and students are required to keep up with current events and developments in the accounting profession.
Given the widespread use of financial reporting and the growing use of Big Data, business institutions have increasing demand for people who can bridge the disciplines of data, analytics methods, and decision making. This course is designed to develop your ability to extract, analyze, and interpret information from required financial reporting.
This course provides an introduction to management and use of data in business. The course emphasizes understanding fundamentals of relational database systems design and querying using SQL and provides a basic understanding of developments and trends in Business Intelligence/Analytics, with implications for accountants. Restricted to MS in Accounting Students.
This course examines ethical considerations within specific contexts frequently encountered by accountants to recognize common ethical situations faced in business (by accountants, their organizations and their clients). We will study ethical frameworks and professional rules and practice, applying analyses to real-life and fictitious cases to learn from the experiences of others and how to manage ethical challenges in a professional context.
This course is designed to expose you to career management and "people" skills that are critical for your success in a professional services firm or organization. More specifically, the course focuses on topics related to: effective teaming, managing up, giving and receiving feedback, having difficult conversations, and the importance of social connections.
This course has been designed to expose students to the various statutory, administrative, and judicial sources of the tax law. Case studies are used throughout the course to assist students in developing and refining their proficiency in identifying issues, locating and interpreting pertinent authority, and effectively and professionally communicating their conclusions. Students will learn to use the electronic tax data base RIA checkpoint.
This course provides an in-depth coverage of tax rules regarding the operations partnerships and flow-thru entities. A number of businesses utilize "pass-thru" for financing, investing and tax-planning reasons and partnerships are a powerful business tool as they allow flexibility regarding how to allocate income and distribute cash. This course will require reading of the internal revenue code. Restricted to MS in Accounting Students.
The course addresses the various business, tax, and accounting issues arising in connection with the formation, operation, and termination of domestic corporations and their shareholders. It provides in-depth coverage of the technical rules of Subchapter C, and places special emphasis on the identification and implementation of tax planning strategies available to corporations and their shareholders. Restricted to MS in Accounting Students.
Analyzes the federal income tax law and its application to business, investment, and personal transactions. The objectives of the course are to develop a basic understanding of the federal income tax laws and to provide a framework for integrating income tax planning into the decision-making process.
Today's CPA must have a working familiarity with a number of areas of business law to properly advise clients and to protect their own interests as a practitioner. This course is designed to meet both objectives. The course is broken into six main parts: (1) business entities; (2) civil liability and unfair competition in business; (3) intellectual property; (4) employment law; (5) contracts; and (6) bankruptcy law for businesses.
Presents the opportunity to examine new and emerging Accounting topics or study a related area in greater depth than is covered in other courses. Prerequisite: Graduate Commerce.
New Graduate Commerce Course: Special Topics in Finance
Presents the opportunity to examine new and emerging IT topics or study a particular IT related area in greater depth than is covered in other courses. Prerequisite: Graduate Commerce.
Global commerce immersion course options for M.S. in Accounting students. Prerequisite: M.S. in Accounting Students Only
A full understanding of commerce requires an appreciation of the context in which all business occurs. Commerce in the Global Context builds upon GCOM 7870 (Foundations of Global Commerce), introducing students to business in a variety of regions of the world as well as important topics in global business.
Global immersion experience course options for M.S. in Commerce students.
Graduate-level topics in management.
This course provides instruction in the foundations of sustainable commerce, that is, business activities designed for a finite and equitable planet. The course begins with a review of our pressing sustainability challenges, then describes how the fundamental business disciplines (strategy, accounting, marketing, operations, finance and management) are innovating, operating and facilitating commercial solutions to these issues.
This course gives students an opportunity to strengthen both their oral and written communication skills within a framework designed to: emphasize the impact of audience and occasion on communication strategy; examine the power of well-designed, high-impact deliverables; develop professional presentation skills and increase their public speaking confidence. Restricted to MS in Accounting Students.
The Global Challenges seminar examines commerce within an interconnected, evolving global system facing urgent challenges like climate change, inequality, AI, and geopolitical stresses. It starts with our globalized commerce system, explores systemic stresses, and considers positive changes. Students build analytical skills to understand global systems & solutions, aiming to impact society and the planet through their careers & leadership roles.
This course covers strategic and managerial challenges in global business. Students explore international opportunities, market entry strategies, and competitive advantage. It examines managing people and operations across cultures, emphasizing cultural intelligence, multinational structures, and global leadership. Ethical dilemmas and sustainability challenges are addressed. Students develop foundational global strategy and management skills.
Corporate governance studies the relationship between managers & stakeholders, including shareholders & the community. This seminar covers governance theories, variations across countries, board structure, executive compensation, & external monitoring. It examines how institutional contexts affect governance practices & their impact on firm performance and how globalization drives changes in govern. & perspectives on best practices for intl orgs.
This course seeks to develop students' ability to respond to complex leadership challenges in a global context. Through experiential learning, students will be better prepared to influence the strategic direction of their organizations. Topics include understanding the role of strategic leaders, crafting organizational narratives, managing cultures, guiding change, balancing stakeholder expectations, and managing organizational threats.
This course examines the critical role information systems play in modern global organizations. Through discussions and practice using tools and common frameworks, you will gain an understanding of how IS, machine learning, and AI fit within broader organizational systems, including their application to data analytics for decision-making, plus the skills to successfully use technology to generate organizational value in a global context.
This course focuses on researching and writing a thesis on a global business topic. Students will identify and defend a thesis topic, review significant literature, refine thesis research methodology, present thesis proposal ideas for class critique, revise and formally defend a thesis proposal, and begin initial research. The approved thesis proposal will launch research that will culminate in a formal thesis defense in the spring session.
Firms increasingly compete in a dynamic, evolving global marketplace. Managers must develop empathy, knowledge, and skills to succeed in the digital global environment. This course examines global marketing concepts, managerial processes, strategies, frameworks, and the impact of international economics, culture, and governmental policies. Topics include branding, pricing, e-commerce, and consumer behavior in global digital spaces.
This course explores internat. financial systems, institutions, and investment dynamics, introducing financial concepts and techniques internat. business managers use. There are three modules: (1) Participants, Politics, and Process in Global Markets, (2) Foreign Exchange Markets, and (3) Global Financing and Investing. Through cases, models, and applications, students develop understanding of how global markets impact economic decision-making.
This course provides a broad overview of management consulting in international contexts. Students gain experience in the practice of consulting through problem identification, problem structuring, data collection, problem solving, and client presentations and management. Emphasis will be placed on the additional opportunities and challenges in international contexts.
Project work drives innovation but often faces challenges like cost overruns, delays, and reduced value, especially in global contexts. This course covers project management principles, including planning, risk management, and performance monitoring, using traditional, agile, and hybrid methodologies. Emphasis is on addressing challenges in cross-cultural, global projects to enhance efficiency and deliver value.
Operations Management focuses on the activities organizations use to produce goods or services, transforming inputs like raw materials through resources such as labor and capital into final outputs that meet customer demand. This course covers strategies and tools to analyze and improve these processes, introduces theories for internal integration, and explores coordination across the value chain.
This course will explore the process of consumer decision-making and its determinants, and the resulting implications for marketing strategy. Concepts and theories covered in this course are essential for consumer analysis and development of effective marketing strategies. In addition, the course will develop understanding of consumer behavior by exploring theoretical concepts borrowed from fields such as psychology, sociology, and economics.
This course aims to provide today's non-financial managers with sufficient understanding of fundamental concepts and tools of financial management in international settings to be effective global managers.The course will review the institutional use and valuation of financial instruments such as currency futures, currency options, and swaps. We will discuss hedging against exchange rate risk. The course will use a highly applied orientation.
This course will examine the business context of China, including Taiwan and Hong Kong. This course follows the "Doing Business: U.S." course and precedes the "Doing Business: European Union" course.
Entrepreneurs tackle global challenges through innovative solutions, blending purpose and profit to drive change. This course empowers students to develop social business ideas tied to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Topics include financial forecasting, impact measurement, and fundraising, with insights from case studies and social entrepreneurs. Gain tools to pitch and launch ventures that create meaningful impact.
Organizations recognize that breakthrough innovations often come from outside. This course provides frameworks and tools for managing open and distributed innovation, integrating external inputs into strategy. We explore why some firms succeed with open models, investigate various innovation methods, and examine AI's role in new ecosystems. Participants will learn to adopt open practices and assess their strategic impact.
This course is designed to give students an introduction to the complex world of strategic alliances seen as an integrated process rather than watertight compartments of finance, business policy and human resources. By the end of the course, students should have grasped the complexity of such alliances, the risks they entail, and ways to increase critical success factors.
This course covers the global nonmarket environment of the internationalized firm, with a special focus on Europe. First we cover the geopolitical dynamics as the overarching trends in a globalized economy. We then cover the European economy. The European Union, its politics and institutions are introduced prior to focusing on lobbying at the EU level. This course is provides an introduction to nonmarket strategy at an international level.
The Social Impact Project allows you to act as an economic or management consultant for organizations like non-profits or CSR departments, enhancing vital skills such as problem-solving and project management. You gain practical knowledge in social impact and sustainability, responding to emerging global standards. Unique to ESMT, this fieldwork aligns with its mission of fostering socially conscious graduates. 2 workshops award 3/4 of a credit.
This course involves the research and completion of a written thesis on an approved global business topic and culminates in a formal thesis defense.
We all negotiate daily, whether in obvious situations like salaries or contracts, or subtler ones, such as workload discussions or personal relationships. Despite its importance, many lack knowledge of negotiation strategy and psychology. This course explores the art and science of negotiation, offering theory and practical tools to help you master processes and achieve rewarding agreements in diverse contexts.
This course sharpens corporate valuation and corporate financing skills in a wide variety of cases and contexts. It is intended to extend the theoretical knowledge gained in financial management GCOM 7060 to numerous applied settings including mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings, capital structure decisions, and leveraged buyout/private equity investments. Prerequisite: Restricted to MS in Commerce students.
Teaches analytical consulting competencies focused on the fast-paced financial industry: 1) Process automation: automating repetitive tasks to increase individual productivity; 2) Financial business intelligence: accessing and manipulating information stored in organizational databases; 3) Financial Engineering: designing and implementing financial algorithms that make financial decisions.
This course familiarizes students with the restructuring of financially distressed firms and distressed investing. We analyze credit documents, model credit risk, and survey restructuring methods. Throughout, we consider credit and distressed debt as asset classes and develop techniques and models for investing in credit and distressed instruments.
GCOM 7730 explores three main topics: (1) mergers and acquisitions (2) non-distressed corporate restructurings in the form of leveraged buyouts and private equity and (3) distressed corporate restructuring/bankruptcy. The course is largely case-based and extends concepts and principles learned in GCOM 7060 and GCOM 7710 to practical applications. Students will additionally participate in two negotiation exercises during the term.
This course develops the concepts and tools needed to build and analyze investment portfolios for a wide range of investors including sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), pensions, endowments, family funds, high-net worth individuals, and even small investors taking into account a broad array of investing objectives. The course covers risk/return trade-offs and valuation in the equity, fixed income and derivative markets.
Develops an analytical framework by which individuals and institutions can make real estate investment and financing decisions. Emphasizes theory, concept building, financial modeling, and practical real estate applications. Uses the case method to illustrate implementation of an analytical framework. Restricted to Graduate Commerce.
This class provides students with a deep understanding and hands-on experience with information technology in business settings: advanced Excel features, macros, pivot tables, SQL, databases. By the end of the class students will have developed and tested an Excel-based system to solve a complex business problem in a financial setting.
This course provides a broad foundation for understanding how information technology delivers business value. Enterprise architecture, databases, business processes, and networks are covered at a level of detail that is appropriate for IT managers. Students learn how to envision IT infrastructures and applications that meet the needs of the business enterprise and add economic value.
Building on the foundations in GCOM 7790, this course fosters insights into contemporary IT architecture trends. Topics include cybersecurity, cloud architectures, and emerging technologies. Students envision a digital innovation that adds business value for a real-world enterprise, describe it by means of several architectural artifacts (e.g., process and information models), and present it to a business and tech-savvy audience.
GCOM 7810 develops an understanding of how to manage IT to create business value through a focus on strategy and finance. IT professionals must understand the specific kinds of value created by IT for their firm's end consumers, and how it in turn produces financial returns. By analyzing a firm's industry and its competitive position within that industry, students learn how to produce technologies that can impact the firm's competitive position.
This interdisciplinary course explores four critical areas at the intersection of business and sustainability: 1) Climate Finance, 2) Conservation Finance, 3) Circular Economy and 4) ESG Investing. In addition to acquiring an understanding of these key sustainability challenges, participants will gain skill in applying analytical tools and techniques to the evaluation of sustainable investment opportunities.
The primary objective of this course is to provide a blend of theoretical knowledge and practical skills necessary for the effective management of IT projects. To this end, the course consists of seminars, workshops, and tutorials on contemporary tools and techniques. Students will work in teams to apply the concepts and tools covered in class by conducting a project retrospective.
The course will provide a blend of theoretical knowledge and practical skills necessary for effective project and product management. Students will have a chance to apply these skills by working as a team and conducting projects such as a design thinking team.
In this course, you will travel to Mendoza, Argentina, and analyze real business situations, such as a recently completed IT project or a complex technological decision. Working in a team, you will interview stakeholders and review artifacts to identify effective managerial practices and practices that could be improved. Before leaving the country, each team will present its analysis and practical recommendations to its clients.
GCOM 7840 focuses on the necessary technological, financial, and organizational issues to consider when developing a business case around a transformational IT-based strategic initiative. Projects of this sort can impact on how an organization pursues its strategic goals, and in some cases may also suggest shifts in strategy to pursue new opportunities that are compatible with the firm's resources and capabilities.
Business Analytics, ranging from applied statistics to Machine learning and AI, allows us to describe markets, understand the causal forces that affect businesses, predict the economic future, and prescribe better courses of action. IT professionals will learn what these tools are, how they work, the resources they require, how to manage projects with analytics components, and how to create and realize value from analytics initiatives.
This course surveys digital technologies that are changing products, services, the way we make decisions and run business operations. While specific topics vary from year to year, examples include innovative ways to manage and visualize data, multi-sided digital platforms, the Internet of Things, digital currencies, and GenAI. Working in teams, students will propose an economically viable application of one or more of these technologies to a real-world business.
This course exposes students to the international issues, business practices, and concerns in their respective global immersion location. Prerequisite: Restricted to MS in Commerce students.
Students taking this course will explore areas and issues of special interest that are not otherwise covered in the graduate curriculum. This course is offered at the discretion of the supervising professor.
This interdisciplinary course explores four critical areas at the intersection of business and sustainability: 1) Climate Finance, 2) Conservation Finance, 3) Circular Economy and 4) ESG Investing. In addition to acquiring an understanding of these key sustainability challenges, participants will gain skill in applying analytical tools and techniques to the evaluation of sustainable investment opportunities.