Course Descriptions

This course focuses on the analysis and use of financial accounting information in the evaluation of corporate performance. The course initially demonstrates the accounting process and the resulting generation of financial statements. Building on these core accounting concepts, the course emphasizes the understanding of financial statements prepared under U.S. and International Accounting Standards and the analysis of these financial statements, including common size analysis, ratio analysis, the impact of taxes, and credit analysis.

Completing the course enhances the student’s ability to read, interpret, and analyze financial statements to make an investment, credit, acquisition, and other evaluation decisions. Enrollment is limited to M.B.A. students and Executive M.B.A. students. It does not satisfy any accounting requirements needed to sit for the CPA Exam in Florida.

The course focuses on the use of accounting information in reporting managerial performance and making business decisions. The course covers the preparation and use of managerial accounting information in planning, budgeting, control, break-even analysis, and pricing, including the impact of taxes. Completing the course will enhance the student’s ability to understand managerial accounting reports and use this information to make business decisions. Limited to M.B.A. students and Executive M.B.A. students. It does not satisfy any accounting requirement needed to sit for the CPA Exam in Florida.

Derivation of rule of law governing health providers, vicarious liability of administrative and medical personnel, informed consent, and other related problems are discussed.

The course is designed to provide the foundations in management information systems required to understand and effectively use an enterprise-wide information system. Topics include the role of the CIO, managing information technology (IT) as a strategic resource, business process reengineering, IT planning, IT governance and communication, the Internet, and eBusiness.

This class builds on critical thinking and writing skills acquired in BUS 602. Topics include oral persuasion, prepared and impromptu speeches, and dealing with the media, defending one’s view before adversarial audiences, display of data, and effective use of visual aids.

This course will expose students to a variety of academic and industry career lectures, events, and workshops to enhance their M.B.A. experience. The focus is to establish added-value to an M.B.A. student through real-world and relevant access to information and resources beyond the traditional curriculum.

Development of public policy at the federal, state, and local levels. Policy process, models of policy analysis, policy development in several government service areas, and plans for policy change. Special emphasis on health policy formulation, implementation, and the use of epidemiological tools in health policy analysis.

Topics in selected areas of business.

Modern techniques of economic analysis and decision science are applied to the management of the firm in a global environment. Business planning and the determinants of supply and demand are an integral part of the course. The principal forms of business organization and dissolution are reviewed. The major issues confronted by the firm: Principal-agent problem (or how to motivate managers to act in the best interest of the owners, the shareholders), moral hazard, discounting of free cash flow and terminal value, economies of scale and scope, and strategic management decision making are covered.

Basic financial valuation. This is one of the core classes in finance for our regular M.B.A. program. Topics include the financial environment; the time value of money; capital market efficiency; basic security valuation; risk, return and asset pricing; the cost of capital; and an introduction to capital budgeting.

This course aims to provide the student with insight into the organizational and economic aspects of the various sectors and agents within the health care industry. We will examine the organizational structure, behavior, interactions between structure and behavior, and the resultant performance of the various sectors of the health care industry. This includes models of hospital management behavior, operations of alternative services markets, the market for physicians and physician service, and the market for nurses.

Exploration will allow us to understand how such elements, in turn, affect performance measured in terms of managerial, economic, and ethical criteria. The course will explore issues associated with scarce resource allocation and distributional justice.

Aspects of risk will be examined, and the impact of governance on economic behavior and performance in the marketplace.

This course aims to familiarize the student with statistical theory, tools, and methods required for business systems analysis and improvement. Topics include descriptive methods, elementary probability, random variables and distributions, hypothesis testing, confidence intervals, statistical modeling, and regression.

This course aims to familiarize the student with management science tools for business systems analysis and improvement. The coverage includes linear and integer programming models, project management, simulation, queuing, and decision analysis. Some widely used software is illustrated through examples and case studies derived from business applications.

This core course in the M.B.A. program introduces students to some of the key behavioral topics necessary to manage oneself and others in organizations. Specifically, the topics covered include:

• Individual attributes (personality, perception, motivation, relationship building)
• Group processes (norms, roles, and team basics)
• Leadership views
• Organizational culture/change

An understanding of the relationship between these areas and organizational outcomes is enhanced through lectures, cases, and interactive exercises.

Introduction to operations management, forecasting, process analysis, aggregate planning, capacity management, waiting line management, system design, quality management, and inventory management.

This capstone course focuses on the perspective and skills of the general manager. Its purpose is to provide practice in diagnosing and identifying realistic solutions to complex strategic and organizational problems. The course builds on previous coursework by providing an opportunity to integrate various functional areas by providing a total business perspective. Since the course focuses on pragmatic, action-oriented general management skills, it is taught primarily through the case method and requires both written analyses and case presentations.

This course develops an understanding of the essential elements of the health services industry in the United States. A systems approach will be used utilizing a historical perspective as a basis and moving on to current and potential future system dynamics. The various components of the health care system will be examined, including physician services, hospital, and hospital systems, long-term care providers, mental health services, and pharmaceutical services. Various elements associated with the financing of health services will be examined, including indemnity insurance, capitation, and the role of managed care and consumer-driven health care in theory and practice. We will explore the role of government and its impact on our health care system as well.

The course introduces students to the analytical concepts and tools of marketing management. Particular emphasis is placed on the relationships between marketing and overall company strategy, customer orientation development, marketing integration throughout the organization, and the implementation of systems for planning and controlling the marketing effort. Students consider problems of consumer analysis, product planning, integrated communication, distribution, and pricing. Data and analysis required to make effective marketing decisions are also examined. The discovery and application of marketing management skills are developed through readings, case exercises, and class discussions.