Curriculum

Corporate financial accounting is concerned with the form and content of the information firms disclose to external parties (e.g., shareholders). In the United States, financial reporting is based on generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) set by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). GAAP define the accounting methods and disclosure practices that firms select from when providing financial statements to external parties. This course covers these principles and other important financial reporting practices. The primary focus of the course is developing the skills required to interpret and analyze financial information, rather than the skills required to prepare financial statements. Upon completion of the course, students will appreciate how financial accounting information is used in contracts between parties (e.g., lenders and the firm) and to evaluate a firm’s past performance and potential future performance.

Information technology is transforming firms, markets, products, and processes with remarkable speed. Recent developments in AI have the potential to further accelerate the transformation. This presents managers with new challenges and valuable opportunities. This course dives into the strategic use of information technology within a business context, focusing on how it can enable competitive advantage, enhance business processes, and drive innovation. The course introduces a number of useful frameworks for analyzing the use of information technology and AI in organizations and includes some exposure to database and data visualization tools. The strategic and economic impacts of information technology are emphasized. The course is designed with line and senior managers in mind, as opposed to the managers of the IS function.

This course provides an introduction to financial analysis and capital budgeting with an emphasis on the valuation of real investment projects. Topics discussed include: analysis of the firm’s choice among alternative investment projects, the term structure of interest rates, modern portfolio theory and the valuation of risky assets, the estimation of free cash flows, capital structure choices, and the cost of capital.

MBA Prerequisites: GBA 400

Problem solving is one of the most important competencies at all levels of management and an essential skill for just about all post-MBA careers. This course introduces a high-level problem solving methodology used by top management consulting firms that can be adapted to a wide range of challenges encountered in business. The methodology provides a thoughtful process for bringing structure to ambiguous situations as well as for bringing your creativity and growing business knowledge to bear on real world problems. The key learning objectives are to develop your ability to (a) frame and scope a wide range of business related problems, (b) structure efficient data gathering and analysis, (c) ensure effective teamwork during the process, and (d) logically communicate actionable recommendations.

This course has two major objectives: to develop your ability to frame business decision problems in a way that makes them amenable to quantitative analysis, and to train you in some fundamental techniques useful for analyzing and solving these problems. The course draws on three toolkits:

1. Spreadsheets to model business problems.
2. Optimization techniques to solve complex decision problems involving many variables and constraints.
3. Monte Carlo simulation for understanding and analyzing uncertainty.

Examples from different functional areas will demonstrate how the techniques taught can be applied in a practical way to a variety of settings.

Recommended: GBA 412 or GBA 462

This course provides an introduction to utilizing data and data analytics to inform decision-making. Extracting information from data has become an integral part of modern business management, from Main Street to Wall Street to Silicon Valley. GBA 412 will de-mystify statistics, enabling students to thrive in a competitive market for data-based decision-making. After building core statistical and decision theoretic tools, this course will introduce you to different types of data and provide you with a set of analytical methods that apply to each. We review the basic notions of probability and randomness, transition to data visualization techniques, and then present the basis of modern data science: prediction and multiple regression methods. We will use a hands-on approach to data analysis (laptop computers are required for every class). In the process, students learn to ask the right questions, seek out the relevant data, and apply appropriate methods.

MGC 401 establishes the conceptual foundation and skill building method for the MGC sequence. It draws on classical principles of argument and persuasion and on current communication research that illuminates the ways influence is accomplished in business today. These theories are applied through business case analysis, self-assessment and experiential learning. Students develop performance skills through successive rounds of professional presentations, receiving individualized feedback on their work. The course objective is development of the communication skills key to success in any field, those required to adapt effectively to any given audience, and to express ideas with a fitting blend of logic and feeling.

MGC 402 applies the core concepts of persuasion to five professional environments where communication takes place on teams and one-to-one: negotiations, change initiatives, conflict resolution, cultural diversity, and leadership with direct reports. It focuses on the dynamics between two or more people who are trying to influence one another, and teaches the communication skills required to succeed. The communication theories underlying the course are applied through case analysis, self-assessment, and business simulations that enable students to practice their ability to communicate persuasively in each of the five environments. The course culminates with development planning for improving communication competency as key to career success.

This course is our introduction to marketing management. The key objectives of the course are (1) to provide the student with a series of frameworks for identifying, analyzing, and solving marketing problems and (2) to enhance the student’s ability to effectively communicate analyses and solutions. We first focus on understanding the three C’s – customers, the company, and competitors. Based on this analysis, we develop a strategy for our product(s) and discuss how a marketing strategy can be implemented through the elements of the marketing mix: product design, pricing, advertising & promotion as well as channels of distribution. The class sessions consist of classroom lectures and case study discussions. Rather than focusing on internalizing facts and institutional detail, the emphasis is on critical thinking and application of the fundamental marketing strategy principles to business situations at hand.
MBA Prerequisite: STR 401
MS Prerequisite: GBA 462

Operations Management introduces the con­cepts and skills needed to design, manage, and improve service and manufacturing operations. The course develops a managerial perspective of the operations function and an appreciation of the role that operations plays in creating and maintaining a firm’s competitive edge. The course introduces process analysis, performance measurement systems for operations, and production control systems. Quantitative models and case studies ap­ply these skills to service process management, manufacturing, inventory control, supply chain management and project management. The course highlights the role of effective operations management in the strategic direction of the firm as well as the connections between operations and other functional areas.

MBA Prerequisite: GBA 412
MS Prerequisite: GBA 462

The primary objective of the course is to train students to think in economic terms, to identify the relevant economic issue in a given situation, to separate the relevant from the irrelevant, and to analyze the implications of alternative actions. Another objective is to provide an increased understanding of markets. The course presents the basic analytical tools of microeconomics, particularly as those skills are relevant to managers. Important economic concepts used in subsequent courses, such as opportunity costs and a Nash Equilibrium, are covered. Applications of marginal analysis are stressed.

Competitive strategy deals with the most significant decisions that companies make in the marketplace, including entry into a market, product positioning, pricing, investments, technology choice and acquisitions. This course provides tools and concepts for analyzing these decisions and for designing business strategies that help firms make above normal profits in the long run. Throughout the course, there is an emphasis on how firms interact with existing or potential competitors and other parties in the market. The tools and concepts used to understand this interaction are partly those of the traditional field of Strategic Management, but more importantly those of modern microeconomics, especially the field of Industrial Organization. The first half of the course looks at the “big picture” and covers industry analysis, value creation and competitive advantage, and integration and diversification decisions. The second half of the course focuses on strategic interaction among firms, and covers specific topics such as the dynamics of price competition in oligopolies, commitment strategies of firms, entry and exit, networks and standards, and techno- logical competition. The course is largely case-based. About one third of all classes are lectures; the other two thirds are case discussions.

Prerequisite: STR 401

This course surveys the theoretical and behavioral under­ pinnings of negotiation practices and develops skills that enhance the ability to capture value in cooperative and competitive bargaining scenarios­. Students participate in and evaluate several cooperative and competitive negotiation simulations. Grades depend, in large part, on performance in these exercises.

This course approaches leadership as a set of learned skills that are subject to personal intention and choice. The focus is on cultivating core leadership mindsets and capacities: sense-making amid multiple perspectives, setting a vision, relating to others, and inventing solutions. These capacities are especially useful in team-oriented work settings and in situations where one must influence without authority. The course draws on contemporary theories of adult development and leadership, such as leader-member exchange and the philosophy of servant leadership. The intention is to prepare Simon graduates for the challenges they will face a few years out of school as they transition to roles where leadership and greater complexity come to the fore. Assignments will blend conceptual models and practice, leading to a personal philosophy of leadership and an agenda for continued development.

This course deals with business ethics and the social responsibility of business organizations. Through class discussions and case studies, students explore the theory and practice of business ethics and develop their ability to recognize and address ethical issues. The course equips students with analytical skills in ethical reasoning and provides them with a substantive framework to deal with ethical challenges they are likely to encounter in their careers. Topics include corporate responsibilities vis-à-vis employees, customers, and society; insider trading; discrimination in employment and in the sharing economy; advertising and sales tactics; ethics in pricing; bribery; executive pay; intellectual property in the pharmaceutical industry; censorship; health care resource allocation; and environmental responsibilities.

This course teaches how to approach and solve a wide range of organizational design problems, whether as manager at any level, entrepreneur, or consultant. In a world in which most sources of competitive advantage are fleeting, organizational effectiveness has emerged as a key source of long-run competitive advantage. Conversely, many corporate failures can be traced to poor internal organization. Problems covered range from individual job design to the structure of entire organizations and the boundaries of the firm (e.g., M&A decisions or vertical integration). The course discusses in detail the assignment of decision rights (including centralization vs. decentralization of decisions), performance measurement, and incentives and rewards. These are the three elements of “organizational architecture,” a central framework of the course. Throughout, the course stresses the importance of fit between a firm’s internal organization and its strategy. The course adopts an analytical-economic perspective grounded in agency theory, motivated by a wealth of evidence that people respond to incentives (very broadly defined) in predictable ways. That said, it does not reduce organizational problems to economics, but addresses their managerial and behavioral dimensions too, drawing on insights from psychology and sociology as appropriate.

MBA Prerequisite: STR 401

This course presents behavioral concepts that influence individual, group, and organizational effectiveness. Particular emphasis is given to motivation, culture, globalization, leadership, group dynamics, communication, organizational structure and change. Students develop ways of thinking about organizational problems to increase individual and organizational effectiveness. Multiple stakeholder perspectives and systemic approach to organizational problems are emphasized.