University Of Southern Nevada

MBA PROGRAM

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MBA Program Curriculum

MBA Course Offerings

  • MBA 510 Leadership Communication
    This course prepares students with the writing, public speaking and teamwork foundation they will need throughout the program and throughout their careers. Students will be able to:
    • Speak effectively in various managerial situations, including:
      • Speaking impromptu;
      • Explaining difficult subject matter;
      • Persuading people on volatile issues;
      • Running meetings to reach a group decision; and
      • Conducting brainstorming session to generate ideas.
    • Enhance the ability in interactive speaking skills (such as meeting management, group decision-making, brainstorming, and generating ideas in a group);
    • Give feedback and analyze their own strengths and weaknesses;
    • Plan and write a persuasive proposal; and
    • Plan, prepare, and facilitate effective group (or class) meetings.

  • MBA 520 Financial Accounting
    Accounting provides the primary channel of communicating information about business economic activity. Students will be able to:
    • Use accounting as a tool for communicating financial results; and
    • Understand financial statements and accounting reports.

  • MBA 530 Legal Environment and Corporate Responsibility
    This course focuses on the legal, ethical, and social responsibilities of corporate leaders. It provides an introduction to the Anglo-American legal system and the development of substantive and procedural law. The content of the course includes, but is not limited to, product liability, consumer protection laws, and the relationship between law and ethics. It also explores how cases are brought to court. It identifies different types of law, and it surveys various non-legal means of dispute resolution. The course emphasizes two foundational substantive law topics: contracts and torts. Students will be able to describe:
    • The legal environment of business and how regulatory law or public law influences corporate strategy and decision-making;
    • How to handle challenges to career and integrity;
    • How managers are subject to liability for their own actions as well as the actions of others, including employees and independent contractors;
    • The elements of “mutual assent,” consideration, capacity, the “battle of the forms,” and unconscionable actions; and
    • Ethical concepts and processes through comprehensive and varied experiences with issues of fairness and social responsibility.

  • MBA 540 Statistical Methods for Decision Making
    Basic statistical techniques for decision-making including frequency, probability, sampling, estimation, tests of hypotheses, regression and correlation analysis. Students will demonstrate how they:
    • Describe data frequency distributions and graphic presentations;
    • Understand discrete and continuous probability distributions;
    • Apply sampling methods for tests of hypothesis;
    • Interpret analysis of variance, linear regression, and correlation results; and
    • Interpret non-parametric method results.

  • MBA 550 Managerial Economics
    This course focuses on the study of the economic environment and their implications for the firm. The student will understand the impact of the following:
    • Supply and demand;
    • The Theory and Estimation of Production and Cost;
    • Pricing and Output Decisions;
    • Risk and Uncertainty; and
    • Government and Industry.

  • MBA 560 Foundations of Management
    Foundation concepts in marketing, organization-al behavior, human resource, management, management principles, operations manage-ment, business policy, and strategy. Students will be able to:
    • Understand foundation concepts in organizational behavior, human resource management, management principles, operations management, business policy, and strategy.

  • MBA 600 Leadership Creativity and Innovation
    This course focuses on visionary leadership and developing a culture of creativity and innovation. The student will be able to:
    • Create a vision for a company that its employees can share as a common goal;
    • Understand the subtleties of delivery, structure, and visual aids in great detail and decrease costs;
    • Use creativity techniques to develop new ideas, products and services; and,
    • Use innovation techniques to creatively implement ideas, products, and services.

  • MBA 605 Human Resource Management (3 credits)
    This course introduces the technical and legal aspects of human resource management from a strategic business perspective. The course examines how to manage human resources effectively in the dynamic legal, social, and economic environment currently constraining organizations. Among the topics included are: formulation and implementation of human resource strategy, job analysis, methods of recruitment and selection, techniques for training and development, performance appraisal, compensation and benefits, and the evaluation of the effectiveness of HRM systems. Emphasis is placed on integrating human resource management with the overall business strategy. Students completing this course will:
    • give an overview of the field of human resource management (HRM),
    • explain how the primary functions of HRM relate to each other and to the broader business strategy,
    • describe the roles and responsibilities of HR professionals,
    • discuss how HRM has evolved over time and the emerging strategic role that HRM plays in modern organizations,
    • describe the role played by HRM in organizational change efforts,
    • demonstrate a practical understanding of HRM through practice exercises and case analyses, and
    • evaluate the value and appropriateness of HRM functions and programs within specific organizational settings.

  • MBA 610 Organizational Behavior and Leadership
    This course focuses on how to become an effective leader by understanding and influencing human behavior. Students will be able to:
    • Understand organizational culture;
    • Understand individual behavior;
    • Understand group behavior and interpersonal influence;
    • Understand organizational processes; and
    • Understand organization systems.

  • MBA 620 Marketing
    This course focuses on how to create and communicate value to customers. The student will be able to:
    • Create value for customers;
    • Target Market Selection and Product Positioning; and
    • Communicate Value.

  • MBA 630 Operations Management
    This course focuses on developing student knowledge and skills to align the company’s operations with its competitive position. Students will be able to:
    • Understand the strategic importance of operations;
    • Understand operating system design;
    • Manage the supply chain; and
    • Apply quality assurance tools.

  • MBA 640 Management Information Systems
    Using information systems for competitive ad-vantage including databases, data warehouses, decision support, artificial intelligence, electronic commerce, systems development, IT infra-structures, and security. The Student will be able to:
    • Understand how to use information technology for competitive advantage;
    • Understand the fundamentals of databases and data warehouses;
    • Use decision support and artificial intelligence systems to aid decision-making;
    • Understand the basics of electronic commerce;
    • Understand the steps, tools, and techniques for systems development; and
    • Understand information technology infrastructure and security safeguards.

  • MBA 650 Managerial Accounting and Control
    This course covers the way in which accounting provides information for organizational decision making.
    Prerequisite: Financial Accounting.
    Students will be able to:
    • Use accounting information to assess performance; and
    • Use accounting information to improve organizational decisions.

  • MBA 660 Finance
    This course examines how financial decisions can create value. Prerequisite: Financial Accounting. Students will be able to:
    • Apply the basic principles of corporate finance, including working capital management and long-term financial management;
    • Understand the function of financial institutions and capital markets; and
    • Apply capital budgeting, discounted cash flow valuation, and risk analysis techniques.

  • MBA 665 Investment Finance (3 credits)
    The objective of this course is to help students develop a basic understanding of the practice of investment analysis. Course coverage includes security trading mechanism, investment theories, equity and bond valuations. Emphasis is on developing an understanding of the investment process. The course includes basic analysis and valuation of stocks, bonds, options and futures.  Students completing this course will understand:
    • Identify and distinguish between various forms of investments and securities, their values and how they are traded.
    • Identify and evaluate the risk and return characteristics of various types of investments.
    • Provide an illustrative example of a violation of market efficiency.
    • Discuss the lessons of market efficiency.
    • Discuss the impact of behavioral finance on asset prices and financial markets.
    • Explain the link between stock price and earnings per share.
    • Explain the difference between growth and income stocks.
    • Explain the concept of price-earnings ratios.
    • Discuss the major advantages and disadvantages to long-term debt.
    • Discuss the major advantages and disadvantages of financing with common stock.
    • Define the term “derivative” as it applies to risk management.
    • Discuss the key features of an option contract including put, call, strike, and expiration.
    • Describe the effect on the value of an option contract for a change in each of the following: stock price, exercise price, term, risk-free rate, and variance.
    • Describe the profit/loss for a holder and writer of a given put or call option given data on stock price and option premium.
    • Differentiate between a forward and a futures contract.
    • Describe marking to market in the futures market.
    • Describe the process by which a firm may reduce risk through “hedging” with derivative securities.

  • MBA 670 Strategic Management
    This course focuses on developing strategy formulation and implementation skills. The student will be able to:
    • Generate superior customer value;
    • Develop and sustain competitive advantage;
    • Balance opportunities and risks;
    • Apply analytical tools to perform in-depth analysis of the following:
      • Industries and competitors, competitive behavior, and sustainable competitive advantage.

  • MBA 680 Advanced Finance
    This course focuses on how to evaluate complex investments, how to establish firm financial policies, and how to integrate financial decisions. Prerequisite: Finance. Students will be able to:
    • Perform advanced valuation analysis of firms, projects, and options;
    • Make strategic decisions involving financing, risk management, and dividend policies; and
    • Integrate financial decisions with other strategic decisions.

  • MBA 690 Entrepreneurship
    The MBA program’s capstone course provides students an opportunity to understand how to construct, integrate, and refine a business plan or business research project and present the results to external reviewers for evaluation. The students will be able to:
    • Understand entrepreneurial fundamentals and identify value-added opportunities;
    • Perform valuation and risk assessment;
    • Understand strategies for mobilizing resources, managing contingencies, and growing and harvesting products and services;
    • In conjunction with their independent project, students may choose to prepare a comprehensive business plan for a product or service, or a new business; and
    • Present the business plan to investors or senior management.

  • MBA 700 Independent Study Research (1-6 credits)
    The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the processes of research methods and to assist them develop, design and carry out their chosen research projects. Emphasis will be placed on individual progress on the literature review and the why and how to research (methodology) the chosen project. Grading in this course is largely based on the student’s research progress output, not on tests or presentations. Students completing this course will understand:
    • Importance of research;
    • Research steps and processes;
    • Importance of theory and Literature review;
    • Measurement selection and variable classification;
    • Issues in survey questionnaire design and testing;
    • Procedures for data coding and inputting;
    • Approaches to data analysis and reporting.

  • MBA 710 Professional Development Internship (3 credits)
    The MBA Professional Development Internship is a learn-by-doing opportunity for students, under faculty supervision, to work with and shadow an executive in a business environment, and connect small, medium, and large businesses and professional firms with talented, dedicated, and motivated MBA students, in order to tackle and solve real-world business problems. Students may choose to do the internship at their place of employment. As a result of the internship, students will be able to:
    • Improve their work experience in a field of interest.
    • Better synthesize practice with theory.
    • Networking both within the organization of the internship.
    • Gain greater insight into various positions, organizations and industries.
    • Gain a greater appreciation for various work environments and expand the breadth and depth of related work responsibilities.

  • MBA 720 Distinguished Leaders Speaker Seminars (3 credits)
    The Distinguished Leaders Speaker Series is an integral component of the MBA Program curriculum. Through this lecture series, students are exposed to the latest ideas and issues that are shaping American and international businesses, as seen by the leaders in healthcare and other industries, including education and government, and by those who are facing these issues daily, and who can provide significant educational enrichment that complements the in-class curriculum. As a result of the series, students will:
    • Understand basic principles of successful leadership and management.
    • Comprehend these principles as they are applied by successful executives.
    • Understand and relate the classroom learning to real world issues and practices.
    • Interact with successful professionals.