Course Descriptions - Winter/Spring 2023

Sustainability as a Business Strategy is designed to build awareness, prepare and empower the next generation of business leaders to address the global challenges we face through the creation of sustainable solutions for the marketplace. The course will start with a level set that examines the importance of purpose in business and the rise of entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs and the change agent.  Part of the level setting will also include coursework on key megatrends that are driving major market shifts and changes in business behavior. This includes incorporation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into business plans. We will then take a deeper dive into the issues of climate change and the circular economy thereby understanding the business opportunities they present.  Students will be evaluated based on classroom engagement and new sustainable business solutions they pitch through the World’s Challenge initiative.

This course provides an introduction to the fundamental concepts and issues of financial accounting with emphasis on the interpretation of financial statements. The course addresses the economic consequences of transactions and their presentation on corporate financial statements. A primary objective is to introduce corporate financial statements as a tool for company valuation and decision making. Emphasis is on the analysis of effects of decisions on financial performance and use of financial statements to evaluate organizations.

This course will focus on development of practical skills necessary to assess and develop people in the workplace. Included is information on, and practice in development of: interview skills (for selection of new employees and evaluation of continuing employees); presentation skills (both oral and written presentation); general interpersonal skills.

The main component of the course is a survey of methods for planning and controlling production and operations management activities including material requirements planning, operations scheduling, production and inventory planning and control, project management, facilities location and layout, and quality management and control. The course makes use of cases to illustrate the processes and problems involved.

Prerequisites: MGA 604, MGF 631 or concurrent.

The focus of this course will be on technology management and developing an internet-based business or extension to an existing business. The course will integrate concepts from economics, organizational strategy, entrepreneurship and web design. Topics to be covered in the course include aligning technology and strategy; models of diffusion and innovation; characteristics of information and digital goods; identifying potential web-applications and information products for solving a problem and/or identifying a business opportunity; intellectual property rights; pricing issues related to information goods; developing a business plan for a venture capital proposal; launching the e-business; designing web-based applications for usability; and strategies for successfully implementing systems. Case studies, lectures, guest speakers, and an integrated e-business project will be used to understand the complexities of the current business environment.

Introduction to the analytical concepts necessary for effective negotiations. Emphasis is on the negotiation and bargaining skills required by general managers. Classroom lectures are supplemented by experiential exercises.

This course focuses on how to improve performance in the workplace. Students will learn about the linkage between a manager’s responsibility to produce results and how those results are achieved through the behavior of others. Further, students will develop an understanding of why people do what they do and learn how to apply that understanding to developing and maintaining systems that support organizational objectives and ensure positive outcomes.

This is a practical, hands-on course that will focus on the concepts, tools and techniques associated with being a successful consultant and agent of change. The course covers the nuts-and-bolts of the consulting relationship. Students will learn about contracting, managing the relationship and alternative deliverable formats, as well as the dynamics of change in organizations and the processes that create and sustain organizational development. Students will engage in the design and execution of a group consulting project in a local organization.

This course is an overview of the health care industry and frames the severe challenges facing leaders in the field. It will take a business approach to the issues presented, but will always juxtapose financial issues with value creation. It begins with a short look at classic economics and why they do not always apply in health care. It will take an in-depth look at the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the implications it has on all parts of the industry. It will follow with a review of each component of the industry: government, health plans, employers, providers and suppliers. Each review will focus on the unique challenges leaders are facing in a dynamic, changing environment.

Prerequisite: None.

This course provides a practical, in-depth assessment of the new ways health care providers and health care insurers are redesigning how care is provided in response to the industry’s pursuit of the “Triple Aim” of better individual care, better population health and lower per capita costs. The Affordable Care Act clearly outlines the country’s path away from traditional fee-for-service reimbursement and towards value-based care models that increasingly place more direct risk upon providers and provider networks. That direction has been mirrored by both government-based, employer-based and private health insurers across the country, and nearly every major provider of care is redesigning its delivery in response. The course will feature outside speakers from all parts of the delivery network and health insurance industry, each outlining their organizational response to this challenge. It will be supplemented by case studies selected from around the country (and internationally, as appropriate), so participants can relate regional responses to broader market responses.

Prerequisite: None.

This course is intended to introduce MBA students interested in Health Care Management to concepts that have unique applications to health care organizations, and that there is a very real chance they will encounter in the workplace. The topics selected are the result of research conducted with health care leaders in WNY. They represent skills and tools that managers must call upon for success in the changing environment of health care services.

This course deals with design, control and operation of supply chains for competing effectively in the context of global operations management. Both manufacturing and service (such as health care) industry supply chains are covered. The topics covered include: qualitative and quantitative techniques for optimum configuration of in-bound and outbound logistics; principles of postponement in design, processes and logistics; mass customization; global location factors for offices, plants and distribution centers; collaborative planning, forecasting and replenishment (CPFR) systems; countering bullwhip effects in supply chains; vendor-managed inventory (VMI); strategic alliances and partnering; global purchasing and buyer-supplier relationships; and the complexities of the material, information and cash flows across international borders. This course supplements MGS 616, which covers e-commerce integration aspects of supply chains.

Prerequisite: MGO 630.

This course focuses on purchasing and supply management principles and practices in the context of global supply chains. Purchasing is important because the value of materials procured in manufacturing, and service supply chains such as retail, can make up more than 65% of the cost of the goods sold. Given the globalization of supply sources, it has become increasingly necessary to understand the complexities of global supply markets, cross-border legal aspects of purchasing, global vendor development, systematic reduction of supply risk, strategic alliances and supply network building, vendor managed inventory (VMI) contracts, and new forms of negotiation strategies with suppliers. Purchasing practices to support lean organizations to ensure just-in-time delivery on a global basis are also covered. In addition, given the growth of internet technology, e-commerce technologies to support purchasing, and supplier relationship management (SRM) systems are also covered. 

Prerequisite: MGO 630.

This course covers global logistics and distribution issues, dealing with the management of physical material flows, documentation, and information flows in cross-border supply chains. Logistics issues such as intermodal transportation, e-fulfillment, cross-border trade regulations, reverse logistics, and design of sustainable supply chains are dealt with. The optimum design of distribution systems, inventory positioning in distribution networks, selection of optimal transportation modes, inter-modal transport, etc. are also covered. Emerging technologies such as warehouse management systems (WMS), distribution requirements planning (DRP), radio frequency identification (RFID), geographical information systems (GIS), global positioning systems (GPS) applications are also covered. Both qualitative issues (such as regulatory issues, INCO terms and documentation) as well quantitative tools and techniques such as the use of Route Assist software will be covered. 

Prerequisite: MGO 630.