This course addresses the first principles of effective leadership, as well as its practice, from a faith-based perspective. It examines the practice of leading people (e.g., motivating people, strategic staffing and training, building a culture of trust and commitment, measuring and rewarding performance, negotiation and conflict resolution, obstacles to wise decision-making) as well as leading organizations (e.g., setting vision and mission, strategic planning, organizational change, corporate social responsibility). Throughout the course, the focus is on leadership "with excellence and integrity," as well as the major obstacles to it.

This course addresses innovative marketing concepts, entrepreneurial methods and skill sets, and implementation strategies required for success in a competitive global environment. The course presents the foundational, bedrock concepts of effective marketing, market research, and the analysis of industries, competitors, and customers, with a continual focus on entrepreneurial thinking. This is an experiential, applications-intensive course that permits students' involvement with real businesses, as well as the opportunity to apply their learning to the development of a marketing plan.

This course examines how accounting and financial analysis contributes to communicating information about the economics of business, for setting goals, monitoring performance, evaluating management, allocating resources, and gaining a competitive edge. Students achieve mastery of the vocabulary and analysis of financial statements for the purpose of measuring returns, making decisions, managing for profitability, utilizing assets, and identifying liabilities and equity. The course culminates in the development and analysis of financial statements for an existing organization, project, or marketing plan.

This course considers how to pursue and achieve life-long success from within a biblical framework. Students will examine foundational concepts of life purpose and vocational planning, of character development and spiritual formation, of worldview and its effect on influence, and of how to continuously develop as a leader. Practical topics of life balance, time management, self-assessment, and personal growth through mentoring will also be addressed. The course culminates in the creation of a comprehensive plan for continuous personal and professional development. (An on-campus residency is required for students residing in the U.S. Students residing outside of the U.S. are encouraged to attend the on-campus residency, but may also fulfill residency learning objectives through comparable alternative coursework at a distance).

Many highly effective organizations empower their employees to work as teams, with a high degree of autonomy. Current business literature reports that this "management style" usually results in high employee morale and job satisfaction, high productivity and personal growth. This course looks at what makes teams effective. It will be taught through the introduction of literature in this field via the textbook, lectures, team discussions on relevant topics, analysis of cases involving teams both successful and unsuccessful, observation and analysis of a highly successful team in literature, and (most important) the empirical observation of one's own team from within the class: what made your team effective, what diluted its effectiveness.

Students learn to research, plan, articulate and prepare to successfully achieve major change, growth, or new business initiatives. Students will select a new venture idea, product, or service (or other original initiative or endeavor) and research it in depth, analyzing its plausibility. The course culminates in a major business-planning document suitable for seeking a top management decision or obtaining funding for the project. PREREQUISITE: BUSN 602

This course examines how financial concepts contribute to making decisions about the economics of business, for establishing plans, determining value, monitoring performance, and stewarding resources. Students will achieve mastery of the financial concepts and tools used for analyzing financial decisions, including capital budgeting, discounted cash flow analysis, valuation, risk analysis, obtaining capital funding, resource utilization, and working capital management. The course is case-based in its approach, focusing on the implementation of practical applications of financial concepts. PREREQUISITES: BUSN 603 and familiarity with writing formulas and using mathematical functions in Excel.

This course explores important concepts of microeconomics and applies them to simple management science models to support strategic decisions in marketing, operations, finance and human resources. Students should develop useful insights about problems encountered in the economic environments in which businesses operate. By solving practical problems with quantitative tools, students develop understanding of methods and software available, challenges of obtaining relevant data, sensitivities of assumptions, and uses of results for making wise decisions. PREREQUISITES: BUSN 602, BUSN 603, and familiarity with writing formulas and using mathematical functions in Excel.

This course provides a foundation for dealing with technology and organizational operating issues as an organizational leader. The course focuses on the current issues, problems and the analytic approaches involved in designing and evaluating business operations at various types of organizations. A major goal of BUSN 621 is to provide an "applications" approach to help students recognize, design and evaluate businesses using current concepts as well as new and existing tools. Additionally, the course explores the current computer and communication technology trends used in business operations as well as their relationship to organizational design. The course also examines how these elements are reshaping business structures and covers strategic planning issues for implementing information technology enterprise wide. Topics include business process analysis, cross-functional integration, product and service management, and technology and operations strategy. Throughout, BUSN 621 uses case studies and hands-on projects.

This course uses the case method to learn how to think strategically in realistic marketing situations. Through extensive practice in the solution of cases, in conjunction with study of the textbook and the classroom lectures, the student will develop a facility with marketing strategy as well as analysis skills useful in all types of business and not-for-profit organizations. PREREQUISITES: BUSN 602 and BUSN 612.

This course presents a strategic and integrative perspective on how to apply accounting and finance concepts, analytical methods, creative thinking, and negotiating skills. Students learn how economic value is defined, created and enhanced in a business. By applying tools such as advanced valuation techniques, portfolio strategies, capital structures, value management concepts and incentive systems, the course explores and evaluates opportunistic strategies to improve business performance or add value. Topics addressed may include refinancing, reorganizations, strategic alliances, outsourcing, mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, distributions to shareholders, or hedging strategies. Throughout, the focus is on how senior management develops policies and makes decisions to intelligently structure and negotiate distributions of risks and rewards inherent in financial transactions. PREREQUISITES: BUSN 603 and BUSN 613.

The purpose of this course is to develop understanding of economic concepts and analytical skills to evaluate the strategic business implications, risks, and opportunities of trends and major events in the global economy. Topics addressed in cases and readings may include national income growth, inflation, capital markets, taxation, monetary policies, currency exchange, international trade, cross-border investments, governmental regulations, political regimes, property rights, environmental issues, imbalances of economic or political power, and social systems. In this course, students will apply knowledge and skills from all disciplines in the core curriculum. PREREQUISITES: Successful completion of other required courses at the BUSN 60x, 61x levels. BUSN 622 and 623 are recommended prerequisites, but not required to enroll in this course.

Building on the foundation of all the courses in the core curriculum, this capstone course challenges students to adopt the perspective of the top management leader to make wise decisions about the business organization. Wise strategic leadership demands an understanding of how to assess relevant issues in the environment, determine strategic direction, develop competitive advantage, balance value among stakeholders, allocate resources, and innovate in the context of a changing marketplace. Students will develop skills of judgment through a wide variety of situations that give them the opportunity to apply knowledge and skills from all disciplines in the core curriculum. PREREQUISITES: Successful completion of all required courses at the BUSN 60x, 61x level, as well as BUSN 622. It is recommended that students take this course in their last semester, after having completing as many of their other courses as possible.