This class is a study of the unique characteristics of accounting for not-for-profit organizations.  We will look at the accounting standards unique to not-for-profits, including accounting for cash and in kind contributions and allocating joint costs of fund raising activities.  We will also prepare not-for-profit financial statements and look at auditing considerations for not-for-profits, including compliance auditing. Finally, we will spend some time on IRS reporting requirements for not-for-profits.

3 credits.  Last offered Summer Quarter 2001

This course will address the legal issues involved in engaging in business transactions in an online environment on a global basis. We will also address ethical dimensions of these transactions in light of current international concepts, codes and treaty obligations.
Prerequisite: MBA 513

3 credits.  Last offered Spring Quarter 2007

The class will be an in depth analysis of the laws affecting the employment relationship. Some of the topics include laws governing wages and hours, discrimination, harassment, accommodating disabilities, workplace safety, employment at will, employee handbooks and contracts, pre-employment interviews and employment evaluation systems. Students will be learning from the text as well as from studying actual cases. Prerequisite: MBA 513

3 credits.  Last offered Spring Quarter 2006

This course will focus on the legal and ethical environment relevant to doing business over the Internet. Recent developments in national and international law relevant to e-commerce will be explained and analyzed. Topics considered will include online contracting, personal jurisdiction in cyberspace, intellectual property, Internet security, e-mail, privacy, first amendment issues, taxation, antitrust and alternative dispute resolution. On the worldwide web foreign and domestic policies are increasingly enmeshed. This course will therefore have a global orientation. The overall objective is to better prepare business students for the international electronic marketplace, whether they intend to use the Internet as a new marketing tool or to engage in business conducted entirely online. Prerequisite: MBA 513 suggested 

3 credits.  Last offered Spring Quarter 2004

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This course introduces students to the basics of computer security from a managerial perspective. The material covered acknowledges the rising tide of computer crime providing a broad survey of computer security threats; managerial responsibilities to identify and control vulnerabilities; current approaches to risk management and disaster recovery planning; emerging regulatory guidelines attempting to protect critical infrastructure; and the legal, ethical and privacy issues surrounding computer security. Students will discover what every manager needs to know about the most likely sources of compromise, the managerial interventions that can prevent the majority of intrusions, and how their organizations are most exposed.

Syllabus for ECIS 591: Summer Quarter 2003

3 credits.  Last offered Summer Quarter 2004

"Global IT Management" focuses on the unique issues facing technology management in multinational environments. This course examines the impact of country-specific factors, such as culture, history, politics, and infrastructure, on the manner in which businesses deal with globally dispersed systems. Topics covered include the management of multinational virtual teams, international outsourcing, global e-commerce, and legal and ethical issues facing IS managers operating in transnational environments.

3 credits. Last offered Spring Quarter 2004

This class addresses all aspects of managing outsourcing contracts from both customer and vendor perspectives.  From the customer perspective, you will be able to demonstrate how to determine when outsourcing is appropriate, define objectives and requirements, conduct a selection process leading to contract negotiations, ensure that ongoing vendor performance can be monitored, and how to address changes in customer requirements.  From the vendor perspective you will learn how to screen potential customers, match resources to customer requirements, develop proposals and negotiate contracts.   Both offshore and domestic outsourcing will be addressed.

Prerequisite: MBA 560

3 credits.  Last offered Spring Quarter 2006

Students enrolling in this course will have the opportunity to work on a team project for a local economic development organization.  Municipal, county, and regional organizations organized as non-profits operate a variety of programs to encourage job growth, facilitate location decisions of firms moving into the area, and retain existing firms facing a need to relocate, change ownership, or restructure.  Student teams will carry out a research project defined in collaboration with the professor and representatives of a local economic development organization, and will execute the project during the quarter.  These group research projects will be informed by a series of readings, lectures, and classroom discussions covering theories of regional growth, and major trends in domestic economic development practice, including the efficacy of industrial recruitment strategies, cluster strategies, entrepreneurial development programs, and re-development efforts in older urban areas.

3 credits.  Last offered Winter Quarter 2006

During the past half century, Americans have observed dramatic increases in female labor force participation rates, most notably among married women with young children; delayed marriage; increased divorce rates; reduced fertility rates; and increased longevity.  These demographic trends have motivated economists to develop a better understanding of family behavior.  In this course, we will analyze family decision making and gender differences in labor market outcomes.  For example, we will examine families decisions concerning the allocation of resources within the household, fertility, and child care.  In addition, we will discuss the primary explanations for the gender earnings gap.  Using the tools developed in this course, we will analyze the implications of various actual and proposed public policies.

This course will feature a visit by award-winning journalist and writer Peggy Orenstein.  During a visit to Seattle University scheduled to coincide with this course, Orenstein will discuss the work/life issues raised in her book Flux: Women on Sex, Work, Kids, Love and Life in a Half-Changed World

3 credits.  Last offered Spring Quarter 2006

This course focuses on the analytics of fixed income and related securities and their applications. It will expose students to a variety of fixed income instruments that are traded in the financial markets, their investment characteristics, the state-of-the-art technology for valuing them, technique for quantifying their interest rate risk, and portfolio strategies for using them. This course is useful for candidates taking the CFA exams, money/fund managers, credit risk analysts, commercial and mortgage bankers and anyone interested in investing in fixed income securities as alternatives to equities. Professor Popova has a Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University and worked for Deutsche Asset Management in New York for more than three years before she became a senior market strategist at Koch Capital Markets in Houston. She has taught this course at the Graduate School of Business at Purdue University before she went to Wall Street.

Prerequisite: FINC 540

3 credits.  Last offered Fall Quarter 2006

Hedge funds are one of the fastest growing areas of finance. They are lightly regulated, private pooled investment vehicles that can invest in both cash and derivative markets often on a levered basis and often with an asymmetric performance fee. Fifteen years ago, there were over 2,000 hedge funds managing less than $40 billion; today, there are over 8,500 hedge funds managing over $1 trillion assets. This course offers an introduction to the study of the theory and management of hedge funds. It covers various alternative investment strategies including relative-value and market neutral, event-driven and opportunistic absolute return strategies. It will pay particular attention to performance evaluation as well as issues at the operational level, such as fees and compensation, leverage, and risk management. Students will learn both the academic and practitioner perspective of hedge funds and funds of funds.

3 credits.  Last offered Spring Quarter 2007

Description: This course is geared to students who want to learn how to communicate successfully in business situations. It will be a practicum type of course where students face various communication situations to enhance their individual skills and confidence. In addition, students will help explore the need for this type of class at the MBA level.

Material will be presented to help students learn the proper methods of communicating. Some of the areas covered will be as follows:

• Importance of organization in written documents

• How to make your written material be readable and connect with your intended audience

• How to handle meetings appropriately

• How to handle other communication methods (e-mail, phone, etc)

• How to prepare for a presentation

• Use of proper non-verbal aspects of communication

• Using properly technology such as PowerPoint®

• Developing and using visual aids correctly

• Preparing and organizing a presentation in a short time frame

• Depending on availability, outside speakers will participate in students learning. Possible speakers include: Donald Smith of Key Bank and Mark Chestnut of Lap-Link.

Presently, one class will probably occur on a Saturday because of speaker schedule. This class will substitute for regular classes at end of quarter. The date is TBA and will run from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM.

This course is being developed as it is delivered. One aspect that is being considered is to use student groups to explore the need for business communication at the MBA level. Topics which the students will gather data on and present at end include:

• What communication problems do MBA’s face inside the program and at work?

• What would be subjects to handle those problems?

• How should the course be delivered?

• Is it a universal need for all or for certain select individuals?

• How might Albers test for individual need of Business Communication Class?

• If not universal need, how do students get evaluated to take or not take the course?

3 credits.  Last offered Fall Quarter 2007

This course is geared to students who want to learn how to make business presentations. It will be a practicum type of course where students will make several live presentations to enhance their individual skills and confidence. Material will be presented to help students learn the proper methods of presenting whether in front of small groups or large groups. Some of the areas covered will be as follows:

• Learning different presentation formats 

• Use of proper non-verbal aspects of persuasion

• Using specific techniques to enhance presentations

• Properly using technology such as PowerPoint 

• Developing and using visual aids correctly

• Preparing and organizing a presentation in a short time frame

Note: This course is not a substitute for the one-credit course Successful Business Presentation, MGMT 591, taught by Dr. Callahan.

3 credits.  Last offered Summer Quarter 2005

In the last decade the role of the Board of Directors in American business had changed. The Board has evolved from an old boys club to an assertive, demanding and powerful force in the management of corporations. Today, boards more truly represent the shareholders interests than they have before, but there is a long way to go. This change has evolved aided by the need for corporate success in the marketplace, by the growing legal acknowledgement of directors personal liability for the conduct of a companys business, by institutional stockholders demanding shareholder market success, and by continual critical media coverage. We will study the basics of board responsibility and work to understand the boards evolving role. This course is designed to broaden your knowledge of the Board of Directors and person of the Chief Executive Officer. It will give you a detailed look at the Board of Directors and how boards work. This is the only class in the Business School devoted entirely to the two subjects. The teacher will be Dick Cooley, retired Chairman and CEO of Wells Fargo Bank.

There will be a mock board meetingcurrent and former CEOs will share their knowledge and experience with the class. You will prepare and ask them searching questions. Last year Mark Pigott, CEO of PACCAR; Judy Runstad, DIR of Wells Fargo, Safeco and Potlatch Industries; Anne Farrell DIR of Washington Mutual and Trustee of Seattle University; Renee Behnke, CEO of Sur La Table; Jim Sinegal, CEO of Costco; Phyllis Campbell, Pres of Seattle Foundation; Joan Enticknap, President of Home Street Bank; and Kathy Wilcox, President and CEO of WSA spoke to the class.

3 credits. Last offered Fall Quarter 2006/Winter Quarter 2007

Business students will be teamed with Law students in learning and applying interdisciplinary business and legal skills to assist new and existing business ventures in the Central District community. The Clinic will run 10 weeks in the fall and 10 weeks in the winter, beginning the week of September 20, 2006 (fall) and January 3, 2007 (winter). Students must enroll for both in order to receive full credit. In addition to the classroom component, students will be required to maintain office hours each week, during which time they will be available for meetings with their supervisors, research and case work, and consultation with their clients.

The fall quarter component will be classroom sessions taught by both business and law faculty, with the active involvement of advisors from the business and legal communities as well as the Center on Corporations, Law & Society. Classes will emphasize principles, skills and values in forming a company from both business and legal perspectives, and will provide an opportunity to pinpoint and discuss significant issues or themes arising in the course of the client representation. 

The winter quarter component will allow students to apply their classroom teachings by having them provide pro bono advisory services to clients selected from Community Capital Development and Washington CASH. These clients will be individuals seeking start up funding who need to create or refine a business plan to secure a micro-loan. Students will be teamed into pairs or groups of four. Each group will be assigned up to 4 actual clients a quarter presenting needs which cross legal and business boundaries.

3 credits. Last offered Fall Quarter 2006

This course is geared to students who want to learn about the reality of China as a business opportunity as well as a threat together with China’s state of market development.
Based on over two decades of direct experience and recent interviews with over 100 CEOs of foreign invested enterprises (FIEs) in China, CEOs of privatized Chinese companies as well as government officials and other experts; we will study:

• China’s competitive environment

• China’s rapid development

• The role of the state

• The challenge for government

• Development of infrastructure

• State-owned enterprises

• Privatized and corporatized companies

• The competitive advantage of Chinese companies

• Competencies for foreign companies to succeed

• Foreign direct investment into China

• Outward China investment

• Branding in China

• The Intellectual Property challenge

• Etc.

China is changing almost by the day so we will rely heavily on contemporary readings as well as some recent research-based texts and other highly readable material. Outside contributors currently building businesses in China will be invited to share their perspectives.

The proposed course is designed to familiarize the student with the Competitive Intelligence (CI) process of monitoring a competitive environment, collecting and sourcing information, analyzing, and disseminating intelligence. Students will understand the application of CI in a business environment, the role of governments (domestic and foreign) in supporting corporate CI, and the ethical/legal constraints of a CI program.

1 credit.  Last offered Summer Quarter 2003

The purpose of this course is to define culture and identify cultural patterns of verbal and non-verbal communication. The class will identify how cultural differences in communication patterns can lead to mis-perception and conflict. Tools will be examined for reducing cross-cultural communication errors and increasing effectiveness.

1 credit.  Last offered Summer Quarter 2001

Objectives of this course include becoming more sensitive to social, cultural and religious forces influencing business and personal relationships in the Americas, encouraging those interested in working South of the Border and making friends. Course includes guest speakers, case studies and class presentations. Very valuable information for those pursuing their dream in the Americas!

1 credit.  Last offered Summer Quarter 2002

Business students will be teamed with Law students in learning and applying interdisciplinary business and legal skills to assist new and existing business ventures in the Central District community. The Clinic will run 10 weeks in the fall and 10 weeks in the winter, beginning the week of September 21, 2005 (fall) and January 3, 2006 (winter). Students must enroll for both in order to receive full credit. In addition to the classroom component, students will be required to maintain office hours each week, during which time they will be available for meetings with their supervisors, research and case work, and consultation with their clients.

The fall quarter component will be classroom sessions taught by both business and law faculty, with the active involvement of advisors from the business and legal communities as well as the Center on Corporations, Law & Society. Classes will emphasize principles, skills and values in forming a company from both business and legal perspectives, and will provide an opportunity to pinpoint and discuss significant issues or themes arising in the course of the client representation. 

The winter quarter component will allow students to apply their classroom teachings by having them provide pro bono advisory services to clients selected from Community Capital Development and Washington CASH. These clients will be individuals seeking start up funding who need to create or refine a business plan to secure a micro-loan. Students will be teamed into pairs or groups of four. Each group will be assigned up to 4 actual clients a quarter presenting needs which cross legal and business boundaries.

3 credits.  Last offered Fall Quarter 2005

This course is directed at providing participants with a historical overview of the lives and accomplishments of great leaders in private, public, and religious enterprises and organizations. It examines leaders in context of the principles, philosophies, strategies, and tactics they used to accomplish their objectives. The course will use the lives of these individuals to examine:

• The common personal and professional traits of great leaders

• How leadership styles are manifested

• How the social and political times impact the leaders performance

• Personal and ethical challenges leaders face in their quest

• How historical events relate to current business/organizational practices

Syllabus [Draft] for Extraordinary Leaders

3 credits.  Last offered Spring Quarter 2004

Students taking this course will benefit because:

• They will be able to assess their new product ideas appropriately and determine if they are valuable enough to commercialize.

• If they don't have ideas, they will learn where good ideas come from, whether they are merely product improvements or transformational.

• They will learn that getting a new idea is only 1% of the journey, and that the other 99% will require them to avoid the pitfalls and detours that make most new product ideas fail before they even get to the market.

• Companies continue to increase spending on innovation while at the same time becoming more and more disappointed with the outcomes. A better understanding of an integrated approach to innovation fundamentals can change this performance outcome dramatically. Students currently working for companies with innovation will be able to take back information to improve their workplace.

• Students don't have to possess all the talents necessary to run a company. They will learn that it is a combination of compatible team member's skills that is proving the most successful model.

• Students will learn how to set up a project and create a compelling business case for their ideas.

Don Halibinsky is a senior manager of innovation processes and projects at Weyerhaeuser. He holds a Ph.D. in engineering and has been awarded over a dozen U.S. patents.

3 credits.  Last offered Spring Quarter 2007

This course is directed towards the development of comprehensive business decisions, particularly in regards to strategic alignment, functional integration, and financial performance. Using selected cases, readings, and a business simulation (Capsim), critical linkages between functions and strategy will be identified and decisions will be evaluated in this broader context. The simulation will be the primary vehicle in the course and will enable practice in integrated and aligned decision-making, as well as analyzing business options requiring financial investment. Financial tools such as net present value (NPV) and economic profit (EP) will be incorporated into business decision analysis and reporting.  Prerequisites: MBA 502 and 511

3 credits.  Last offered Summer Quarter 2004

This course is designed to offer students the opportunity to apply the principles, concepts, and skills they have learned in their academic work to actual business situations. They will be expected to use their knowledge and judgment to draw conclusions and make recommendations concerning the business opportunities and problems that they investigate. The intent is to provide a realistic understanding of the choices facing managers operating in an international business environment and provide a foundation that will assist students in future career positions in or related to this field. Students should find this course to be highly rewarding and worthwhile for their professional development.

3 credits.  Last offered Winter Quarter 2004

The purpose and objective of this course is to introduce students of management to the stimulating works of Peter Drucker. Particular attention will be given to his insightful and comprehensive concepts about management as presented in his major text: Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices. Students will also learn how to use the text as a ready reference for consultation when specific management problems occur on the job.

1 credit.  Last offered Summer Quarter 2002

Explore the ways in which management life is depicted in the lively arts of novels, plays, and motion pictures. Often those who engage in artistic endeavors have chosen life outside the Business environment. At times artists depict the Business world in an unrealistic or even hostile manner. The course will examine Business through an artistic lens by utilizing such novels as The Great Gatsby, Bonfires of the Vanity, and Nice Work. Plays (Death of a Salesman and Glengarry Glen Ross) and movies (Modern Times and Wall Street) will also be analyzed.

3 credits.  Last offered Summer Quarter 2002

The purpose of this course is to explore the role of general management in applying technology successfully within the firm. This can take the form of entrepreneurial firms founding new or improved technology, established firms developing technology to expand their business as well as buying new technology to replace or add technology-based advantages. Note: This course is NOT a substitute for MBA 560.

3 credits.  Last offered Summer Quarter 2004

This course studies the impact of cultural and strategic differences on management of people in multinational organizations. Critical human resource issues in domestic and international operations are explored. The course is designed for students of general international management, rather than for specialists in human resource management and will introduce you to the major issues associated with managing people in the context of the global marketplace. Emphasis will be placed upon developing skills to enable the student to be an effective manager in a multinational enterprise. An effective manager must evidence fluency in the theories and concepts required to achieve congruence between an organization, its environment, its organizational structures and systems, the key tasks which the organization has to perform, and the organization's human, technological, financial, and other resources. Yet, conceptual skills alone are not sufficient. An effective manager must also evidence the skills required to manage the task, people, structures, and systems, as well as the ability to apply those skills to complex situations. This course will utilize the case study method.

3 credits.  Last offered Spring Quarter 2004

The theme of this course centers on the management challenges of introducing a new technology into an ongoing business with the expectation of profound change. This course is not about information technology. Non-scientists and non-engineers will get as much out of this case-based course as scientists and engineers.
Note: This course is NOT a substitute for MBA 560.

For more information, click here

3 credits.  Last offered Summer Quarter 2005

Student teams will work on a project basis with new ventures and existing businesses needing growth, helping them develop strategic solutions confronting their business. Projects will range in nature from marketing to finance to business plan development. The intent of this class is to be an integrative experience, helping the student apply the principles, concepts, and skills learned in prior classes to actual business situations.

3 credits. Last offered Spring Quarter 2008

There is a growing interest among people today to find greater meaning and fulfillment in their work.
The course will examine:

• The growing trend to meaningful work with spiritual values.

• The idea of a vocation and that everyone has a vocation.

• The moral responsibilities of a business or other organization from society in which the business operates and from the nature of the business or organization.

1 credit.  Last offered Summer Quarter 2003

This course is designed to broaden your knowledge of the Board of Directors and person of the Chief Executive Officer. It will give you a detailed look at the Board of Directors and how boards work. Current and former CEOs will share their knowledge and experience with the class. 

For syllabus for class, click here

3 credits. Last offered Fall Quarter 2004

Worldwide integration in multiple spheres has drawn businesses and other types of organizations into the global arena, generating important managerial challenges such as strategic leadership, diversity management, organizational learning, creativity and partnership management.  Our study of these challenges will take a one world approach, moving beyond global businesses alone to also look at the role other organizations play in the world.  Examples include Transnational Corporations (TCNs), Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Intergovernmental Organizations (IGOs), global start-ups and e-enterprises, and global partnerships within and across sectors.  Selected course readings outline diverse perspectives on globalization and illustrate how varied organizations are managing in an increasingly global world. Guest speakers will describe how organizations balance the opportunities and threats they associate with globalization. Cases and projects will provide personal opportunities to manage selected global challenges.   The class will organize a public forum to examine perspectives on globalization for Africa for African Trade Day.

Syllabus: MGMT 591 Pr. Barbara Parker

3 credits.  Last offered Fall Quarter 2001

Recent breakthroughs in science and technology have helped to improve our understanding of people and behavior.  Working Together explores these discoveries and their impact on productivity.  Using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), a widely used instrument that assesses several dimensions of personality type, students will explore the forces of human interaction in the work place, expanding the awareness of self and others.

Syllabus: MGMT 591 Professor Ervick

1 credit.  Last offered Summer Quarter 2001

Many MBA classes use case studies as learning aids. Work-Over is different. In this class YOU become the case study. Feedback from people you work with, your work headaches, and the opportunities that you face at work will be the basis of your learning. This class draws heavily from each students work experience; therefore, the class requires each student to be currently employed. In this interactive course, the following questions will be answered:

• What are my goals?

• What are my headaches and opportunities at work?

• What do others think of my performance?

• What do I need to change?

• What information, support, or resources will I need to be successful?

• How will I know if Ive succeeded?

• What is my plan?

• How do I overcome obstacles?

• What have I accomplished?

Prerequisite: Student must be currently employed.

Syllabus

3 credits. Last offered Fall Quarter 2004

For more information, click here

3 credits.  Last offered Winter Quarter 2004

Business failures are often attributed to poor decision making. However, does it necessarily follow that successful businesses that continually make the right moves in dynamic environments execute good decision making, or is it more often a case of luck?

This course, which builds upon the skills gained in the Competitive Marketing class, is intended to take the luck out of decision making by exploring the tools of effective business decision making through the use of rational, repeatable decision making processes. At its conclusion, the student will be able to define decision situations, identify and articulate alternatives, develop information to be used for decision making and ultimately apply the logic to make decisions.

Class Objectives:

• Present a framework for a structured decision making process

• Learn how to formulate and understand a full range of decision alternatives and impacts using decision analysis tools and techniques

• Learn how to identify and analyze sources of risk from a strategic & financial perspective for various alternatives.

• Understand how to evaluate the values of alternatives along with analytical tools for identifying, measuring, analyzing, and mitigating risk

• Develop the ability to facilitate communication and dialogues during the decision making process and to transition the decision to implementation

• Introduce the concept of strategic business design and how it can be used in business decision making

• Introduce the concept of a Value Based Management System for creating and managing the Portfolio of decisions associated with running the business