Business Policy and Strategy

BPS 6151 Executive Study Trip - Americas (1 semester credit hour) Executive Education Course. This course focuses on economic and political strategy. Considers international business, political, and cultural issues for doing business globally. Instructor consent required. (1-0) Y

BPS 6233 Private Equity Project (2 semester credit hours) This Private Equity course will take you from the fringes to the inside - from building a strategy and valuation for corporate value creation to the close process and ultimately selling the company to other investors. As equity markets are strengthening, the Federal Reserve has kept the low interest rates, and business sentiment is increasing, PE firms are uniquely positioned to expand their portfolios. This course will expose you to new PE approaches and find new pathways for achieving significant growth and increase returns on invested capital. Prerequisites: FIN 6253 and FIN 6301 and BPS 6254 and BPS 6256. (2-0) Y

BPS 6254 Performance Transformation (2 semester credit hours) Executive Education Course. This course provides students with a toolbox of strategy models to develop corporate strategies and implement corporate transformation. Instructor consent required. (2-0) Y

BPS 6255 Field Project (2 semester credit hours) Executive Education Course. Students work with a local business to understand and evaluate current corporate issues. Students develop a transformational strategy and present their findings to corporate sponsors and faculty. Prerequisites: BPS 6254 and instructor consent required. (2-0) Y

BPS 6256 C-Suite Leadership (2 semester credit hours) Executive Education Course. This course explores the leadership of executive officers in influencing and implementing public policy; creating the public image of the firm; and corporate social responsibility. Instructor consent required. (2-0) Y

BPS 6310 (ENTP 6310) Strategic Management (3 semester credit hours) Strategic management consists of the analysis, decisions, and actions that organizations take to create sustainable competitive advantages. The course examines a variety of issues including environmental, competitor, and stakeholder analysis; strategy formulation; and strategy implementation and control. The central role of ethics and corporate governance as well as global issues will be addressed. Credit cannot be received for both BPS 6310 and ENTP 6310. Prerequisites: ((ACCT 6301 and ACCT 6202) or ACCT 6305) and FIN 6301 and MKT 6301 and OB 6301. (3-0) S

BPS 6311 Strategy Implementation (3 semester credit hours) Implementation issues of strategic planning. Topics include: planning system design, organizing for planning, situation analysis, and corporate/divisional relationships. Cases and selected readings illustrate the key planning concepts. Prerequisite: BPS 6210 or BPS 6310. (3-0) Y

BPS 6332 (SYSM 6320) Strategic Leadership (3 semester credit hours) Addresses the challenge of leading organizations in dynamic and challenging environments. Overall goal is to not only question one's assumptions about leadership, but also enhance skills and acquire new content knowledge. Topics include visionary and transformational leadership, post-heroic leadership, empowerment, leveraging and combining resources, designing organizations and ethics. (3-0) Y

BPS 6360 Management and Organizational Consulting: Theory and Practice (3 semester credit hours) Management consulting now accounts for more than $120 billion in global annual revenues. In addition to these full-time consultants, more and more employees are also in roles of a consultative nature, as the knowledge-intensive nature of work increases. This course will begin with a review of the theoretical foundations of the client-consultant relationship, drawing from counseling psychology and other disciplines, then broaden to cover theories of Organizational Behavior, Organizational Learning and Strategy. Through various workshops and hands-on exercises, participants will apply these theories in a number of scenarios relevant for consulting. Special attention will be given to prepare students to become confident practitioners, by bridging the theory-practice gap in the practice of management and organizational consulting. Prerequisite: OB 6301. (3-0) P

BPS 6379 Business Strategies for Sustainability (3 semester credit hours) The course introduces student to sustainable business practices. The role of legislation and its impact on business practices as well as proactive business strategies firms use to differentiate themselves and obtain a competitive advantage will also be addressed. By viewing a firm through an environmental lens, managers find opportunities to reduce risks, drive down costs, and create intangible value. Further, firms can build stronger connections with a broad range of stakeholders. (3-0) Y

BPS 6387 Private Equity (3 semester credit hours) Executive Education Course. Today's fluid economies require corporations to restructure, merge, acquire, or be acquired to remain competitive and relevant in the current marketplace. Companies' stakes are bought and sold all the time. Private Equity's typical life cycle lasts 2+ years in which their target is to acquire all shares, de-list it, change the management structure, improve the financial performance using performance metrics, and finally exit it. This course is structured where the following fundamental questions will get answered: What do Private Equity Firms do? Which are the different types of strategies they pursue when investing or exiting? What is the typical structure of a private equity firm? How to determine the investment horizon of a PE investment? Do PE firms target specific companies? Students will learn PE strategies, general and limited partnerships, deal origination, due diligence, valuation, deal structure, performance metrics, and portfolio oversight. Prerequisites: FIN 6301 and BPS 6310 and BPS 6254. (3-0) Y

BPS 6V90 Individual Study in Business Policy and Strategy (1-3 semester credit hours) May be individualized study for students pursuing further study of a topic in business policy and strategy. Pass/Fail only. May be repeated for credit as topics vary (3 semester credit hours maximum). Additional prerequisites may be required depending on the specific course topic. Department consent required. ([1-3]-0) S

BPS 6V99 Special Topics in Business Policy and Strategy (1-6 semester credit hours) May be repeated for credit as topics vary (6 semester credit hours maximum). Additional prerequisites may be required depending on the specific course topic. Instructor consent required. ([1-6]-0) S

BPS 7300 Advanced Strategic Management Seminar I (3 semester credit hours) This is the first of a two-part series of PhD seminars in strategic management that (1) expose students to various theories and topics in strategic management research, and (2) train students to become informed researchers who will be able to contribute to this literature. This seminar covers the major theories in current research addressing strategy formulation and implementation. Corequisites: OB 7300 and instructor consent required. (3-0) T

BPS 7301 Advanced Strategic Management Seminar II (3 semester credit hours) This is the second of the two-part series of PhD seminars in strategic management. Together the two seminars (1) expose students to various theories and topics in strategic management research, and (2) train students to become informed researchers who will be able to contribute to this literature. Seminar II focuses more on the empirical research in major topics such as strategic alliances, networks, competitive dynamics and knowledge management. Students learn to use the different theories introduced in the previous seminar as tools for analyzing strategic business phenomena. Prerequisites: BPS 7300 and instructor consent required (3-0) Y

BPS 7302 Research Methodology (3 semester credit hours) The aim of this course is to lay the foundations for good empirical research in the social sciences and to introduce students to the assumptions and logic underlying social research. Students become acquainted with a variety of approaches to research design, and are helped to develop their own research projects and to evaluate the products of empirical research. (3-0) Y

BPS 7303 Doctoral Teaching and Writing Seminar (3 semester credit hours) Provides the tools necessary for beginning academics to think critically about teaching and writing to enable them to be successful researchers and effective teachers. Students will not only be exposed to research on effective writing and teaching, but will also work actively with classmates both within and across areas to improve their ability to write clearly and teach well. The course will require students to assess both their own writing and the writing of others. Students will practice putting together a syllabus, creating assignments for students, and presenting explanations of difficult concepts. (3-0) Y