Master Business Administration (MBA)

Introductory assessment and information for the Masters of Business Administration.

Analysis of methods used by sales and service departments in hospitality and tourism. Emphasis on selling, planning for, and servicing all aspects of meeting and convention business.

Planning, organizing and analysis of a beverage facility. Problem solving methods and solution techniques are applied through written projects. Topics include alcoholic beverage control regulations, examination of product, service methods and computerized control systems. Minimum age of student must be 21 years.

Historically, promotional forms have been separated between personal selling and the remaining elements of advertising, public relations and sales promotion. In recent years, most firms have experienced significant cost savings by combining all four elements to maximize the return on the invested promotional dollars. The linkage of the sales function with promotional activities enhances the effectiveness of the salesperson while creating a common linkage with all other marketing functions within the firm. This course will offer the greatest level of detail in allocating both time and resources between the various promotional options of any marketing courses offered at SMSU.

International Business practices was designed for students interested in understanding the intricacies of doing business in an international environment, including language and religion. Each course will focus on a specific region and provide students with an overview of the existing and emerging business landscapes, including the smallest, largest, and fastest growing languages, folklore, festivals, philosophy, religion, family, education, literature and daily life. This course will be taught through a lecture, discussion, reading and film evaluation format.

Introduction to the basics of revenue management practices in the hospitality industry. Focus areas include forecasting, pricing, market segmentation, cost controls, financial analysis, economic analysis, and applications as it emphasizes practical aspects of decision-making. Both tactical and strategic approaches will be discussed.

The marketing process between business organizations is much more extensive than consumer marketing in terms of transaction size and complexity. The high concentration of business-to-business firms in specific geographic areas is analyzed and the specialized marketing tools required to reach them are evaluated. The unique operating characteristics of the business marketing process is detailed, providing students with a broad understanding necessary to be productive in this lucrative segment of the marketing profession.

This course will review basic service management concepts and apply them in real life scenario using case studies of Hospitality firms and businesses. Students will analyze the nature of the issue, discover the connection of the unique service characteristics to the nature of the issue, and evaluate different strategies to address the issue while learning about a specific hospitality company in the case studies

Analysis and simulation of a hotel/resort operation. Competency-based skills developed by student analysis, written reports, and on-site learning opportunities in major departments of a hotel/resort including: General and Administrative, Rooms Division, Food and Beverage, Sales and Marketing, and Sports and Activities. The focus of this course is on analysis and understanding of the interdependent nature of major departments within a hotel/resort operation.

This course is designed to help students learn sales management concepts and how to apply them to solve business problems.

The marketing concept has always focused on meeting the customers needs. Those needs, in order to be properly fulfilled, must be predicted on an unbiased understanding of the consumers attitudes and perceptions. To develop that unbiased method of sampling the target population in a manner that will be reassuring as being valid, correct research principles must be implemented. This course will offer actual hands-on experience in developing an understanding of research principles. Specific organizations will be targeted and research projects will be completed in their behalf as part of the course offering. The critical issues of ethical procedures coupled with sound statistical processes will be included in the course content.

This course will help students develop an awareness of, and sensitivity to, the needs and conditions of diverse groups; theoretical and conceptual knowledge about diverse groups; and specific skills in interacting with people from various diverse groups. The class will approach discussions regarding diversity from the underlying issues surrounding privilege. Students will learn how invisible privilege impacts all aspects of life; this concept will be addressed from the perspective of primary and secondary characteristics of demographic diversity.

This course is designed to give students an in-depth exploration of training and its connection to employee development. The primary focus will include best practices and practical application strategies within the field. Content areas include an introduction to employee training and development and using strategic training; designing training through using a needs assessment, learning and transfer or training, program design, and training evaluation; training development methods including traditional training methods, technology-based training methods, and employee development and career management; and social responsibility and the future including legal issues, managing diversity, career challenges, and future trends in training and development. The course will encompass the use of current event topics and critical analysis techniques regarding employee training and development, including the development of a training module from the needs assessment to evaluation.

This course will focus on the various aspects surrounding human resource staffing and recruiting. Specific topics will include: recruiting processes, interviewing techniques, legal issues surrounding recruiting and staffing, forecasting and job analysis techniques.

Digital marketing analytics is foundational to digital marketing because it is the language used to optimize and connect results across all digital marketing tactics (search, social media, email, display, video, etc). An effective digital marketing analyst is a vital data translator for a business. This course prepares the student to be a digital marketing analyst. Becoming an analyst requires the cultivation of both technical and soft skills. These skills are taught through this course.

Content marketing is a strategic approach that involves the sharing and creating of online material such as blogs, social media posts, videos and so on. The content delivered through social media, when used by companies has a clear direction to focus on the defined target audience. It is intended to stimulate interest, attract and retain customers while ultimately contributing to the organizations vision, mission and profitability.

This course covers how mobile marketing is defining business today, including strategy, tracking ROI, advertising, applications and mobile websites. From text messaging to QR codes, consumer interactions with mobile devices, and the laws and ethics of mobile marketing are explored in this course.

The focus will be on human behavior in organizations. Throughout this course, students will develop and apply concepts and theories of organizational behavior in business organizations. A micro to macro approach will be used to progressively study behavior from the individual, group, and organizational levels. The goal of the course is to discover ways to understand and improve behavior at each level, and thereby increase the efficiency of the organization.

This course is designed to increase students self-awareness and how it relates to interpersonal and managerial effectiveness. This course improves advanced managerial skills such as goal-setting, time management, running effective meetings, team facilitation, feedback, networking, creative problem solving, coaching, mentoring, and empowerment. It includes current research on optimism, resilience, self-efficacy, work and emotions, cooperation vs. competition, and work design.

This course gives students an in-depth exploration of leadership and its connection to team management strategies. The primary focus will include best practices and practical application strategies within the field. Content areas include traits, motives, and characteristics of leadership, leadership behaviors, attitudes and style, using creativity and innovation in leadership, power and political influences on leadership, leadership ethics and social responsibility, charismatic, transformational, contingency and situational leadership styles, influence tactics of leaders, developing teamwork, motivation and coaching skills, communication and conflict resolution, strategic leadership and knowledge management, international and diversity aspects of leadership, and leadership development and succession . The course will encompass the use of current event topics and critical analysis techniques regarding leadership and team management, including ethical implications of decisions, and apply legal and ethical decision-making skills to leadership and team management scenarios.

The pursuit of individual ideas for successful business ventures has been flourishing during the past years in this country. Entrepreneurs and established firms launching new products/services are facing a complex and competitive environment. This course will give potential entrepreneurs the necessary skills to face this uncertain environment. New business models along with new marketing strategies will be explored assuming an entrepreneurial setting. Students will be exposed to the unique challenges of marketing in a start-up organization. The basic marketing principles will be applied to different entrepreneurial situations.

This course will focus on the various aspects surrounding the compensation and benefits field within human resource management. Specific topics will include: terminology, development and implementation of wage and salary surveys, pay audits, job evaluation techniques, legal issues, the connection between pay and performance, the rationale behind various benefit policies, and various types of benefit programs.

Upon completion of the course, students will have a working understanding of:1. The evolution of unions in the United States.2. How unions influence organizational strategic direction.3. The advantages and disadvantages of unionization for organizations.4. How the external environment influences both labor and management.5. Legal aspects relative to labor-management relations.6. The phases involved in developing a relationship between labor and management.7. How labor agreements are developed and administered.

This course is designed to give students an in-depth explanation of the basic functions regarding the field of human resource management. The primary focus will include best practices and practical application strategies within the field. Content areas include strategic planning, diversity, state and federal laws and regulations, recruitment and selection, employee relations, compensation and benefits, job analysis and evaluation, performance management, training and organization development, career planning, risk management, and union relations. The course will encompass the use of current event topics and critical analysis techniques regarding human resources, including ethical implications of decisions, and apply legal and ethical decision-making skills to human resource scenarios.

In this course, students are exposed to experiences in the form of project-based learning within the broad areas of for­ profit, nonprofit, and philanthropic ventures. A feature of this course is its coordination with the Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the Southwest Small Business Development Center (SBDC). Students will learn baseline skills or tools to assist in advising clients on a venture chosen by the class. The project approach to this course will culminate into a final report and presentation to the client.

This course will provide students with information regarding fundamental management principles and special concerns and problems dealing with gerontology and long-term care settings at home and in a variety of institutions. This course will focus on Federal and State regulations, 3rd party reimbursement regulations, health and safety codes, residents rights and the regulatory survey process. The students will learn tools to assess residents quality of care and quality of life. Students will review issues relating to ethics, guardianship and conservatorship, liability, negligence and malpractice.

International Marketing requires a different set of marketing skills than those practiced by domestic marketers. Culture, business approaches, language barriers are all issues that must be considered for successful marketing campaigns executed outside the USA.

This course provides an orientation to various analytical and substantive components that are fundamental to becoming familiar with services, programs, issues and trends in Healthcare. Specifically, students will gain an awareness of the complexities of health issues, the historical evolution of issues and themes, and the nature of how different interests and actors interact. Students will learn commonly used frameworks for policy analysis and then apply them to a range of prominent, contemporary health care issues and trends.

This course will provide students with an understanding of the origins, organizations and operations of manage care programs. Students will examine the complexities of the provider-consumer-payer arrangements in a changing and expanding managed care environment. They will review structures, practice models, role of clinicians, capitation and the health service payment systems.

This course is intended to present students with an overview of the formation and operation of healthcare facilities with an emphasis on planning, implementing and managing. This course emphasizes the relationship and impact of theories, policies, strategies and styles of management within a healthcare organization. Students will focus on the integration of facilities and departments within the organization observing, monitoring and evaluating outcomes and customer satisfaction.

Entrepreneurship is a driving force in the national and global economy, with entrepreneurs starting new businesses, stimulating ancillary businesses and economic growth. Entrepreneurship blends innovation and creativity, risk, and planning. Students may find themselves presented with entrepreneurial opportunities at any time in the future. Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship will provide students with the background of todays entrepreneurial mindset, the process of initiating entrepreneurial ventures, the development of the entrepreneurial plan, and growth strategies for entrepreneurial ventures.

This is a new course that complements the proposed Entrepreneurship Concentration in Management. Social Entrepreneurship is a growing field of study that examines social needs in the context of entrepreneurship. In particular, it examines the creation of a social value in the context of entrepreneurship practices, theory, and applications. This course looks at different forms of social ventures to include philanthropic, hybrid, or for-profit and identifies tools available to positively impact communities

This will allow for specialized study for graduate students who seek more in-depth study in particular areas within the Business discipline.

The internship course is created primarily for students with no prior full-time work experience, and to encourage students to seek practical experience where they can apply theories and concepts learned in their area of concentration. Students are expected to find a place of employment and seek authorization from their advisor before they begin the internship to ensure that job experience satisfies the concentration requirements. The course is repeatable for a maximum of three credits. Instructor permission required.

Will introduce the design, development and use of accounting systems; development and analysis of accounting data for managerial planning, control, and decision-making; and discussion of current trends and issues of managerial accounting. This will be presented as a course for non-accounting professionals and executives.

This course is designed for the graduate student that either has some elementary exposure to marketing as an undergraduate or has no foundational exposure to the subject. The class content will briefly review basic marketing principles as they relate to solving case studies. Teams will be assigned and given approximately four preliminary cases and one final strategic case. The feedback gained from each case presentation is designed to enhance the students understanding of the subject and prepare them for the next case that increases in difficulty with each progressive round during the term. At the conclusion of the course, the student should be better prepared to understand how marketing is a fundamental guiding principle to business decisions in todays globally competitive marketplace.

This course is devoted to an organizations conversion of resources into products and services. Both long-term (strategic) and day-to-day operations (tactical) level decision-making will be studied. Topics will include operations strategy, process/service development, aggregate planning, theory of constraints, JIT, TQM, and related topics.

This course examines the role of negotiations and mediation in conflict resolution. With the former, we consider theoretical knowledge and practical skills essential to being effective negotiators. With the latter, the course delves into the mediation process. In so doing, the role of the third-party neutral, or the mediator, is examined in its role in assisting disputing parties reach resolution. With both, the course overlays law topics that are relevant to managers in the legal environment. Such legal topics will require students to employ negotiation strategies to resolve conflict.

Provides an exposure to management decision paradigms that are most widely used in the business sector of the economy. The topics extend the range of decision tools beyond those used in other coursework in the program.

Organization development (OD) is concerned with planning, researching, and implementing interventions aimed at organizational change and renewal. The course focuses on understanding and developing process consulting skills. The course will also engage in in-depth exploration of various intervention strategies, including human process, technostructural, systemwide, and strategic change.

This course seeks to provide students with a sound understanding of legal principles within the context of management decision making and commercial transactions. In addition, this course examines the ethical implications for certain business decisions. That is, this course examines ethical standards of proper conduct within business decisions, and where appropriate, applies those standards.

Analyzes the financial strengths and weaknesses of companies both qualitatively and quantitatively. Analysis includes evaluation of financial statements, national and international economic conditions, industry trends, strategies of the firms as well as accounting principles and procedures underlying financial statements. Includes both assessment of existing problems and opportunities as well as development of alternative courses of action.

Focuses on the role of technology in organizations. A top-down approach is used which will range from considering technology as a strategic variable for competitive advantage to applying technology as a means of improving operational efficiency and customer service. The course considers the challenges of innovation as well as the potential conflicts and resistance resulting from technological change.

Examines the international business climate and the success of American firms in the global marketplace; different modes of penetrating foreign markets; international finance and the international banking system. Factors affecting American competitiveness in the global economy will be reviewed. Students will successfully complete a term project involving a simulated negotiation to set up an operation in another country.

This course will prepare the student in the area of economic reasoning, a capability that is an important element in the tool kit of all successful executives in business, government, and nonprofit enterprise. Much of the work will be grounded in microeconomic theory, although some applications of macroeconomic thinking will be employed. Microeconomic decision models are robust, used in a wide spectrum of applications to help think through the likely behaviors and outcomes. Powerful economic models will be utilized to analyze business scenarios, predict market outcomes, and recommend policies and decisions. Topics include operations strategy, process/service outcome, aggregate planning, theory of constraints, JIT, TQM, and related concepts.

Studies the pursuit of the organizations mission while integrating the organization into its environment. This course examines techniques of long-range organizational planning, strategy formulation, and strategy implementation. The purpose of the course is to develop insights and a working knowledge of major strategic management processes.

This course will provide a general management perspective of current and emerging issues facing organizations. Students will be required to address and analyze the many dilemmas and problems managers encounter in fashioning short-and long-term solutions and in taking action. The focus of the seminar will be Management of the Future.