ACCT 2610 Principles of Financial Accounting

ACCT 2610 provides an overview of the financial accounting reporting process, with a primary focus on the analysis of economic events and their effect on the major financial statements (balance sheet, income statement, and statement of cash flows).

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring, Summer

ACCT 2620 Principles of Managerial Accounting

Emphasis on the accumulation and analysis of data for internal decision makers. Introduces the vocabulary and mechanics of managerial accounting and accounting techniques used by internal managers in planning, directing, controlling, and decision-making activities within their organizations.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

ACCT 3610 Intermediate Financial Accounting I: Finance Related Topics

The first of a two-course sequence in corporate financial reporting. Examines the environment of financial accounting, the standards-setting process, and the conceptual framework that underlies financial accounting in the United States. Topics: review accounting basics, events, and transactions that impact financial statements, comprehension of corporate financial reports, and examination of political and economic factors influencing accounting policy.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Spring

ACCT 3620 Intermediate Financial Accounting II

Continuation of ACCT 3610. Focus on the accounting and reporting of various stakeholders' claims against the corporate entity. Claims of shareholders, long-term creditors, employees and governmental bodies are examined. An in-depth understanding of applicable generally accepted accounting principles is developed by examining the strengths and weaknesses of these principles and alternative accounting practices.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall

ACCT 3650 Taxation of Business Entities

This course involves an examination of tax laws at the federal, state, and international levels, with an emphasis on corporate taxpayers and partnerships. A data-driven approach will be used to show how various business transactions affect a business entity's tax liability. Attention will also be given to various ways in which business entities might structure transactions to avoid or reduce tax liability and how the choice of business entity type affects these decisions.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Spring

ACCT 3660 Carbon Accounting

This course provides the student with an understanding of the current structure of emissions reporting with an emphasis on carbon reporting. The course will give an overview of the regulatory bodies involved in setting standards for carbon reporting. We will discuss the various rating agencies and indices currently used by stakeholders (e.g., investors and activist funds). The course will provide details on what companies report and how they inform investing and consumption decisions. We will discuss the supply and demand for carbon emissions information and how those economic forces are likely to shape changes in carbon reporting and the decision-usefulness of carbon information.

Credit 1.5 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall

ACCT 4003 Not-For-Profit Accounting

Students will gain an understanding of the unique facets of not-for-profit accounting, including understanding not-for-profit financial statements, differences in not-for-profit GAAP, and the IRS Form 990.

Credit 1.5 units.

Typical periods offered: Spring

ACCT 4013 Ethics I

This course is designed to help the student understand ethical reasoning and behavior, and it will help them to define their own moral compass using case studies as the primary source of instruction. The primary goal is to make the student a role model for others in ethical behavior. Students will learn not just how to determine the proper ethical choice; more importantly, they will learn how to effectively implement the behavioral changes required to achieve solutions to ethical dilemmas. To quote (while paraphrasing) the authors of the textbook, we strive in [these courses] not only to educate accounting students to be future leaders in the accounting profession but to stimulate [the student's] ethical perception and cultivate virtue thereby awakening [their] sense of duty and obligation to the public interest.

Credit 1.5 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

ACCT 4014 Ethics II

This course was designed to help students develop a deeper understanding of ethical behavior, including dealing with fraud in financial statements, legal obligations of auditors, Wall Street expectations and earnings management, and what it takes to be an ethical leader. To quote the author, ...it comes down to one's sense of right and wrong and willingness to voice values to positively impact (the) auditor responsibility. This second segment of Ethical Decision Making in Accounting is offered for the purpose of creating ethical leaders in the accounting and auditing profession, the business community, and society and to instill that sense of right and wrong and the eagerness to put it into action.

Credit 1.5 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

ACCT 4550 Accounting Policy and Research

This course will enable students to develop their knowledge and appreciation of current debates that surround the accounting profession. Students will develop critical thinking skills regarding these issues and form and defend opinions about contemporary regulatory and market issues. The course will also provide an opportunity for students to learn important technical and research tools used by accounting practitioners. Finally, students will gain an appreciation of the primary methods underlying academic research in accounting.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Spring

ACCT 4640 Auditing

This course deals with the professional service industry of auditing. The auditing industry provides the service of objectively obtaining, evaluating, and communicating evidence regarding managerial assertions about economic events. Specifically, auditing ascertains the degree of correspondence between managerial assertions and established criteria. The course is organized around the basic categories of: (1) the economic role of external corporate auditing in securities markets, (2) the composition of the firms in the auditing industry, (3) the regulatory environment of auditing, (4) litigation issues facing the accounting/auditing industry, and (5) the requirements for conducting audits. Topics included in the last area include a consideration of the scope and application of Generally Accepted Auditing Standards (GAAS) and the general technology of auditing which are some general auditing topics typically covered on the CPA exam. Grading is based on homework, a group-based project, and two exams.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall

ACCT 4660 Financial Statement Analysis

Designed to enhance your understanding of the process of evaluating financial statement information. Requires a basic familiarity with financial accounting and the assumptions underlying measurements reported in financial statements, an understanding of the economic and regulatory forces underlying corporate disclosure of financial statement information and their effects on financial statement information, and familiarity with data sources and analytical tools to extract and evaluate this data. Objectives are to develop familiarity with this type of analysis and to gain an appreciation for its limitations. Topics: profitability and risk analysis, credit risk models, forecasting, and valuation.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall

ACCT 4670 Taxation of Individuals

This course provides an introduction to federal income taxation with primary emphasis on the tax implications of business transactions. The objectives of the course are to develop a basic understanding of federal income tax laws and to provide a framework for integrating income tax planning into the decision-making process. The course is of value to all students who need to recognize the important tax consequences of many common business transactions and is not intended solely for accounting majors or those students interested in becoming tax specialists.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall

ACCT 4675 Volunteer Income Tax Assistance

VITA is an experiential learning course where students volunteer at an external organization, the Gateway EITC Community Coalition (“Gateway”), which provides free federal and state tax preparation services to low- to moderate-income families and individuals, seniors, persons with disabilities, and limited English-speaking taxpayers who need tax preparation assistance.  Students will need to initially complete the VITA Training Program, pass a certification exam administered by Gateway, and volunteer at Gateway tax preparation sites in the St. Louis area.  Students who have completed ACCT 4670, Taxation of Individuals, will find the subject matter easier to address.

Credit 1.5 units.

Typical periods offered: Spring

ACCT 4680 M&A Accounting

Examination of the nature and financial reporting aspects of various business transactions: corporate acquisitions, mergers, and the formation of other strategic alliances. Topics: accounting for business combinations and consolidations, joint ventures and foreign currency translation, accounting and financial reporting issues facing government entities.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Spring

ACCT 4755 International Taxation

In today's global economy, questions regarding what activity and income get taxed and which jurisdiction enjoys taxing priority have never been more important. Recent U.S. tax reform has caused a monumental shift in the U.S. taxation of multinational transactions and activities. U.S. and global legislative proposals continue to focus on the tax rules applicable to multinational enterprises as parameters around these topics continue to evolve. This course will be an introduction to international taxation, focusing on such topics as tax jurisdiction, source-of-income rules, transfer pricing, tax treaties, and international tax practice and procedure. Core course materials will be supplemented with discussion around current relevant transactions (particularly M&A transactions) in the business headlines.

Credit 1.5 units.

Typical periods offered: Spring

ACCT 4756 Advanced International Taxation

In today's global economy, questions regarding what activity and income get taxed and which jurisdiction enjoys taxing priority have never been more important. Recent U.S. tax reform has caused a monumental shift in the U.S. taxation of multinational transactions and activities. U.S. and global legislative proposals continue to focus on the tax rules applicable to multinational enterprises as parameters around these topics continue to evolve. This course will address advanced international taxation, focusing on such topics as foreign currency, export benefits, transfer pricing, tax treaties, as well as planning from both an outbound and inbound investment perspective.

Credit 1.5 units.

Typical periods offered: Spring

DAT 1200 Managerial Statistics I

The first of a two-course sequence in business applications of statistics, focused on descriptive statistics, probability and distributions, inferential statistics, and linear regression. Approximately, the first quarter of the course is about descriptive statistics and applications of covariance. The second quarter is devoted to probability: basic rules, conditional probabilities, Bayes' theorem, expected values, and probability distributions. This work is followed by an introduction to sampling distributions and inferential statistics. Confidence intervals and hypothesis testing are introduced to make inferences about parameters. The last one-fourth of the course focuses on simple linear regression. Throughout the course, functions, data analysis, VBA, and solver features of Excel are introduced.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

DAT 1201 Managerial Statistics II

The second of a two-course sequence in business applications of statistics, focused on forecasting. The course is devoted to the use of linear regression models in business, and ways to deal with problems of collinearity, outliers, non-linear relationships, and heteroscedasticity. Advanced topics including time series regression and logistic models are covered as time permits. There are quizzes and group projects in addition to a midterm and final.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

DAT 2200 Analytics and Modeling for Business Decisions

The primary goal of this course is to help students become effective problem solvers, smart consumers of data, and finally intelligent business decision-makers in various management situations. The course utilizes structured problem-solving approaches heavily relying on data to define the problem, uncover useful relationships between critical variables and outcomes, define measures for evaluating alternatives, and model underlying conceptual relationships with constraining resources. Applications of those analytic tools will be illustrated using examples from various business functional areas such as finance, marketing, operations, economics, and strategy. Prerequisites: DAT 120 and completion or concurrent enrollment in DAT 121.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

DAT 2996 Quantitative Business Analysis Elective: 200-Level

Credit 3 units.

DAT 3015 Data Analytics in Python

This course is an introduction to data science in Python, which assumes no prior programming experience. The course is broken down into two units. In the first unit, students will be introduced to the basics of Python as a programming language. The second unit of the course is devoted to data analytics; students will use Python to explore and visualize real-world data sets from various industries including finance, sports, and technology.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

DAT 4001 Data Management Tools for Business Decisions

This course prepares students for success in many business analyst roles. The tools covered in this course will prepare students well for roles in finance, accounting, quantitative marketing, information systems, operations, talent analytics, and others. As companies collect more data internally and augment this with external data sources, collecting, maintaining, and organizing data is becoming an essential skill for success in many roles. Developing creative reports and dashboards that are updated in real time are demanded in today's data-driven decision-making environment. While there are a plethora of tools available to support business analysts, this course focuses on VBA in Excel and SQL, two critical tools for reporting and dashboards. Students will also be introduced to Tableau, the state-of-the-art visualization software. These tools are introduced within the broader organizational data environment to provide an understanding of the role of the business analyst within the organization. Companies' data environments traditionally include enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, customer relationship management (CRM) systems, relational databases, external data sources, data warehouses, and data cubes. Understanding the roles of each component of the data environment enables students to utilize each effectively. Prerequisites: CSE 131 or DAT 301E and completion or concurrent enrollment in DAT 220.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Spring

FIN 3150 Capital Markets and Financial Management

Students will learn how the decisions of a company affect shareholder value and what decisions can increase it. To understand the perspectives of shareholders, we will study basic principles of investing: time value of money, valuation of debt and equity securities, discounted cash flow as a foundation for stock prices, the impact of diversification and leverage on portfolio risk, the relationship between risk and expected return in securities markets, and capital market efficiency. We will use these principles to analyze capital investment decisions by estimating cash flows and discounting them at the appropriate cost of capital. We will also study how shareholder value is affected by a firm's financing decisions, such as the choice of using debt or equity capital.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

FIN 3175 Information, Intermediation, and Financial Markets

This course is a study of financial intermediation. It first develops a conceptual framework for why and how financial institutions as intermediaries play a vital role in the functioning of the global economy, then examines applications to commercial banks, investment banks, mutual funds, hedge funds, broker-dealers, insurance companies, and more from the corporate perspective. We will also discuss current topics in financial regulations, challenges, and opportunities in the aftermath of the financial crises as well as the rise of AI. From this course, students will (1) develop familiarization with current practices of the institutions that make up the financial markets while understanding their vulnerabilities and changes over time, (2) understand the purpose of banking and other types of financial services in economic development and stability, and (3) assess job opportunities in the financial sector from the viewpoint of career development through case studies and guest speeches.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

FIN 4010 Advanced Valuation

This course covers advanced topics in valuation. Main topics covered will be the valuation of private firms and young businesses, and the valuation of financial services firms such as banks and insurance companies. The course applies both theory and practical valuation methods through the analysis of cases and real world examples.

Credit 1.5 units.

Typical periods offered: Spring

FIN 4023 Venture Capital Methods

Students are exposed to the process of analyzing, valuing and structuring potential equity investments in privately-held, entrepreneurial, venture-stage businesses. The goal is to develop critical thinking skills in evaluating potential investments and understanding the dynamics of various risk factors predominant in such investments, including market risk, execution risk and technology risk. The classes will be a combination of individual readings, case learning, presentations and panel discussions by industry experts, and experiential learning in a team format. Classes will be case study driven and will focus on company-and fund­ specific situations. Guest lecturers will be used extensively and will provide content integral to the course. The final sessions of the class will be conducted as a presentation and analysis of a potential investment.

Credit 1.5 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

FIN 4024 Venture Capital Practice

This capstone course offers students interested in early-stage investing an immersive experience in angel and early-stage investment practices within private companies. Collaborating with professionals in the St. Louis community, students engage in activities spanning from identifying potential investment opportunities to closing deals, gaining practical skills essential for the field.

Credit 1.5 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall

FIN 4025 Private Equity Methods

This course will provide the student with an understanding of the basic terminology, due diligence, and analytical methodologies critical to evaluating private equity investments. The course will also cover the history of private equity and the different roles of private equity, including growth capital, LBO/MBO, roll-up, and so on in the evolution of the firm. Private equity funds in the context of the overall market (i.e., strategic vs. financial acquirers) will be discussed as will be the role of leveraged lending and bank financing of financial sponsors. Private equity as an investment and its role in portfolio construction will also be analyzed. Finally, the legal structure of private equity funds in the context of firm control and governance will be reviewed.

Credit 1.5 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

FIN 4026 Private Equity Practice

This course is the capstone for students interested in pursuing careers in private equity. Students will develop practical skills for investing in private companies. Students will partner with professionals in the St. Louis community to perform various activities, including transaction sourcing, evaluating investment opportunities and, where appropriate, negotiating, arranging financing, and closing investments. The course also heavily relies on bringing in professionals from the local community to provide real-world perspectives on private equity investing.

Credit 1.5 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

FIN 4232 Mergers & Acquisitions

This course focuses on identifying ways to increase firm value through mergers and acquisitions (M&A). We will survey the drivers of success and failure in M&A transactions, develop your skills in deal design, explore the deal process, and develop LBO and merger models similar to those used by investment bankers. Other topics addressed in the course are M&A regulation, the sell-side and buy-side M&A process, valuations, takeover strategies and antitakeover defenses, structuring of transactions to minimize tax consequences, the acquisition method of accounting, merger arbitrage, and auction vs negotiation sale processes.

Credit 1.5 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

FIN 4280 Investment Praxis

Students serve as managers of a portfolio, the Investment Praxis Fund, which is owned by the university. Students analyze investment opportunities in various industries and present recommendations to the class for possible purchases or sales of stocks, consistent with the style and objectives of the fund. Valuation tools, financial statement analysis and investment techniques are emphasized as part of a thorough analysis. The course focus is on developing and implementing investment ideas.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Spring

FIN 4370 Advanced Derivative Securities

This course focuses on implementation of models for pricing and hedging derivative securities in the equity, currency, and fixed-income markets. Students will learn to write programs in a programming environment such as MATLAB to implement the Black-Scholes model, binomial models, Monte-Carlo methods and finite-difference methods. The derivatives studied will include exotic equity and currency derivatives and caps, floors and swaptions. The goals of the course are to learn more about the various instruments that are traded, the various assumptions and methods that may be chosen in modeling them, and the importance of the assumptions in determining the prices and hedges that are chosen. The course will be especially useful to students pursuing careers in sales and trading who will interact with research departments and students pursuing careers in asset management.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Spring

FIN 4410 Investments

Introduces the theory and practice of investments from the point of view of an investment/portfolio manager. We will begin with a review of asset classes, financial history, and preferences for risk. Next, we will have a brief review of statistics and finance and we will review matrix algebra. We will then apply these tools to examine the trade-off between risk and return and to develop and implement Modern Portfolio Theory. The major topics covered will include the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), Markowitz optimization, performance evaluation, market efficiency, and Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT). The last portion of the course will be devoted to fixed income securities including interest rates, bond valuation, and bond immunization.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

FIN 4430 International Finance

This course provides a framework for making financial decisions in an international context. Topics include relevant features of financial markets and instruments (e.g., foreign exchange, currency futures and options, swaps); exchange rates; corporate risk management; international investing; and capital budgeting issues.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall

FIN 4480 Advanced Financial Management

Advanced study of corporate financial management. A major focus is the relationship between the internal decisions of the corporation and the valuation of the firm in the capital market. Topics: capital budgeting systems, capital structure, debt policy, cash and working capital management, short- and long-term financial planning.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

FIN 4506 Financial Technology: Methods and Practice

This course will provide an overview of financial technology and will cover specific topics in this area. Topics covered include data-driven credit modeling, crypto currencies, digital wallets and block chains, robo advising, high-frequency trading, and crowd funding, and peer-to-peer lending. The course will also discuss regulatory aspects of FinTech. The course will cover different methods as well as practical applications.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Spring

FIN 4510 Options, Futures and Derivative Securities

Examines the theory and practical application of derivative securities such as futures, options and swaps. Central to the theory of derivative security pricing is arbitrage and payoff replication. In practice, derivative securities provide a principal route to manage and, in particular, hedge financial risk. Futures, options and swaps on different types of underlying assets are examined with emphasis on pricing and application.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

FIN 4601 Research Methods in Finance

The course is designed to prepare students for independent research in finance by exploring methods and techniques in a manner that will allow the students to implement them correctly and efficiently. The curriculum will emphasize practical applications of empirical methods used in financial research and how to implement them. Students in the course will learn empirical methods in corporate finance and asset pricing; obtain basic knowledge and familiarity of the databases used in common finance research; get exposure to recent research in finance which applies the methods covered; and learn how to implement the methods covered using relevant programming languages. Note: There will be significant overlap in the course tools used in both MEC 4710 and FIN 4601. However, the applications and papers for each class will be entirely different.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall

INTL 3001 Planning for International Learning

The primary focus of this course is on preparation for the study abroad/internship experience. Topics include the following: What does a global firm look for in a globally competent recruit; Development of goals and objectives for international experience; Develop a working knowledge of host country key features such as businesses, culture, and politics; Overview of logistics for abroad, including timeline expectations, visa, housing, travel, contact with Olin, and registration for return semester; Career Services resources on how to use study abroad/internship to obtain a summer job/internship.

Credit 0.5 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

INTL 3002 Applying International Experiences

Focus is on strengthening student experiences while on a study abroad/internship experience. Topics include the following: Minimalizing impact of culture shock and new academic programming though participation in on-site orientations; Maximizing academic advising services while abroad; Identifying opportunities to engage with the local culture; Connecting your individual personal and professional goals by revisiting actions and outcomes.

Credit 0.5 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

INTL 3200 Business, Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Israel

Israel is an innovation and entrepreneurial hub with more listings on the NASDAQ than any country other than the US, more patents per capita and more entrepreneurial events occurring in Israel in both the commercial and social arena than anywhere else in the world. Students will learn about the Israel economy, different industries, Israeli culture and politics along with the critical business challenges and opportunities that face Israel. This course includes a required immersion experience to Israel and contains an additional lab fee for the immersion.

Credit 3 units. EN: S

Typical periods offered: Fall, Summer

INTL 3230 Business of Art: The European Capitals of Culture

This unique course is designed for students of the arts and students of business interested in the relationship between arts and management, culture and commerce, as a site of possibility. Based in two sites - London and Galway in the west of Ireland - the course looks through the lens of the European Capitals of Culture (ECoC) program, established in 1985. Visiting Galway 2020 will enable you to gain first-hand experience of how the vision of 'creative cities' - manifested through a yearlong program of events and initiatives - celebrates the arts and cultural engagement as 'drivers' for social and economic regeneration. Whilst London is an established center for business and the arts, Galway, is a smaller, regional city, which is hoping to use the awarding of the ECoC to grow in these areas. You will gain working knowledge of the complex needs of cultural producers, managers and entrepreneurs as leaders, facilitators and catalysts. You will come away with insights in to what is at stake for the people and environment in the spheres in which they operate. Whilst gaining knowledge of theoretical frameworks, the course has an emphasis on creativity and arts-based learning - debate, critique and visual and experiential methods. Preference is given to students minoring in Busines of Arts.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Summer

INTL 3231 Entrepreneurship in the Middle East: United Arab Emirates & Israel

The Middle East is in the process of transforming from predominantly relying on energy to drive the economies to become hubs of global innovation and entrepreneurship. INTL 325 provides students with a unique opportunity to learn about an established entrepreneurial country (Israel) and an emerging entrepreneurial country (UAE) and to understand the unique interconnectedness between culture, politics, and business and how all three produce a unique and successful business and entrepreneurial environment in the Middle East focused on the UAE & Israel, the leading countries in the region. This course will provide (1)an understanding of the journey the countries have been on and the impact that culture, politics, and the Abraham Accords have on the innovation ecosystem in Israel and the UAE. (2) Develop the ability to conduct research on an Israeli & UAE businesses/industry and analyze the primary drivers for their success. (3) Solve an unstructured business problem from a startup with a presence in the UAE and Israel. (4) Contrast and compare elements of Israeli & Emirati businesses to American businesses on an industry level while understanding the global business environment.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Summer

INTL 3994 International Internship in Business

This online course deepens the overall learning a student gains from an international internship. By completing structured assignments that relate to both the work completed during the internship and to elements of the broad-based Olin business curriculum, the value of the internship increases markedly, for both the student and employers. To enroll, you need admission to one of Olin's International Internship Programs.

Credit 1.5 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

INTL 4200 Business Research Internship

This is the capstone course for overseas internship programs where students learn to apply rigorous statistical and analytical approaches to research questions in business, but not limited to questions relating to marketing, management, finance and economics, operations, and policy. Students will identify a research topic, and present this topic to Faculty supervisors for approval. The goal is to capitalize on the practical knowledge gained while interning abroad, and apply that to a research question in the area in which a student is interning. Students will be required to review the current literature on their topic, formulate their own research question, identify potential data sources they can use to address these questions, and make recommendations to add to the body of knowledge on their chosen subject.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

MEC 2900 Microeconomics

Provides a rigorous analysis of the behavior of consumers and firms in competitive and monopoly markets; oligopoly markets are introduced. Consumer topics include preferences and utility, budget constraints, consumer optimal choice and demand curves. Firm topics include technology, cost minimization and profit maximization. The course concludes with price determination in monopoly and competitive markets, and an introduction to oligopoly and game theory. The focus of the course is on microeconomics as a decision making tool for consumers and managers.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring, Summer

MEC 2920 Global Economy

Introduces the fundamentals of international economic analysis. Provides an economic foundation to the analysis of business decisions and strategies in the global setting. Topics include: introduction to the global economy; comparative advantage as the basis for international trade and sources of comparative advantage; economies of scale and imperfect competition as the basis for international trade; tariffs and other instruments of trade policy; political, legal, and institutional factors influencing international trade; balance of payments; exchange rates and the foreign exchange market; international capital flows; national competitive advantage and industrial policies; global economic competition and business strategy.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

MEC 2922 Global Economy - Australia

Introduces the fundamentals of international economic analysis. Provides an economic foundation to the analysis of business decisions and strategies in the global setting. Topics include: introduction to the global economy; comparative advantage as the basis for international trade and sources of comparative advantage; economies of scale and imperfect competition as the basis for international trade; tariffs and other instruments of trade policy; political, legal, and institutional factors influencing international trade; balance of payments; exchange rates and the foreign exchange market; international capital flows; national competitive advantage and industrial policies; global economic competition and business strategy. Prerequisites: Admission to the Asia Pacific Internship Program.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Spring

MEC 3210 Health Economics and Policy

The basic tenets of health economics will be covered. This course will place a unique emphasis on incorporating materials from three broad source categories -- textbook elements, lay press and media, and academic journal publications -- with the aim of fostering the application of rigorous, critical thought to media presentations of health care economics and policy issues.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall

MEC 3220 Health Care Management

The goal of the course is to develop facility in applying basic tenets of general management to actual situations and dilemmas that might be faced by health care managers, consultants, financiers, investors, innovators, or providers in the course of their work. Issues addressed will include but not be limited to financial issues, management challenges, and conduct of operations. The first phase will cover the basic background on the structure and financing of the health care industry to include very brief reviews of critical topics like insurance and government-provided health care. A few basic frameworks will then be developed for students to apply to course topics moving forward, such as cost/benefit analyses and evaluation of risk. The remainder of the course will involve critical analyses of health care cases involving varied subjects and management challenges. Class sessions will emphasize student-led discussions.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Spring

MEC 3630 Olin Grand Rounds: The Business and Practice of Medicine

Grand rounds in medical schools are a forum for presenting new and challenging clinical problems and cases. The goal of Olin Grand Rounds is to focus on the challenges and solutions facing the business of medicine. The course will therefore provide an introduction to the current issues facing the health care sector that integrates management tools and clinical knowledge. The objective is to provide students new insights into how modern management tools can be combined with scientific and clinical knowledge to manage health care organizations more efficiently and practice medicine more effectively.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall

MEC 3700 Game Theory for Business

Provides students with a methodological framework to analyze strategic business situations. Building on a background in microeconomics and statistics, this course includes such topics as the following: modeling strategic problems, games with sequential moves, games with simultaneous moves, strategies and the derivation of strategic forms, general classes of games, uncertainty and information, strategy and voting, auctions, bargaining.

Credit 3 units. EN: S

Typical periods offered: Spring

MEC 4100 Research in Industry Analysis

Research in Industry Analysis will build on the materials taught in MEC 370 (Game Theory) MEC 470 (Market Competition and Value Appropriate) and MEC 471 (Empirical Techniques in Industry Analysis), integrating them with methods of industry analysis used in practice and applying them to companies.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Spring

MEC 4600 Economics of Entertainment

This course will focus on the unusual economics of the entertainment industry and the associated management challenges. The sessions will cover the basic economics of entertainment, then focus specifically on the music and movie industries, plus one other that will vary from year to year. Classes will consist of lecture and discussion, as well as speakers from the relevant industries. The primary student deliverable will be a twenty minute documentary-style production in which student teams present findings of their research into specific industries within the broader industries studied in class, e.g., rock, classical or rap within music, blockbusters within music, etc.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall

MEC 4610 Business of Arts

This course is for students who aspire to a career in the creative side of the Art Business, including visual art, dance, music, fashion, architecture, photography, writing/poetry, film, communication design, etc.; it may also be of interest to those who plan to work in the business side of Art, but in close connection with the creative side, e.g., A&R at a record label, or acquisitions in a movie or TV studio. It will complement MGT432E, Business Management of Arts Organizations. This course provides a diverse collection of business skills that form the foundation for the course's main deliverable: a multi-year plan for the development of an art business that will have commercial success sufficient to enable the artist to pursue their art as a profession. It includes interaction with successful artists, numerous presentations and experiential activities as the business plan develops throughout the semester.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall

MEC 4660 Research in Health Care Management

This is the capstone course for the Health Management major in which students learn to apply rigorous statistical and analytical approaches to research questions in health services, including but not limited to questions relating to management, finance and economics, operations, and policy. Faculty will identify several available research project options and present these options in class. The goal is to capitalize on the strength of the university medical school and affiliated medical centers, in addition to capitalizing on existing relationships between Olin and various health care firms to identify student research projects. Students will also be encouraged to formulate their own research questions and to identify potential data sources they could use to address these questions, if they so desire. Students will work in teams of three or four using the approaches developed for the Practicum and Hatchery courses.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Spring

MEC 4700 Industrial Economics

Provides students with theoretical frameworks for making intelligent decisions in evolving markets. Course begins with general game theory concepts which form the basis for deeper exploration of market dynamics, competitive and cooperative firm relationships, and strategy. Students will apply theoretical frameworks in the context of a detailed industry study on which they will present in class.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall

MEC 4710 Empirical Techniques for Industry Analysis

Students will learn how to use data to answer a wide variety of questions regarding the incentives and behavior that generate market activity. We emphasize inference about the strategic decisions of firms and consumers. Students are introduced to new statistical and econometric tools by examining the application of these tools to current research in economics. Among the topics considered are the empirical implications of: strategic bidding in auctions, price discrimination and dispersion, differences across products, and the internal organization of firms. .

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall

MGT 1000 Individual in a Managerial Environment

As an introduction to the foundations of business, this course covers four major themes: (1) how markets work; (2) motivating and managing people; (3) business strategy and firm performance. This is a first-year level course and may not be completed beyond the sophomore year.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

MGT 1105 Introduction to Gateway to Business

This course provides students with an introduction to business, the academic areas within business, leadership, and business communications. Students are encouraged to embrace this opportunity for creative problem solving and continuous discovery. This course has several experiential components, including solving strategic problems for-profit and nonprofit organizations. This course is for rising high school sophomores to rising seniors.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Summer

MGT 1500 Foundations of Business

Provides first semester business students with an introduction to each of the functional areas of business as well as the entrepreneurial function. As they work to design their own enterprise, students will build skills in teamwork, communication, critical thinking, and an understanding of the complex interplay of business functions. Fall semester enrollment is only open to incoming business freshmen and students must be concurrently enrolled in MGT 1000.

Credit 2 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

MGT 2001 Business Fundamentals for Non-Business Students

This course is intended to help successfully position arts and sciences, engineering, and design majors for careers in organizations such as non-profits, entrepreneurial ventures, and corporations, among others. Students will learn key technical and professional skills that are valued and often required by employers. Topics addressed include working in teams, data-driven decision making, financial and business analysis, concepts for organizational strategy, professional communication, and career strategies. The course will use a combination of lectures, exercises, projects, and cases to introduce participants to these topics. The class is designed for Washington University undergraduates in Arts & Sciences, Engineering, and Design and Visual Arts who are preparing for internships or jobs. Recommended for sophomores and juniors. BSBA and BUCS students cannot receive credit.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

MGT 2002 Venture Creation

Venture Creation is designed for students who are interested in exploring the venture creation process, or the undertaking of creating a new business from scratch. The course allows students to experience entrepreneurship in a unique and innovative manner by integrating theory and practice in an interactive learning by doing process. The goal of the course is to assist and support students in the realization of a business vision from inception of an idea to fruition of a company producing value.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Summer

MGT 2010 Management Communication

Managers who write and speak effectively excel in business leadership. Persuasive and authentic communication is not only useful in advancing your business career; business employers also consider communication skills to be the most important attribute in people they hire. Effective communication involves more than mastering technical writing and presentation skills. Successful communicators use critical thinking to assess business scenarios and the audience who will hear or read a message; they craft communication in order to attain targeted results. This course gives you the opportunity to become a more polished communicator as you work toward the following goals: Applying rhetorical principles to management communication; Using critical thinking to analyze the audience, the organizational environment, and problems before choosing communication strategies; Implementing principles of plain language and effective design; Collaborating with colleagues to create a communication strategy for a live corporate client.

Credit 4 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

MGT 3010 Legal Environment of Business Management

Surveys the various areas of law that make up the legal environment of business. Develops a basic understanding of law as it relates to business, with traditional emphasis on private law and business transactions. This study of the micro law of business will review the detailed substantive rules in the areas of contracts, sales, products liability, agency, corporations, and partnership. In addition, a summary review of contemporary legal problems such as insider trading, discrimination in employment, sexual harassment, and ethics may be discussed, if time permits. Case studies are analyzed in order to give the student an understanding of how various laws apply to actual situations.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall

MGT 3080 Introduction to Global Business

Focus on the aspects of management of a business enterprise that are necessary to compete in the global marketplace. The course begins with a survey of the environmental context in which international companies operate (economic systems and cultural factors). This is followed by a review of International Trade Theory and Economics. This forms a basis for concentration in the second half of the course on strategies and structure for global operations. The course deals with the situations in Europe, Japan, Latin America and China through case studies and discussion of current topics and their relation to the fundamental aspects of global business management.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall

MGT 3515 Global Entrepreneurship

Global Entrepreneurship will expose students to the differences and challenges of start-ups in South America, the Middle East, Africa and India. In addition to hearing from and engaging with entrepreneurial leaders from each of these regions, students will have the opportunity to solve a strategic problem for a start-up in each region.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Spring

MGT 3565 Sports Entrepreneurship and Emerging Technologies

This course is an introduction to the concepts, theories, and practices unique to sports entrepreneurship and emerging technology. This course seeks to understand the fundamentals of early-stage companies and their growth trajectories from idea to exit. This course covers key topics in sports entrepreneurship and technology, including the various stages of the startup, the art of the pitch, market data-driven decision making, investor relations, and valuation. It surveys the rapidly changing ecosystem of entrepreneurship and technology across the global sports industry. Artificial intelligence, machine learning, augmented reality, virtual reality, human performance, Esports/gaming, and venue tech as they relate to entrepreneurial concepts, practical applications, and principles will also be addressed.

Credit 1.5 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall

MGT 3800 Business Strategy

The course adopts the perspective of the general manager -- the individual charged with developing and implementing the long-term strategy of a business. The course develops basic tools and concepts in strategy formulation, including competitive advantage, value creation and capture, industry analysis, capability assessment, competitive positioning, and strategy implementation. The course is designed to develop students' skills in both analyzing observed strategies and in formulating and implementing new ones.

Credit 3 units. EN: S

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

MGT 4020 Ethical Issues in Managerial Decision Making

This course considers not only what ethical behavior means for a business entity, but how to: (i) balance competing ethical concerns against each other; and (ii) implement and sustain this balance across an organization. Readings and classwork zero in on the issues and situations most likely to put a manager in jail and the company in bankruptcy. Classes include Socratic discussion, simulations, analysis of video clips, and team tasks. The emphasis is on practical frameworks and tools managers can apply in the real world.

Credit 1.5 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

MGT 4022 Applied Problem Solving for Organizations

Applied Problem Solving for Organizations will provide rising junior BSBA students an opportunity to work on strategic problems for organizations on a virtual team. This class will be completely remote. The course runs from June 1st - July 16th and will have some scheduled meeting times, but the majority of the work will be coordinated by the group in consultation with their professor.

Credit 1.5 units.

Typical periods offered: Summer

MGT 4101 CEL Entrepreneurial Consulting Team

Fuel your entrepreneurial spirit and tackle real-world challenges— through CELect, an experiential consulting course offered through the Center for Experiential Learning.  Connecting students with startups in St. Louis or San Francisco, working in teams of 4–6, you’ll provide strategic insights to help emerging ventures scale, applying classroom knowledge to market research, financial strategy, forecasting, and growth planning. Through direct collaboration with clients and faculty, you’ll develop critical skills in consulting, leadership, project management, data analysis, and persuasive communication. The St. Louis section includes a required kickoff session (August 21-22, 2025), ongoing client collaboration, and a final presentation. The San Francisco section (October 4-7, 2025 requires travel, a $750 course fee, and client meetings in person. Eligibility: To enroll, you must complete an application by April 7, 2025, at sites.wustl.edu/olincel. If selected, the CEL will handle course registration. Open to undergraduate and graduate students. Law students must take Corporations as a prerequisite/co-requisite and may not provide legal advice or draft legal documents without supervision from a licensed attorney. This course is cross-listed with B63 MGT 501C. Law students may take the course only once for law school credit and will be graded on a modified pass/fail scale: HP (3.94), P, LP (2.98), F (2.50).  Dropping the course after client introductions may affect eligibility for future CEL leadership roles.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

MGT 4102 Sustainable Development and Conservation Through Entrepreneurial Collaboration: Madagascar

This course focuses on sustainable development in rural subsistence economies, using Madagascar as a case study. Students from diverse disciplines are challenged to develop and assess the feasibility of projects that can have a positive impact on communities constrained by poverty traps. The span of projects includes topics such as forest conservation and use, nutrition, health, food security, clean water, education, and bottom up economic growth. Students in Humanities, Social Sciences, Business, Design, Engineering, Physical Sciences, Law, Social Work, Economics, Political Science, Public Health and others use their different perspectives to search for answers. Teamwork and peer teaching are central to the course. Prerequisite: Application is required and enrollment is limited. Students should apply be adding their name to the waitlist in WEBSTAC. This will notify staff to send an application to interested students who will be notified of acceptance prior to the spring semester. Dropping this course may have an adverse impact your ability to register for other CEL courses in the future.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Spring

MGT 4103 CEL Practicum

Drive meaningful change by consulting for established companies — Practicum, through the Center for Experiential Learning, allows you to collaborate with peers, faculty advisors, and corporate clients to solve real-world business challenges in areas such as market strategy, financial management, and operational efficiency. You'll gain practical consulting experience working with a student consulting team while refining critical skills in leadership, strategy development, project management, data analysis, and professional communication. Students are evaluated based on deliverables throughout the semester, including the final written and oral report at the project’s conclusion. Additional Information: Dropping this course after being introduced to a client may impact your ability to engage in leadership roles in future CEL courses. To enroll, you must complete an application by April 7, 2025, sites.wustl.edu/olincel If selected, the CEL will handle course registration.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

MGT 4104 Small Business Initiative

Empower local businesses and gain real-world consulting experience — The Small Business Initiative (SBI), through the Center for Experiential Learning, gives you the opportunity to work closely with small, local businesses that form the backbone of the St. Louis economy. Through this hands-on consulting experience, you’ll help these businesses address key challenges such as growth, marketing, and operational efficiency while developing crucial skills in critical thinking, leadership, and project management, all resulting in a meaningful impact on the local business ecosystem. Students are evaluated based on deliverables throughout the semester, including the final written and oral report at the project’s conclusion. Additional Information: Dropping this course after being introduced to a client may impact your ability to engage in leadership roles in future CEL courses.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

MGT 4105 Taylor Community Consulting Project

Make a meaningful impact on local nonprofit organizations and communities — The Taylor Community Consulting Program (TCCP), through the Center for Experiential Learning, allows you to partner with local, regional, and national nonprofit organizations to address strategic challenges and operational inefficiencies. Through this hands-on consulting experience, you’ll work as a part of student consulting team to apply insights from your coursework to real-world problems under faculty supervision, helping nonprofits grow and enhance their impact. Students are evaluated based on deliverables throughout the semester, including the final written and oral report at the project’s conclusion. Additional Information: Dropping this course after being introduced to a client may impact your ability to engage in leadership roles in future CEL courses. Prerequisite:  Open to both undergraduates and graduates.
 

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

MGT 4210 Introduction to Entrepreneurship

Through case studies, frequent guest speakers, and the professor's own experience, the real world of entrepreneurship will be brought into the classroom to provide a context for students to learn the fundamentals of founding, operating, and exiting a start-up business. Students will learn new perspectives that will teach them to think like an entrepreneur. Those who are interested in the general study of entrepreneurship, those who want to be entrepreneurs, and those who would like to leverage entrepreneurial principles in other career paths are all good candidates for the course. This course can only be taken for a grade. Students can either enroll in either MGT 421 or MGT 460L. You can't receive credit for both courses.

Credit 3 units. EN: S

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

MGT 4240 Business Planning for New Enterprises [the Hatchery]

Students form teams to pursue their own or an outside entrepreneur's commercial or social venture. The first session will feature a Team Formation event where students and community members pitch their ideas and opportunities to the class. During the semester, the teams are supported and advised by the Instructor, Executive Coach, and Mentor(s) as they research and develop startup plans. Academic deliverables include two presentations to a panel of judges and a complete business plan for commercial ventures or sustainability plan for social ventures. The course is open to students from all disciplines and degree programs. Most of the work will be done outside the classroom with the support of the coaches, mentors, advisors and instructor. Classes will be held once per week for the first half of the semester. Workshops and rehearsals will be required in the second part of the term.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

MGT 4250 The Business of Presidential Elections

This course will examine Presidential elections, particularly the 2020 election through an multi-disciplinary approach with an emphasis on how campaigns are entrepreneurial ventures. Campaigns are start ups that rely on strategy, branding, financing and other business concepts to achieve the elections of their candidate. The course will also allow students to examine how different candidates policies/platforms may impact different constituencies/sectors of the business/labor world as well as the economy.

Credit 3 units. EN: S

Typical periods offered: Fall

MGT 4290 Management and Corporate Responsibility

Our goal is to help managers incorporate corporate social responsibility demands into their actions within their firms. Assuming that no managers wish to work at a socially irresponsible company, this requires us to understand precisely what these socially responsible demands entail and how they might run counter to taking actions that increase value for the firm's owners and make the manager. We will take care to rigorously define these socially responsible demands and subject them to philosophical and economic examination so that we can assess and implement them. This inquiry would also require us to understand the public relations and political implications of the outsiders' perceptions about the social responsibility of the actions of the firm and its managers, with an eye toward improving these perceptions and reducing political costs.

Credit 1.5 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall

MGT 4325 Business Management of Arts Organizations

This course is for students who want to work in arts-related organizations and corporations. It will complement the Business of Arts course, which is directed to individual artists who need a business background and who may become entrepreneurs. The intent of this course is to provide business-oriented students who want to work in organizations producing a wide array of arts -- including the performing arts, architecture and design, art galleries (both museum and sales), fashion or media -- the knowledge of how these institutions are managed and financially run, in both the for-profit and non-profit areas. The course will build on basic business skills and combine lectures, case studies and expert professional interactions. This will include on-site visits and presentations. The course will also provide a framework for experiential learning practicum projects. which will be conducted simultaneously with various arts organizations.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Spring

MGT 4400 Sports Management

This course examines business and management issues involved in the sports industry. This industry is very diverse, ranging from global sports events (such as the Olympic Games, World Cup Soccer, etc.) to major national competitions (such as the National Football League, Major League Baseball, etc.). Engaged in this industry are many different players, including franchises, governing leagues, sponsors, media, stadium owners, government, fans, and so forth. This course will take a practical look at the world of sports management and administration, with an eye on extracting key lessons for corporate management and administration.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Spring

MGT 4455 Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition

The purpose of this course is to provide students with an opportunity to explore being an entrepreneur by acquiring a company rather than starting one from scratch. The readings and class discussions will help students understand how to purchase a business, finance an acquisition, and operate and grow a business. The cases and conversations will help students understand what it is like being a young, first-time CEO and what types of challenges and issues will be encountered.

Credit 1.5 units.

Typical periods offered: Spring

MGT 4500 The Business of Sports

This course provides an overview of the major aspects of the sports business industry, including but not limited to the following: (1) the primary revenues and expenditures of pro and college sports; (2) collective bargaining agreements; (3) sports media rights; (4) facility financing; (5) sports sponsorships and athlete endorsements; (6) the role that sports commissions play within communities; and (7) current events that affect the growth and evolution of the sports business industry.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall

MGT 4510 Business & Government: Understanding and Influencing the Regulatory Environment

The United States as well as many of the world's governments has entered a new episode with respect to the interaction of business and government. Now, more than ever, government regulations are attempting to spur job growth and the economy on one hand, but also is intruding into many aspects of business and the markets on the other hand. Business students must not only understand the shifting business government landscape, but also how to engage government officials and legislators to help shape policies that affect their firms and industries. As an introductory course, student will learn from business and government leaders how to interact with and affect the processes of regulation.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Spring

MGT 4600 Critical Thinking and Complex Problem Solving for Business

The course introduces students to rigorous techniques for critical and strategic thinking, problem formulation and problem solving, advancing their ability to provide valuable advice to organizations and preparing them for management consulting company interviews by exploring methods to engage in case analysis, various cognitive biases that can emerge as a problem is being formulated and analyzed, such as the use of inappropriate analogies, confirmation bias, self-serving bias, conflation of correlation and causation, etc.

Credit 1.5 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall

MGT 4601 Corporate and Global Strategy

Business-level strategy involves a firm's choices regarding how to compete in a particular single industry or market. Corporate strategy, on the other hand, involves choices about which sets of different industries or markets to compete in, and how to do so. It also involves choices about which kinds of activities to undertake within the firm, and which to organize through contracts or alliances with other firms. Global strategy is a particular type of corporate strategy that involves choices about which geographic regions or national markets to compete in and how.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall

MGT 4602 Sports Business Analytics

This course introduces students to business analytics through sports-themed applications, academic research pertaining to sports topics, class readings, and guest lecturers from industry. Objectives for students include: 1) learning estimation and forecasting skills/trends used in sports; and 2) develop critical thinking skills necessary to assist managerial decision making to augment the performance of sports teams, leagues, or companies.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Spring

MGT 4604 Business of Social Impact

This course is designed for students interested in understanding how social change and social impact can be achieved, borrowing tools and approaches from a broad spectrum of disciplines by asking the following questions: What is social impact and what is social change? How has the concept of social impact developed, where did it come from and how is it useful? How can social impact be meaningfully measured? What examples exist for cooperation and mutual support in the achievement of social impact? What role do for-profit organizations play in creating and promoting social impact? How do CSR, PPP and BOP achieve social impact? The course is based around social impact as a concept, measuring social impact and building institutions, and partnerships around social impact. It will be taught with a practical bent using examples from existing social impact organizations, including those of the professor. Guest speakers will provide case studies of social impact approaches from the local area.

Credit 1.5 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

MGT 4605 Ownership Insights: The Competitive Advantage of Family- and Employee-Owned Firms

This course is designed to introduce students to the unique governance and financing issues faced by owners of closely held businesses, with particular emphasis on employee- and family-controlled firms. The core issue addressed in this course is that of sustainability: What actions are required of the current owners to increase the likelihood that the business will last beyond them? What best practices can we learn from successful employee-owned and multigenerational family businesses, some of which have been in existence for more than 150 years? There are three target audiences for this course: 1) students who may be or who are considering working for a closely held business, be it employee- or family-owned; 2) entrepreneurs who build successful businesses and want their businesses to be passed on to their employees or family members; and 3) students seeking to work in the private equity, investment banking, legal or wealth-management industries and who will be calling on this segment of the market. The course will be multidisciplinary and more qualitative than quantitative. Each class will have a lecture and case component; there will be guest speakers at each session. Students will be required to complete a case study in advance of each class (not more than two pages). There will be no final exam. Class attendance and active participation are expected.

Credit 1.5 units.

Typical periods offered: Spring

MGT 4610 Legal Issues in Sports

This course introduces the fundamentals of sports law. It teaches the basic tenets of a variety of legal disciplines through the lens of sport. It focuses on legal issues that have a direct relationship to sport with an emphasis on current legal sports issues in the news. In the tort arena, we will explore the potential liability of athletes for reckless violent actions toward their competitors, of sports teams and leagues for failing to adequately protect the health of participants (e.g. concussion lawsuits), of coaches, trainers and medical personnel at all levels for failing to properly train, monitor and assess athletes, of product manufacturers for injuries caused by defective sports equipment, and of teams for injuries to spectators, among other potential liabilities.

Credit 1.5 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

MGT 4720 Defining Moments: Lessons in Leadership & Character From the Top

Most successful leaders can point to a handful of defining moments in their careers - key choice points that defined the trajectory of their character, their career, and/or their company. How can aspiring business leaders prepare themselves to face these defining moments with insight and integrity? How do leaders achieve business performance without sacrificing character or integrity? This course examines these questions by learning from notable leaders who exemplify both business excellence and personal character. Top executives from leading companies will sit down with us to talk about their defining moments and to engage with us in considering these questions. These conversations will be supplemented with contemporary cases and readings on leadership and character. Prerequisites: Senior status or juniors with permission of instructor.

Credit 1.5 units.

Typical periods offered: Spring

MGT 4765 Innovating for Healthcare

n this entrepreneurial course, students form teams and work on solving real problems facing the healthcare industry by producing solution prototypes that may also be commercialized by the students once the class is completed. The majority of the course work involves weekly customer interviews and team presentations on those findings. Using Lean Startup Theory, this course will provide an entrepreneurial platform that can develop solution prototypes that match the healthcare industry users' needs in just weeks, rather than months or years. Depending on the industry, grants or investors may provide follow-on funding to student teams for further refinement and the development of solution prototypes. The course is demanding; students will present during every class, work closely with their teams, and receive relentlessly direct feedback. Problem sponsors, mentors, industry liaisons, corporate partners, investors, and journalists may be in the room while students are solving real problems for real customers in real time. This is a course designed for all graduate and upper-level undergraduates in all WashU schools and programs. It takes an entrepreneurial, interdisciplinary approach to the healthcare industry's biggest challenges. It is assumed that students will come into the course with a basic understanding of ideation, research methods, corporate entities, funding sources, intellectual property, and related concepts.

Credit 1.5 units.

Typical periods offered: Spring

MGT 4775 Launching and Scaling New Enterprises (The League)

This advanced entrepreneurship course acts as an accelerator, encouraging students to actually launch and scale a business. Students must apply at https://sites.wustl.edu/theleague/ either with a business idea OR to join a student team that is about to launch their business. Students will be notified of their selection to join The League (of Extraordinary Entrepreneurs) shortly after the application deadline. Our most successful alumni in technology have agreed to be part of the class. This course covers leadership; crafting a story; product development; attracting customers; an innovative mindset; building successful teams; scaling to billion-dollar valuations and the mind of the high tech investor. The deliverables in the course include reflections on each of the unicorn guest speakers and how it applies to the students' ideas; actually launching their website and MVP of their product; meeting the growth goals the teams set for themselves; pitching real VC's and Angel Investors at the end of the course; and applying for a St. Louis Arch Grant.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

MGT 4970 Honors Thesis I: Research and Analysis

The Olin BSBA Honors Thesis challenges motivated students to move beyond traditional course work and apply critical thinking skills to an academic business thesis. Senior BSBA degree students in good standing with a cumulative grade-point average of 3.70 or higher have the opportunity to develop an intensive research project that extends far beyond the limits of the material in a single course during a single semester. In the two-semester honors thesis sequence, research and analysis are the foci of the first semester. With successful progress, the student will write, present, and defend the research during the subsequent semester. Prerequisite: Senior standing and faculty permission.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall

MGT 4971 Honors Thesis II: Writing and Presentation

The Olin BSBA Honors Thesis challenges motivated students to move beyond traditional coursework and apply critical thinking skills to an academic business thesis. Senior BSBA degree students in good standing with a cumulative grade point average of 3.70 or higher have the opportunity to develop an intensive research project, which extends far beyond the limits of the material in a single course during a single semester. In the two-semester honors thesis sequence, research and analysis are the foci of the first semester and, upon successful progress, the student writes, presents, and defends the research in the subsequent semester. Prerequisite: MGT 4970.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Spring

MGT 4980 Honors Seminar I

The first of a two-course honors seminar. Students will have the opportunity to investigate current issues in business using an interdisciplinary approach to their research. Course content of the seminar varies from year to year. Prerequisites: senior standing and faculty invitation.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall

MGT 4981 Honors Seminar II

The second of a two-course honors seminar. Students will have the opportunity to investigate current issues in business utilizing an interdisciplinary approach to their research. Course content of the seminar will vary from year to year. Prerequisite: MGT 4980.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Spring

MGT 4993 Internship in Business

This is an online course designed to deepen the overall learning you gain from an internship. By completing structured assignments that relate to both the work completed during the internship and to elements of the broad-based Olin business curriculum, the value of the internship will be markedly increased-for both students and employers. Internship in Business is a 1.5-credit Pass/Fail course for Olin Business School undergraduates. The course, credit, and pass/fail grading are transcript notations, but the hours earned for MGT 4993 do not count toward the 120 hours minimum needed for graduation nor does the grade count towards your GPA. Approval from Undergraduate Programs prior to enrolling in this course.

Credit 1.5 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring, Summer

MKT 3150 Principles of Marketing

Marketing is the window to the customer, making the function a critical component of any successful organization. Through a mixture of lectures, case discussions and classroom exercises, this course will give students an overview of the best theories and practices in marketing management today. Specific topics will include: how to segment the customer base and choose target markets, how to create perceived value both from an economic and psychological perspective, how to differentiate a product or service from a competitor's offering, how to build and maintain a strong brand, and how to employ different marketing tools such as advertising, pricing, product design, service, and location. The class will also provide students with some basic tools for evaluating the financial impact of marketing activities.

Credit 3 units. EN: S

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

MKT 3250 Applied Marketing Research

This course is designed to provide you with an appreciation of the role of marketing research (MR) in the formulation and solution of marketing problems. You will be developing an understanding of the marketing research process, and understand how to read reports and use output from marketing research to make managerial decisions. While the course will cover the process of engaging in marketing research, the emphasis is on understanding how to interpret output from marketing research so that you can gain greater mileage from marketing research reports that are run for your company, and on understanding what types of information can be collected so you will understand what types of information you can commission once you step into a managerial role. BSBA students can't enroll in this course. Students may not receive credit for both MKT 3780 and this course.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall

MKT 3770 Consumer Behavior

Psychological, sociological, and social psychological principles as they apply to consumer response to product offerings, media communications, personal influence, and other environmental factors. Consumer buying behavior is analyzed from theoretical, empirical, and applied perspectives. Current applications of concepts employed by marketers are discussed in the context of both consumer and industrial marketing situations.

Credit 3 units. EN: S

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

MKT 3780 Marketing Research

This course discusses how to quantify the basic marketing framework using basic primary research skills. The focus is in obtaining market knowledge through surveys, experiments and other direct learning methods.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

MKT 3810 Inclusive Marketing

Inclusive Marketing Strategies examines the importance of integrating inclusive thinking from the beginning of the strategic marketing process - and in every key decision that follows. The course will explore what we know about societal, cultural, demographic shifts and spending power and how these changes will affect our marketing approach and ultimate success. The course will feature discovery through strategic insights, current marketplace examples, group discussion and theory application.

Credit 1.5 units.

Typical periods offered: Spring

MKT 4000 Elements of Sales: Tools and Techniques

This course will provide students with a thorough understanding of the sales function in a managerial context as well as the process of selling from prospecting through solution selling and account maintenance. Specific topics addressed include sales force structure, salesperson selection, evaluation, and compensation. Students will study sales technique, strategic selling, and key account management.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall

MKT 4001 Digital Marketing and Analytics

This course teaches students how to utilize key technologies and data sets to drive business growth via digital channels, and how to properly measure investments. In addition to learning how to utilize various paid, earned, and owned digital media tactics, students learn how to build performance-driven websites and how to utilize digital data to better understand consumers and markets. This course is widely applicable to students seeking marketing, entrepreneurial, or strategy-driven careers.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Spring

MKT 4002 Creating & Launching Innovative New Products

This course teaches students how to successfully create and launch new solutions (i.e., products, services, and technologies) inclusive of the business models that power them. Students learn cutting-edge approaches to uncover opportunities, curate ideas, discover solutions, and then realize the potential via successful launch. In addition, they learn how to build innovative environments and build the culture needed within them. This course applies to students seeking careers as brand managers, product managers, product marketers, consultants, and those who aim to be entrepreneurs.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Spring

MKT 4003 Understanding and Conducting Business Experiments

This course teaches students causal inference methods. Making good business and policy decisions often demands decision makers to move beyond discovering correlations in the data, and to understand the underlying processes that have generated these correlations. In fact, the range of business- and policy-relevant questions requiring causal inference is broader than commonly recognized, including topics like churn prediction in business settings. Therefore, a deep understanding of causal inference is crucial, especially in the era of expanding Artificial Intelligence capacities.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

MKT 4004 Sports Marketing

This is a specialized class focused on Sports Marketing. It is essential for anyone going into the field of Sports Marketing, but given the experience of the instructor, I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in the topic.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Spring

MKT 4315 Marketing Metrics

Experiential Learning: Growing a startup is incredibly challenging. This reality helps to explain why a scroll through LinkedIn or Twitter will likely introduce entrepreneurs to concepts such as product-led growth and flywheels. It also explains why a search for startup marketing on Google will introduce them to ideas often referred to as growth hacks. These examples highlight the nuance of successfully marketing a startup, entrepreneurs' demand to learn these nuances, and the difficulty of correctly learning how to do the right things and do them well. Marketing Metrics provides students an opportunity to engage in active and applied learning through work on real-world, team-based projects, working with a real client. Each project is unique, but all are centered on driving data-driven, implementable solutions to help their client achieve their growth objectives.

Credit 1.5 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

MKT 4700 Pricing Strategies

Marketing strategic decisions require long-term planning and are often costly to change once implemented. They often involve more than one marketing mix variable (price, advertising, promotions, loyalty program) that have to be consistent with a firm's core competencies and complementary with each other, with the purpose of establishing competitive advantages over competitors. A good strategic planning requires careful analysis of market environments related to customers and competitors of a company. With the development of the information technology in recent decades, companies have collected valuable data, either by themselves or from third-party data providers, on customers and competitors. The biggest challenge for most companies, however, is how to use the data for strategic decision-making. The objective of this course is to provide a comprehensive framework to help understand the strategic situations of firms and trade-offs in the decision-making. This course covers some analytical and modeling techniques but the focus is on the use of analysis results. It provides students the fundamental knowledge of analyzing data and solving business problems that have long-term impacts on business. Different marketing topics will be covered. One example is customer analysis, which is the most important strategic component for marketers. Other topics related to market competition, including competitor analysis, positioning, product and entry strategies, pricing and advertising planning will also be covered. The goal of this course is closely related to two of the four pillars of excellence of Olin, Values based and data driven and Entrepreneurial This course is analysis driven, with the focus on better use of data. Doing so helps to develop initiatives for strategic planning to better compete in the market.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall

MKT 4770 International Marketing

Addresses three fundamental decisions confronting a company whose operations extend beyond the domestic market: (1) choosing which foreign markets to penetrate; (2) determining the mode of market entry; and (3) devising the international marketing plan. Topics include global marketing planning; environmental and cultural influences on international marketing decisions; organizational and control issues in international marketing decisions; global marketing intelligence; foreign risk and feasibility studies; and issues of ethics in other countries.

Credit 3 units. EN: S

Typical periods offered: Fall

MKT 4800 Marketing Strategy

Successful business plans are dependent on well-defined and carefully crafted marketing strategies. In this course, students will explore the interconnections between business strategy and marketing strategy through a series of lectures, case discussions, and participation in an online marketing simulation exercise. The course also places heavy emphasis on the discussion of topical marketing issues faced by companies in the current environment. Students are required to read the relevant business press and bring real world issues into the class for brainstorming and interactive discussion. Through this process, students will become astute observers of the strategic trends in marketing across a variety of industries.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Spring

MKT 4810 Advertising and Promotions

This course focuses on an Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) approach to advertising and other forms of commercial communications. The purpose is to provide future managers and practitioners with a foundation in communications theory, based on understanding the target's role in the demand chain for goods and services, as well as hands on experience in developing marketing communications plans. A practical understanding is provided of each of the range of marketing communications vehicles: consumer and business-to-business advertising, sales promotion/incentives, direct marketing, public relations, events and sponsorships, as well as online/interactive communications. Copy strategy, creative development, media planning, promotion strategy, and the evaluation of these programs are all addressed in this course. Industry experts will give guest lectures. We will have 4 companies in different industry sectors for which the class will develop marketing communications plans during the course.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall

MKT 4820 Brand Management

The course examines brand equity and explores brand architecture with the purpose of maximizing brand equity. It is suitable for those interested in careers in brand development.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Spring

OB 3150 Organization Behavior Within the Firm

While proficiency in technical skills is essential for success in the workplace, your ability to understand and manage the human side of an organization will be what ultimately sets you and others apart. This course will provide you with concepts and tools that help you understand and manage human behavior in complex organizations. The knowledge and skills you develop in this course will be critical to you as you plan your career, manage your relationships with co-workers, design and change the groups or the organization you belong to, and work to achieve your goals in complex organizational settings.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

OB 3250 Human Resources Management

Emphasis on development of attitudes and skills of managers and supervisors in solving human problems and in building and maintaining effective employer-employee relations. Major topic areas include: selection and placement, training, and compensation. Other topics include legal aspects of employment policies, labor relations, and other aspects of human resources management.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Spring

OB 4002 Women in Leadership

This course uses a multi-faceted approach to learn about women and leadership. To better prepare students to lead in organizations, we will learn from notable leaders who will share their experiences and advice with the class. These conversations will be supplemented with cases and readings of women leaders pulled from a range of organizations as well as a review the current state of empirical evidence about the status of women as leaders. Finally, there will be time to engage in deep reflection about what students expect from their careers as well as a chance to consider the pathways they must take to become effective and inclusive leaders in increasingly diverse organizations.

Credit 1.5 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall

OB 4300 Thinking Creatively and Leading Creative Teams

This course is for students who want to improve their ability to develop creative solutions to tricky problems and to lead in a way that fosters creativity in others. Data suggest that the ability to solve problems in new and better ways is one the leadership skills that is increasing in importance and that will set you apart from your peers. Future leaders who have mastered the skills of creativity and can foster those skills in others are therefore in a position to add tremendous value to their firms and, ultimately, to society. This course is designed to help you understand and begin to master those skills.

Credit 1.5 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall

OB 4340 Talent Analytics

Finding, developing, and retaining the best talent has always been the key to sustained success in business. Organizations today have potential access to far more useful information about people than ever before, but most struggle to access and use it effectively. In a highly competitive global market, rigorously analyzing data to enable timely and strategic decisions about talent provides a critical edge. In this course, students will learn how to use analytics to bring data and rigorous modelling to bear on people-related issues, such as recruiting, performance evaluation, leadership development and succession, job design, and compensation. Together, these factors can help organizations achieve their long-range strategic goals, rather than simply serving as administrative support functions.

Credit 1.5 units.

Typical periods offered: Spring

OB 4350 People Metrics

Since metrics are at the core of people analytics, this course introduces students to the foundations of assessing behavior in organizations using novel measurement approaches and large datasets. Through classroom discussions and real-world applications, this course will enable students to add value to organizations through the development, use, and interpretation of innovative people metrics. Specifically, after taking this course, students will be able to develop a clear and logical conceptual measurement model. A conceptual measurement model is the foundation of creating novel and useful new approaches for assessing intrapersonal characteristics (e.g., personality) and interpersonal behavior (e.g., knowledge sharing, teamwork).

Credit 1.5 units.

Typical periods offered: Spring

OB 4610 Negotiation

Through reading, practice, and discussion, this course teaches skills and knowledge to successfully negotiate in various contexts.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

OB 4620 Leadership in Organizations

This course is designed to fulfill three broad objectives for students. The first is to provide a useful overview of the primary leadership perspectives, focusing on how each framework links individual leadership to organizational outcomes. The second objective involves student self-assessment of strengths and weaknesses in relation to the abilities and skills that are predictive of leadership effectiveness. The third goal of the course is to enable participants to articulate an effective strategic plan for individual leadership development. Course topics include perspectives on individual leadership effectiveness, leadership and motivation, developing subordinates, leading groups and teams, leading the resolution of conflict, and leading organizational change.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Spring

OB 4660 Leadership in the Trenches

The course design is based on the idea that effective leadership development combines three elements: (a) a challenging leadership experience, (b) developmental feedback from coaching, and (c) formal instruction. For the experiential component, the course partners with the Center for Experiential Learning and targets those students who have been selected as practicum team leaders. Similar to leading a team in a consulting firm, these team leaders must manage, organize, and motivate team members, manage the relationship with the client to guide expectations and delivery, and work with the faculty advisor and the CEL. Team leaders spend an average 5-10 hours per week throughout the semester.

Credit 1.5 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall

OB 4685 Mindfulness and Performance in the Workplace

Most major companies in the world are not single-business operations but portfolios of businesses spanning multiple locations. Single business firms today ultimately become multi-business firms to sustain their growth as they exhaust opportunity in existing markets. This course provides tools, frameworks and processes that help you understand the unique opportunities and challenges for firms spanning multiple products, business units, and geographic locations.

Credit 1.5 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

OB 4720 Defining Moments: Lessons in Leadership and Character From the Top

Most successful leaders can point to a handful of defining moments in their careers - key choice points that defined the trajectory of their character, their career, and/or their company. How can aspiring business leaders prepare themselves to face these defining moments with insight and integrity? How do leaders achieve business performance without sacrificing character or integrity? This course examines these questions by learning from notable leaders who exemplify both business excellence and personal character. Top executives from leading companies will sit down with us to talk about their defining moments and to engage with us in considering these questions. These conversations will be supplemented with contemporary cases and readings on leadership and character. Prerequisites: Senior status or juniors with permission of instructor.

Credit 1.5 units.

Typical periods offered: Spring

SCOT 3150 Operations and Manufacturing Management

Introduces a variety of common operations issues that are frequently dealt with in both manufacturing and service industries and that affect other functions of the business as well. Topics: inventory systems, process design and control, quality, facility location and layout, and forecasting.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall, Spring

SCOT 4300 Operations Fun: Data-Driven Optimization

The intent of this course of this course is to present a comprehensive look into the practical appeal of linear and integer programming. Each unit will focus on a particular class of optimization problems, and include a data-driven case study revolving around a real-world application. The topics of these case studies run the gamut from fantasy football line-up selection to Amazon delivery truck routing to picking the perfect McDonald's order. DAT 3015 or CS 1301 strongly recommended.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Fall

SCOT 4580 Operations Analytics

Examines the concepts and techniques essential for effective operations planning, scheduling, and control in various manufacturing and service organizations. Discusses the use of various models for inventory control, forecasting, production planning, and operations scheduling. Just-in-time techniques and material requirements planning systems will also be discussed.

Credit 3 units.

Typical periods offered: Spring