Master of Business Administration

Evening Program Course Descriptions

The following are the required courses in the Providence (evening) MBA Program, followed by a listing of elective courses. Descriptions of all URI courses can also be found in the Bulletin of the University of Rhode Island, also available at the Graduate Professional Center in Providence, +1 (401) 277-5200. All courses are worth 3 credits each.

Reminder: You can take certain 400-level courses (max. 2) as electives, with prior approval from the MBA Office. Students are also allowed to take electives in the other colleges of URI (ie-engineering, computer science, etc.) Please consult the Bulletin for course descriptions and prerequisites for these classes.

Required Courses

ECN 590: Principles of Economics

Survey of micro- and macroeconomic theory.

Can be taken as a non-matriculating student.

MBA 500: Statistical Methods for Management

Introductory methods of statistics applied to the understanding and solution of business problems. Topics include concepts of business decision parameters, classical and subjective probability, probability distribution, inference, sample-size problems, regression, and index numbers. Waiver exam available

Can be taken as a non-matriculating student.

MBA 502: Organizational Behavior

Examination of the theory, research, and practice of organizational behavior in work settings, focusing on individual differences, communications, group dynamics, motivation, and leadership in the workplace. Graduate credit for students matriculated in the MBA and MS in Accounting programs

MBA 503: Financial Accounting

Covers basic accounting principles, accounting systems design, financial statement analysis. Includes principles of responsibility accounting and budgeting. Graduate credit for students matriculated in the MBA and MS in Accounting programs Pre: MBA 500 or permission of instructor

MBA 504: Financial Management

Functions and responsibilities of financial managers. Examination of financial issues, both internal to the firm and arising from interaction with the financial system. Financial statement analysis, structure, valuation, markets, capital budgeting, working capital. Waiver exam available Graduate credit for students matriculated in the MBA and MS in Accounting programs Pre: MBA 500, MBA 503, ECN 590 or permission of instructor

MBA 505: Managerial Marketing

Analysis of marketing problems an determination of marketing policies in product development, promotion, pricing, channel selection; legal aspects. Waiver exam available Graduate credit for students matriculated in the MBA and MS in Accounting programs  Pre: MBA 500 or permission of instructor

MBA 510: Managerial Accounting

Determination of accounting information for the purposes of decision making, control, and evaluation with emphasis on decision making models using accounting information. Graduate credit for students matriculated in the MBA and MS in Accounting programs. Pre: MBA 500, MBA 503 or permission of instructor

MBA 520: Quantitative Methods for Management

Survey of principal operations research/management science models. Linear programming, network, and other mathematical programming models; simulation, decision analysis, and other probabilistic models. Graduate credit for students matriculated in the MBA and MS in Accounting programs. Pre: MBA 500 or permission of instructor.

MBA 530: Legal Environment of Business

Coverage includes both substantive and procedural rules of law in the civil and administrative law field with emphasis on business, regulation, societal and ethical issues. Graduate credit for students matriculated in the MBA and MS in Accounting programs or permission of instructor.

MBA 540: Organizational Decision Making and Design

Theory and skills development in strategic thinking and organizational design; use of critical analysis in the diagnosis of organizational and management problems. Graduate credit for students matriculated in the MBA and MS in Accounting programs or permission of instructor.

MBA 550: Managing with Information Resources

Concepts, procedures, and managerial issues dealing with information and decision-support systems. Topics include hardware and software; business systems; systems analysis, design, and implementation. Graduate credit for students matriculated in the MBA and MS in Accounting programs.

MBA 555: Managerial Economics (formerly MBA 570)

The applications of economic theory and methodology to business problems. Graduate credit for students matriculated in the MBA and MS in Accounting programs. Pre: MBA 504 or permission of instructor

MBA 560: Operations and Supply Chain Management

The management of manufacturing and service operations. Topics include: flow processes, inventories, scheduling, capacity, operations strategy. Graduate credit for students matriculated in the MBA and MS in Accounting programs. Pre: MBA 500 or permission of instructor

MBA 565: Strategic Management (formerly MBA 590)

Case studies of management problems and evaluation of alternative solutions by integrating functional areas of business. Discussion of ethical, social, and regulatory environments in domestic and multinational firms. Includes the MBA written comprehensive examination. Graduate credit for students matriculated in the MBA and MS in Accounting programs. Pre: a minimum of 21 MBA credits which must include 502, 503, 504, 505 or permission of instructor

Electives

Please note that 400-level courses are upper level undergraduate courses, but those listed below can be taken in the MBA program at URI.

Accounting

BUS 401: Accounting Computer Systems

Accounting information Systems and use of the computer for decision making; emphasis on sources of information and employment of analytical tools in solving accounting problems.

Pre: BUS 302, BUS 303, permission of instructor

BUS 402: Advanced Accounting

Accounting principles and polices for governmental and nonprofit organizations, multinational and multidivisional organizations, partnerships, and other complex organizational structure. Pre: BUS 302

BUS 403: Federal Tax Accounting

Federal laws, regulations, and other authorities affecting taxation of individuals.

Pre: BUS 202

BUS 404: Auditing

Auditing standards, procedures, programs, working papers, and internal controls.

Pre: BUS 302

MAC 501: Financial Accounting Theory

Critical examination of accounting theory and practice to develop research techniques with emphasis on financial accounting.

MAC 502: Managerial Accounting Theory

Critical examination of accounting theory and practice with respect to cost and managerial accounting.

MAC 503: Taxation of Corporations and Shareholders

Examination of the tax law affecting corporations and shareholders. Includes law governing corporate formation, liquidating and nonliquidating distributions, reorganizations, taxes on corporation accumulations, and planning of transactions for tax compliance and minimization.

Pre: BUS 403 or permission of instructor.

MAC 504: Financial Statement Analysis and Reporting

Development of accounting policy with respect to analysis of financial statements and the use of evaluation techniques, managerial planning and control. Emphasis on analytical evaluation of cases with major research project.

Pre: graduate standing in accounting or permission of MS in Accounting Director

MAC 505: Advanced Problems in Accounting

General and specialized accounting problems that constitute the subject matter of CPA examinations.

MAC 506: Seminar in Tax Research, Policy, and Planning

Examination of the methodology of tax research, the principles ad procedures involved in tax planning, and the procedures involved in dealing with the IRS.

Pre: BUS 403, MAC 543 or equivalent

MAC 507: International Accounting

Covers interpretation of international financial statements, focusing on foreign currency exchange, comparative accounting principles and disclosures, and audit reports. Uses actual financial statements in case analysis.

Pre: MBA 503 or permission of instructor.

MAC 508: Advanced Auditing

Statements on auditing standards, auditing electronic systems, auditor's reports, statistical sampling in auditing, regulation of SEC, and cases in auditing.

MAC 509: Taxation of Flow Through Entities

Examines the federal income tax laws applicable to the flow through entities of partnerships and S corporations.

Pre: BUS 403

MAC 510: Federal Taxes and Business Decisions

The course focuses on tax law and its effect on business decisions. Cases are employed and primary emphasis is on income tax planning, although estate and gift taxes are explored.

Pre: MBA 503.

MAC 518, 519: Directed Study in Accounting

Advanced work under the supervision of a staff member and arranged to suit the individual requirements of the student.

MAC 520: Internship in Accounting

 

Finance

BUS 421: Speculative Markets

Examination of the concepts of forward pricing and its applications to the area of commodity and financial futures and options.

Pre: BUS 320 or permission of instructor.

BUS 425: Mutual Funds Management

Overview of mutual funds business. Portfolio management, risk management techniques, shareholder servicing, Federal and state regulatory oversight, marketing and distribution, custody, technology and societal issues.

Pre: BUS 320, BUS 321 or permission of instructor

BUS 429: Global Investment Management

Detailed analysis of the problems encountered in the process of investing funds in international capital markets. Particular attention is devoted to multi-currency dimensions, foreign information sources, and foreign regulations.

Pre: BUS 320, BUS 321

MBA 566: Security and Investment Analysis

Analysis of the problems of investing funds and managing investments. Use of the latest investment theories and their implementation via quantitative techniques will be explored.

Pre: MBA 504 or equivalent.

MBA 567: Advanced Portfolio Theory and Security

An examination of advanced theories and practices in portfolio building and maintenance. Issues related to security price behavior are also examined.

Pre: MBA 504 or equivalent. 

MBA 568: Advanced Financial Theory

Analysis of the theoretical framework for corporate decision making related to financial planning, capital budgeting decisions, dividend policy, and capital structure decisions. Emphasis on current research developments.

Pre: MBA 504 or equivalent. 

MBA 569: Advanced International Financial Management

Analysis of issues relevant to the international financial manager. The financial operations of multinational enterprises are examined through both the theoretical and the case approach.

Pre: MBA 504 or equivalent.

Management

BUS 450: Small Business Management

Investigation and evaluation of the small business enterprise. Current literature studied to enable the student to understand and appreciate the small business. Required project performed with a small organization.

Pre: Permission of instructor.

BUS 449: Entrepreneurship

Procedures for starting and operating one's own business including the following topics: the business idea, personality traits, feasibility analysis, business plan, and functional area basics. Intended for non-business majors.

Pre: Senior or graduate standing and permission of chairperson. Not open to student with credit in REN 325.

MBA 571: Labor Relations & Human Resources (also LRS 500)

Introduction to labor relations and human resources, including employment tactics in unionized and on-union organizations; also issues related to data sources and research methodology.

Pre: graduate standing or permission of instructor.

MBA 572: Human Resource Strategy (also LRS 551)

Human resource issues addressed in context of changing product and labor markets, including relationship between human resource policies; the economic, social and political environment; and firm’s strategic objectives.

Pre: graduate standing or permission of instructor.

MBA 574: Consulting and Management Practice

Review of the theory and practice of effective consulting and development of consultation skills.

Pre: MBA 502 or permission of instructor.

MBA 575: Seminar in Management

Class discussion of typical cases, original research work in the field of management with discussion of data collected and analyzed by individual students.

Pre: Permission of dean.

MBA 576: Advanced Topics in Management

Integrated approach to problems in major areas of business management with emphasis on administrative and executive viewpoint.

Pre: Permission of dean.

MBA 577: Compensation Management

Compensation and performance appraisal systems. Theory and techniques used to determine job worth. Special issues in compensation management, such as relating pay to performance through appraisal techniques and pay compression.

Pre: MBA 502 or permission of instructor.

MBA 578: Human Resource Development

Techniques used in procurement and development of human resource. Planning through recruitment, selection, and placement to training and development. Integration of HRD process with organizational strategic plans.

Pre: MBA 502 or permission of instructor.

MBA 579: International Business Management

Examines the problems and characteristics of international management by focusing on the role of the multinational corporation in a cross-cultural setting.

Pre: MBA 502 or permission of instructor.

Management Information Systems

BUS 456: Management of Databases

Concepts and methods in management of data: creation, design, and implementation; data models; integrity; and security. Use of database management systems software.

Pre: BUS 320.

MBA 580: Management Systems Analysis and Design

An overview of Systems Analysis and Design, and its role in the development of information systems. Major focus is on the methodologies, techniques, and tools used to create successful information systems.

Pre: MBA 550 or permission of instructor.

MBA 581: Database Management Systems

Design and analysis of complex multi-user databases used in real time business transaction processing. The class will contain discussion and examination of databases for strategic and tactical purposes.

Pre: BUS 456 or equivalent or permission of instructor.

Management Science

BUS 459: Management of Quality Control and Improvement

Principles of quality management including control charts, process management, and other techniques with emphasis on the effect of these principles on decision making in various organizations.

BUS 460: Advanced Operations Management

Advanced topics in operations management such as demand management; multi-item, multi-location inventories; capacity planning and control; theory of constraints; and time-based competition in manufacturing and service operations.

Pre: BAC 309 or permission of instructor.

BUS 461: Forecasting

Forecasting for advanced students in all areas of business administration. Introduction to time series analysis including decomposition of the multiplicative model, exponential smoothing, and ARIMA processes. A variety of software systems are employed, with special emphasis on microcomputer systems.

MBA 582: Applied Time Series Methods and Business Forecasting

Study of time series methods. Construction and use of autoregressive integrated moving averages forecasting models. Applications to strategic decision actions.

Pre: MBA 500 or permission of instructor.

Marketing

MBA 583: Seminar in Operations and Supply Chain Management

 

MBA 584: Buyer Behavior

Analysis of major factors influencing the behavior and demand of consumers. Emphasis on using these factors to identify and segment target markets and to assess the effects of these factors on markets.

Pre: MBA 505 or permission of instructor.

MBA 585: Marketing Research

Marketing information needs and appropriate means of providing the requisite information are analyzed. Several major marketing decision areas and their research implications are examined in depth.

Pre: MBA 500, 505, ECN 590 or permission of instructor.

MBA 586: International Marketing Management

Marketing policy making for the multinational firm; organizing for international markets; its opportunities, pricing, channels, promotion, and research.

Pre: MBA 505 or permission of instructor.

MBA 587: Product Management

Development of product policies and strategies. Emphasis on organizing the marketing function to deal with various product-related activities including new product development, life cycle strategies, and product deletion.

Pre: MBA 505 or permission of instructor.

Other

MBA 591: Directed Study in Business

 

MBA 592: Directed Study in Business

 

MBA 593: Internship in Business Administration

 

MBA 594: Internship in Business Administration