Curriculum Requirements

Master of Business Administration – Operations and Supply Chain Management Concentration

Major Requirements

Waivable Program Core (Prerequisite Courses) Credits:
ACCT 501 Accounting I 1.5
A study of accounting fundamentals. Topics include the accounting cycle, statement preparation, systems, asset valuations, accounting concepts and principles for the sole proprietorship.

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 1.5-0-1.5
ECON 501 Principles of Economics I 1.5
A study of basic economic concepts emphasizing analysis of the aggregate economy. The fundamental concepts of national income and its determination, economic fluctuations, monetary and fiscal policies, and economic growth are covered.

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 1.5-0-1.5
FINC 501 Finance 1.5
An overview of the financial management function in modern business, emphasizing the time value of money and financial analysis. The financial and economic environment and capital markets and securities are covered.

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 1.5-0-1.5
MIST 501 Management Information Systems 1.5
This course provides an introduction to information technology and application software. It also introduces students to how information is used in organizations and how information technology enables improvement in decision making at all managerial levels.

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 1.5-0-1.5
QANT 501 Business Statistics 1.5
This course introduces students to both descriptive and inferential statistics. Coverage includes applications to business and other disciplines and the use of technology as a decision support tool.

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 1.5-0-1.5
QANT 510 Production and Operations Management 1.5
Addresses concepts and critical activities required in the manufacturing of goods and the delivery of services. Quantitative applications and the use of relevant computer software are an integral part of this course.

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 1.5-0-1.5
    Total: 9 Credits
All students must complete this 9-credit core requirement. Courses may be waived in those instances where the undergraduate experience includes course equivalencies. Courses in this core are offered to M.B.A. students in an accelerated format.
 
Non-Waivable Program Core Credits:
ACCT 601 Managerial Accounting 3
Prerequisite: Prerequisite: ACCT 501 or a waiver

Special emphasis is placed on the collection and interpretation of data for managerial decision-making purposes. Data includes both financial accounting and cost accounting topics, such as concepts for financial statement analysis using ratios and cost control tools for internal purpose.

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 3-0-3
BUSI 610 Professional Development Seminar 0
This preparatory course addresses select professional skills that are requisite to success for the MBA student, and include seminars and workshops in public speaking, business writing, teamwork, critical thinking and business research.

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 0-0-0
ECON 601 Managerial Economics for Decision Making 3
Prerequisite: Prerequisite: ECON 501 or a waiver.

Application of economic theory, quantitative methods and artificial intelligence (AI) to business decision making. It covers various topics including business cycles, consumer choice, product demand, marginal pricing, neoclassical and linear production theory, market structure, and choice under imperfect information. It also involves the use of empirical techniques, AI-driven model building, and advanced AI tools for business forecasting and analysis.

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 3-0-3
FINC 601 Financial Management 3
Prerequisite: Prerequisite: FINC 501 or waiver

This course uses data and information technology resources and AI tools to emphasize the development of a comprehensive framework for the theory and practice of financial decision-making. Topics covered span a broad spectrum of financial markets and corporate financial practices including capital budgeting, risk management and mergers and acquisitions. AI is utilized to extract data and enhance financial analysis.

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 3-0-3
MGMT 605 Organizational Behavior 3
This course provides an in-depth exploration of the key theories, and managerial practices in the field of Organizational Behavior, focusing on how individuals, group and organizational level factors influence behavior within business organization. Special attention is placed on the impact of emergent technology (e.g., AI) on organizational effectiveness.

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 3-0-3
MIST 610 Enterprise Resource Planning Systems 1.5
Prerequisite: Prerequisite: MIST 501 or a waiver

This course provides an overview of modern Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems in use today. It introduces students to how information is used in ERP systems of organizations and how information technology enables ERP systems to support decision making at all managerial levels.

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 1.5-0-1.5
MRKT 620 Strategic Marketing and Branding 3
This course is designed to prepare the student to approach, structure, and solve complex marketing problem on strategic and tactical levels, with an extension to the other functional areas of business strategy, to align the dynamic capabilities with operations and finance. Using digital and AI tools, students will analyze the trends affecting the everchanging customers' wants and preferences, evolving market structures and competitive scenarios will reflect the present complexity of the marketing task, and the imperative of capturing market opportunities via delivery of superior customer value and the brand equity management.

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 3-0-3
QANT 620 Multi-criteria Decision Models 1.5
Prerequisite: Prerequisite: QANT 501or a waiver

An introduction to decision sciences and the application of multi-criteria quantitative and behavioral modeling to those problems often requiring complex decisions of policy makers. Course content focuses on applications in the business environment and the use of technology as a decision support tool.

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 1.5-0-1.5
QANT 630 Operations and Supply Chain Management 3
Prerequisite: Prerequisite: QANT 510 or a waiver

This course discusses a wide range of issues from how organizations successfully create and manage its operations and supply chain to how they control operations and supply chain. Using AI technologies, this course discusses key drivers and approaches organizations adopt to improve productivity and achieve competitive position. It also addresses major issues in operations and supply chain including inventory management, logistics management, facility location, total quality, material requirement planning (MRP), project management, and scheduling. The innovations and capabilities of these areas that are related to revenues and financial performance of the organizations are discussed.

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 3-0-3
    Total: 21 Credits
The non-waivable core is an integrated educational experience where courses are delivered in modules and are highly interdisciplinary. Modules in this core may not be waived, nor can credit hours be transferred into the Division of Management as substitutes for these modules. The core must be completed, in its entirety, in the Division of Management.
 
Required Capstone Credits:
BUSI 650 Business Analytics and Decision Making 3
Prerequisite: Prerequisite: FINC 601, MRKT 620, QANT 630

This course discusses the integration of business analytics and modeling to support businesses, non-profits, and governments towards gaining insight and strengthening decision-making ability. Students will develop descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive analytics capabilities using machine learning and AI-powered tools through case studies to support decision-making in the presence of uncertainty and a large set of alternatives. The focus will be on applying these techniques to different functional areas of business, including operations, marketing, finance, and strategic planning.

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 3-0-3
    Total: 3 Credits
Students will take the required capstone course after completing all 600-level courses.
 
Operations and Supply Chain Management Concentration (select four) Credits:
MGMT 785 Decision Support Systems 3
Prerequisite: Prerequisite: QANT 510 (or QANT 510 waiver) and MIST 610

Decision Support Systems (DSS) focuses on the application of information systems to assist a manager in evaluating alternatives and making optimal decisions in a business environment. Topics to be covered will include discussion of off-the-shelf decision support tools, storing and accessing data (data warehousing), defining requirements and modeling (front end), decision making (inference engine)and report generation. Students are expected to work with a range of software tools for strategy and policy development. A comprehensive term project will be required.

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 3-0-3
QANT 750 Simulation Modeling 3
Prerequisite: Prerequisite: QANT 501, QANT 510, or a waiver

This course emphasizes the role of simulation in evaluating the performance of complex systems in an organization. Simulation techniques such as Monte Carlo and Discrete Event will be studied in-depth. Students will be required to use state of the art simulation packages to develop and analyze simulation models. Topics to be covered in the course will include simulation of operations and supply chain, marketing, and financial models. A term project in the course will require students to develop their own simulation model for developing performance measures of a specific system and integrate it with AI for performing sensitivity analysis and report generation.

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 3-0-3
QANT 755 Management Science Applications 3
Prerequisite: Prerequisite: QANT 630 or QANT 620

This course shall highlight the use of mathematical modeling and optimization techniques applicable to decision-making situations in an organization. The topics to be discussed will include: stochastic inventory models, specialized linear programming models, integer programming, dynamic programming, game theory, network models and waiting lines. As part of the term project, students will be required to identify an opportunity, collect data, specify a model, and use decision making tools to find the most effective solution, perform sensitivity analysis, and develop an implementation plan.

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 3-0-3
QANT 760 Operations Management Applications 3
Prerequisite: Prerequisite: QANT 510 (or QANT 510 waiver)

This course applies advanced Operations Management (OM) concepts to real-world challenges, emphasizing the integration of AI tools like Generative AI to enhance decision-making and process optimization. Topics include Total Quality Management, Forecasting, Project Management, and ERP systems. Through case studies and an application-oriented project, students will combine traditional OM strategies with AI-driven approaches to analyze, evaluate, and recommend innovative solutions for competitive advantage.

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 3-0-3
QANT 780 Supply Chain Management 3
Prerequisite: Prerequisite: QANT 630 or QANT 620

Supply chain management (SCM) deals with the procurement of raw materials, management of operations, and distribution of final products. The explosive growth of AI in all aspects of today's environment has created an opportunity for any organization to reduce costs while improving quality and effectiveness. This course will focus on analyzing, evaluating, and recommending actions that will improve the supply chain performance for a common consumer product. A term project in which students attempt to go as far back or upstream as possible in the supply chain of the selected product and identify each member along with the value added by each member. Students will need to use AI tools to find or estimate missing elements (data) which will be essential to complete the project

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 3-0-3
    Total: 12 Credits
BUSIE 700 Faculty-Led Study Abroad or another relevant course may be substituted for MGMT 780 or QANT 760, by approval of the department chair.
 
Total Required Credits = 36–45

Students with a concentration may complete the M.B.A. program in as few as 36 credits. The program consists of the waivable program core, the non-waivable program core, capstone course, and concentration courses.