Course

Course Description

GRD 6110

Communications

This course introduces students to the critical role of effective communications in the business environment. The course provides students with useful information about how to understand your audience, create well defined messages, and deliver them clearly and powerfully. Students will develop written and oral presentation assignments that provide practical tools to construct persuasive communications. The course will also examines various issues related to communication in business, with particular focus on the importance of social media technology.
Course Prerequisites /Co-requisites: None.

GRD 6510

Marketing Foundations

This course examines the marketplace and the marketing functions necessary to manage the relationship between suppliers and customers. Students will become familiar with such topics as the marketing mix, marketing strategy, and various psychological and sociological approaches to the marketing discipline. Further consideration will be given to social media marketing, consumer behavior, advertising, research, information technology, and international marketing.
Course Prerequisites /Co-requisites: None.

GRD 6120

Leadership

This course employs a variety of experiential experiences, cases, and group presentations to give students the practical skills, tools, and information they need to be effective leaders of teams and individuals in both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. Students will learn from research, theory, and best practices about effective leadership styles and behaviors, problem-solving skills, inspiring individuals, developing teams, and managing cultural and social diversity in a global environment.
Course Prerequisites /Co-requisites: None.

GRD 6330

Analytical Decision Making

This course acquaints students with useful, practical statistics that will enhance their capacity for critical thinking and assist them in making evidence-based decisions. Students will become familiar with a variety of descriptive statistics and modeling tools that will enable them to analyze business data and evaluate alternative business decisions.
Course Prerequisites /Co-requisites: None.

GRD 6210

Strategy

This course explores various approaches to setting and implementing an organizational strategy designed to achieve long-term goals. Students will learn how to analyze the various stages in a strategic planning process, assess organizational effectiveness as well as environmental threats and opportunities, develop overall strategies, and implement both strategic and tactical objectives. The course also identifies the determinants and consequences of successful mergers and acquisitions, and of profitable strategies for organic growth.
Course Prerequisites /Co-requisites: None.

GRD 6220

Managing People

This course provides students with useful information and practical tools for recruiting, assessing, motivating and retaining talented employees. The course will expose students to a variety of best management practices when people are working independently, are co-located, or are working in virtual teams. Students will also learn how to give effective performance feedback, and to make effective use of both financial and non-financial rewards.
Course Prerequisites /Co-requisites: None.

GRD 6340

Accounting For Decision Makers

This course familiarizes students with essential accounting principles and concepts, and teaches them how to use accounting information to make decisions. The course will cover such topics as the construction and use of financial statements; how to measure assets, liabilities, equities, and income; financial statement analysis, cost behavior and measurement; profitability analysis; relevant costs for special decisions; budgeting; and responsibility accounting. Consideration will be given to the role of information technology in developing and using accounting information.
Course Prerequisites /Co-requisites: None.

GRD 6411

Leading Change

This course will provide students with practical, useful information about how to lead both small scale and large scale organizational change. In particular, students will learn how to create a shared need for change; how to transform their organization’s mission or vision into actual behaviors; how to mobilize commitment; how to measure progress, and how to systematically analyze, and make changes if necessary, to their organizations systems and structures to better support the change. Many real world examples will be offered, and students will have a number of opportunities to practice what they are learning.
Course Prerequisites /Co-requisites: None.

GRD 6310

Entrepreneurship

This course familiarizes students with the basic information they need to start and grow a successful business. Students will learn how to create a viable business plan that will gain stakeholder support for a successful launch. Other topics include: The nature of entrepreneurship, strategic positioning, how to do market research and analysis, legal requirements for developing a new business, and best practices for funding, marketing, and managing a new business.
Course Prerequisites /Co-requisites: None.

GRD 6420

Financial Analysis and Economics

This course examines a number of basic financial and economic theories, techniques, and practices. Topics include: time value of money; valuation; capital asset pricing; risk and diversification; cost of capital; capital budgeting techniques; and micro- and macro-economics. Where applicable, the implications of course content for international finance and economic considerations will also be discussed.
Course Prerequisites /Co-requisites: None.

GRD 6511

Managing Operations

This course focuses on the central role operations plays in a company's success, and the analytic tools that are required for strong managerial decision-making. The course emphasizes the strategic advantages provided by the operations function to strong organizations. Students will be exposed to such topics as operations strategies, supply chains, process design and analysis, lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, and other approaches to managing quality.
Course Prerequisites /Co-requisites: None.

GRD 6620

Capstone

The capstone is the culmination of the program and allows student to fully integrate what they have learned. Students will apply their operational, strategy, financial and people management skills in an immersive business simulation. The course requires students to analyze and develop a successful response to a variety of business challenges that will require them to utilize all the concepts, principles and tools presented in previous courses.
Course Prerequisite:30 graduate hours earned.

GRD 6530

Strategy of Social Media

This course familiarizes students with marketing frameworks, concepts, and methods their organizations can use to make effective strategic social media choices. Students will learn how to create, capture, and sustain customer and stakeholder value through social media processes.
Course Prerequisites /Co-requisites: None.

GRD 6540

Media Analytics

This course focuses on the economy of social media technology. Students will learn a variety of techniques and strategies for monitoring user behavior on social media applications, with an emphasis on applying the analytical concepts and tools of marketing to such decisions as segmentation and targeting, branding, pricing, distribution, and promotion. Students will also learn how to monetize emerging social media platforms, and how to create e-business marketing models.
Course Prerequisites /Co-requisites: None.

GRD 6550

Social Media Capstone

This course provides students with a hands-on experience through an experiential project by using emerging social media paradigms. The project prepares students to face a dynamic environment with empowered consumers. Students will design and launch projects by using non-linear, online, and interactive methods to support new product and/or service development and distribution.
Course Prerequisites /Co-requisites: None.