Nichols College

BUS 613 Foundations of Inquiry analyzes the habits of inquiry required for building a culture of higher-level thinking examines professional power-skills (soft-skills) and values required by executive leaders integrates expectations in research, scholarship, and readiness through scholarly assignments that build proficiency in APA writing compliance and the GPS learning platforms. Students will immerse in a culture of research, thought-leadership, and build an inquisitive approach to learn and cultivate knowledge throughout the masters program.

As a result of this course, the student will:

1. Integrate inquisitive thought-leadership for high-level thinking required in a masters program and profession
2. Analyze and draw inferences from written material
3. Write effective proposals and reports
4. Develop strategies for employing style, structure, format, and for maximizing impact
5. Apply frameworks in the digital age of communication

Regardless of your industry or role, communication skills are vital to success. The purpose may be persuasive, motivational, organizational, managerial, or interpersonal, and the method may be written or oral, but at its core, successful communication is both effective and efficient. Like other business skills, communication abilities can be studied and developed. This course will help students to understand the underpinnings of communication, and to develop skills necessary in the 21st century.

1. Defend the value of communication in business.
2. Create concise, effective written communications.
3. Prepare for effective meetings, in-person, and virtual interactions.
4. Develop and deliver effective, ethical presentations for persuasive or informational purposes.

Today’s business reaches across national and international borders, and the successful business leader understands this paradigm. This course will lead the student through discovery, analysis, and utilization of international business practices. In order to complete this course successfully, the student will identify and understand governmental policies, international organizations and competition as well as models for doing business in developing nations using culture in the decision-making process.

As a result of this course, the student will:

1. Analyze global business initiatives
2. Identify issues related to globalization from a variety of viewpoints
3. Develop an ethical framework and analyze issues through that framework
4. Identify, describe, and debate major themes concerning globalization, culture, and ethics
5. Analyze teamwork dynamics across geographic and cultural boundaries
6. Evaluate business culture and practices in developing nations

As business practices evolve to meet the changing demands of the marketplace, leaders must constantly evaluate and make adjustments to stay on top of the field. This course is designed to help students identify, evaluate, and analyze current trends and then to make judgments on the viability and wisdom of those trends. (pre-requisite BUS 610)

As a result of this course, the student will:

1. Compare and contrast leadership styles, including leading with vision, inspiring, and motivating others
2. Analyze and summarize critical issues in leadership and ethical decision-making
3. Analyze current professional literature
4. Examine the evolution of teams

Because business operates in a global economic market, it is vital to have the ability to locate and analyze data that will impact business at the local level. This course is designed to guide the student through the processes necessary to make wise business decisions based on rigorous analysis of global trends. Statistical software will be used throughout the course. (pre-requisite BUS 610)

As a result of this course, the student will:

1. Identify and evaluate the external global marketing environment and analyze its impact on various industries
2. Evaluate select international markets for entry and growth in a variety of industry categories
3. Identify, evaluate critically, and apply marketing information using primary and secondary data for global strategic marketing decision-making
4. Assess emerging opportunities in global markets

General managers require a sophisticated understanding of the contributions and limitations of data analysis. The aim of this course is to enable the student to understand financial issues facing today’s business. Students will analyze case studies and apply financial models in evaluating corporate financing and operational decisions. (pre-requisite BUS 610)

As a result of this course, the student will:

1. Evaluate how interests of various stockholders may conflict
2. Evaluate the financial health of an organization by analyzing the financial statements and supplementary internal and external information from annual reports and other company data
3. Apply working capital management techniques to a business in terms of risk and profitability
4. Develop and apply tools of finance to value investment projects including the determination of relevant cash flows and the appropriate discount rate
5. Critically analyze current financial management issues and the role of ethics

This is an integrated two-part course that examines operations models of the organization through a cost savings lens. It introduces new methods and models to analyzing, diagnosing and improving operations for both manufacturing and service firms. The course focuses on key issues that impact competitiveness, including operations strategy, innovation, product and process design and development, supply change management, quality management and sustainable operations. (MBA 715 must be completed before MBA 720)

As a result of this course, the student will:

1. Analyze operational components to identify process improvements
2. Analyze operational and strategic decisions using variance analysis and breakeven techniques
3. Measure optimal performance through process analysis
4. Evaluate the potential tradeoffs between effectiveness and efficiency

This is an integrated two-part course that examines operations models of the organization through a cost savings lens. It introduces new methods and models to analyzing, diagnosing and improving operations for both manufacturing and service firms. The course focuses on key issues that impact competitiveness, including operations strategy, innovation, product and process design and development, supply change management, quality management and sustainable operations. (MBA 715 must be completed before MBA 720)

As a result of this course, the student will:

1. Analyze operational components to identify process improvements
2. Analyze operational and strategic decisions using variance analysis and breakeven techniques
3. Measure optimal performance through process analysis
4. Evaluate the potential tradeoffs between effectiveness and efficiency

This is the capstone of the MBA program and affords students an opportunity to integrate, synthesize and apply the program’s core learning outcomes with simulation experience. Concepts taught are solidified using tools and course concepts to diagnose current conditions, select appropriate interventions, and create effective, ethical roadmaps for execution. (pre-requisites BUS 611, MBA 705, MBA 710, & MBA 720)

As a result of this course, the student will:

1. Identify and apply metrics for firm performance
2. Analyze firms for growth, organization, and competitive advantage
3. Synthesize prior content to articulate desired outcomes and values in a given organizational context
4. Articulate theory-backed rationales for possible outcomes

Designed as a business "think tank," this course gives students the opportunity to learn from experts as well as classmates when considering business decisions. Participants will be guided through the thinking process necessary for success in management.

As a result of this course, the student will:

1. Identify issues that transcend any single discipline or function of management
2. Analyze, communicate, and debate fundamental issues that arise in organizations
3. Develop an enhanced ability to identify critical questions when exploring a new business issue

Creativity is not always innate. It can be developed and improved. Based on the exploration of decision-making theory and current literature on the topic, this course begins with understanding the nature of creative thinking and provides a structured approach to problem solving. It is this understanding and structure that allows participants to learn quickly how to solve problems, generate fresh ideas, and then work with those ideas effectively.

As a result of this course, the student will:

1. Evaluate and apply a wide range of practical techniques to understand problems thoroughly
2. Generate and develop new ideas and solutions for real world situations
3. Compare, evaluate and communicate solutions and ideas effectively

This course is designed to teach the skills necessary to identify and analyze problems in a business environment, weigh alternatives, and propose solutions.

As a result of this course, the student will:

1. Identify potential problems in a simulated business model
2. Propose solutions which will avoid major disruptions in business
3. Analyze actual business models and evaluate the chosen course of action

This course examines how organizations safeguard online protected personal information (PPI); analyze two-party authentication and justify its value. Students create cyber protection strategies as they analyze key terms unique to cybersecurity and discover and assess the roles and responsibilities of cybersecurity professionals. This course prepares public, private, and government decision makers to effectively integrate cyber planning into their organizational plans and budgets. The skills and knowledge gained prepares leaders at all levels to effectively defend against cyber threats while maximizing the capabilities of cyberspace.

As a result of this course, the student will:

• Analyze key terms and cybersecurity terminology
• Discover the roles and responsibilities of cybersecurity professionals
• Evaluate the differences between information security, cybersecurity, and information technology
• Create an organizational Cybersecurity and Risk Assessment plan

Empowers public, private, and government leaders to understand the umbrella of Cyber Governance & Mitigation Strategies used by local, state, and federal governments, and their organization’s role in compliance. As a non-cyber professional, there is an expectation that these leaders understand enough about these standards to mitigate cyber threat risks to the protected personal information (PPI) of their clients, customers, employees, and within their databases. This course also examines governing agencies, practices, policies, and actions. Enables students to examine and understand their organization’s responsibilities in adhering to cyber protection and application standards across public, private, and government domains.

As a result of this course, the student will:

• Analyze current cybersecurity strategies, policies, and laws
• Compare the roles and functions of cybersecurity governing organizations
• Assess the challenges of collaboration between the public and private sector
• Evaluate mitigation strategies through real-world case studies.

Students will comprehend the current threat actors, actions, strategies, and security measures in the cyberspace environment. Focus will be placed on computer network attack vectors and security principles that humans can manipulate, exploit, and defend within this virtual environment. This course will prepare students to comprehend the existing challenges in combating cyber threats and construct a comprehensive plan that addresses the modern cyber threat landscape.

As a result of this course, the student will:

• Interpret the current cyber threat landscape
• Construct a comprehensive cyber threat landscape
• Examine threat actors conducting cyberattacks and other malicious activities
• Distinguish ethical challenges in combating cyber threats

The purpose of this course is to prepare students for a career that requires dissemination of statistical information and it provides the foundation for statistical analysis. In this course, we will explore basic descriptive statistics and exploratory data analysis in both Excel and R Studio with emphasis on R Studio (students will be given starter code that they will then modify for their needs prior coding experience is not mandatory).

Course Objectives:

1. Students will experiment with a variety of data sets for the purpose of performing Exploratory Data Analysis as a precursor to modeling
2. Students will apply and then interpret descriptive statistics in SAS, R, and Excel
3. Students will apply the knowledge from EDA and descriptive statistics to develop a variety of statistical models
4. Students will create business questions relevant to a given data set, perform EDA, and provide a statistical report of the data with a recommendation and next steps

Data visualization is foundational to analytics. The students will apply the best practices of data visualization and will gain hands-on experience creating dashboards and stories with data in Excel, PowerPoint, Power BI, and Tableau. This is a project-based course.

After completing this course, students will be able to:

1. Explain the concept of data analytics and visualization and its use in auditing and accounting.
2. Evaluate data visualization and prepare reports using a variety of tools such as Excel, PowerPoint, Power BI and Tableau.
3. Create a dynamic dashboard using a visual presentation tool, interpret the data and explain the results.

The purpose of the course is to prepare students for leadership positions where they are managing data scientists, business analysts, statistician and the like or in enhancing their current skills in order to grow within their field.  Course content includes, sampling, linear regression, probability, discrete probability distributions, sample size calculations, parameter estimation including confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, one and two-sample statistical inference, chi-square tests and ANOVA, and an introduction to some basic machine learning techniques.

Course Objectives:

1. Describe the goals of various statistical methodologies conceptually
2. Apply statistical techniques in the context of everyday life and further studies in their discipline
3. Use inferential statistics to make valid judgments based on the data available and defend their position
4. Select the appropriate algorithms to analyze a particular problem
5. Students will explore a variety of data sets and they will be provided snippets of code and they will be required complete the coding in order to execute modeling for the purpose of interpretation

Organizational success rises and falls on leadership. This interactive course draws upon life experience to enhance understanding and implementation of best practices for leading an organization. (pre-requisite BUS 610)

As a result of this course, the student will:

1. Analyze organizational culture and its impact on performance
2. Apply leadership concepts, theories, and processes to real life business models
3. Identify leadership traits, personal strengths and weaknesses
4. Analyze how leadership traits manifest themselves in behaviors in work and community environments
5. Devise a plan for personal growth and improvement

Negotiation and conflict occur routinely within and between organizations, and the ability to handle these situations is critical. This course examines the strategies and techniques needed to become an effective negotiator. Students will examine the elements of the negotiation process, including bargaining and persuasion strategies, within a variety of settings. Conflict management will also be addressed and we will focus on interpersonal conflict, mediation, investigation, and arbitration. (pre-requisite BUS 610)

As a result of this course, the student will:

1. Learn to recognize conflict as it is beginning
2. Evaluate the characteristics of different conflict types
3. Apply techniques to adapt to different situations and diffuse conflict
4. Identify personal conflict style

Individuals assume many roles within modern organizations. The goal of this course is to aid the student in identifying the various roles and analyzing personal traits that best qualify individuals to move up in the organization and lead and mentor others. (pre-requisite BUS 610)

As a result of this course, the student will:

1. Critically evaluate principles of leadership, team building, and human relations
2. Identify roles of various employees using appropriate assessment methods
3. Contrast the overlapping roles assumed by personnel and devise strategies to improve effectiveness
4. Illustrate the cultivation of mentoring and leadership skills

Organizations are trying to get impactful products and services to market faster than ever. They need a framework to fail fast and learn quickly. This course explores adaptive-planning, self-organizing teams’ value-driven delivery, and iterative development. It emphasizes Agile as a mindset grounded in the “Twelve Agile Principles” and the “Agile Manifesto.” Using mock scenarios, students will apply critical Agile concepts. Students are also exposed to popular agile methodologies, such as Scrum and Kanban.

As a result of this course, the student will:

1. Apply various Agile frameworks and methodologies to execute complex and high-risk projects in organizations.
2. Experiment with Agile project cycles, self-organizing teams, frequent reflection, and value-driven delivery.
3. Examine organizational challenges from the lens of an Agile Practitioner.

This course explores modern Lean concepts in product and service design through experimentation and case-based work. Students will practice going through the complete product life cycle from customer identification to user design (UX). Grounded in Lean and Agile concepts, the course exposes students to strategies on minimizing investment while maximizing impact. This course combines critical skills for competitive advantage in business analysis, target market identification, rapid prototyping, and value proposition design. Students will walk away with a prototype for a minimum viable product (MVP) they have created.

As a result of this course, the student will:

1. Design and implement product development processes that integrate agile methods and lean thinking.
2. Develop a product strategy and product vision for viable opportunities, based on corporate objectives, resources, market trends, and feasibility.
3. Assess and design a business model for a product that will optimize impact and profitability.

This course explores key concepts, tools, and techniques in Project Management through case-based work and simulations. It emphasizes scope identification, project life cycles, resource stewardship, risk management, virtual teams, and enterprise alignment. Students develop and apply tools to solve project challenges in scheduling, risk, scope, and cost. The course also introduces high-level distinctions between project, program, and portfolio management. This course is aligned with A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK© Guide) from the Project Management Institute©.

As a result of this course, the student will:

1. Apply project management methodologies, processes, and tools to execute complex projects in organizations.
2. Develop effective approaches for managing high-performing projects that align with the strategy of the enterprise.
3. Examine project challenges and use proven tools to determine best solutions.