Santa Clara University

Course Descriptions

1-UNIT COURSE OFFERINGS

One-unit courses offer students a focused look at particular timely topics, an introduction to particular disciplines, flexibility in scheduling, and accelerated progress toward degree completion if desired. No more than 6 of the 24 elective units required for the degree can come from 1-unit courses. New 1-unit courses may appear in any quarter, as they are often “cutting-edge” classes, and occasionally may not be offered on a continuous basis.

Special drop policies apply to 1-unit courses and may be found on page 20.

Note: Students are expected to check ERes or Angel for any preclass assignments for 1-unit classes.

Below is a partial list of 1-unit courses previously offered.  A comprehensive list of current offerings is available on the website at www.scu.edu/business/graduates/current-students.

ACTG 701. Global Diversity in Financial Reporting
Examines conceptual models for explaining and managing differences in financial reporting systems between nations. Explores the main economic effects of global accounting diversity including the implications for various constituents. Will also look at global harmonization scenarios and the impact of likely outcomes. Prerequisite: ACTG 300. Concentration: Actg.

ACTG 702. Listing on Foreign Stock Exchanges
This course will explore the benefits and costs to listing on a foreign stock exchange; the extent to which accounting disclosure requirements influence foreign listing decisions; and accounting policy issues posed by foreign stock exchange listings and how regulatory authorities have responded. Prerequisite: ACTG 300. Concentration: Actg.

ACTG 703. Selected Topics in Financial Accounting
Takes a user/decision-maker approach to earnings quality and the income statement, revenue recognition, mergers and acquisitions, and stock-based compensation plans. Designed for students who want more information than is provided in ACTG 300 but do not want the depth provided by ACTG 303. Prerequisite: ACTG 300. Not open to students who have taken ACTG 303. (Professor Sepe’s pre-class reading may be found at: http://lsb.scu.edu/~jsepe/actg703.htm. Concentration: Actg, Fnce.

ACTG 704. Financial Statement Analysis and Analysts’ Predictive Accuracy in Global Capital Markets
Explores issues involved in analyzing financial statements across national borders and the difficulties these pose to predicting performance. Examines the degree of confidence and reliability that can be placed in analysts’ forecasts for foreign firms. Reviews the special questions raised by financial analysis in the global context. Attention will be focused on North America, Asia, and Europe. Prerequisite: ACTG 300. Concentration: Actg, Fnce.

ACTG 708. Activity-Based Costing
Activity-based costing (ABC) is a costing method that focuses on activities as determinants of costs and encompasses the use of ABC information in decision making. This course considers ABC’s underlying assumptions, ABC system design, determinants of successful implementations, evidence of success rates for ABC systems, ABC and relevant costing for strategic decision making, and the pitfalls of ABC. Prerequisite: ACTG 300. Concentration: Actg.

ECON 701. Africa’s Economic Decline
An intensive application of economics to understanding the long, sustained decline in African economics. Lessons include acquiring a thorough appreciation of the importance of political factors in economics of the developing world; investment risk applications; international trade and finance issues; effects of embargoes and sanctions; theory and empirics of economic growth. Prerequisites: ECON 401 and ECON 405. Concentration: none. This course is not open to students who have taken ECON 444.

ECON 702. Corruption and Sweatshops in Emerging Economics
Class will explore empirical, economic, and ethical issues associated with the interrelated phenomenon of international corruption, sweatshop labor, and child labor. These issues have become staples in newspaper headlines, political protests (in Seattle and beyond), and legal action against U.S. corporations. Managers of multinational corporations need to have an understanding of the issues, rhetoric, ethics and the law. Prerequisites: ECON 401 and ECON 405. Concentration: none. This course is not open to students who have taken ECON 444.

FNCE 701. E-Commerce Economics and the Value of Internet Companies
Provides the tools necessary to analyze the opportunities and potential competitive threats in commercial Web-based organizations. To quantify and apply the analysis, focus is on valuing Internet companies based on a careful examination of their business model and environment. Prerequisite: FNCE 451. Concentration: Fnce, EN.

FNCE 702. Global Financial Markets and the Asian Crisis
Understanding the Asian crisis in terms of the dynamics of global financial markets. An analysis of the crisis within the context of the growing influence and power of global financial markets (GFM). Discussion of the different explanations for the crisis and its spread. Illustrates the economic importance of GFM and the need for businesses to understand how they function. Prerequisite: FNCE 451. Concentration: Fnce.

FNCE 703. Managing to IPO
Analyzes the challenges facing companies from first-round financing to initial public offering (or major liquidity event) in designing their planning and control systems. Focus is on the operation of the firm, its organization structure, its financial and nonfinancial systems, and its reward systems. Prerequisite: FNCE 451. Concentration: Fnce, EN.

FNCE 704. Internet Finance
How the Internet will affect the development of financial institutions such as banks and brokerages. Covers the basic theory of financial intermediation as it applies to online financial service firms. Discusses the impact of a migration to online financial services and the competitive changes created. Prerequisite: FNCE 451. Concentration: Fnce, EN.

FNCE 705. Raising Capital in Silicon Valley
Covers the practical side of raising capital in Silicon Valley. This class will be targeted directly toward entrepreneurs (and other curious parties) and includes: a brief history of venture capital in Silicon Valley; funding sources in Silicon Valley; exit strategies and why they matter from day one; contacting investors; the “two-pager”; what investors need from a business plan; valuing your company (idea); and presenting to investors. Prerequisites: none. Concentration: EN.

FNCE 706. Valuation of Private Companies
This course will familiarize students with the valuation techniques used to value private businesses for different purposes including funding, mergers and acquisition, value enhancement strategies, etc. Specifically, the class will focus on the fundamental analysis, relative valuation techniques, and the use of real option techniques. This is a hands-on course in which the participants will prepare a valuation report that employs these different techniques. Prerequisite: FNCE 451. Concentration: none.

FNCE 707.  A Retrospect on the Technology Bubble
This class will cover the late 1990s’ technology bubble. It is now a foregone conclusion that the Internet boom included a stock market bubble that eventually encompassed virtually all technology stocks. The current belated dash to declare the Internet boom a bubble means that it is time to carefully define what constitutes a stock market bubble, to begin examining the now-unquestioning acceptance of a high tech bubble, and to determine what are the most important lessons to be learned from high tech stocks’ rapid rise and subsequent collapse. Prerequisite: FNCE 451. Concentration: Fnce.

FNCE 708. Market-Neutral Investing
This class will cover market-neutral stock market investing. Most equity investment strategies involve diversifying to eliminate unsystematic risk while enjoying the stock market’s long-term upward trend. In contrast, market-neutral invest strategies are designed to make money regardless of the broad market’s movements. This can reduce short-term risk but introduces special challenges. The course will outline each market-neutral investment strategy, explain the advantages and risks, and use real examples. Prerequisite: FNCE 451. Concentration: Fnce.

FNCE 709. Acquisition Integration: Managing for Value
This course will explore several corporate acquisition strategies and focus on the practical steps managers can take to lead effectively, and to manage for consistent growth during these periods of high stakes and high visibility. Prerequisite: FNCE 451. Concentration: Fnce.

IDIS 704. Women in Leadership
This class will present the best practices of successful women technology leaders. Through a series of in-depth discussions and case studies, experts will share the principles upon which they have created their businesses. Topics include: vision, value creation, branding, product development and testing, recruitment and team building, management, financing, communication skills, networking, exit strategy and social impact. Prerequisites: none. Concentration: none.

IDIS 705. Leadership for Justice and Prosperity
This required course comprises two distinct modules designed to integrate course materials with practical issues of today. Module 1 focuses on the ethical implications of the day-to-day decisions made by managers. Module 2 looks at the technology developments in local firms, how they may impact the third world, and also how the disruptive technologies developed for the third world may affect first world firms. Prerequisites: none. 

MGMT 701. Seminar in Leading Dynamic Organizations
Participate in the Leavey Leadership Lectures series wherein senior executives reflect on their leadership experiences, challenges, and perspectives. Students will also learn about leading through reading biographies of leaders, and they will have the opportunity to reflect upon their own leadership abilities.  Prerequisites: none. Concentration: EN, MI. 

MGMT 702. Advanced Seminar in Organizational Behavior
Simulation games provide advanced understanding of core management topics such as interpersonal communication, socio-technical systems, role conflict, and group dynamics. Experiential learning format places students in various managerial roles within a dynamic and rapidly changing corporate environment. Students apply conceptual ideas, receive feedback on their managerial skills, and deepen their appreciation for organizational complexity.  Prerequisite: MGMT 503. Concentration: MI. 

MGMT 703. Measuring and Managing Corporate Performance
Provides an integration of traditional financial measures of performance and managerial-based performance measures in view of the firm’s strategic objectives. Students will review work on measuring corporate performance, be introduced to the Balance Score Card technique, and evaluate its implementation in specific corporate settings.  Prerequisite: MGMT 503. Concentration: EN, MI. 

MGMT 704. Intrapreneuring in High Technology Firms
For the firms of the so-called high technology industries, the constant need for technological innovation and renewal is never-ending. One of the most commonly heard refrains is “the need to create entrepreneurs within the corporate environment.” In his book titled Intrapreneuring, Gifford Pinchot pioneered an approach that attempts to deal with the needs described above. This course is designed to allow the student to integrate learning from the MBA core as well as a body of knowledge about intrapreneuring. Through a combination of assigned readings, case studies, guest lectures, and applied projects, the student will become familiar with the concept of intrapreneuring. Prerequisites: none. Concentration: MI. 

MGMT 706. Project Management
The objective of this course is to provide a framework for success for current and future project managers. The course will explore many of the facets of project management that ultimately define the level of success of the project manager. The concepts discussed in the course are applicable to virtually any kind of project, ranging from small projects to complex, global programs. The course will be based on a foundation of lectures and classroom discussion, as well as a number of practical cases that will provide real-life scenarios in which to explore the core topics highlighted in the class presentations. Prerequisite: MGMT 503. Concentration: none.

MGMT 707. Corporate Strategy and Planning Seminar
The primary objective of this course is to provide the student with a framework and methodology for setting business strategy and the corporate planning process. Business strategy and corporate planning will be presented by senior executives of Silicon Valley companies who will highlight the practices and principles in operation in setting their corporate plans. Prerequisite: MGMT 501. Concentration: EN.

MKTG 701. Strategic Alliances and Corporate Partnering
Examines the role of alliances and corporate partnerships in the context of business strategy. Covers different alliances such as co-marketing, inbound/outbound OEM and licensing, technology sharing and joint development, and equity joint ventures. Course will develop a process for identifying business objectives for an alliance, selecting a partner, conducting the due diligence to identify risks and challenges, negotiating terms and conditions, implementing the alliance, and evaluating and reviewing the relationship. Prerequisite: MKTG 553. Concentration: EN, MM.

MKTG 702. Managing Across Cultures
Develops the student’s understanding of how the culture of employees and managers influences strategy, communication, and effective and ineffective management procedures. Raises awareness of the student’s own culture and how it guides the way the student sees problems, formulates solutions, deals with others, and reacts to others. Course will provide an analytic framework for understanding culture and its influence on several business applications. Prerequisite: MKTG 553. Concentration: IB, MM.

MKTG 703. Conducting Effective Customer Visits
How to design a program of customer visits, understood as a kind of market research, for purposes of new product development and entry into new markets. Prerequisite: MKTG 553. Concentration: MM.

MKTG 704. Time-to-Market Strategy
This course provides a framework for rapidly defining and executing new product and service concepts in industries where “hitting the window” is essential. Using a system approach, the course will examine the leadership, strategic, process, organization, and measurement requirements for fast time-to-market development. Students will learn how to align a product portfolio for speed, analyze development process alternatives, design the appropriate team function structure, and measure time-to-market drivers. Prerequisite: MKTG 553. Concentration: none.

MKTG 705. How to License Technology
This course teaches the techniques required to develop and implement a licensing strategy, including such topics as protecting and managing intellectual property, and valuation. Students choose a particular technology of interest and work in groups to develop a business plan based on class lectures and their group’s research. Prerequisite: MKTG 553. Concentration: EN.

MKTG 706. Entrepreneurial Due Diligence/Practicum on Entrepreneurship
Provides an opportunity for students to become better informed about the entrepreneurial due diligence process. Students will gain an understanding of the entrepreneur’s as well as the investor’s perspective as an ingredient in the due diligence process. Students develop skills in critically examining executive summaries and business plans. Prerequisite: MKTG 553. Concentration: EN.

OMIS 702. Economics of Quality
This course will address the effect of quality control and improvement efforts on the profitability of competitive firms. In a typical quality control class, students focus on the statistical issues of measuring and monitoring system performance in terms of quality. This class goes one step further by using cost and profitability to measure the firm’s performance in terms of quality. Prerequisite: Math analysis/calculus proficiency. Concentration: none.