Course descriptions

Innovation & Design Thinking course aims to equip students with the innovation and design thinking principles and innovative problem-solving tools to address business problems and challenges. This course has a special focus on practical skills development through active engagement into dealing with innovation-related opportunities by empowering students to ideate, launch, run, and successfully complete real innovation projects that have a significant and meaningful impact on pioneering organizations and industries. Students will work collaboratively in groups and in collaboration with potential industrial partners. Topics encompass the identification and analysis of business problems, exploration of creativity, exploration of innovative and design thinking tools, and identify innovation opportunities - all in the context of tackling challenges and addressing business problems. Cases analysis, interactive exercises, and practice-based learning projects may be used extensively, and guest speakers from well-known companies will be invited.

This course offers a comprehensive overview of the Lean Startup approach to launching successful startups. Through a hands-on learning experience, students will learn how to validate their ideas, create minimum viable products, and use customer feedback to make informed decisions. They will also explore key principles such as customer discovery, rapid experimentation, and validated learning, preparing them to succeed in the competitive landscape of modern business. The course is designed to provide students with a real-world, practical learning experience of what it's like to start a new venture. They will work in teams, test and refine their business models using the Business Models Canvas and customer development techniques, and explore the development process. Each week, students will face new challenges and opportunities, as they test and refine their assumptions. The ultimate goal of the course is to create an entrepreneurial experience for students with all the pressures and demands of the real world in an early-stage startup. By combining theory and practice, students will develop the skills, knowledge, and mindset required to transform their ideas into viable businesses.

This is a fundamental international business course aiming at introducing students to the general business environment that impacts conducting business across borders. Topics covered to include: Overview of International Business & Globalization, Culture, Government and Legal Systems, Trade & Factor Mobility Theory, Trade Protectionism, Economic Integration and Cooperation, Ethics & Social Responsibility, Strategies for International Business, Modes of Trading Internationally, and Forms and Ownership of Foreign Production.

This course is designed to provide an understanding of the processes and methodologies needed to conduct proper scientific research in social sciences in general and in the business context in particular. The course assists students in developing the skills required to select a research topic, formulate research problem, evaluate the contribution of proposed studies to the collective body of literature and the feasibility of applying their research, develop a valid research design, select adequate analyses techniques, and write a proper research proposal. Topics discussed will include theory building, measurement, data collection methodologies, internal and external validity issues, reliability, research designs, and ethical research.

Graduate program capstone course examining concepts and methods which integrate functional areas of business. The perspective is that of general management charged with directing the total enterprise. Interactions between the environment, organization, strategy, policies and the implementation of plans are explored. Special emphasis is given to globalization of business and ethical perspectives.

Topics in Management

Advanced Topics in Management

This course is designed to give students a fundamental understanding and an overview of international business environment as an elective course. Topics covered include: Overview of International Business & Globalization, Culture, Governmental and Legal Systems, Trade & Factor Mobility Theory, Trade Protectionism, Economic Integration and Cooperation, Ethics & Social Responsibility, Strategies for International Business, Modes of Trading Internationally, and Forms and Ownership of Foreign Production.

Doing Business in china

This course focuses on the basic concepts of marketing. It helps students to define and appropriately use marketing terminologies and concepts. It provides an examination of the character and importance of the marketing process, its essential functions, and the institutions performing them. Attention is focused on exploring the marketing mix by defining the term product, discussing the elements of promotion, explaining price decisions and distribution strategies. Real life examples, applications and case studies are given throughout the course to further improve student's marketing skills.

This course teaches students how to lead and manage successful service organizations by delivering quality services to the marketplace within a dynamic environment. The core of the course is structured around understanding and developing strategies to address four key content areas adapted from the service quality gap model. It is also based on understanding consumers’ expectations and perceptions of services. This course will examine how consumers’ expectations are formed, how they change, and what firms can do to influence expectations. Other topics will include customer perceptions of service quality and how the interactions between customers and firms affect perceived value and quality.

A study of such consumer functions as decision making, attitude formation and change, cognition, perception, and learning. The marketing concepts of product positioning, segmentation, brand loyalty, shopping preference and diffusion of innovations are considered in context with the environmental, ethical, multicultural and social influences on increasingly diverse global consumers.

This course is a study of the design, organization, and implementation of the marketing communications mix. Various methods such as advertising, personal selling, and publicity, are analyzed as alternatives for use alone, or in combination, to stimulate demand, reseller support, and buyer preference. Particular topics considered include media selection, sales promotional, packaging and selling strategy, and their relationships in the promotion process.

This course is an investigation of the acquisition, presentation, and application of marketing information for management. Particular problems considered are defining information requirements, evaluating research findings, and utilizing information. Statistical methods, models, and/or cases are employed to illustrate approaches to marketing intelligence problems, such as sales forecasts, market delineation, buyer motives, store location, and performance of marketing functions.

This course will offer an opportunity to explore the impact of the evolving marketing efforts and business landscape from traditional media to digital media. Digital marketing includes media such as social media, mobile marketing, and search engines. Hence, it is essential for marketing managers to comprehend and familiarize themselves with various digital marketing strategies and the technologies underlying them. This includes learning how to develop a digital marketing strategy that aligns with business objectives and target audiences. The course explores key concepts and principles of marketing, such as market research, segmentation, targeting, and positioning, and how they apply to digital marketing. Finally, this course includes understanding ethical considerations and responsibilities in digital marketing, including data privacy, consumer protection, and social responsibility.

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are important channels for job creation and economic growth. Although core marketing activities remain the same as large corporations, SMEs have unique challenges in terms of limited resources and greater competition. A range of SMEs are examined and strategies and positioning are contrasted. Students develop and present a marketing plan for an assigned SME, and critique the plans of others.

Retail marketing focuses on how to attract buyers to the retail environment and then how to persuade them to make a purchase. The retail industry and the forces affecting it are surveyed. Location, access, the external elements including signage, plus the ambient elements are examined. Image, brands, positioning, competition, core products, in-store stimuli, sales management, and customer relationship management are also considered. The topics are also related to online retailing. Students develop and present a plan for an assigned retail outlet, and critique the plans of others.

This course will offer an opportunity to explore the impact of the Internet and information technology on the practice of marketing. The Internet and information technologies have revolutionized the way companies create and maintain exchange relationships between themselves and their customers. Companies, both big and small, are in the process of using the Internet to maximize the scope, effectiveness and efficiency of their existing marketing programs. This course is designed to impart an understanding of the range of issues involved in planning and implementing effective marketing and information communication strategies for commercial or non-profit organizations. The course’s emphasis will not be on actual design of a web site, even though the merits and demerits of different layout types will be discussed. Some of the topics covered include strategic planning and its tactical implementation in electronic marketing, target market analysis and identification, the Internet’s marketing capabilities and limitations, management of customer and supplier relations concerns about privacy and ethics, and understanding the new technology’s impact on the field of marketing.

The aim of this course is to provide an understanding of how selling is critical to the success of marketing. The course will promote critical thinking skills as well as practical selling skills needed in a competitive marketplace. Course topics include, among others, selling principles and techniques, understanding of the tasks and roles of the sales manager, the management of sales professionals within an organization, developing and applying effective persuasive communications, creating a vision, developing and implementing a sales-team strategy, structuring sales-force, designing and assigning territories, recruiting, training, motivation and evaluating salespeople, methods of compensation, and forecasting sales. The emphasis will be on ways the sales-force can be molded to build long-lasting relationships with customers through the systematic analysis and solution of customers’ problems.

This course provides insights into how to create profitable brand strategies by building, measuring, and managing brand equity. The focus of the course will be at the level of the brand and the discussions will pertain to issues involved in the development and implementation of brand strategies. The course provides students with a valuable perspective, and a common denominator to interpret the potential effects and trade-offs of various strategies and tactics for their brands. In addition, the course gives students the skills and tools required to understand the different elements of a branding strategy. Students will also be able to view brands as strategic assets owned by a firm and learn how to leverage the brand to meet the overall corporate objective of a firm.

Marketing management problems, techniques and strategies needed to apply the marketing concept to the world marketplace. Understanding a country’s cultural and environmental impact on the marketing plan is emphasized, as well as competing in markets of various cultures. Worldwide consumerism, economic and social development, the spread of multinational corporations, business ethics, and current economic and marketing issues are examined.

Digital advertising is the tactic of leveraging the internet and its properties to deliver promotional ads to consumers on various channels. Unlike traditional advertising, digital advertising is more universal and flexible, enabling marketers to tell the story about their brand on the channels that their buyers frequent, using text, images, video, and more. Digital advertising can be part of the "digital noise" and part of an ongoing conversation that the brand has with its customers. Digital ads are everywhere. With digital advertising continuing to gain momentum, it is more vital than ever before to make it an integral part of the marketer's holistic marketing mix. The contents of this course can teach you how to reach larger audiences in a way that is real-time and increasingly personal, more effectively.

This course explores the impending revolution in web analytics in the era of big data. The focus will be on topics such as the Internet of Things, various social media, viral marketing, and Geo-location tracking. Students will investigate how web analytics can take a greater role in business decision- making in the future. Specifically, students will gain an understanding of the strategic and operational aspects of web analytics tools and technologies, how Web analytics can influence and create new marketing levers, and how new marketing levers impact customer relationships, brand response, and potentially, sales.

Applications of stochastic, deterministic, and simulation techniques to decision areas, such as market potential, product diversification, physical distribution alternatives, retail location, media selection, and market exposure. Quantitative and computerized methods are used heavily to enhance decision making in marketing, especially the selection, allocation, budgeting, and forecasting of marketing resources.

This course is a study of the nature of the business-to-business (organizational) marketplace concentrating on those aspects that differentiate it from consumer markets. The major focus of the course is marketing strategy, starting with an analysis of market wants and segments, concepts of pricing, distribution arrangements, and buyer/seller relations. In this last area, consideration will be given to service, personal selling, sales promotion, and advertising, as found in the organizational marketplace. At all times, emphasis is given to relating business-to-business marketing strategy to basic concepts in underlying business disciplines. Lectures and case discussions are used heavily in the course.

Special Topics in Marketing

This capstone course offers you the opportunity to apply your academic experience to conduct an experiential learning project in a designated field and apply your education in a practical manner. Students will work in teams on a single project for one partner organization. This experience will help students enhance their skills in oral and written communication, apply the knowledge acquired during the program to solve business problems involving actual data in a realistic setting, manage team dynamics, and develop a fundamental understanding of all practical aspects of Marketing program of study. This course is suitable for senior students only. The course content is updated regularly to take into account the latest marketing techniques and practices.

Marketing Internship

This advance marketing course deals with analyzing the major marketing decisions facing the firm, such as the level, mix allocation, and strategy of marketing efforts. Specific decision areas examined are market determination, pricing physical distribution, product policy, promotion, and channel management. Also examined are competitive, political, legal and social factors that may affect decision making process.

Designed for students with no prior course work in the field of marketing. A wide spectrum of marketing institutions and activities is covered. The impact of marketing on the total firm, the economy, and society in general is assessed. The course is intended to develop and organize the fundamental marketing concepts necessary to an analytical study of consumer behavior, the economic environment, and four managerial aspects of marketing. The acquisition and utilization of marketing research data for problem solving is stressed. Relation and integration of basic marketing knowledge to the successful development of sound marketing policy, planning, and strategy is developed.

An examination of the information technology that provides a basis for electronic commerce and its application in a variety of sectors and industries. Also included is coverage of the tools, skills and business concepts that surround the emergence of electronic commerce and the consequences of applying this technology to various commercial processes. Other topics are security, privacy, intellectual property rights, authentication, and legal liabilities.

An analysis of the socio-psychological foundations of consumer behavior including personality differences, needs and wants, status symbols, social change and mobility, fads and fashions. Consumer spending and saving habits, product preferences, leisure-time patterns, shopping behavior and motivation research are also examined for their impact on advertising, selling and marketing management.

This course is about the marketing challenges in an entrepreneurial firm. Successful execution of an entrepreneurial idea requires a sound marketing plan. In this course, we will investigate how marketing tools can enable entrepreneurs to realize the full potential of their ideas. The course involves research on the industry, marketing, and market, which are used to define a target market and market segmentation. It also involves developing a marketing budget, researching media platforms and determining promotional material costs. Finally, the marketing strategy describes marketing goals and objectives in a unified plan. Students will actively research and apply each component to their own business ventures, which will culminate in the development of a marketing plan.

This course offers a broad approach to marketing research as a model for acquiring, retrieving, and analyzing decision-making information, including market measurement, evaluation of sales and cost effectiveness, sales forecasting and primary marketing research studies aimed at solving specific problems. Emphasis is placed also on building a theoretical and analytical framework to provide flexibility in the design of marketing experiments and in judging recent research innovations.

Topics in Marketing

Advanced Topics in Marketing

Advanced programming techniques using data structures. Topics include recursion, lists, stacks, queues, trees, graphs, and hash tables.

Introductory course in digital logic and its specification and simulation. Number systems. Binary arithmetic. Boolean algebra. Combinational logic design. Sequential logic design (controllers). Data Path components (e.g., Registers, adders, register files, etc.). Memory components (e.g., RAM, ROM). Register transfer level (RTL) design.

Introduction to digital design techniques, logic gates, Medium Scale Integration (MSI) parts and flip-flops, Timing analysis, Programming and use of Programmable Logic Devices (PLD).

This course introduces discrete structures. Topics include basic logic, sets, relations, functions, proof techniques, counting methods, recursion, trees, and graphs.

Analysis methods for discrete-time signals and systems in the time and frequency-domains including signal models and Fourier techniques. Continuous-time concepts are included as introductory material.

DSP programming assignments in MATLAB and/or TMS DSP processors.

Computer architecture and organization. Topics include performance evaluation, instruction, set architecture, data path, control unit, pipelining, memory hierarchy, storage, and other I/O topics.

Operating Systems

Computer Engineering Internship

Techniques for software validation and verification. Topics include: concepts of software quality (metrics, assurance, planning & implementation, process standards, validation, verification, reviews, walkthroughs and inspections). Software testing process and techniques at different levels. Validating test data.

Computer network lab experiments with Packet Tracer, Wireshark, and other tools.

Introduction to software maintenance and re-engineering. Topics include evolution and maintenance models, re-engineering, legacy information systems, impact analysis, refactoring, program comprehension, principles of reuse and reverse engineering, approaches, and tools used to extract information from existing software systems.

Survey of artificial intelligence techniques. Topics include search, logic, knowledge representation, reasoning with uncertainty, learning, and other AI techniques.

Introduction to digital image processing. Topics include Digital image fundamentals, intensity transformations, and spatial filtering, filtering in frequency domain, Image restoration and reconstruction, Color image processing, Image compression, and Image segmentation.