Online MBA Curriculum at the Leavey School of Business

Designed to help turn ordinary professionals into Silicon Valley Professionals (SVPs), the Online MBA program curriculum is based on innovation and responsibility. Students will have the opportunity to learn online from the same professors who teach in the on-campus MBA program. They will also be able to meet their peers and experience Santa Clara University’s Silicon Valley campus in person during the program’s two residency weekends.

SCU’s Tools for Success

Throughout their SVP Journey, students will be able to track their progress with the Silicon Valley Professional dashboard. This integrative portfolio lets participants coordinate their elective courses and co-curricular experiences with their professional goals and invites them to reflect on their professional development during the program. The dashboard also acts as a networking resource, allowing students to interact with instructors, classmates and mentors, and it provides a way for them to solicit and receive feedback on their current progress.

Delve into the exciting Online MBA curriculum offered by Santa Clara below.

Core Online MBA Courses (44 Units)

ACTG 3000, Financial Accounting (4 units)

Introduces the roles, concepts, principles, legal requirements, and impacts of external financial reporting. Covers basic financial statements and the analysis and recording of transactions, with a focus towards the interpretation of reported results. Studies the more common and significant transactions impacting firms.

ECON 3000, Managerial Economics (4 units)

This course will introduce an economic foundation for managerial decisions. The course analyzes the economic behavior of individuals and firms and explores how their interactions in markets affect managerial decisions. Basic concepts of market, price elasticity, theory of consumer and theory of firm will be studied to incorporate economic theories in managerial decision making. How key managerial decisions are made in different industrial structures will be discussed.

FNCE 3000, Financial Management (4 units)

This course provides an introduction to finance for the rest of the Online MBA curriculum. It addresses the theory and practice of financial management and the generation and allocation of financial resources. The main objective is to provide a foundation in the basic concepts of finance, including the time value of money, cash, and working capital management, the role of financial markets, portfolio theory, asset pricing, and the risk-return tradeoff, and to expand awareness of institutions and practices in business and finance.

IDIS 3700, Business Communications (2 units)

Building relationships is fundamental to all successful businesses. Externally, relationships must be established and nurtured for a company to gain and retain customers. Internally, relationships are important to build cohesion among employees and create culture. For employees, building relationships is essential for career advancement and necessary for exemplary leadership. What is the key to building relationships? Effective communication skills.

This pragmatic 2-unit course is designed to equip students with effective communication skills for both formal and informal business settings found within Silicon Valley. Students will further develop their presentation skills, business writing skills, verbal and non-verbal communication techniques and networking skills. This course serves as an introduction to effective communication skills that will prepare students for later coursework in the Online MBA curriculum and everyday workplace interactions in Silicon Valley.

MGMT 3000, Leading People and Organizations (4 units)

Provides students with theories, frameworks, and empirical research on the topic of leadership and team dynamics to help students enhance their leadership capabilities. Topics include empirically grounded models of leadership, importance of self-awareness in leadership, effective group and team dynamics, group decision-making, conflict resolution, and design thinking.

MGMT 3050, Strategy (4 units)

This Online MBA course focuses on how managers position their businesses to create and sustain an advantage relative to rivals in the face of uncertainty, rapid change, and competition. Strategy involves understanding the utility of different choices and tradeoffs—choosing what actions to avoid is as important as choosing what to do. As a result, the course covers a variety of tools, frameworks, theories and concepts for analyzing a firm’s strategic position and the environment in which it is operating. By uncovering the factors that make some strategic positions strong and viable, students develop the ability to evaluate the effects of changes in resources and capabilities, industry forces, macro environmental forces, and technology on industry structure and firm behavior and, in turn, on a firm’s opportunities for establishing and sustaining a superior position relative to rivals.

MGMT 3052, Challenges in Leading and Managing Strategic Change (2 units)

Moving an organization from where it is to where it needs to go is rarely easy, and many strategic change efforts fail. The fast-paced nature of today’s competitive environments adds another layer of urgency and complexity. This course is designed to deepen your understanding of the strategic and tactical issues that a leader must prepare for in order to initiate and implement strategic change successfully.

MGMT 3200, Ethics for Managers (2 units)

This course is an introduction to business ethics that focuses specifically on the kinds of ethical issues that managers typically encounter. Course topics include the psychological factors that influence moral decision-making, normative approaches for dealing with ethical issues in management, and application of these concepts to cases describing real-life ethical dilemmas managers have faced in a variety of organizational and environmental settings.

MKTG 3000, Marketing Is Everything (4 units)

Focuses on decisions faced by managers concerning market segmentation, targeting, and positioning. Covers concepts such as new product development, pricing strategies, distribution channels, customer relationships, and performance metrics within a strategic planning framework. Students apply these key concepts and frameworks to cases and to formulating a comprehensive marketing plan centered on sustainable profitability and capabilities. Cases cover various environments and industries, especially those of concern to Silicon Valley firms.

MKTG 3200, Doing Business in Silicon Valley (2 units)

Introduces the Silicon Valley business ecosystem with a focus on how innovative new companies are launched, financed, and built into the next generation of market leaders. Includes the foundation for effective business communication.

OMIS 3000, Business Analytics (4 units)

Business Analytics is the scientific analysis of data to make better business decisions. Students in this course will learn to use analytics platforms across a wide variety of applications such as marketing, finance, and supply chain management. They will become familiar with current technological environments for statistical/machine learning and visualization.

OMIS 3200, Quantitative Methods (2 units)

Introduces probability and statistical analysis, emphasizing applications to managerial decision problems. Discusses descriptive statistics, probability theory, sampling distributions, statistical estimation, hypothesis testing, and simple and multiple regressions. Additional topics may include exploratory data analysis, analysis of variance, and contingency tables.

OMIS 3202, Analytical Decision Making (2 units)

This course covers how to rigorously formulate decision problems, understand mathematical optimization, deal with the uncertainties inherent in real business problems, while introducing computer modeling tools like important Excel add-ons, R, Mathematica, CrystalBall and @Risk.

OMIS 3250, Analysis, Design, and Management of Enterprise Platforms (2 units)

Introduces the information technology infrastructures that enable within and across firm operations, and the competitive advantages that information technology can offer various firms. Focuses on how firms effectively utilize information technology resources in their business models and operations.

OMIS 3252, Operations Management (2 units)

This course introduces how firms get the right products and services to the right people, in the right place, at the right time and cost. In addition to firms that provide physical goods, this course covers information-enabled, supply-demand matching networks like Uber and AirBnB that vastly reduce cost and increase convenience in operationally intensive industries.

Electives (26 Units)

Elective Online MBA courses expand a student's knowledge in areas of particular interest or importance to the student's career and educational goals. Electives may be taken at any time during the program, assuming the prerequisite coursework has been completed. Any course offered in the Online MBA program curriculum, with the exception of those otherwise required, is considered an elective.

Online Electives

ECON 3431, Macroeconomics and Monetary Policy: Theory and Applications (2 units)

Macroeconomic models are currently used by both researchers and practitioners (central banks, governments and international organizations) for policy analysis, simulations and projections. This course provides an introduction to such models. Topics include a review of analytical and numerical tools for optimization; quantitative analysis of the business cycle using the neoclassical growth theory; monetary policy analysis and projection using new Keynesian models; social security and intergenerational transfers and other selected topics of macroeconomics.

FNCE 3728, Alternative Investments: Partnerships and Venture Capital (2 units)

Alternative investments contrast to widely-held investments like stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. This course covers how these investments are generally structured along with a closer study of a particular category, venture capital.

IDIS 3695, Global Business Perspectives (4 units)

At least once a year, our online students will have the opportunity to take a Global Perspectives elective course. The Global Business Perspectives trip is one to two weeks (with required coursework before and after the trip) that examines the contemporary and dynamic global business environment. This engaging course will provide intensive firsthand experience of global markets and products, allowing students to observe the cultural and local factors working against globalization. Students will better understand the global context of business and the human impact at hand, and become better equipped with the skills to address such issues in Silicon Valley and abroad. Content varies based on the expertise of the faculty and the country visited. Past locations include Germany, France, China, New Zealand, Brazil, and India.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Upon completion of a Global Perspectives program, students will be able to:

  • Recognize, classify, and express different cultural patterns of significance to business and commerce
  • Compare and contrast the social, legal, and political aspects of international business environments
  • Evaluate the business risk facing U.S. organizations operating abroad and foreign organizations operating in the U.S.
  • Express and evaluate ethical issues associated with global business, through analysis and reflection

PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS

All students are expected to meet the following requirements at the time of application, as well as throughout the period leading up to and including the designated Global Business Perspectives course:
  • Minimum of two quarters participation in the MBA program
  • Cumulative GPA of 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale)
  • Completion of all prerequisite Online MBA course(s) prior to first day of Global Business Perspectives course
  • Good standing within the University

PARTICULARS

This course carries four units of credit for the Online MBA curriculum. In addition to the course tuition, the students are charged a flat course fee, which covers the cost of: lodging in-country; in-country ground transportation as required for the company visits and between cities (as applicable), group breakfasts, group lunches, and group dinners, as set out in the detailed itinerary; in-country guide and Faculty Director costs. Round-trip travel to the in-country portion of the course, transportation from the arrival airport (and to the return airport), together with other travel-related expenses (e.g., insurance, visa, telephone, other meals, entertainment, gifts, etc.) are the responsibility of each student. Enrollment in the course is limited.

IDIS 3802, Data Science With Python (4 units)

Data science involves the application of scientific methodologies to extract understanding from and make predictions based on data sets from a broad range of sources. Data science involves knowledge and skills from three areas: programming, math/statistics and domain specific expertise. The objective of this course is to teach the programming skills relevant to data science. Students will learn the Python programming language, along with a complete set of open source tools for data science in Python, including the IPython Notebook, NumPy, SciPy, Pandas, matplotlib, scikit-learn and many others. Students will learn skills that cover the various phases of exploratory data analysis: importing data (SQL, web, JSON, CSV), cleaning and transforming data, algorithmic thinking, grouping and aggregation, visualization, time series, and statistical modeling/prediction and communication of results. The course will utilize data from a wide range of sources and will culminate with a final project and presentation.

MGMT 3526, Strategic Talent Management (2 units)


Focuses on the strategic role of human resources (HR) planning and development. Addresses the creation of value through the HR function. Includes topics on linking HR and strategic planning; the transformational impact of information technology, process engineering, and outsourcing on the employment relationship; and an HR perspective on building a high-performance organization. Course has a special emphasis on high-technology organizations.

MKTG 3710, Product Messaging and Positioning (2 units)

The success of a marketing campaign or overall strategy ultimately depends on how a company’s end customers perceive, accept and adopt a product’s value proposition/positioning/resulting messaging. Especially in high technology markets, where new purchases are capital investments measured by impact to the business and return on investment, a product's value proposition has to be extremely clear, tangible and differentiated in order to achieve vendor preference, as well as maintain desired pricing and margin levels.

This two-credit-hour course focuses on proven, effective strategies for understanding customer requirements and translating them into clear, digestible, and differentiated messaging statements. We will provide strategies and examples to achieve strong competitive positioning, as well as how and when to (re-)define an entire market vs. just differentially position your products. Specific topics will include best practices for positioning and messaging creation, competitive landscape modeling and developing differentiation, translating customer requirements into effective positioning/ messaging, and wholesale market (re-definition). Additional focus will include an overview of core media assets to effectively drive adoption of positioning/messaging in today’s increasingly Web 2.0 world.


Online Concentration Courses

The following courses fulfill the requirements for each of the five available online concentrations for the Online MBA program curriculum. All Online MBA students may take any of these courses as electives, regardless of whether they are pursuing its corresponding concentration.

Select at least 12 units from the following courses.


Data Science and Business Analytics Courses

ECON 3430, Game Theory (4 units)

Studies theoretical concepts and tools for analyzing issues in the business environment such as conflict, bargaining, pretending and shirking in organizations and markets, agenda construction, and strategic commitment. Teaches game theoretical topics such as Nash-equilibrium, Sub game perfection, Bayesian Nash-equilibrium, Harsanyi transformation, commitment, and Perfect Bayesian Equilibrium.

MSIS 2402, Math for Business and Analytics With R (4 units)

The objective of this course is to provide a comprehensive background in the mathematical topics required for learning quantitative finance (QF) and business analytics and data science (BADS), which will be crucial throughout the course of the Online MBA curriculum. The mathematical topics covered include calculus, linear algebra, and probability theory. Applications of these topics in a variety of business contexts will be learned with R.

MSIS 2407/IDIS 3802 Data Analytics With Python (4 units)

Data analytics involves the application of scientific methodologies to extract, understand, and make predictions based on data sets from a broad range of sources. Data analytics requires knowledge and skills from three areas: (i) programming, (ii) math/statistics, and (iii) domain-specific expertise. The objective of this course is to teach the programming skills relevant to data science. Students will learn to use a complete set of open source tools for data science in Python, including the Jupyter Notebook, NumPy, Pandas, Seaborn, scikit-learn, Colab, and many others. Students will learn skills that cover the various phases of exploratory data analysis: importing data, cleaning and transforming data, algorithmic thinking, grouping, aggregation, reshaping, visualization, time series, statistical modeling, and data exploration and communication of results. The course will utilize data from a wide range of sources and will culminate with a final project and presentation.

MSIS 2403 Database Management Systems (2 units, available winter 2022)

This course introduces database management and database management systems (DBMS). Teaches technical and managerial skills in database planning, analysis, logical design, physical design, implementation, and maintenance. Features hands-on training in database design, development, and implementation using relational DBMS software. Emphasizes designing and developing reliable databases to support organizational management.

FNCE 2404 Introduction to Time Series Forecasting (2 units, available winter 2022)

This course is designed to provide a comprehensive introduction to forecasting methods used in time series analysis. The class covers a range of topics in time series forecasting. The class will provide you with a language to describe time series data and ultimately cover modeling techniques such as ARIMA, SARIMA, and GARCH to produce forecasts.

FNCE 2408 Analytics for Finance (2 units, available winter 2022)

This course covers key issues in panel data analysis, with an emphasis on their applications in empirical research, especially empirical corporate finance. The course aims to introduce various econometric methods for analyzing panel data and develop core techniques to identify causal relations in the data. We will begin with the standard linear regressions, and extend to pooled, fixed effect, and random effect regression models; instrumental variables; differences-in-differences; selection models; and regression discontinuity. Students will be exposed to a broad range of applications in finance through reading academic papers and conducting their own empirical analysis.

FNCE 2431 Machine Learning (4 units, available fall 2022)

This course introduces participants to quantitative techniques and algorithms that are based on big data (numerical and textual) or are theoretical models of big systems or optimization that are currently being used widely in business. It introduces topics that are often qualitative but that are now amenable to quantitative treatment. The course will prepare participants for more rigorous analysis of large data sets elsewhere in the Online MBA curriculum, as well as introduce machine learning models and data analytics for business intelligence.


Leading Innovative Organizations Courses

MGMT 3512, Change Management: The Practice of Leadership (4 units)

Investigates and examines priorities of exemplary leaders. Emphasizes developing conceptual understanding of the leadership process and on building leadership skills. Classes are often experiential and highly reflective, using written and video case studies. Some team assignments may be made.

MGMT 3544, Strategic Business Negotiations (4 units)

Studies the behavior of individuals, groups, and organizations in the context of cooperative and competitive situations. Examines the theory and processes of negotiation so the student can negotiate successfully in a variety of settings. Designed to be relevant to the broad spectrum of negotiation problems faced by managers and professionals. Consider that while a manager needs analytical skills to discover optimal solutions to problems, a broad array of negotiation skills is needed to get these solutions accepted and implemented. Gives students the opportunity to develop these skills experientially and to understand negotiation in useful analytical frameworks.

MGMT 3802, Entrepreneurship (4 units)

This course looks at the practice of business innovation and entrepreneurship with an emphasis on how entrepreneurs recognize opportunities, communicate ideas, innovate, develop products, and build organizations. This course provides students with the skills, tools, and mindsets to enable them to discover other people’s problems upon which entrepreneurial ventures may be built and to use their own creativity to generate solutions to these problems. The techniques and skills apply to both startups and established ventures. This course is an introductory course intended to provide a foundation regarding the role of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs in society and economy. As such, this class will explore what entrepreneurship means from several angles including how a person can be entrepreneurial in his or her own life—right now. This is an energized course about discovering entrepreneurship in and out of the firm.


Marketing Courses

MKTG 3572, New Product Innovation (4 units)

Presents the product manager or marketer as a generalist with responsibility for the multifunctional, multidisciplinary approach required to develop, launch, and manage successful products by combining elements of product development, product launch planning, and product management. Includes in-depth treatments of product life cycle analysis, buyer utility, competitive set, customer and market analysis, pricing, and the product launch process. Appropriate for those interested in high-technology and/or consumer product markets.

MKTG 3596, Integrated Marketing Communications (4 units)

Introduces the concept of integrated marketing communications (IMC) into the Online MBA curriculum. Provides a basic understanding of communication theory, marketing, branding, integrating marcom tactics, planning and coordinating IMC programs. Addresses marcom tactics of advertising, public relations, direct response, collateral, the internet, and digital media. Addresses business-to-business and high-technology marketing communications. Incorporates a thorough understanding of objectives, strategies, tactics, and budgeting.

MKTG 3801, Social Media Marketing (4 units)

In the past few years, social media has become a popular platform for consumers to share their opinions about the products and services they buy. Marketers, in turn, are using social media to not only gain insights from their customers but also connect to and communicate with them. Currently, it is critical for most marketers to have a social media presence as they leverage this platform to grow their business. This course focuses on how marketers can translate insights from social media data into actionable marketing strategies and tactics. We first need to understand the basics of social media, viral marketing, and data generation. We will explore who is posting content and why they are posting. Second, we will learn how to analyze data generated through social media. This includes both numerical data, such as Amazon ratings, Facebook likes, and Twitter tweets, and textual data, such as the comments written on Facebook, blogs, and many other social media platforms. Finally, we will focus on actionable marketing decisions based on social media data analysis. This includes responding to user comments or integrating social media marketing with traditional paid media. The intention of this course is to provide you with a solid foundation for social media marketing as a user of analytics-­based information and reporting. The course is not designed to teach you how each social media platform works. Rather, the broad objective is to provide you with a perspective on how data-­based insights can and should be used to make marketing decisions and a set of skills for analyzing common types of social marketing data in order to generate meaningful insights.


Finance Courses

FNCE 3482, Business Valuation (4 units)

Discusses implementing finance theory for valuation problems. Provides practical valuation tools for valuing a company and its securities. Covers valuation techniques including discounted cash-flow analysis, estimated cost of capital, market multiples, free-cash flow, and pro forma models.

FNCE 3491, Investments (4 units)

Investment knowledge is important to investment professionals, such as portfolio managers and financial advisers. They must know how to evaluate and select stocks, bonds, options, and other securities, and how to guide investors to fitting portfolios and good investment behavior. Investment knowledge is also important to all of us as individual investors. The world of investment is changing rapidly as investment responsibilities and power move into the hands of individuals. The typical retirement plan is now a 401(k) type defined contribution savings plan where individuals make investments decisions and live by their outcomes. This course is centered on evidence-­based knowledge of investments and investment behavior. It presents side by side standard and behavioral investment theory, evidence, and practice. These include analysis of wants and cognitive and emotional shortcuts and errors, portfolios, life-­cycles of saving and spending, asset pricing, and market efficiency. These also include analysis of financial markets, such as stock exchanges, and securities, such as stocks, bonds, options, and futures.

FNCE 3484, Financial Engineering (4 units)

Examines the design, valuation, and risk management of derivative securities (futures, options, etc.), including structured products. Includes topics on arbitrage theory, futures, equity options, bond options, credit derivatives, swaps, and currency derivatives. Mathematical modeling of derivatives, including implementation and applications in investments, corporate finance, and risk management.


Entrepreneurship and New Venture Courses

MGMT 3802, Entrepreneurship (4 units)

This course looks at the practice of business innovation and entrepreneurship with an emphasis on how entrepreneurs recognize opportunities, communicate ideas, innovate, develop products, and build organizations. This course provides students with the skills, tools, and mindsets to enable them to discover other people’s problems upon which entrepreneurial ventures may be built and to use their own creativity to generate solutions to these problems. The techniques and skills apply to both startups and established ventures. This course is an introductory course intended to provide a foundation regarding the role of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs in society and economy. As such, this class will explore what entrepreneurship means from several angles including how a person can be entrepreneurial in his or her own life—right now. This is an energized course about discovering entrepreneurship in and out of the firm.

MKTG 3801, Social Media Marketing (4 units)

In the past few years, social media has become a popular platform for consumers to share their opinions about the products and services they buy. Marketers, in turn, are using social media to not only gain insights from their customers but also connect to and communicate with them. Currently, it is critical for most marketers to have a social media presence as they leverage this platform to grow their business. This course focuses on how marketers can translate insights from social media data into actionable marketing strategies and tactics. We first need to understand the basics of social media, viral marketing, and data generation. We will explore who is posting content and why they are posting. Second, we will learn how to analyze data generated through social media. This includes both numerical data, such as Amazon ratings, Facebook likes, and Twitter tweets, and textual data, such as the comments written on Facebook, blogs, and many other social media platforms. Finally, we will focus on actionable marketing decisions based on social media data analysis. This includes responding to user comments or integrating social media marketing with traditional paid media. The intention of this course is to provide you with a solid foundation for social media marketing as a user of analytics-­based information and reporting. The course is not designed to teach you how each social media platform works. Rather, the broad objective is to provide you with a perspective on how data-­based insights can and should be used to make marketing decisions and a set of skills for analyzing common types of social marketing data in order to generate meaningful insights.

FNCE 3482, Business Valuation (4 units)

Discusses implementing finance theory for valuation problems. Provides practical valuation tools for valuing a company and its securities. Covers valuation techniques including discounted cash-flow analysis, estimated cost of capital, market multiples, free-cash flow, and pro forma models.

On-Campus Electives

Online MBA students may take elective courses on campus that are not currently offered online, providing more flexibility and increasing the number of electives available each term. A maximum of 12 units of elective courses may be taken on campus, and no core Online MBA courses may be taken on campus. Electives that are only available on campus are denoted as such in their descriptions below.

On-campus elective courses will have a limited number of spaces allotted to online students, so register as soon as possible to take advantage of this opportunity.

ECON 3436, Applied Time-Series Analysis (2 units)

This course focuses on economic forecasting. Many decisions made in business, economics, finance, and government depend on the forecasts that are constantly generated in these and other disciplines. This course will introduce the students to econometric time-series models and methods that can be used to generate forecasts. A wide range of topics will be covered, including basic concepts of time-series forecasting, trends and seasonality, ARIMA processes, and evaluation of forecasts. Illustrative examples applying these techniques to actual data will be presented in class, and students will perform a variety of data analyses on the computer. Upon completion of this course, students will have mastered basic properties of time-series forecasting models, and they will be able to skillfully select appropriate forecasting models to fit real world data sets and generate their own forecasts.

FNCE 3453, Corporate Finance (4 units)

Deals with the basic and advanced concepts of corporate finance, particularly the role of the financial manager and the goal of financial management. For this purpose, the course focuses on agency conflicts and corporate governance, capital structure, payout policy, financial distress, options (real and executive), derivatives/hedging, and international issues.

FNCE 3457, International Financial Management (3 units)

Studies financial issues specific to firms operating internationally. Examines the global financial environment, agency problems and corporate governance, international financial markets, exchange rate behavior, and corporate hedging decisions using currency options, currency futures, forward and cross-currency interest rate swaps by the multinational corporation (MNC), and understanding international parity relations.

FNCE 3459, Financial Markets and Institutions (4 units)

Studies financial service companies such as commercial banks, investment banks, and insurance companies from the perspective of a corporate issuer. Reviews valuation tools. Emphasizes the analysis of a corporation's funding alternatives under regulatory constraints, interest rate risk management, and the relation between financial institutions and financial markets. Other topics may include the evolution of financial intermediaries and current developments in financial regulation.

FNCE 3460, Mergers, Acquisitions, and Corporate Restructuring (3 units)

Examines corporate governance and corporate restructuring. Emphasizes how corporate ownership, control, and organizational structures affect firm value. Other topics include valuing merger candidates, agency theory, and takeover regulation. Places a heavy emphasis on case projects and/or class presentations.

FNCE 3464, Real Estate Finance (4 units)

Focuses on the risks, practices, and problems particular to financing and investing in real property. Teaches the concepts and techniques necessary to analyze financial decisions embedded in property development and investment.

FNCE 3474, Derivative Securities (3 units)

Explores business risk management using futures and options. Considers the institutional features of futures and option pricing. Covers managing financial risks such as foreign currency positions and general interest rate risk management, and includes estimation of option-related metrics such as hedge ratios. Exotic options are also covered as well as the mathematics of option pricing. This class offers a full introduction to derivatives trading and pricing.

FNCE 3480, Emerging Company Finance (2 units)

Covers financial topics most relevant to newly formed companies, with an emphasis on Silicon Valley-style startups that target large markets and raise outside capital. Includes topics on valuation, which is the course's primary theme, underlying all of the topics covered; evaluating business opportunities, which focuses on the underlying economic principles that differentiate large opportunities from small opportunities; funding business opportunities, which covers both identifying a company's needs and acquiring the capital to finance those needs; and discussing how successful entrepreneurial ventures "exit."

FNCE 3486, Behavioral Corporate Finance (4 units)

Identifies the key psychological obstacles to value-maximizing behavior, along with steps that managers can take to mitigate their effects. Given that behavioral traps represent one of the most important obstacles to successfully implementing skills taught in traditional corporate finance courses, understanding these traps is absolutely essential. Teaches how to put the traditional tools of corporate finance to the best use and mitigate the effects of psychological obstacles that reduce value.

FNCE 3490, Machine Learning (4 units)

This course introduces aspiring data scientists to quantitative techniques and algorithms that are based on numerical and textual data, and to theoretical models of big systems or optimization that are currently being used widely in business. The course will prepare participants for a more rigorous analysis of large data sets as well as introduce machine learning models and data analytics for business intelligence.

FNCE 3727/MKTG 3713, Business Model Frameworks (2 units)

Covers different types of business opportunities available to lifestyle, opportunistic, and innovating entrepreneurs, distinguished in general categories that encompass virtually all business ideas. In each case, students will develop a framework for an entrepreneur to use to identify an opportunity potential; understand and take the appropriate first steps toward building the business; and evaluate the early trajectory of the business to maximize learning and decide whether the opportunity is worth continuing.

FNCE 3729, Applied Portfolio Management I (2 units)

This course introduces the practical aspects of investment management. This is part one of a two-course sequence. The two proposed courses will provide students a framework to gain a detailed understanding of dynamics and factors affecting today’s investment managers.

FNCE 3730, Applied Portfolio Management II (2 units)

This course builds on the material covered in Applied Portfolio Management I and focuses on the practical aspects of portfolio performance evaluation and risk management.

FNCE 3731, Intro to Fixed Income (2 units)

This two-unit course provides an introduction to fixed income. It covers the valuation and application of basic fixed-income securities and an introduction to select credit derivatives. The main objective is to provide a foundation in the basic concepts and mathematics of these securities and their applications, holistically as it pertains to a means to immunize investment portfolios, raise capital, and hedge attendant risks.

MGMT 3514, International Management (3 units)

Encourages an understanding of the complexities of the global landscape and teaches the skills to analyze cross-border competition. While some argue that globalization has eliminated differences between nations and made the world one large market so that, as one journalist asserts, the "world is flat," this course will show that the reality is far more complicated. To deal with this complexity, firms, first, require leaders who are sensitive to and can bridge differences in culture and systems of government and, second, must innovate in new ways that leverage differences in economics and culture.

MGMT 3516, Organizational Politics (3 units)

Explores the use of influence and political skills in leadership and organizational decision-making. Emphasizes innovation and the politics of change.

MGMT 3532, Managerial Communications (4 units)

Focuses on three important aspects of managerial communications: interpersonal (building on concepts introduced in MGMT 3500), cross-cultural, and corporate. The communication skills addressed are especially useful in a changing environment. Emphasizes implementation and expectations for a high level of student involvement. Evaluation is based on several papers and participation.

MGMT 3538, Leading Teams and Projects (4 units)

This course focuses on building and leading project teams in dynamic environments. The course covers tools and concepts for effective project management and techniques for creating high-performing temporary teams.

MGMT 3540, Food Industry Management (4 units)

Focuses on the key issues and management decisions necessary to effectively lead food and agribusiness firms in the competitive, global food system. Includes topics on the principal regulations and regulatory bodies governing the food industry, food safety and crisis management, ethical issues in food production and distribution, and resource and environment issues.

MGMT 3541, Strategy Development in Food and Beverage Industries (4 units)

Focuses on analysis of the strategic options facing food and agribusinesses worldwide. Emphasis is on developing an understanding of industry segments and value chains, food branding strategies, and new product development. Particular attention is placed on innovation in the agricultural production (AgTech) and food (FoodTech) sectors. Teams work together to prepare case analyses for presentation to the class. Students receive feedback and are coached on how to enhance their performance.

MGMT 3542, Management Consulting (4 units)

This course is designed for students who are interested in learning about consulting including tools and techniques to gain a consulting mindset. The course requires students to complete a series of case readings, assignments, classroom discussions, and a team project. Students will have the opportunity to understand the consulting process right from sourcing and starting engagements to closure and follow-up engagements. Further, with the help of some practical execution in the classroom, students will also learn how to manage client needs and situations by articulating client needs in a succinct proposal, planning and executing consulting assignments, and managing client interactions. In the process, students will learn to leverage some common frameworks for consulting.

MGMT 3543, Food Industry Innovation (4 units)

This course focuses on the fundamental concepts of imagination, creativity, and innovation, as they apply to food products and the food industry. The course is designed as an action-learning process in which the students will be guided to immerse themselves in food innovation sources, identify an opportunity area, come up with an idea of food innovation, and develop and plan early-stage entrepreneurial activities. Topics include the innovation methods; food value chain, including major food industry segments; factors influencing the food system; technological developments; and the methods and tools necessary to effectively manage the innovation process.

MGMT 3546, Spirituality and Business Leadership (4 units)

Explores the relationship between business leadership and spirituality through the lens of contemporary, as well as classical, religious literature. References both Eastern and Western spiritual traditions and explores why successful leaders often derail in the absence of spiritual integration. Includes attention to spiritual disciplines such as prayer and meditation tailored for the time-pressured life of business professionals and leaders.

MGMT 3548, Social Benefit Entrepreneurship (4 units)

Introduces students to social benefit entrepreneurship through readings, case study analysis, and participation in assessing business plans for existing social benefit ventures. Considers that social benefit entrepreneurship is the management and leadership of innovative social ventures that produce a social benefit and that these ventures typically innovate to produce products and/or services that help alleviate important social problems in areas such as economic development (poverty), health, equality, education, and environment. Emphasizes understanding management techniques for maximizing the financial sustainability and scalability of an SBE.

MGMT 3549, Legal Fundamentals for Entrepreneurs (4 units)

This course introduces students to some of the fundamental legal issues typically encountered by entrepreneurs and startup companies. These include restrictions arising when leaving a current employer, selecting the best company structure and ownership, raising money and securities regulation, human resources concerns, contracts and leases, liability relating to the sale of goods and services, operational liability, intellectual property, creditor's rights and bankruptcy, and others.

MGMT 3550, IP Strategies for Tech Startups (2 units)

Identification and management of intellectual property (IP) assets is a significant strategic tool for every level of management. This course is designed to demystify intellectual property rights that are present in technology companies, and to give students a working understanding of IP rights relevant to technology.

MGMT 3716, Crowdsourcing and Expert-Sourcing: Strategies for Innovation (1 unit)

Firms are rapidly adopting internet-based collaboration technologies (CT) to involve a wide range of participants in joint product innovation or co-innovation. Broadly defined, these technologies include software tools and applications that leverage social activity within an online platform to facilitate interaction and collaboration among members of an online community and between members of a community and a firm. As such, they help firms engage the creativity and problem-solving skills of firm-hosted online communities of users, employees, and other experts in the creation, development, and refinement of products or services. As a result, their use may yield innovations that strongly fit user preferences while also accelerating the pace and lowering the cost of product innovation. Despite the rapid adoption, many firms struggle with how to create value from CT-based co-innovation. Building on literature on user innovation, open innovation, and demand-side value creation, this course explores the conditions for creating value when engaging online communities in co-innovation. The content focuses on non-open source contexts and community engagements that yield private gains for a host firm.

MKTG 3569, Small Business Entrepreneurship (4 units)

Entrepreneurship focuses on evaluating ideas for venture opportunities and the conversion of these ideas into viable businesses. The course includes discussion of cases, lectures, and presentations by guest speakers who have played a role in starting new enterprises (e.g. bankers, attorneys, risk capital investors, and entrepreneurs). Students develop a five-year business plan for a new enterprise and make an investor presentation to a panel of investors. Knowledge of accounting/finance must be sufficient to build viable financial statements.

MKTG 3574, SalesForce Management (4 units)

Provides the student with user-level knowledge of sales concepts and management methodologies necessary to effectively perform and manage the sales function. In the role of a sales or marketing manager, enables the student to apply these concepts to selling consumer products as well as high-tech industrial products. Includes concepts related to organizational structuring, territory plans and reviews, resource management, sales incentives, and compensation programs.

MKTG 3588, Topics in Profit-Maximizing Pricing (4 units)

Company strategies to approximate the profit-maximizing price of microeconomic theory using only information that is readily available to the company. Topics include: costs relevant for pricing decision, financial analysis for determining change in sales needed to make price changes profitable, analysis of customers and customer price sensitivity, pricing in segmented markets, anticipating and influencing competitor pricing decisions, and competitive advantages and disadvantages in profit-focused pricing decisions. Topics are integrated to provide a real-world path to profit-maximizing pricing. Class is run as a seminar with student interaction and student research projects. Cross-listed as ECON 3422.

MKTG 3590, Designing and Managing Dynamic Marketing Channels (4 units)

Focuses on understanding current theory and development of the analytical skills required for effective management and strategic deployment of multi-channel marketing decisions. Includes topics on channel planning; design; management of power, conflict, and coordination in channel relationships; the role of strategic alliances; and managing indirect channels. Requires creation of in-depth case analyses and a channel audit project.

MKTG 3592, Internet Marketing and E-Commerce (4 units)

Provides the background and analytical skills to effectively manage internet marketing and e-commerce strategies. Examines winners and losers in internet marketing, SEM, SEO, affiliate and viral marketing, use of social media, and online advertising. Analyzes how the internet is being leveraged into the core marketing activities of a business. Requires the development of an internet marketing plan for an existing business.

MKTG 3594, Business to Business Marketing (2 units)

Through core readings and selected case analysis, this course encompasses the marketing activities that enable a supplier firm to create, deliver, and capture value when engaging with other businesses, governments, or institutional customers. In the context of these target segments, value is analyzed in terms of the benefits the customer may receive and which the vendor firm may monetize. Typically covered are various market approaches to the business organization, which often uses a "buying center" framework incorporating different roles for decision-making participants. This course builds on an understanding of dynamic relationships and value chains to provide analytical tools and problem-solving skills for effective marketing.

MKTG 3712, Achieving Brand Leadership (2 units)

Brand development and brand management are not only potentially powerful weapons in the marketing arsenal but they are also major business resources and key intangible financial assets for beating the competition. Yet many Silicon Valley marketers rely only on technology, attributes, and/or price and overlook the strategic and tactical benefits that a well-managed brand provides. Achieving Brand Leadership provides a framework and tools for marketers to successfully brand products and services and add an additional layer of advantage within the competitive environment. The course defines and examines the concept of branding through a theoretical and conceptual framework and in a number of business contexts.

Beginning with a fundamental review of the core branding elements, we weigh the importance of both the promise and the experience aspects of branding in building and sustaining trust. An examination of brand measurements illuminates the power of metrics and highlights different aspects of branding strategies. A look at past cases of successful and unsuccessful branding brings out variations in approaches to such issues as master brands, sub-brands, and the branding of services. Finally, the impact of branding architectures and creative positioning on brand equity are considered. The course will use both management readings and current articles to provide a solid foundation for analysis. A series of cases drawn from both the product and service arenas will enable students to apply this analytical framework to actual situations. Brand equity and its related metrics provide a standard basis in evaluating various strategies for establishing and growing brands. A final individual course project offers an opportunity to integrate various facets of branding for a specific product or service.

MKTG 3802, Mobile Marketing (4 units)

Presents a set of useful concepts, frameworks, and strategies to help students better understand a new world that is built with the mobile device at its center. Students will analyze key aspects of m-commerce and mobile marketing, and they will learn a set of strategies and tools with which they can create economically valuable m-commerce products/services and market products (both traditional and digital) to the mobile consumer via the mobile medium. The course primarily focuses on understanding new digital product business models and their underlying technologies; mobile consumer behavior; new mobile marketing techniques, including search, social media, geo-local, and omnichannel; and mobile marketing metrics.

OMIS 3366, Database Management Systems (2 units)

Introduces database management and database management systems (DBMS). Teaches technical and managerial skills in database planning, analysis, logical design, physical design, implementation and maintenance. Features hands-on training in database design, development and implementation using relational DBMS software. Emphasizes designing and developing reliable databases to support organizational management. Cross-listed as MSIS 2603. Credit will not be given for both.

OMIS 3384, Supply Chain Management (4 units)

Focuses on the key challenges and issues relating to design, analysis, and management of supply chains to gain competitive advantage. The goal of the course is to assess supply chain performance and improve execution by effectively managing inventory, capacity, logistics and supply chain relationships. Additional topics include the role of information technology in this context, supply chain network design and managing supply chains in environments with product innovation and proliferation.

OMIS 3386, Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing (3 units)

Introduces technologies and managerial issues related to data warehousing, business intelligence, decision support systems, data mining, web mining and customer relationship management. Teaches technical and managerial skills in using and developing decision-support applications. Emphasizes learning how to derive business value from large amounts of data. Provides hands-on training using a variety of BI tools. Cross-listed as MSIS 2621. Credit will not be given for both.

OMIS 3390, New Product Development (4 units)

Introduces students to the methods companies use to develop and release new products. New product development is a challenging, rewarding activity that can make the difference between success or failure for a company, especially in technology-based industries. The traditional view that new product development is an "art" practiced by engineers has now given way to an understanding that it is a discipline that must be learned and practiced to be successful. Examines the sequence of activities needed to successfully develop and launch a new product or service. Students will understand how the different functions and roles in product development interrelate and work together, learn how to balance strategic and tactical activities in successful product development, develop a better understanding of how to determine and satisfy customer needs, understand the financial aspects of product development and develop the skills to analyze and improve product-development efforts within a company.

OMIS 3391, Accelerating Innovation (4 units)

This course introduces how contemporary organizations procure innovation ingredients (technology, IP, new business models) from outside the company, through deal-making, to fill gaps and achieve faster time-to-market. It also covers a three-box framework, used to recognize and manage inherent operational conflicts encountered as companies innovate new business models while maintaining current ones. Students lean practical deal-making skills to drive innovation, such as analyzing what external resource(s) (including IP) a firm wants for achieving its strategic intent, finding and selecting who to partner with, structuring and negotiating business contracts, and managing the deal to extract potential synergies. Student teams also study business development activities of a company.

OMIS 3392, Econometrics for Business Analytics With R (4 units)

This is a 4-unit course designed in two parts. The 3-unit lecture session introduces a broad set of econometric tools to analyze large-scale real-world company data to make data-driven business decisions. The 1-unit lab session features hands-on training in practical data analytics skills using the powerful statistical software environment R. Topics include the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), model selection, Generalized Least Squares (GLS), instrumental-variables regression, quantile regression, count data models, binary outcome models, and selection models.

How the Online MBA Courses Work

Santa Clara provides students from around the world the opportunity to pursue a Silicon Valley education. There’s no need to move or overhaul your life to earn an Online MBA: You can study from home when it's convenient, and keep your full- or part-time job while pursuing your degree.

Our innovative learning platform allows students to access their coursework from their computer, tablet, or smartphone. The online learning platform features:

  • A mobile app for on-the-go access from any connected device
  • Live video and audio capabilities that enable students to get to know their classmates
  • Automatic progress tracking via our engaging SVP dashboard
  • Easy access to your grades, so you always know where you stand
  • Direct access to professors

The Online MBA program curriculum at Santa Clara consists of a mixture of 4-unit, 10-week courses and consecutively taught 2-unit, 5-week courses. Quarterly starts in the fall, winter, spring and summer enable students to begin their Online MBA program whenever it's convenient for them.

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