Core Courses

Core courses comprise the basic structure for the fundamental development of your MBA program of study.  Successful completion of all core courses is a requirement for your MBA.

MBA 803.3
Business and Society
N. Harrison / D. Kalesnikoff
Pre-requisites – none
Offers students the opportunity to explore the broad role of business in society as well as relationships between business and key stakeholders. Specifically, students will gain a greater understanding of the context in which business operates by examining the issues and factors that affect managerial decisions as well as the performance of firms. A rich consideration of the interplay between business and society sets the backdrop against which key strategic decisions must be made. Students will use this information in order to develop their skills in analyzing and formulating firm strategy.
Course Outline

MBA 805.2
Managing Organizations – Value Through People
K. Hebert
Pre-requisites – MBA 803
Students will examine the linkage between organizational strategy and human resources with an eye toward achieving ‘fit’ between the two. Specifically, students will be exposed to fundamental concepts in the fields of organizational behaviour and human resources with an emphasis on identifying and applying best practices and research findings to current management situations.
Course Outline

MBA 807.2
Financial Statement Analysis
G. Entwistle
Pre-requisites – none
Designed to prepare future managers to effectively analyze, interpret, and evaluate an entity’s financial statements and related information (e.g., attestation reports). The entities subject to analysis will be both private (e.g., owner managed) and public (e.g., where the firm’s securities trade on a stock exchange) and will be drawn from a wide variety of different industries. Tools for interpreting cash flow patterns, for recognizing trends in financial performance (ratio analysis), and for firm valuation will be discussed. The importance for any organization of creating an effective financial reporting strategy will also be examined. The course will also expose students to future trends in financial reporting, both national and international.
Course Outline

MBA 825.3
Financial Management
B. Lane
Pre-requisites – MBA 803, 807 Recommended: MBA 834
Examines the role of finance in business decision-making. Emphasis is placed on developing knowledge of theories, concepts, and analytical techniques used in business finance. Students will begin to view finance as an integral part of business and learn that all business decisions involve some form of financial analysis.
Course Outline

MBA 833.2
Marketing for Organizational Decision-Making
W. Murphy
Pre-requisites – MBA 803, Recommended: MBA 837
Involves a process of analyzing market opportunities, planning (i.e., choosing objectives, formulating appropriate strategies and programs), implementing, and controlling the marketing activities of the organization. This course will familiarize students with the marketing environment, the marketing mix, and other basic concepts of marketing. Topics to be covered include customer, competitor and industry analysis, segmentation targeting and positioning, market positioning strategies, the marketing plan, and implementation of marketing strategies.
Course Outline

MBA 834.2
Accounting for Planning and Decision-Making
S. Kalagnanam
Pre-requisites – MBA 803, Recommended: MBA 807
Focuses on introducing students to different forms of managerial accounting information, examining the usefulness of such information for different managerial activities/functions, identifying the limitations of managerial accounting information, and understanding the potential dysfunctional behaviour that may arise from the use of such information. However, to meet the above mentioned objectives, one needs to understand how managerial accounting information is prepared. Therefore, understanding the technical details of managerial accounting will also be emphasized to some extent.

MBA 835.2
Operations Management
I. Sila
Pre-requisites – none
Provides a foundation for understanding the operations of a company. The operations function is one of the main functions of a business organization. Operations management includes all activities that are directly related to the production of goods and services. In this course, we will study both manufacturing and service operations and provide an overview of the important operational issues faced by manufacturing and service companies. In addition, this course will acquaint students with the tools and techniques used by operations decision makers.
Course Outline

MBA 836.2
Leadership
T. Maber
Pre-requisites – MBA 803, 805
Examines leadership theory through articles, cases, novels, illustrations, and discussion to appreciate the totality of leadership and its practical application.  Students develop and hone their personal leadership philosophies. 
Course Outline

MBA 837.2
Marketing Research for Decision-Making
C. Harper
Pre-requisites – none
Decision making is one of the most critical elements of a manager’s job. Making a bad decision can have a detrimental impact on a company’s financial performance and harm the careers of business leaders. Research provides the information needed to make sound business decisions. The objective of this course is to help you recognize the role of systematic information gathering and analysis in making better business decisions. The course is designed primarily for the users of research rather than producers of research. Thus the emphasis is on the interpretation and the use of the results rather than mathematical derivations.
Course Outline

MBA 838.2
Leveraging Information Technology in Business
M. Klassen
Pre-requisites – MBA 803, 805, 807
This is an applied course in leveraging technology in business settings which serves to give managers the tools they need to operate in a world influenced by technology.  We will introduce material that often goes hand and hand with technology.  For example, tools such as business process improvement and change management can be applied in many settings, but we will learn methodologies and apply them in the context of technology.  The style of teaching wil be more facilitative then lecture oriented.  Cases, exercises, discussion and a few industry speakers will be in the normal pedagogy.
Course Outline

MBA 839.2
Global Environment of Business
D. Zhang
Pre-requisites – MBA 803
Provides an opportunity to understand the complexity of the global environment of business, and makes an attempt to systematically examine the broad dynamics of the international environmental factors that would potentially influence business activities of the firm, including demographic trends, economic development, natural and resource concerns, political landscape, and cultural diversity.
Course Outline

MBA 841.2
Entrepreneurship and Business Planning
M. Painter
Pre-requisites – MBA 803, 807, 825, 833, Recommended: MBA 834
Designed to provide entrepreneurs and innovators with concepts and tools to successfully develop and manage all components of a strategic business plan. Students will be required to assess business plans from the viewpoint of entrepreneurial proponents as well as venture capital investors. Students will construct a case business plan, use business plan tools to analyze risk, discuss approaches to maximizing the effectiveness of the business plan as a management tool for ongoing innovation and business renewal, especially in fast changing environments, and present business plans for discussion and critique.
Course Outline

MBA 828.2
Tactical Strategy: Implementation, Evaluation and Control
B. Dobni
Pre-requisites – MBA 803, 807, 825, 833, 837, 841 or Permission of Director
Strategic management is that set of decisions and actions which leads to the development of an effective strategy to help achieve corporate goals and objectives.  Focusing on tactical implementation of strategic choices and how the benefits of strategic choices can be maximized, this course serves as the capstone to the Edwards MBA, integrating all of the concepts learned.

MBA 850
Professional Skill Development Program (Pass/Fail)
L. Harden
This program is intended to introduce students to various aspects of business processes and professional skill areas. It will also link students with the business community through utilizing guest speakers currently practicing and faculty members researching within the respective areas. Management and organizational leadership require knowledge in the functional areas of business and how those areas integrate in order to make business decisions. However, the successful practice of management is enhanced through knowledge of and expertise in a variety of skills that are situational based.
Outline

MBA 880
International Study Tour (Pass/Fail)
L. Harden
The annual International Study Tour is an opportunity for students to experience business first hand within an international context and immerse themselves in the business environment of a specific country. A required component of the Edwards MBA, the Tour allows students to explore a country's business practices, challenges and cultures, through a combination of research site visits and meetings with executives and government officials working within the designated country. The International Study Tour is designed to enhance the classroom curriculum through increasing the awareness of how a global economy functions, provide firsthand exposure to the business culture of the chosen country or region and the world of international economies. It offers a unique experiential learning opportunity using a project-based learning approach. Students will prepare for their expierence through doing advance research on one selected geographic location and target companies and industries.

MBA 992.3
Management Consulting Project
Pre-requisites – MBA 803, 805, 807, 825, 833, 837, 841, Permission of Director is required. 
M. Painter
This project is designed to lead students through the management consulting process, including developing and presenting a consulting proposal and then completing the consulting project. Students will learn how to specify business research questions, propose appropriate methods of researching the questions, analyze the results of the research, and present conclusions and recommendations. Real external business clients are expected for each consulting group (may be one or more students in a group, depending on the size of the consulting project), including a students’ employers, but exceptions may be made for students who wish to research their own business enterprise. The most common types of business research requested by clients have been marketing research studies, business plans, feasibility studies, and industry opportunity surveys.
Outline

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