Course Descriptions

Business Foundation Courses
 These are pre-requisites for enrollment in the MBA core courses;
 equivalent graduate or undergraduate courses are acceptable substitutes.

Please contact the MBA program personnel to find out if you need to take any or all of these courses.

Part-time Off-Campus Evening MBA Program

Daytime On-Campus MBA Program in Missoula

Graduate-Level Foundation Courses (online):

ACCT 509 - Financial Reporting & Control (3 cr.)
Reporting and using financial information of an enterprise, with a focus on internal and external decision-making. Topics include analysis and recording financial transactions, understanding how these events affect financial statements, and using quantitative tools for internal decision making. Offered spring semester each year over the Internet to students admitted or applying to the MBA or Master of Accountancy programs. May be waived if student has completed comparable undergraduate or graduate coursework in both financial accounting and management accounting.

FIN 522 - Principles of Financial Analysis (3 cr.)
Introduction to Principles of Microeconomics and Financial Management and the application of these principles to business decisions. Topics include supply and demand, market demand, theory of the firm, theories of competition, financial analysis, time value of money, theories of risk and return, stock and bond valuation and capital budgeting. Offered summer semester each year over the Internet to students admitted or applying to the MBA or Master of Accountancy programs. May be waived if student has completed comparable undergraduate or graduate coursework in both microeconomic theory and business finance. ACCT 509 required as a prerequisite.

MGMT 540 - Management & the Legal System (3 cr.)
Covers basic management principles, exploring concepts such as strategic planning, goal-setting and giving feedback, leadership, motivation, and reward systems. Students will explore the law as it relates to doing business in the global environment and will, where appropriate, probe into the ethical dimensions of business decision-making. Offered autumn semester each year over the Internet to students admitted or applying to the MBA or Master of Accountancy programs. May be waived if student has completed comparable undergraduate or graduate coursework in both principles of management (or organizational behavior) and business law.

IS 541 - Systems & Operations (3 cr.)
Design and use of information systems to meet the tactical and strategic needs of an enterprise, particularly within the operations function. Topics include systems analysis, data and process modeling, database designs, manufacturing planning and control, forecasting, and quality management. Offered spring semester each year over the Internet to students admitted or applying to the MBA or Master of Accountancy programs. May be waived if student has completed comparable undergraduate or graduate coursework in production & operations management and in management information systems. MKTG 560 required as a prerequisite.

MKTG 560 - Marketing and Applied Business Statistics (3 cr.)
Introduction to marketing principles to create long-term competitive advantage for an organization. Topics include environmental analysis, marketing planning, segmentation analysis, target marketing, and planning for product, price, promotion and distribution. Course also covers basic business statistics, including cross-tabs, z-statistics, and the central limit theorem, analysis of variance, regression and correlation analysis. The statistical portion will be conducted in the context of marketing research and marketing problems. Offered autumn semester each year over the Internet to students admitted or applying to the MBA or Master of Accountancy programs. May be waived if student has completed comparable undergraduate or graduate coursework in both marketing principles and business statistics.

Undergraduate-Level Foundation Courses:

ACCOUNTING

ACCT 201 - Financial Accounting (3 cr.)
Offered every term. Prereq., Math 117 (Probability & Linear Math) or Math 150 (Applied Calculus). Introduction to financial accounting concepts, including transactions analysis, financial statement analysis, and corporate financial reporting practices. Offered every term.

ACCT 202 - Managerial Accounting (3 cr.)
Offered every term. Prereq., ACCT 201 with a grade of C or better. Continuation of ACCT 201 with a focus on managerial accounting topics. Offered every term.

ECONOMICS

ECON 111S - Introduction to Microeconomics (3 cr.)
Offered every term. The nature of a market economy, economic decisions of the household and firm, competition and monopoly, value and price determination, distribution of income and applied microeconomic topics. Offered every term.

FINANCE

FIN 322 - Business Finance (3 cr.)
Offered every term. Prereq., Acct 201, Acct 202, Econ 111 (Microeconomics); junior standing in Business. The methodology and practice of business financial decisions. Offered every term.

INFORMATION SYSTEMS

IS 257- Business Law 3 (3 cr.)
Offered every term. An analysis of the legal and ethical implications of domestic and international commercial transactions. Credit not allowed for both BUS 135T and IS 257. Offered autumn and spring semesters and occasional summer terms.

IS 270 - Management Information Systems (3 cr.)
Offered every term. Prereq., CS 172 (Computer Modeling), Math (Statistics). Introduces the development, use, and management of computer-based information systems.

IS 341 - Operations Management (3 cr.).
Offered every term. Prereq., IS 270; junior standing in Business. A survey of the processes that organizations, public or private, use to produce goods and services. Includes management science topics.

MANAGEMENT

MGMT 340S - Management and Organizational Behavior (3 cr.)
Offered every term. Prereq., junior standing in Business. An intensive examination of the fundamentals of management and organization supported by the application of behavioral science principles to the management of people in organizations.

MARKETING

MKTG 360 - Marketing Principles (3 cr.)
Offered every term. Prereq., junior standing in Business. The marketing environment product, price, distribution, and promotion strategies including government regulation and marketing ethics.

MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES

MATH 241 - Statistics (4 cr.)
Offered autumn, spring, and tentatively summer. Prereq., MATH 117 or consent of instr. Introduction to major ideas of statistical inference. Emphasis is on statistical reasoning and uses of statistics.

Required MBA Program Core Courses

MBA 601 – Career & Leadership Skills Seminar (1 cr.)
Provides an intensive orientation and introduction to behavioral skills required to excel in the MBA program and business career; structured to create a sense of community among students and faculty and set expectations for future class involvement.  Offered every autumn semester during orientation week immediately preceding the start of the semester; graded on a pass/not pass basis

MBA 694 - Competitive Strategy (1 cr.)
IS 574 - Management of Information Systems (2 cr.)
These two courses combined provide an integrating framework for students to apply concepts and tools learned in Foundation courses. They cover both the role of strategy and the role of information systems as integrating themes for the various functional areas of business such as marketing, operations management, finance and accounting. Requires completion of foundation program or equivalent and admission to the MBA or Masters of Accountancy Program. Offered every autumn semester. Evening sections delivered on interactive television to designated sites in the state.

MBA 603 – MBA Integrated Project (1 cr.)
Written paper due at the end of the first five weeks of spring semester following completion of MBA 694 (Competitive Strategy) and IS 574 (Management Information Systems); paper to be developed around a company’s successful or failed attempt at establishing a sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace, addressing in particular the role that business strategy and information systems played in the outcome.

ACCT 605 - Administrative Controls (2 cr.)
Covers the application of accounting information to decision making. Topics will be selected from a broad range of accounting issues. Requires completion of foundation program or equivalent and admission to the MBA or Masters of Accountancy Program. Offered every autumn semester. Evening sections delivered on interactive television to designated sites in the state.

MGMT 640 - Organizational Behavior (2 cr.)
Professionally oriented skill development and case discussion of “soft skills” along with individual, group, and organization-level behavior topics. Requires completion of foundation program or equivalent and admission to the MBA or Masters of Accountancy Program. Offered every autumn semester. Evening sections delivered on interactive television to designated sites in the state.

IS 650 - Quantitative Analysis (2 cr.)
Covers the quantitative methods that provide structured support for managerial decision-making. Students will learn the theory and logic underlying such methods as linear programming and simulation. During team projects, students will solve complex problems and practice their interpersonal skills. Requires completion of foundation program or equivalent and admission to the MBA or Masters of Accountancy Program. Offered every spring semester. Evening sections delivered on interactive television to designated sites in the state.

MKTG 660 - Marketing Management (2 cr.)
Covers marketing decisions faced by managers in a variety of business settings including large corporations, small businesses and not-for-profit organizations. Requires completion of foundation program or equivalent and admission to the MBA or Masters of Accountancy Program. Offered every autumn semester. Evening sections delivered on interactive television to designated sites in the state.

MGMT 665 - Strategic Management Seminar (2 cr.)
Selected topics covering such issues as an analysis of the firm within its industry and structure of the industry, competitive positioning and competitor analysis, decision making under conditions of uncertainty; and developing a competitive advantage in international markets. Offered every spring semester. Requires completion of MBA 694 (Competitive Strategy), IS 574, and MGMT, 640, MKTG 660 & MGMT 681 or consent of instructor. Evening sections delivered over interactive television.

FIN 681 - Financial Management (2 cr.)
Covers advanced theory and analysis in corporate financial management. Requires completion of foundation program or equivalent and admission to the MBA or Masters of Accountancy Program. Offered every spring semester. Evening sections delivered on interactive television to designated sites in the state.

MGMT 685 - International Business (2 cr.)
Review and analysis of international trade theories and institutions, the role of the multinational enterprise (MNE) in global trade, and how MNEs operate in a global setting. Offered every spring semester. Requires completion of MBA 694 (Competitive Strategy), IS 574, and MGMT 640, MKTG 660 & FIN 681 or consent of instructor. Evening sections delivered on interactive television to designated sites in the state.

MBA Program Elective Course General Descriptions