Elective Courses and Concentrations

In addition to the 12 required courses, Augsburg MBA students will choose two elective courses to complete their MBA degree requirements. Elective courses may be offered in the areas of finance, marketing, international business, health care and management.  The elective offerings are based on student interest.

Augsburg MBA students may also choose to pursue a concentration by taking their elective courses in one particular track, such as finance, and adding a third course in the same track.

Finance Course Offerings:

International Finance

The objective of this course is to acquaint students with macro and micro aspects of international finance. At the macro level, coverage will include theories of direct investment, the international monetary mechanism, foreign exchange markets, and repercussions from balance of payments difficulties. Micro level materials include problems of doing business internationally and a survey of public and private foreign and international financial institutions. Also discussed are the management of risk of multinational operations and their valuation and structure. The course ends with a discussion of international portfolio investment and asset pricing.

Investment Theory and Portfolio Management

This course discusses investment background such as the investment setting, asset allocation decision, selecting investments in a global market, and security market indicators, followed by efficient capital markets, portfolio management and asset pricing models, and multi-factor models of risk and return. Security valuation and analysis and management of common stocks and bonds are discussed. The course ends with a discussion of professional asset management and evaluation of portfolio performance.

Finance Project (Description to be added)

Health Care Course Offerings:

Health Care Financing

This course focuses on a variety of public and private third-party mechanisms for financing Health Care services. A review shall be made of the various trends and constraints associated with each mechanism. Particular attention shall be paid to the role of private health insurance and government reimbursement mechanisms for health services. Prerequisites: MBA 530 – Managerial Finance

Health Care Operations Management

This course analyzes the operations of Health Care organizations to improve quality and productivity. Quality improvement models, including Six Sigma, are reviewed for usefulness and effectiveness within Health Care delivery or manufacturing environments related to Health Care. Management Information Systems (MIS) are evaluated as aids to the quality process. A course project is a key element in applying strategic concepts and processes.

Human Resource Issues in Health Care

This course provides complete coverage of relevant human resource issues in health care management, as well as offering a solid foundation in both HR and health care administrative practices.  This course provides a comprehensive, focused approach to the demands of the current human resources role. This practical, hands-on course introduces human resources to those who are preparing to work in any area of health care or health service. Written for practitioners and students in all disciplines related to health, this course covers important topics such as recruitment, training, termination, legal issues, labor unions, design and analysis, safety, employee relations, healthcare compensation practices, and the challenges facing healthcare management today.

International Business Course Offerings:

Strategies in Global Marketing

This course is primarily focused on the issues and concerns of marketing on a global basis. Emphasis will be placed on understanding the role of culture, language and customs in making decisions on where and to whom to market your products or services. Case studies will give the students material to assess both successful and unsuccessful marketing initiatives. Students will develop and present a marketing plan for a specific country that will include an environmental scan, market potential, costs and overall strategy. The ethical concerns and issues of corporate responsibility when operating in other countries and cultures will also be examined.

International Logistics

This course covers how to develop and apply effective logistics strategies when operating internationally, taking into account: trade barriers; shipping regulations; transportation concerns; and cultural differences. The course will provide you with essential knowledge of the these subjects which comprise international business and an understanding of the relationships between them.

Feasibility Study Project: Launching an International Operation

This course will include an overview of major theories of International Trade, current international business patterns; examination of structures such as IJVs, alliances, strategic partnerships. Students will consider potential international markets for a given company, identifying a potential country for expansion and the entry strategy.  The following issues have to be addressed: analysis of the  political and economic environment of the potential market;  international marketing and logistic issues as they relate to the chosen country; justification of the proposed entry strategy and recommendation for the changes in the organizational structure.

Management Course Offerings:

Managing Innovation

Understanding innovation as a process and creating the conditions for this process to occur successfully within an organization is the main theme of this course. Learning to integrate and sustain Design Thinking and other business innovation models into business internal and external strategies that will drive continuous development and improvement, and develop customer emotional connections will be the focus of the course. Transforming the business, creating brand value, engaging customers, and creating sustainable, superior competitive advantage through new ways of thinking is the purpose of the course. Care and attention will be given to defining innovation, maximizing and managing an innovation-driven organization, and linking innovation to entrepreneurship and strategy.

Project Management

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the world of projects and to projects’ real life struggles and challenges. The course will focus on the day-to-day, hands-on problems of managing a project, which is defined as a temporary organization within a permanent organization set up to achieve a specific objective. It will broadly cover the operational and conceptual issues faced by modern project managers.

Operations Management (Description to be added)

Marketing Course Offerings:

Marketing Communications

The course is meant to provide students with an opportunity to analyze, design, and evaluate a comprehensive and integrated marketing communications program which includes advertising, sales promotions, publicity, and personal selling decisions. The course focuses on theories, models, and industry experiences that are relevant to the design and evaluation of a marketing communications plan. Specific topics covered include the communication process, consumer behavior models and their relevance to marketing communications decisions, marketing communications research, advertising message and media strategies, the role of the advertising agency, and the integration of marketing mix decisions.

Marketing Research

This course focuses on the techniques of systematic information gathering and analysis. Primary and secondary research methods will be covered along with methods of evaluating and presenting the results of market research. The course also deals with how to define information needs, the scope and direction of research activities, and the nature of marketing decisions that warrant market research.

EMarketing Strategies (Description to be added)