University Catalog 2023-2024

Management

The Poole College of Management offers a Master’s degree in Management (MM) that comprises programs that help students build core business skills. The curriculum is designed to give students with a range of backgrounds a strong exposure to core business management skills in a variety of industries. The programs help students develop critical skills in specialized areas, such as marketing analytics and risk and analytics.  It is designed specifically for students who are looking to create a personal competitive advantage.

Admission Requirements

Applicants are required to complete the standard NC State Graduate School application process. Admission decisions are based on past academic performance and potential, essays, recommendations, relevant work experience and an interview. Applicants are not required to submit GMAT or GRE scores but may choose to do so. International applicants must complete the TOEFL or IELTS. Students can choose to apply for admission in either the Fall or the Spring semester.

Master of Management Degree Requirements

The Master of Management degree requires a total of 30 credit hours, and students must complete all degree requirements within six years.

Marketing Analytics Concentration

The Master of Management (MM), Marketing Analytics concentration is currently offered online as a part-time program and is geared towards students of all backgrounds. Our innovative curriculum focuses on business analytics, marketing and business skills and practical experience – all in a hands-on learning environment. Students will benefit from our faculty’s real-world experience, world-class research and industry partnerships to build successful careers in data analytics. 

Risk and Analytics Concentration

The Master of Management (MM), Risk and Analytics concentration will be entirely online, and can be completed within 18 - 30 months, part-time.  This concentration is targeted to professionals seeking to acquire expected core competencies in risk management and analytical decision-making to be positioned for leadership positions across multiple functions of an organization. The growth in data analytics across all businesses and industries is creating greater demands for individuals with analytic and risk management skills. 

Other Relevant Information

Students can apply to start in either the Fall or the Spring semester. Credits in the MM program can be used toward the MBA. The Working Professional MBA is a 40 hour degree program; 12 MM hours may be counted toward the MBA, subject to approval by an academic advisor. Applicants must understand that completion of the MM program does not guarantee admission to the MBA.

Faculty

Professors

  • Mark S. Beasley, Director, Enterprise Risk Management Initiative
  • Jonathan Bohlmann, Marketing and Innovation
  • Bruce C. Branson, Accounting, Associate Director of Enterprise Risk Management Initiative
  • Donald Pagach, Accounting, Director of Research for Enterprise Risk Management Initiative
  • Mike Stanko, Marketing
  • Stacy Wood, Marketing

Professors of the Practice

  • Ericka Kranitz, Director, Master of Management, Risk, and Analytics
  • Leigh Shamblin, Director of Leadership

Associate Professors

  • Julie Earp, Information Technology
  • Bill Rand, Marketing, Executive Director of Business Analytics Initiative
  • Rishika Rishika, Marketing Analytics, Director of Master of Management Program
  • Stefanie Robinson, Marketing
  • Jeffrey Stonebraker, Operations and Supply Chain Management

Assistant Professor

  • Fangfei Guo, Marketing Analytics

Teaching Assistant Professor

  • Basiru Usman, Marketing

Lecturers

  • Thomas C. Dow, Accounting
  • Donnie Hale, Business Analytics

Courses

Accounting

ACC 580  Data Analytics in Accounting  (3 credit hours)  

This course provides an opportunity to learn and apply various data analytics techniques to a business case to support management's decision making. This course utilizes analytics tools and technology in an advisory context. Specifically, you will be learning and using Excel, Access and PowerBI tools, as well as Word to summarize your analysis. Soft skills are essential in today's environment. This course also helps to strengthen these skills including written communication (formal and informal), critical thinking and data analytics.

R: MAC or MBA Program

Typically offered in Fall, Spring, and Summer

ACC 540  IT Risks and Controls  (3 credit hours)  

A study of how business strategies use information technology (IT) as an efficient enabler of redesigned core business processes. Students will focus on how the use of IT affects risk management by eliminating certain risks and introducing others. Students will examine IT control solutions used to address IT risks and will address issues affecting assurance engagements related to IT systems.

Prerequisite: MAC Program

Typically offered in Fall only

Business Administration
MBA 501  Financial Accounting for Decision Makers  (1 credit hours)  

Methods used by accountants record to economic events such as operating, investing, and financing activities, in the income statement, balance sheet, and statement of cash flows. Analysis of financial statements and disclosures. Impact of accounting standards and managerial incentives on the financial reporting process. Restricted to MBA students.

Typically offered in Fall and Spring

MBA 506  Data-Driven Managerial Decisions 1  (1 credit hours)  

Business cases and problems where data analysis is part of the decision-making process. Applications to finance, management, marketing, and operations. Proficiency in Excel methods commonly used in management. Completion of a project where students follow a business problem from formulation to solution using data analysis. Restricted to MBA students.

Prerequisite: BUS/ST 350

Typically offered in Fall, Spring, and Summer

MBA 507  Data-Driven Managerial Decisions 2  (1 credit hours)  

Continuation of a series of business cases and problems where data analysis is part of the decision making process. Estimation of linear relationships among variables, with applications to finance, management, marketing, and operations. Proficiency with Excel methods commonly used for estimation. Completion of a project where students follow a business problem from formulation to solution using the methods covered the course. Restricted to MBA students.

Prerequisite: MBA 506

Typically offered in Fall and Spring

MBA 510  Critical Thinking for Managers  (1 credit hours)  

Structure for critically analyzing and evaluating an issue, claim, text, or speech from a management perspective. Systematic analysis and evaluation of information, concepts, and ideas in order to identify underlying assumptions, purposes, and questions. Synthesis of this knowledge to logically form conclusions and recognize implications. Communication of arguments and beliefs and recognition of common language barriers in the written and spoken word. For online sections, must be enrolled in MBA program.

Typically offered in Fall and Spring

MBA 518  Enterprise Risk Management  (3 credit hours)  

Integrated approach to managing the risks that can prevent an organization from achieving its objectives, both financial and non-financial. Core elements of an effective enterprise risk management process. Links to management strategy. Risk assessment methodologies.

Typically offered in Fall only

MBA 519  Enterprise Risk Management Practicum  (3 credit hours)  

Applied approach to managing the risks that can prevent an organization from achieving its objectives, both financial and nonfinancial, by working in teams to address real problems in real organizations.

Prerequisite: MBA 518

Typically offered in Spring only

MBA 520  Financial Management of Corporations  (2 credit hours)  

Financial decision making at profit-motivated businesses: decisions about what to produce and how and decisions about how to finance the assets needed for production. Cash as the basis of asset valuation. Capital budgeting decisions under certainty and uncertainty. Capital market theory. Cost of capital. Bond and stock valuation. Restricted to MBA students.

Prerequisite: MBA 501 Financial Accounting for Decision Makers

Typically offered in Fall and Spring

MBA 522  Financial Modeling  (3 credit hours)  

This course examines models for capital budgeting, equity and bond valuation, capital structure, dividend policy, among other topics, using spreadsheet analyses. The course will take a very hands-on approach in building spreadsheet models. The course also includes sensitivity analysis, pro-forma analysis and using financial statements.

Prerequisite: MBA 520

Typically offered in Fall only

MBA 530  Leading People  (3 credit hours)  

This course is about the fundamentals of leading people, a critical aspect of every management position and leadership role. The course will focus at three levels of analysis: the individual, the group and the organization. Students will gain exposure to topics and issues in the field of organizational behavior and human resource management. These include knowing about and dealing with individual differences, international and cultural issues, working in groups (both virtually and geographically co-located), motivation, leadership, organizational structures and cultures, change management, empowerment, delegation, communication, and management ethics. Restricted to MBA students.

Typically offered in Spring only

MBA 536  Experience Innovation and Strategic Design  (3 credit hours)  

Successful innovation involves creating more valuable experiences for users and customers. The course covers key concepts and methodologies for experience-based innovation, drawing on design and creativity frameworks to fully understand customer experiences. Course activities include exercises and a project to practice innovation and "design-thinking" tools and techniques in a business context. Relevant strategic perspectives for designing innovative products and services are addressed through case studies and other managerial readings with practical business application. The importance of a multi-disciplinary approach to experience innovation is emphasized, such that the course is suitable for students in all disciplines with an interest in innovation.

Typically offered in Spring only

MBA 545  Decision Making under Uncertainty  (3 credit hours)  

Structured framework for modeling and analyzing business decisions in the presence of uncertainty and complex interactions among decision parameters. Topics include decision models, value of information and control, risk attitude, spreadsheet applications, and decision analysis cycle. Interactive case study.

Typically offered in Fall, Spring, and Summer

MBA 551  Predictive Analytics for Business and Big Data  (3 credit hours)  

This course is designed around the full analytics lifecycle which encompasses the business problem, the data, the analysis, and the decision. Students will learn to identify and clearly explain business problems that can be addressed with analytics. They will learn to determine which analytic methods are best suited to solve particular problems and clearly explain the results of an analytic model and how those results might impact the business bottom line. Analytical methods to be covered include data, visualization, a review of regression analysis; logistic regression; classification and regression trees (including boosting and bagging methodologies); and clustering (segmentation) methods. Students will also develop at least a beginning proficiency with several statistical software packages including Tableau, JMP, R, and SAS Enterprise Miner. Emphasis will be placed on analyzing real data and understanding how analytical thinking can be applied to solve big data problems.

Prerequisites: MBA 506 and MBA 507

Typically offered in Fall and Spring

MBA 552  Data Engineering, Management and Warehousing  (3 credit hours)  

This course examines how to collect and process data to make it useful, how to validate, protect, and process data to make it available, and how to create a place to properly store data.

Typically offered in Fall and Summer

MBA 559  Business Analytics Practicum  (3 credit hours)  

This course focuses on solving a real-world business problem that includes a heavy data analytic component. The business problem will vary according to the client but could include problems from finance, human resources, marketing, finance, supply chain, or other management areas.

Prerequisite: MBA 506 and MBA 507 and MBA 551

Typically offered in Fall and Spring

MBA 560  Marketing Management and Strategy  (2 credit hours)  

Market segmentation, targeting, and positioning. Channels of distribution, promotion strategy, product development strategy, and pricing strategy. Relationship marketing and marketing strategy. Applications in high-tech environments. Restricted to MBA students.

Typically offered in Fall, Spring, and Summer

MBA 561  Consumer Behavior  (3 credit hours)  

Consumer perception of products and brands, including the role of product design and development of consumer attitudes. Analysis of how consumers make decisions and how those decisions can be influenced by messaging, pricing, and emotions.

Typically offered in Fall and Spring

MBA 562  Research Methods In Marketing  (3 credit hours)  

A systematic approach to structure, implementation and analysis of marketing research for decision making. Models of consumer demand and firm behavior analyzed in a marketing context.

Typically offered in Fall only

MBA 565  Marketing Analytics  (3 credit hours)  

Analytical techniques to convert a wealth of data on customers and markets into insights to guide business decisions. Taking a hands-on and systematic approach on the steps involved in harnessing knowledge from data, the course covers the various data techniques and steps involved in data- and model-driven management decisions. Techniques include market response models, conjoint analysis, discrete choice models.

Prerequisite: MBA 507

Typically offered in Fall and Spring

MBA 566  Digital Marketing  (3 credit hours)  

This course covers the basics of digital marketing from an analytics perspective. Each channel of digital marketing, such as search engine optimization, social, mobile, web, email, and video, are examined and their relationship to overall firm marketing strategy is explored.

Typically offered in Spring only

MBA 582  Sustainability and Business  (3 credit hours)  

Explore the current sustainability trends. Learn how business are integrating sustainability into their strategies. Gain an understanding of the tools businesses are using to operate businesses in a sustainability manner. Experience current and evolving sustainability reporting practices. Explore future trends.

Typically offered in Fall and Spring

MBA 590  Special Topics In Business Management  (1-6 credit hours)  

Presentation of material not normally available in regular courses offerings or offering of new courses on a trial basis.

Business mANAGEMENT

BUS 541  Strategic Risk Analysis Using Excel  (1 credit hours)  

This course explores the use of data analysis techniques and tools that are useful for organizing and categorizing large volumes of information for use by executives to make strategic business decisions. The course exposes students to various Excel techniques through a business case to support management's decision making and focuses on how data analysis can be used to inform management and the board about top strategic risk issues.

Typically offered in Fall and Spring

BUS 542  Forecasting and Scenario Planning Using Monte Carlo Simulation  (1 credit hours)  

This course explores how forecasting and scenario planning are used to support management's decision making. The course focuses on how data analysis techniques and tools are useful for organizing and categorizing large volumes of information for use by executives to make strategic business decisions and it exposes students to Monte Carlo Simulation and Optimization techniques to support strategic business decisions. The course then focuses on communicating this information to inform management and the board about top strategic risk issues.

Typically offered in Fall and Spring

BUS 543  Communicating Risk Information Using Tableau  (1 credit hours)  

This course provides an introduction as well as hands-on experience in data visualization. It introduces students to design principles for creating meaningful displays of quantitative and qualitative data to facilitate managerial decision-making. Students develop an understanding of the fundamentals of communication and alignment around concepts that are required for effective data presentation and it provides an overview and develop an introductory level of competency on the use of the Tableau software tool that can be used for data visualization.

Typically offered in Fall and Spring

Economics

ECG 528/FIM 528/MA 528  Options and Derivatives Pricing  (3 credit hours)  

The course covers (i) structure and operation of derivative markets, (ii) valuation of derivatives, (iii) hedging of derivatives, and (iv) applications of derivatives in areas of risk management and financial engineering. Models and pricing techniques include Black-Scholes model, binomial trees, Monte-Carlo simulation. Specific topics include simple no-arbitrage pricing relations for futures/forward contracts; put-call parity relationship; delta, gamma, and vega hedging; implied volatility and statistical properties; dynamic hedging strategies; interest-rate risk, pricing of fixed-income product; credit risk, pricing of defaultable securities.

Prerequisites: MA 341 and MA 405 and MA 421

Typically offered in Fall only