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Core Business Courses

(3 cr.)This course constitutes an introduction to financial accounting. It focuses on the preparation of financial statements using IFRS. It mainly covers technical concepts including the accounting cycle and the financial statements within an applied learning environment and in consideration of ethical issues involving financial reporting.

DCIS 201 - Basics of Information Systems

(3 cr.)This course constitutes an introduction to management information systems. It is designed to introduce students to the fundamental concepts and principles of Information technology and information systems. It demonstrates the importance of integrating information technology into work processes at the organization level, and its added value for the business and its clients. It covers topics related to competitiveness, functional information systems, e-commerce and supply chain systems, business intelligence systems, and systems development.

BUSS 201 - Statistical Techniques in Business

(3 cr.)This course introduces applied statistics for business and management covering topics of estimation; hypothesis testing; analysis of variance; simple regression and correlation; multiple regression; introduction to nonparametric statistics; and goodness of fit tests and contingency analysis. The course also emphasizes the use of spreadsheets and interpretation of the output of analysis.

ECON 201 - Micro-Economics

(3 cr.)This course provides an introduction to the principles of microeconomics including the operation of market economy and the allocation of a society's scarce resources. The course considers how individuals and firms make their consumption and production decisions and how these decisions are coordinated in addition to the laws of supply and demand, the theory of the firm and its components, production and cost theories and models of market structure. The course discusses various causes of market failure and highlights public policies geared towards correcting market failures.

MKTG 204 - Principles of Marketing

(3 cr.)This course constitutes an introduction to marketing principles. It introduces principles and problems of marketing goods and services. Provides an overview of marketing concepts including marketing inputs in strategic planning, global marketing, marketing research, analysis of buyer behavior, market segmentation and positioning, and development of the marketing mix elements.

FINA 202 - Basics of Corporate Finance

(3 cr.)This course constitutes an introduction to corporate finance. It focuses on the time value of money, discount cash flows, capital budgeting decisions, capital structure and the cost of capital in addition to dividend policy and financial statements analysis within an applied learning environment and in consideration of ethical issues involving financial reporting.

ECON 206 - Macro-Economics

(3 cr.)This course covers topics related to macroeconomic theory and policy in a framework that includes interaction of labor, money, and goods and services markets. It also demonstrates how the levels of economic activity, employment and rates of interest are jointly determined. The framework is then used to examine how the implications of policies set by the central bank and the government on economic growth and development.

MGMT 203 - Principles of Management

(3 cr.)This course offers an introduction to the basic management principles and foundations of management. It explores essential management concepts, theories, models, tools, processes and techniques that managers utilize in their day-to-day practice to ensure the success and survival of their organizations. Main topics covered include management history and evolution, motivation, decision-making, leadership, managing groups and teams, and human resource management. In addition to introducing theories, concepts and tools that are needed to manage various organizations of different vocations (private, public, for profit, NGO, governmental and others), this course sensitizes students to the practical aspects of leadership and management. This allows students to gain a fuller understanding of the discipline of management and organizational behavior, and prepare for their role as future managers and leaders.

BUSS 202 - Business Economics

(3 cr.)This course covers topics related to economics from a business perspective. It uses economic theory in addition to mathematical and statistical techniques to examine managerial decision making subject to constraints. The topics covered include Topics covered include optimization techniques, goals of the firm, demand, production, and cost theories and estimation, pricing and output determination under different market structures, game theory, and pricing in practice in addition to forecasting and measurement.

ACCO 403 - Managerial Accounting

(3 cr.)This course introduces students with the internal use of accounting information to make sound accounting decisions. It covers topics related to cost determination and flow, cost profit analysis, break-even analysis, budgeting from a business decision-making perspective and variance analysis.

BUSS 303 - Business Law

(3 cr.)This course constitutes an introduction to the Lebanese Commercial Law in addition to the laws related to the capital markets. It covers topics related to the various forms of business in Lebanon in addition to the related legal requirements, corporate governance, securities, corporate set-up and restructuring, joint ventures, distribution and licensing, in addition to commercial representation.

BUSS 305 - Business Communication

(3 cr.)This course aims at enabling students to understand the role of communication in the business environment. It also allows students to identify the most effective methods for preparing and delivering an effective oral business presentation. It also develops their skills in writing business documents (letters, memos, reports) using proper style, organization and format.

EPLD 301 - Entrepreneurship

(3 cr.)This course is an introductory course to entrepreneurship. It covers issues related to the nature and importance of entrepreneurship; forms of entrepreneurship; the entrepreneurial process; the entrepreneurial mind; creativity, ideas and innovation; screening entrepreneurial opportunities; identifying resources to support entrepreneurial activities; intellectual property issues; accessing finance and other resources; the entrepreneurial team; assessing risk; business structure and ethics; entrepreneurial strategy; finding and reaching customers and marketing innovation; feasibility planning.

DCIS 303 - Innovation

(3 cr.)This course discusses issues related to individual and group creativity; barriers to creativity and approaches for overcoming these; methods for generating or recognizing ideas, alternatives or possibilities to solve commercial or operational problems; turning creativity into innovation that benefits the customer and the business venture; bringing creativity and innovation into the organization and building an environment to support these activities; creative scenarios for the future for the organization.

DCIS 302 - Managerial Decision Modeling

(3 cr.)This course introduces spreadsheet-based tools and techniques of modern managerial decision-making. Models used to analyze complex problems taken from various functional areas of management are addressed; including finance, marketing, operations, and human resources. A broad range of analytical methods is covered, including linear programming, integer linear programming, non-linear programming, multi-objective decision analysis, decision trees, queuing and service models, and Monte Carlo simulation. The goal is to understand business decisions, tradeoffs and associated outcomes depend on the underlying data. Software packages like Excel, Tree Plan, and Crystal Ball will be used.

MGMT 302 - Strategic Management

(3 cr.)This course exposes students to the strategic management process of local, regional and multinational corporations. Emphasis will be placed on identifying the tools needed for strategic analysis of the firm and the industry and on comprehending the key strategic issues that managers face in managing corporations.

DCIS 304 - Operations Management

(3 cr.)This course examines the role of Operations Management in supporting effective strategy execution and how it may be leveraged as a sustainable source of competitive advantage. Topics covered include, among others, operations strategy formulation, inventory control, scheduling, facility location and layout, quality management, and process and technology decisions. Manufacturing and service industry contexts are both considered, and OM versus Supply Chain Management is also discussed.

BUSS 306 - Career Planning

(3 cr.)This course aims to provide an understanding of the strategic role that effective career planning and management plays in a successful career and life. Topics covered include self-assessment, decision-making, personality, career pathways, inter-personal communication and behavior, as well as social issues surrounding careers.

BUSS 310 - Internship

(1 cr.)This course is an introduction to the professional practice. It involves a documented practical experience of a two-month’s period in a professional firm that is approved by the Faculty.

MGMT 401 - Business Ethics

(3 cr.)This course provides students with an overview of business ethics at the individual, organizational, and societal level. Issues such as corruption, sexual harassment, fair trade, fraud, whistle-blowing, corporate social responsibility, ethical norms, ethical values, environmental responsibility and many more will be examined both in the international as well as local Lebanese context. Ultimately, the course is designed to not only introduce students to a wide array of current ethical issues in business but to also foster skills related to critically analyzing the ethical and social dimensions of business-related problems in order to build more ethically-informed rationales for decision making.

Accounting Elective Courses

ACCO 301 - Financial Accounting II

(3 cr.)This course builds on the introduction to financial accounting. Students will gain skills in reading, interpreting and applying accounting standards. The course is essential for all individuals exposed to financial information in the workplace including accountants, auditors, financial analysts, managers, bankers and oversight bodies involved in the preparation or use of company financial statements. It is also useful for those not wishing to become accountants but who plan to specialize in areas where accounting knowledge would be an advantage such as bankers and finance professionals, journalists, lawyers, and those interested in management positions including engineers and scientists.

ACCO 402 - Financial Accounting III

(3 cr.)This course builds on the introductory and first intermediate course in financial accounting. Students will gain skills in reading, interpreting and applying accounting standards. It covers financial reporting issues relating to liabilities, ownership equity, selected financial reporting issues, and financial reporting disclosure. The course is essential for all individuals exposed to financial information in the workplace including accountants, auditors, financial analysts, managers, bankers and oversight bodies involved in the preparation or use of company financial statements. It is also useful for those not wishing to become accountants but who plan to specialize in areas where accounting knowledge would be an advantage such as bankers and finance professionals, journalists, lawyers, and those interested in management positions including engineers and scientists.

ACCO 403 - Financial Accounting IV

(3 cr.)This course builds on intermediate financial accounting courses. It focuses on the theory and practice of corporate investments and transactions between the company and other parties. It covers more advanced topics in Financial Accounting including consolidation accounting, foreign currency transactions, translation of foreign currency denominated financial statements and not-for-profit accounting.

ACCO 404 - Management Accounting II

(3 cr.)This course is an intermediate course in management accounting. It builds on material covered in Management Accounting I and examines many of the current issues in management accounting. Students are expected to have an appreciation and good understanding of the basic cost accounting concepts and techniques. While some firms still use traditional methods of management accounting such as costing, performance measurement and cost analysis, an increasing number of firms are using innovative management accounting techniques such as activity-based costing, strategically oriented performance measurement systems and strategic cost analysis. This course deals with many of the present-day management accounting techniques. Moreover, it also considers the skills and competencies that management accountants should develop in order to take advantage of the many opportunities offered by the new management accounting techniques.

ACCO 405 - Internal Audit

(3 cr.)This course provides an understanding of the Internal Audit Function and introduction to fraud examination. It covers issues related to the nature of fraud, fraud prevention, fraud detection, different types of fraud, evidence phase of fraud examination, the internal audit role, and audit committees, coordinating the internal auditing function with the external auditor, designing and conducting an internal audit assignment.

ACCO 406 - External Audit

(3 cr.)This course is an introduction to auditing and the professional responsibilities of a career in accounting. Topics include the discussion of the nature and purpose of the auditing function, auditing standards, the methodology of auditing, audit planning, the collection of audit evidence, audit reporting, and recent developments in auditing.

ACCO 407 - Cost Accounting

(3 cr.)This course is an intermediate course in cost accounting. It includes an in-depth study of general purpose and special product costing systems; spoilage/rework and scrap; cost estimation; linear and non-linear CVP; production, quality, and pricing decisions; capital budgeting; operational budgeting; variance analysis; decentralization, segmented reporting, transfer pricing, performance evaluation, and incentive systems. Spreadsheet applications are used to reinforce some course concepts.

ACCO 408 - Accounting Information Systems

(3 cr.)This course is an introduction to Accounting Information Systems: their role in organizations, particularly in support of strategic and operational decision-making and problem-solving, as well as operations support and management. Systems thinking; systems design & development; management perspectives on the IT support role to business (particularly security & ethics); trends, issues and concerns in IS; and end-user application software including spreadsheets, reporting, and database management, are studied and assessed. It emphasizes overall data flow systems emphasizing financial information and computerized systems for accounting.

ACCO 409 - Taxation

(3 cr.)This course builds on the introduction to financial accounting. It covers issues and concepts related to the American Tax Code and its application as it relates to various tax entities. The course addresses important foundation tax concepts within a Lebanese context.

Technology and Operations Management Elective Courses

DCIS 401 - Business Development

(3 cr.)This course aims at anyone who needs to assess possible business opportunities including possible project management opportunities that are mainly, but not exclusively, based on an innovative technological concept. Rapid screening techniques are introduced, which will address the underlying business concept, the base technology, benefits to customers, potential markets, financial feasibility, risk and benefits to the organization and the next steps to be taken. Opportunity screening protocols will be treated in depth and a comprehensive venture - screening guide will be developed during the course. The course covers all the key elements of a feasibility study for a new enterprise.

DCIS 402 - Supply Chain Management

(3 cr.)This course is an introduction to important decision areas in operations and supply chain management. Modelling and analytical skills will be developed and supporting techniques/tools will be introduced using spreadsheets. Common qualitative and quantitative aspects of supply chain management will be discussed.

DCIS 403 - Systems and Quality Management

(3 cr.)This course covers the principles for delivering quality products and services that have value for both external and internal customers, while reducing waste throughout the system.

DCIS 404 - Pricing and Revenue Management

(3 cr.)This course focuses on how firms can use effective pricing and capacity management tools to generate maximum value from any disparity between supply and demand, which will ultimately result in higher profits in competitive markets. The course tackles issues of pricing, sales, and product design decisions and is founded on model-building, and constrained optimization techniques implemented through Excel and Solver.

DCIS 405 - Simulation Modeling

(3 cr.)In this course, students learn how corporations are valued and the major analytical tools that are used. Students learn to build financial statement projection models with income statement projections, balance sheet, automated cash flow statement and the balancing cash flow sweep / debt schedule. The students will also learn to analyze and compare publicly traded companies from a relative valuation perspective, focusing on current market valuation and trading multiples. The course will focus also on the mergers and acquisitions process, the basics of deal structures, and covers the main tools and analyses that M&A investment bankers and acquirers utilize. Emphasis is placed on allowing students to become experts in Excel.

DCIS 406 - Data Analytics

(3 cr.)This course introduces applied data mining techniques including data processing and a set of data analytics tools related to predictive modeling such as classification and regression trees, logistic regression, artificial neural networks and other techniques. Students will learn how to use these tools to provide practical solutions to problems faced by today’s businesses. They will gain knowledge on how to improve decision making by adopting data analytics approach.

DCIS 407 - Technology and Innovation Management

(3 cr.)This course’s objective is allow students to function as knowledgeable participants in the technology and innovation management decision-making of organizations. The emphasis is on achieving market and organizational excellence through dual attention to strategic and operational issues of technology and innovation management.

DCIS 408 - Business Information System

(3 cr.)This course aims at providing the students with an overall knowledge of business organizations and their structure. The unit will cover all the steps from business strategy to operational planning and financial systems. The internal processes of a business organization will be described with an emphasis on how they work together to achieve the financial and physical goals of the business.

DCIS 409 - Management of Service Operations

(3 cr.)This course aims to examine concepts, tools and techniques used in the management of service operations. The course focuses on how firms add value and compete with high quality and efficient services. The course also emphasizes the use of models for designing new services and improving the effectiveness of service processes. Studies the application of technology in the context of productivity, growth and the globalization of services are also tackled.

Human Resources Elective Courses

MGMT 402 - Human Resource Management

(3 cr.)This course introduces students to the management of human resources in organizations. Students are exposed to human resource management strategies and practices and how to apply them in all types and sizes of organizations in the global environment. This course nurtures an understanding of the entire human capital management cycle as a major strategic asset, including the process of acquiring, training, appraising, and compensating employees and attending to their labor relations, health and safety, and fairness concerns

EPLD 407 - Leadership in Organizations

(3 cr.)The focus of this course is to understand develop leadership in the context of organizations. Students will be able to identify and relate to the various theories and concepts of leadership and analyze the impact of effective leadership on organizational performance and growth.

HRMT 401 - Strategic Human Resource Management

(3 cr.)This course introduces students to the design and execution of human resource management strategies. This course has two central themes: (1) How to think systematically and strategically about aspects of managing the organization's human assets, and (2) What really needs to be done to implement these policies and to achieve competitive advantage.

HRMT 402 - Staffing

(3 cr.)This course seeks to develop the conceptual understanding and skills related to the design, development and evaluation of staffing strategies and techniques. Emphasis is placed on techniques and procedures; however, theoretical and empirical research will be covered in order to provide the student with an appreciation of the state-of-the-art in the field. Further, the linking of staffing activities to strategic organizational goals is an important theme.

HRMT 403 - Compensation and Benefits

(3 cr.)This course is intended to provide students a theoretical understanding of the methods and implications of compensation and hands-on experience designing a compensation plan. This course is designed to provide the skills needed to obtain employment as an entry-level compensation specialist in an organization.

HRMT 404 - Training and Development

(3 cr.)In this course, the student will learn how to identify training and development needs through needs assessments, analyze jobs and tasks to determine training and development objectives, create appropriate training objectives, design effective training and development programs using different techniques or methods, implement a variety a different training and development activities, and evaluate training and development programs.

HRMT 405 - International HR Management

(3 cr.)The objective of this course is to help students gain insight into and appreciation for the complexities and differences of operating a business in an international context of HRM. It explores the economic drivers of international business management, the strategic orientation of organizations in capturing these economic benefits, and the role of human resource management in ensuring that human capital can be functional and sustainable, even given the very dynamic context of international relations. This course will help students compare and contrast operations of domestic versus international businesses and how business practices need to be adapted to operate successfully in foreign markets.

HRMT 406 - Talent Management

(3 cr.)This course will examine the strategies and tools that human resource professionals use to create organizational excellence by identifying and retaining high quality talent. It will look at the creation of technological strategies to recruit talent and systems of personal/professional development to grow the organization. This course will also explore promotion and cross-functional systems that will strengthen the organization as well as retention strategies to promote and reward high quality talent. Students will engage in various activities intended to illustrate and practice the skills involved in implementing talent management systems.

HRMT 407 - HRM Challenges in the Middle East

(3 cr.)This course tackles contemporary issues and challenges facing human resource management professionals in the Middle East region. The course addresses potentially striking internal and external challenges that may face HR practitioners, including organizational culture and myopic CEOs, organizational structure, and short term strategizing but also external challenges relating to peculiarities of labor laws and socio-cultural norms and how they can affect HR practice.

HRMT 408 - Human Capital Analytics

(3 cr.)Leading companies are using Human Capital Analytics for workforce reporting and to help make better, more informed decisions about their human capital. There is a continuum of the value that analytics bring to an organization: basic data reporting, benchmarking and advanced reporting, survey analytics and predictive analytics. Organizations are looking for a Human Resource professional who can improve their impact on the business by using the latest analytical tools and techniques. This course will focus on developing a foundation in statistical techniques and data management using IBM-SPSS. The course will explore workforce reporting and the analytics traditionally used to improve decision-making.

Economics Elective Courses

ECON 401 - Intermediate Microeconomic Theory

(3 cr.)This intermediate microeconomics course builds on the principals learned in the introduction to microeconomic theory course and covers neo-classical economic theory, game theory, graphical analysis in the context of several simple models that approximate real-world economic dynamics, and quantitative optimization using calculus. These subjects and tools are intended to provide a foundation for students’ emphasis in economics and aids students in understanding the elements that enter rational and optimal decision-making.

ECON 402 - Intermediate Macroeconomic Theory

(3 cr.)This intermediate macroeconomics course builds on the principals learned in the introduction to macroeconomic theory course by focusing mostly on the standard topics of short-run macroeconomics, including income and employment determination, unemployment, inflation, exchange rates, balanced of payments, and monetary and fiscal policies. Furthermore, the course will apply these macro theories to current issues.

ECON 403 - International Economics

(3 cr.)International Economics is a course that covers essential economic concepts relating to the international economy and important developments in the global economy. The economic theory emphasized in the class will give the student a better understanding of the foundations for international trade. Understanding this material will allow students to relate the importance of trade to political and cultural relations.

ECON 404 - International Trade

(3 cr.)This course covers advanced topics in international trade, including classical comparative advantage, the theory of heterogeneous firms in trade, basics of trade policy, empirical work in international trade, and factor mobility.

ECON 405 - Financial Economics

(3 cr.)This course aims to introduce students to a variety of topics related to finance theory. Students will study about asset pricing. Asset pricing focuses on the individual asset valuation and investment problem. The asset pricing topics include: time value of money, risk, CAPM, and valuation of stocks, bonds, and options. Students will also study corporate finance. Corporate finance focuses on capital financing and investment from the perspective of corporations. The corporate finance topics we will cover include project finance and investment, structure of finance, agency costs, corporate governance, credit rationing, debt overhang, diversification, and asset collateralization.

ECON 406 - Econometrics

(3 cr.)This course is an introduction to econometrics and is designed to give students a working knowledge of the statistical techniques used to analyze real-world economic data.

ECON 407 - Financial Econometrics

(3 cr.)In this course, students will acquire the knowledge needed to manage financial time series data and the essentials of financial econometrics. Students will attain knowledge needed to develop models and analysis of business and financial time series. Students will accordingly learn to assess market risk, credit risk, and to study methods for calculating Value at Risk (VaR) and expected shortfall.

ECON 408 - Economic Growth

(3 cr.)This course examines contemporary theories of economic growth and empirically applies them to panels of present day developing and industrialized countries, and to the historical evolution of individual countries and groups of countries. Topics include inter alia neoclassical growth models, population and growth, the economics of ideas, endogenous growth models, institutions and growth, and political systems and growth.

ECON 409 - Cost Benefit Analysis

(3 cr.)This course will provide students with an understanding of the principles and practice of benefit cost analysis. Students will learn how to develop and apply benefit cost techniques to evaluate public policies and specific projects. Topics include standard benefit cost analysis techniques, long term discounting, analysis in the presence of uncertainty, sensitivity analysis, and distributional concerns.

ECON 410 - Micro-Econometrics

(3 cr.)This course seeks to deepen students’ understanding of basic econometric theory and applications, and to expand their knowledge to include more advanced theory and techniques designed to overcome problems frequently encountered in applied micro-econometric work. Specific topics to be covered, after a review of the basic OLS approach and assumptions, include: instrumental variables, estimating systems of equations, panel data models, maximum likelihood and generalized method of moments estimation, and discrete response models.

ECON 411 - Macro-Econometrics

(3 cr.)The objective of this course is to study econometrics as it is applied in modern macroeconomics. The focus is on time-series econometrics. Although there is some discussion of econometric theory, most of the emphasis is on applied time-series econometrics. The text book contains a large number of solved problems. The lectures discuss many of those examples in more detail, as well as present additional examples.

Marketing and Retail Elective Courses

MKTG 401 - Marketing Communications

(3 cr.)This course provides a comprehensive overview of promotion management and integrated marketing communications. In this course, students learn the importance of an effective Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) strategy to enhance brand equity and the necessity of integrating the various marketing communication messages, themes and tools within an organization.

MKTG 402 - Services Marketing

(3 cr.)This course provides a comprehensive overview of the characteristics of services and their marketing implications. Business school curricula have traditionally focused on the manufacturing sector of the economy. This course is designed to address the distinct needs and problems of service organizations in the area of Marketing. Topics include developing marketing strategies, creating value, pricing and promoting the service performance, and ensuring a positive customer experience

MKTG 403 - International Marketing

(3 cr.)This course provides an overview of the scope and challenge of international marketing. Other than the basic principles of marketing, students in this course are exposed to international marketing topics including the cultural environment of global markets, the dynamic environment of international trade, the importance of history and geography in designing international marketing strategies, the importance of understanding culture and cultural dynamics, the necessity of assessing global market opportunities, and developing and implementing a global marketing vision and strategies through effective international marketing research

MKTG 404 - Consumer Behavior

(3 cr.)This course focuses on the customer as the key to market success. Topics covered include the roles of a customer, market values a customer seeks, determinants of customer behavior, the customer’s mindset, customer decision-making, and customer-focused marketing.

MKTG 405 - Public Relations

(3 cr.)This course focuses on the communication between an individual or organization and the public to promote stakeholder acceptance and approval. Students explore traditional and emerging components of the public relations process through mass media, as well as the needs of different types of businesses, such as corporations, non-profit organizations, and government offices.

MKTG 406 - Marketing Research

(3 cr.)This course provides a thorough coverage of various marketing research tools along an applied orientation, including a systematic analysis of the steps comprising the marketing research process, starting with research problem definition and terminating with data collection, analysis, and presentation. Topics covered include qualitative methods for exploratory research design, descriptive research design, causal research design, questionnaire design, sampling design in addition to measuring and scaling.

MKTG 407 - Electronic Marketing

(3 cr.)This course provides a thorough coverage of electronic marketing development and its impact on marketing transactions and management of organizations. Topics covered include e-marketing as an economic and strategic approach; business to business and business to consumer e-marketing; management of an E-marketing project; and financial, legal, and security issues.

MKTG 408 - Retail Marketing

(3 cr.)This course aims to teach the students how to use marketing tools in the area of business, especially in retail companies. Methods such as gaining information through market research, marketing communications and tools like advertisement, sales promotion, direct marketing, PR are emphasized.

MKTG 409 - Retail Management

(3 cr.)This course is designed to familiarize students with the principles and decisions involved in operating a retail firm. The course focuses primarily on Business-to-Consumer decision areas including consumer service decisions and focus on decisions about ownership, location, layout, organization, personnel, merchandise control, pricing, sales promotion, traditional and e- commerce marketing strategies, and channel development considerations. Additionally, the course takes a strategic or managerial perspective of retailing.

MKTG 410 - Retailing and E- Commerce

(3 cr.)This course provides the student with a comprehensive view of retailing and an application of marketing concepts in a practical retail managerial environment. The course will analyze current multi-channel retail strategies among bricks-and-mortar and web-based firms. Retailing is changing today, and the successful business will know how to identify, adapt, and plan with the changes, without moving away from its core competencies. Issues such as the development of a retail format and its strategy, the analysis of a target market, demographic analysis related to site selection, retail personnel issues, and category management, buying, financial analysis, and pricing will be investigated.

Management and Entrepreneurship Elective Courses

MGMT 402 - Human Resource Management

MGMT 403 - International Management

(3 cr.)This course is an introduction to the principles of management in an international and fiercely competitive global environment. It provides an introduction to the management function in a global economy. Topics covered mobility and self-reinvention, and integration and differentiation in addition to cross-cultural diversity, complexity, and uncertainty. In other words, this course addresses the issue of successful management of people and operations in the international arena.

MGMT 404 - Contemporary Issues in Human Capital Management

(3 cr.)This course addresses contemporary issues in human resource management theories and practices in terms of their ability to have a positive impact on organizational results and encourage desired employee attitudes and behaviors. Main topics examined pertain to organizational culture, international HRM, diversity and work life balance, downsizing, employee participation, knowledge management, employment ethics, emotions at work, flexibility and workplace bullying.

MGMT 405 - Organizational Behavior

(3 cr.)This course provides a micro-level analysis of behavior of individuals and groups within their organizations, and the influence that the environment has on such behavior patterns. Accordingly, the course helps individuals understand the different roles people play in the business firm irrespective of functional affiliation and to gain an appreciation and understanding of the entangled interplay and interactions between people, structure, environment, and other organizational dimensions.

MGMT 406 - Managing Change and Innovation

(3 cr.)This course explores the importance of innovation to business success and considers current trends in technology, society, consumer expectations and the workforce. The course examines strategies for enabling innovation and overcoming obstacles to change. It presents the concept of a learning organization and links it to innovation through the facilitating role of transformational leadership.

EPLD 301 - Entrepreneurship

EPLD 405 - Small & Medium Enterprise Management

(3 cr.)This course provides emphasizes managerial problems under the realm of small business including personnel, capital, location, marketing, accounting and legal issues, among others. Analysis of such problems related to management, organization, and operational issues will be tackled.

EPLD 406 - New Business Venture

(3 cr.)The focus of this course is on the founding and development of new business organizations. Issues such as threats to survival of new firms, actions entrepreneurs may take to overcome them and successfully grow their venture, among others are tackled. The course also highlights key aspects related to new venture failures and success.

EPLD 407 - Leadership in Organizations

EPLD 408 - Leading Change

(3 cr.)This course examines the theoretical concepts and practices of leading change in organizational, community, social, and global contexts.

Finance Elective Courses

FINA 401 - Financial Markets and Institutions

(3 cr.)This course provides an introduction to the institutions, markets and securities that form the basis of modern financial and monetary systems. This course focuses on major financial markets, including the equity, money, bond, exchange rate and derivatives markets. The basics of financial instruments in these markets, such as bank bills, treasury bonds, futures and options are taught. Exposure to the tools of analyses and the roles and innovations of major financial institutions, e.g. the banks and non-banks, such as finance companies, building societies and credit unions, life and insurance companies and funds management companies.

FINA 402 - Risk Management

(3 cr.)This course focuses on risk management in financial institutions within the Basel accords requirements. The course emphasizes on the identification, measurement and management of risk at Financial Institutions. It includes an overview of Basel Accords along with capital requirements calculation taking into consideration market, credit and operational risk. Basic quantitative analysis along with some legal and accounting issues are also considered.

FINA 403 - Investment Management and Analysis

(3 cr.)This course focuses on financial theory and empirical evidence for making investment decisions. Topics include: portfolio theory; equilibrium models of security prices (including the capital asset pricing model and the arbitrage pricing theory); the empirical behavior of security prices; market efficiency; performance evaluation; and behavioral finance.

FINA 404 - Investment Valuation

(3 cr.)This course analyses companies from a fundamental perspective in order to derive an intrinsic value for stock. It covers topics related to fundamental analysis, determination of growth, discount cash flows models including dividend discount models, free cash flow models and residual income models; relative valuation models including price-earnings and price-book multiples; valuation of private companies, start-up companies, companies with negative earnings and mergers and acquisitions.

FINA 405 - Commercial Banking

(3 cr.)This course provides a comprehensive study of commercial banks and their role in the economy. The course emphasizes the practical application of business and economic principles as they relate to bank management and regulatory policy. Topics covered include banking history and regulation, consumer and commercial credit analysis, asset and liability management, risk management, loan policy, and money management services. Trends such as consolidation, on-line banking, internationalization, and project-line expansion are also addressed. The course also provides insights related to the history of banking, banking practices, laws in addition to an overview of role of Central bank as regulatory body and custodian of banking system in Lebanon.

FINA 406 - Financial Statements Analysis

(3 cr.)This course provides an overview of financial statements analysis concepts and techniques. Financial statement analysis is designed to meet the needs of individuals who have sufficient background in accounting and finance. The course focuses on teaching managers and business analysts the skills to be able to understand the complexities of financial statements, and untangle important information that is not visible to the untrained eye. Being able to ask for and understand the appropriate financial information is important for financial analysts and individuals seeking, or already in, management positions at all levels of organizations.

FINA 407 - Financial Modeling

(3 cr.)This course provides an overview of financial modeling concepts and techniques. The course deals with discrete time financial modelling of various financial assets, interest rates, exchange rates. It will deal with the hedging and valuation of financial products (derivative products), the modelling of yield curves and interest rate management. The emphasis will be on practical modelling, real world applications, conforming to market models used in the financial industry at the current time.

FINA 408 - Startup Financing

(3 cr.)This course enables students to understand how new ventures obtain and manage finance. It enables students to plan, execute, and monitor a financial plan for a new venture, no matter whether this is in the context of a new business or in an existing organization. This course covers the financial planning process; financial reports; sensitivity analysis; sources of finance; types of finance; innovation in the finance markets; applicability of different finances to entrepreneurship.

FINA 409 - Insurance Company Operations

(3 cr.)This course focuses on the study of management issues unique to insurance operations and companies from a functional perspective. The course covers the fundamentals of insurance company operations within the context of functional home and field office activities. The course also covers regulatory history and framework, as well as, Statutory/GAAP accounting and the various functional areas within the insurance operation.

FINA 410 - Islamic Finance

(3 cr.)Islamic finance is one of the fastest growing and most innovative financial disciplines in the international financial market. This course offers a clear and understandable examination of this dynamic area of finance. It will help students understand the fundamental principles underlying modern Islamic finance, as well as modern practices prevailing in this industry.

FINA 411 - Islamic Capital Markets

(3 cr.)This course will introduce students to important aspects of Islamic Capital markets, focusing on the relevance and importance of tradable securities, regulatory framework and Shariah principles that guide innovations in Islamic capital markets. Students will critically investigate the nature and types of securities in Islamic capital markets and examine the practical operations of issuance and trading of Islamic securities. They will also develop a working knowledge of the principles on which the Islamic financial markets operate and its application to the Islamic bond market, the Islamic equity market and Islamic financial instruments issued by corporations to raise capital.