MBA and M.S. in Finance Dual Degree Master’s Program

This course deals with interpretation of financial statements, evaluation of the alignment between business strategies and financial performance, identification of potential business risks, and comparison of the performance of different companies. The course introduces business analysis and valuation techniques and uses real data to help students comprehend financial statement analysis tools. 

This course serves as a second semester sequence in corporate finance. Students enrolling should have a mastery of the topics of covered in Managerial Finance I (EMT 623), including time value of money, capital budgeting, risk adjusted hurdle rates, managerial accounting, and ratio analysis. Among the topics covered in EMT 638 are: leverage on the balance sheet and weighted average cost of capital; bankruptcy, turnarounds, and recapitalizations; international currency hedging; stock options; private equity valuation; mergers and acquisitions; and the issuance of public and private securities.

Econometrics, literally “economic measurement,” is a branch of economics that attempts to quantify theoretical relationships. This course will have both theoretical and applied econometrics components. There will be a focus on using econometrics software in estimating econometrics models learned during the semester and interpreting the results.

Corporate financial management requires the ability to understand the past performance of the firm in accounting terms; while also being able to project the future economic consequences of the firm in financial terms. This course provides the requisite survey of accounting and finance methods and principles to allow technical executives to make effective decisions that maximize shareholder value.

This course takes a practical approach to managing investments. It covers a wide variety of investment vehicles, from pure equity and debt offerings to complex derivatives and options. Various investment strategies are presented which are focused on the different fundamental approaches and tactics used by leading investors to achieve their financial goals. The course also focuses on investment styles, including momentum, growth, income, distressed, asset allocation and vulture investing. Students participate in real-time simulation experiences to create viable portfolios of stocks, bonds and other investments, tracking their performance against the overall market and the class on a weekly basis.

This course covers the fundamentals of financial derivatives, including the basic properties and pricing of futures, options and swaps. It also explores trading and hedging strategies involving financial derivatives. Special topics, such as exotic options and credit derivatives, are explored. The course provides the foundation of financial derivatives and lays the ground for a rigorous risk management course and other advanced quantitative courses, such as stochastic finance.

This course addresses money flows and the cost of credit for major money market institutions, including banks, bank holding companies and the “shadow banking” system. It entails a broad survey of the structure and financial condition of the banking industry. The course provides a theoretical and practical understanding of why these markets exist and who the key players are, how the markets work, the rules governing their operation, and how they are evolving. We will spend considerable time in discussing regulation of the financial markets and financial services industry.

This course is designed to teach students the nature and availability of the financial data available at Stevens. The focus of the course will be on equity, futures, FX, options, swaps, CDS’s, interest rate swaps etc. They will learn to how use a Bloomberg terminal. As part of the course the students will be certified in the 4 areas that Bloomberg offers certification. We will cover the Thomson–Reuters Tick history data and basics of using this data. The course also introduces basics of applied statistics. Bloomberg terminal access will be required for any student taking the course on the web.

In this course the students will learn the basics of the open source programming language R. The language will be introduced using financial data and applications. Basic statistical knowledge is required to complete the course. The course is designed so that upon completion the students will be able to use R for assignments and research using data particularly in finance.

This course teaches the basics of SAS programming using financial data and applications. The course provides an introduction to programming, graphics and data analysis using SAS software. The course concentrates on fundamental components of SAS: data processing; managing SAS libraries; graphical and statistical procedures; and creating, formatting and exporting reports.

This course is a primer on Python (language syntax, data structures, basic data processing, Python functions, modules and classes). The remainder of the course covers open source Python tools relevant to solving financial programming problems. The lecture, supporting examples, and practical applications are intertwined. The content will be delivered in a fully equipped financial computing laboratory where the students are immersed in case studies of real life applications. There will be reading assignments of the corresponding chapters in the textbook and additional materials will be provided.

Applied Analytics is a capstone course for the analytic-focused MBA program. It is intended to integrate all previously taken coursed in the program by presenting a set of increasingly complex business problems. These problems can be solved through analytic skill taught in this and previous courses. In particular, the course is intended to reinforce the understanding of analysis as way to build models that can focus attention on parts of the system that can be improved through intervention. The early part of the course uses synthetic data and empirical data readily available for analysis. The second part of the course encourages students to state and solve their own problem, gathering their own data as a part of the analytic process.

Project success depends, largely, on the human side. Success in motivating project workers, organizing and leading project teams, communication and sharing information, and conflict resolution, are just a few areas that are critical for project success. However, being primarily technical people, many project managers tend to neglect these "soft" issues, assuming they are less important or that they should be addressed by direct functional managers. The purpose of this course is to increase awareness of project managers to the critical issues of managing people and to present some of the theories and practices of leading project workers and teams.

An interdisciplinary course which examines the elements of, and the framework for, developing and implementing organizational strategy and policy in competitive environments. The course analyzes management problems both from a technical-economic perspective and from a behavioral perspective. Topics treated include: assessment of organizational strengths and weaknesses, threats, and opportunities; sources of competitive advantage; organizational structure and strategic planning; and leadership, organizational development, and total quality management. The case method of instruction is used extensively in this course.

Executives make decisions every day in the face of uncertainty. The objective of this course is to help students understand how decisions are made, why they are often less than optimal, and how decision-making can be improved. This course will contrast how managers do make decisions with how they should make decisions, by thinking about how “rational” decision makers should act, by conducting in-class exercises and examining empirical evidence of how individuals do act (often erroneously) in managerial situations. The course will include statistical tools for decision-making, as well as treatment of the psychological factors involved in making decisions.

The study of marketing principles from the conceptual, analytical, and managerial points of view. Topics include: strategic planning, market segmentation, product life-cycle, new product development, advertising and selling, pricing, distribution, governmental, and other environmental influences as these factors relate to markets and the business structure.

Project success depends, largely, on the human side. Success in motivating project workers, organizing and leading project teams, communication and sharing information, and conflict resolution, are just a few areas that are critical for project success. However, being primarily technical people, many project managers tend to neglect these "soft" issues, assuming they are less important or that they should be addressed by direct functional managers. The purpose of this course is to increase awareness of project managers to the critical issues of managing people and to present some of the theories and practices of leading project workers and teams.

This course introduces students to fundamental soft skills, work techniques, and technologies employed by management consultants. Topics covered in this course include project scoping, creating statements of work, meeting facilitation, project planning, design of presentations and written reports, management briefs, and delivery of status reports. The course will improve students’ ability to present analyses of issues and organizational problems in a concise, accurate, clear and interesting manner from the perspective of a consultant. This course is designed to be taken prior to the experiential graduate courses in the School of Business, including MGT 809: Industry Capstone Project.

In this course students work on an industry project with a team of their peers under the supervision of a faculty advisor and industry mentor. Students will work on project tasks and manage client expectations while applying their disciplinary and technical knowledge to the project. In addition to the project-specific deliverables, students will produce a statement of work, present weekly project updates, and a final presentation and project report to management. This three-credit course is tied to the Industry Capstone Program in the School of Business. Students must first apply for a project before registering for this course.

Many managerial decisions - regardless of their functional orientation - are increasingly based on analysis using quantitative models from the discipline of management science. Management science tools, techniques and concepts (e.g., data, models, and software programs) have dramatically changed the way businesses operate in manufacturing, service operations, marketing, transportation, and finance. Business Analytics explores data-driven methods that are used to analyze and solve complex business problems. Students will acquire analytical skills in building, applying and evaluating various models with hands-on computer applications. Topics include descriptive statistics, time-series analysis, regression models, decision analysis, Monte Carlo simulation, and optimization models.