Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular term. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the MyBU Student Portal for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

• QST ES 730: Leadership Communication
  Persuasion is an essential skill for business success. Whether the goal is to influence and motivate your colleagues, superiors, organization, clients, or broader stakeholders, the capacity to persuade diverse audiences is key to effective leadership. In this course, students will learn to create and deliver compelling, high-impact verbal and written communications that inspire action. Students will learn to: generate insights with meaningful conclusions and recommendations; apply the principles of logical reasoning to create a compelling narrative; develop their unique leadership style to connect authentically to the audience; express complex information clearly and concisely in writing and with visual aids; and master presentation delivery, including projecting power through body language. We will cover a range of situations, from communicating within an organization, to winning over the public in a time of crisis, to holding crucial conversations to resolve conflicts.
• QST ES 735: Team Coaching
  The ability to work with and develop teams is considered one of the most essential skill sets for the 21st century workplace. This course focuses the role of coaching on both an individual and team level in order to develop the skills needed to work effectively in teams. Course activities and learning objectives are integrated and aligned with other academic courses to deepen and enrich the MBA student learning experience by developing their abilities to coach each other in collaborative environments.
• QST ES 740: Leadership Communication
  Persuasion is an essential skill for business success. Whether the goal is to influence and motivate your colleagues, superiors, organization, clients, or broader stakeholders, the capacity to persuade diverse audiences is key to effective leadership. In this course, students will learn to create and deliver compelling, high-impact verbal and written communications that inspire action. Students will learn to: generate insights with meaningful conclusions and recommendations; apply the principles of logical reasoning to create a compelling narrative; develop their unique leadership style to connect authentically to the audience; express complex information clearly and concisely in writing and with visual aids; and master presentation delivery, including projecting power through body language. We will cover a range of situations, from communicating within an organization, to winning over the public in a time of crisis, to holding crucial conversations to resolve conflicts.
• QST ES 750: Leadership Through Collaboration
  LDRSHIP COLLAB
• QST ES 872: Entrepreneur's Communication Playbook
  Graduate Prerequisites: ES700, ES701,ES730, or ES740 - Persuasion pervades every crevice of successful entrepreneurial lives. This course will prepare entrepreneurs to consider their multiple constituents as they communicate a vision and build an enduring company. As a company-builder and innovator, your persuasion begins with a clarity of purpose. You must attract top talent, convince customers, get colleagues on board with your ideas, and persuade investors to fund your company. Thinking critically, challenging conventional wisdom, and communicating effectively are vital to your success.
• QST ES 898: Directed Study in Executive Skills
  Graduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor and the department chair - Graduate-level directed study in Executive Skills. 1, 2, or 3 cr. Application available on the Graduate Center website.
• QST FE 200: Principles of Finance
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: QST SM132; and QST AC221. Open only to non-Questrom students - Formerly SM104. Finance elective for Business minors. The course is designed to continue the student experiences from SM132 and AC221. The course will provide students with an overview of a broad range of financial topics including: personal financial decision making, corporate finance, firm valuation, portfolio management, risk and return, as well as a timely discussion of current events. Upon successful completion of the course students will understand how to navigate personal finances including car loans, student debt, mortgages, retirement planning, and stock and bond investments; become familiar with methods of firm valuation, including discounted cash flow and trading multiples; be introduced to portfolio management theories such as diversification, systematic risk and beta and how to understand the risk reward tradeoff.
• QST FE 323: Introduction to Corporate Finance
  Undergraduate Prerequisites, Questrom students only: QST AC221; MO221; QM221; QM222 or BA222; SM131; SM132; SM275 - Component of QST SM323, The Cross Functional Core. Introduces students to the themes of financial decision making: valuation and risk management. The focus is on the problems of forecasting, capital budgeting, working capital management, project risk management, and financing in a cross-functional context. A semester-long business-plan project explores the interaction between marketing, operations, management information systems, and finance decisions. The course compares the financial objectives of the manager and the investor. Introduction to the time value of money, securities valuation, portfolio diversification, and the cost of capital. 4 cr.
• QST FE 342: Money, Financial Markets, and Economic Activity
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: QST SM132 and sophomore standing - The financial system and its functions. The role of money and the importance of interest rates in determining economic activity; determinants of level of interest rates. Operation of central banks; the goals and instruments of monetary policy. The roles, activities, and risk management of financial institutions. Instruments traded in money and capital markets, and their valuation. Role of derivative securities; systemic risk and other contemporary issues in the financial system.
• QST FE 427: International Financial Management
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (QSTFE445 OR QSTFE449) - Managing financial risk in the global environment. Introduction to foreign exchange markets, spot, forward, futures, options and swaps, and to the international bond and money markets. Discussion of market structure and participants, and main financial instruments. Analyzes and discusses tools of currency risk management. 4 cr.
• QST FE 429: Futures, Options, and Financial Risk Management
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (QSTFE445) - Covers the theory of futures pricing and option pricing, and applies the theory to develop a framework for analyzing hedging and investment decisions using futures and options. Attention is paid to practical considerations in the use of these instruments, especially in financial risk management. 4 cr.
• QST FE 433: ESG Investing
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (QSTFE323) - The aim of this course is to analyze and illustrate what investors can do to grasp the environmental and social challenges (i) by redirecting financial flows towards projects supporting and strengthening sustainable development, as well as (ii) controlling and mitigating the ESG-related financial risks. This transformation of financial markets requires an understanding of (i) the assets available for financing sustainable development, (ii) the metrics currently used to estimate the ESG impact of investments, (iii) the practices adopted by the most sophisticated sustainable investors, and (iv) the supporting capacity of public institutions, such as central banks in particular.
• QST FE 445: Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (QSTFE323) - Required for Finance concentrators. Introduction to the investment management process. Defining investment objectives and constraints. Introduction to Modern Portfolio Theory, CAPM, APT, Efficient Markets, stock and bond valuation models. Introduction to forwards and swaps and their applications within investment strategies. Active vs. passive investment strategies, fundamental vs. technical analysis, trading practices, and performance evaluation. Introduction to the role of futures and options in hedging and speculation. Students are expected to become familiar with current events in the financial news.
• QST FE 449: Corporate Financial Management
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (QSTFE323) - Required for Finance concentrators. Covers the financial manager's role in obtaining and allocating funds. Includes topics such as cash budgeting, working capital analysis, dividend policy, capital investment analysis and debt policy as well as their associated risks. Valuation of companies, mergers and acquisitions, and bankruptcy are covered. The course requires using financial models and spreadsheets. Applications are made to current events and everyday business finance problems.
• QST FE 450: Private Equity: Leveraged Buyouts
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (QSTFE449) - Exposes students to, and demystifies, the world of Private Equity (PE). The focus is centered on LBOs and their position in the "alternative asset" class. Students learn about the activities of a PE firm including formation, fund- raising, investing (including deal structure, terms, due diligence, and governance), and exiting. Also discussed are what other industry sectors serve or are affected by PE and who the players are. Case study and class participation will be the primary modes of learning.
• QST FE 454: Investment Banking
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (QSTFE323) - Provides an overview of the economic functions provided by investment banks including a history of the industry, current events, and the difference between large, full service investment banks and smaller, boutique firms. Heavy emphasis on pro forma analysis and Initial Public Offering and M&A valuation techniques. Topics include: What do investment bankers do? What are the different types of analyses performed by investment bankers? What are the various types of financial securities? What is the underwriting process and how are securities priced? How are companies valued? How are potential synergies valued? The course will focus on the issuing process and pricing for equity, fixed income, and equity-linked securities. The course will also focus on the role of investment banks in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and other restructurings. Additional topics include equity research, capital markets industry regulations, as well as typical career paths and opportunities.
• QST FE 455: Financing New Ventures
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (QSTSM132, or QSTSI250, or QSTSI480, or COMFT591, or SHAHF307); Sophomore standing - Students will be expected to have mastered key finance concepts including financial statement analysis, NPV, IRR and basic option pricing theory prior to entering the course. Introduction to financing sources for start-up firms, including angel funding, venture capital financing, boot-strapping, debt and other sources. Focus on capital structure analysis, capitalization tables, payoff diagrams, term sheets, equity incentives, cash flow projections and negotiating with investors. Students are expected to prepare case studies for class discussion and become familiar with current events in the financial news about start-up company financings.
• QST FE 456: Fixed Income Analysis
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (QSTFE445) - Covers the analytic techniques used in fixed-income markets to value and measure risk on traditional fixed-rate bonds, floating-rate notes, bonds having embedded options (callable and putable bonds), structured notes, and interest rate derivatives used to manage bond portfolios (primarily interest rate swaps, caps, and floors). Extensive use is made of Excel spreadsheet analysis, including the development of a binomial term structure model to value securities. Focus is on the impact of counterparty and issuer credit risk in fixed-income valuation.
• QST FE 458: Equities and Securities Analysis
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (QSTFE323) - Students will be taught the fundamental skills in how to analyze a company and determine its suitability for investment. This course will teach the value-based approach to company analysis, which focuses on assessing a company's competitive advantage and its return profile. Key topics include competitive advantage, return on invested capital, financial modeling and financial statement analysis, and valuation.
• QST FE 460: Equity Analysis for Strategic Decision Making
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (QSTFE323) - This course is specifically designed to appeal to students who have a strong interest in both strategy and financial analysis. The focus of the class will be to bring financial analysis to the study of a company's strategy and learn how to analyze a company's financial statements to help evaluate the sustainability of a company's competitive advantage. This course utilizes that case-based approach in its teaching method and encourages active class participation.