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The global pharmaceutical industry is one of the most profitable and fastest growing industries in the world. While the industry is dominated by a few large firms, smaller biotech startups are competing aggressively with new product development and management issues governing the industry. In addition to examining how pharmaceutical companies respond to competitive pressures, we will explore the role of governmentregulation in the development process and the role of insurance as a demand driver. Topics were chosen to benefit those wishing to gain a general familiarity with a view to consulting, as well as those seeking to enter the industry. Opento undergrads with permission. Cross-listed as BIOS 424, HSMC 424, and MPHP 424.

What is the digital economy all about? How big is it, and what are its main features? Despite the dot-com debacle and subsequent stock market decline, there are some fundamental changes taking place in the economy, due to the Internet, that will affect business for many years to come. Among the topics discussed are the effects on productivity growth, structural change at the industry level and organizational change at the corporate level, the role of small business and entrepreneurship, the digital economy in Cleveland, and issues for public policy. Prereq: ECON 403 or MBAC 426.

This course is designed to help students to identify, evaluate, and obtain control over technology opportunities that they can successfully exploit by starting new companies. The course focuses on four themes: (1) the source, discovery, and evaluation of technological opportunities, (2) the process of organizing innovation to produce new technology that satisfies the needs of customers, (3) the different mechanisms available to appropriate the returns from the exploitation of technological opportunities, and (4) the differences between opportunities and approaches that are valuable and sustainable for independent entrepreneurs and large firms. Students taking this course may not receive credit for both ECON 464 and ENTP 441.

This course deals with the causes and effects of international trade and investment. Its coverage includes the global and regional commercial agreements and institutions that affect the international business environment. The European Union, the North American Free Trade Agreement, and the World Trade Organization are treated extensively.Prereq: ECON 403 or MBAC 426.

This course deals with the fundamentals of business activities that cross national boundaries. It focuses on not only exports and imports, but all other issues, such as foreign direct investment, international technology transfer, organizational structure, and financial management, that required a corporate strategy in establishing and maintaining global competitiveness. It covers the basic international business activities within an interdisciplinary framework, drawing fromeconomics, finance, accounting, marketing, organizational behavior, political science, and history. Its aim is not onlyto enable an understanding of such technical issues as how the effects of tariffs and quotas differ or how foreign exchange rates are determined, but also to provide a systemic view of how government policies and corporate strategies interact in changing the environment of international business. The basic premise of the course is that to formulate successful global corporate strategies, we must comprehend and cope with the political, cultural, and economic environment of international business.

Examines information technology issues facing senior information management, including the role of information technology in supporting organization strategy: relationships with other senior managers and with end users; technology and applications architectures; funding information technology; managing in distributed technology environments; managing a global information technology activity; technology forecasting; and operational issues such as staffing and procurement.

Knowledge management has emerged as an important managementpractice in organizations and many firms use advanced information technology to support effective knowledge creation and sharing. This course covers technical, behavioral, and organizational bases for effective management of knowledge in organizations. Topics that are covered include: knowledge management systems, knowledge creation, knowledge transfer, communities of practice, managing mobilized knowledge, knowledge management and corporate strategy, and knowledge management in multination corporations.Prereq: MIDS 409, MBAC 423.

This course focuses on concepts and practices of business-to-business marketing of products and services. It also examines how rapid technological change impacts industrial markets. Topics covered include: buyer-seller relationship building, competitive bidding, developing markets for new materials and value-based pricing strategies. Marketing to the government, marketing of intellectual property and marketing-R&D-manufacturing interface issues will also be explored.

This course seeks to equip students with the skills and factual information they need to create viable businesses in the face of such dynamism and uncertainty. We will develop skills to assess the viability of technology-based opportunities. We will also examine the elements of strategic analysis and positioning for competitive advantage in dynamic markets. Finally, we explore how entrepreneurs can create and structure the internal resources of the firm in order to exploit market opportunities and grow. While technology-based entrepreneurs often focus on technology and product-related issues, lack of attention to the creation, organization, and protection of internal resources can be a key inhibitor of growth. Prereq: May not receive credit for ENTP 441 and ECON 464.

(See ACCT 306.)

The digital economy reshapes the way we manage and do business. For example, companies like Amazon and e-bay have changed some industries, and Dell, Cisco, and Wal-Mart owe their success to innovative uses of e-business solutions. Nowadays, e-business pervades every industry. Harnessing the latest technologies to support it is not optional but a necessity for all--from established industry leaders to small startups. Managers must understand how to apply, integrate, and take advantage of these technologies to attain and sustain competitive advantage and how to develop successful business models around them. Successful companies have implemented e-business strategies with innovative business models to build cutting-edge enterprises that serve and retain customers, manage suppliers, and integrate business processes better than ever before. Others, unfortunately, are lured into ill-fated adventures with bleeding-edge technologies by the ongoing flood of hot buzzwords and fads. This course aims to provide you with the ability to make the right choices in creating value and wealth by identifying the fundamental design principles for building successful e-business models and solutions.

Pervasive digital services and mobile computing applications, and intelligent and ubiquitous computing environments will change the landscape of organizational computing and business applications in the next decade. They will also change how we work and how business is conducted. There are technological, business, and regulatory challenges that must be addressed in shifting organizational approaches and technological solutions to this new environment. The goal of this courseis to examine state-of-the art solutions to this new arena,explore business opportunities and analyze research themes and issues that are emerging in this new arena. The course is meant for Ph.D. students studying pervasive computing, advanced M.S.M. students who are interested in this new area, technologically savvy M.B.A. students who want to explore andexpand their knowledge in the leading edge technologies andfor students in the engineering school who want to study business applications of telecommunication and agent-based technologies.Prereq: MIDS 446 or consent of instructor.

Using a combination of lectures, cases, and hands-on projects, the course examines how the Internet influences all the key aspects of marketing, including marketing strategy, pricing, advertising, segmentation, marketing research, retailing, distribution channels, and international marketing. Additionally, the course will cover more Internet specific topics such as privacy, wireless web, sales force automation, and emarketplace models. The course incorporates both business-to-business and business-to-consumer outlooks.

This course addresses the entrepreneurial/intrapreneurial process of commercializing an idea for a market opportunity. Students select an opportunity and develop a deployable, one-year market entry program and a five-year strategic marketing program. Emphasis is on the entrepreneurial marketing decision process, including defining the business, defining the market, specifying customer perceived value, assessing competitive capability and advantage, identifying and properly using secondary and primary information, and deploying marketing programs throughout the organization and the supply chain. Prereq: MKMR 403 or MBAC 424.

This course provides an introduction to managing quality throughout the supply chains in both manufacturing and service organizations, utilizing the popular Six Sigma approach. The familiar DMAIC (define, measure, analyze, improve, control) problem solving approach will be emphasized. Students will learn the basic tools of quality (such as cause-and-effect diagrams for brainstorming), quality processes (such as benchmarking), and quality management including quality planning, quality control, and quality improvement. The course will include the subject of statistical process control, an integral component of Six Sigma.