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Professor Zhang

Electives: Tailor Your MBA Experience Based on Your Career Goals

Our elective courses are a tool for you to focus your educational experience on your personal and professional goals. More than half of the Rady MBA curriculum is elective and our diverse range of electives deepens and enriches your education. Whether you focus on one of the core functional areas of business — perhaps marketing, finance, or operations — or emphasize electives critical for innovation, like new product development or new venture finance, or take advantage of Rady's hands-on learning electives like technology commercialization or venture capital management, Rady's electives provide you with the knowledge and skills critical for working in innovative and data-driven industries.

Elective Courses:

MGT 217 - Drug Discovery, Development, and Commercialization

This elective is designed to increase knowledge of the drug discovery, development, regulatory and commercialization process. Students will have an increased understanding of how an investigational agent eventually becomes an approved drug for patient use. Lectures and a student group project will be conducted for this elective.

MGT 217 - Strategic Cost Management

The course details the knowledge and analytical skills necessary to use accounting cost information as a basis for formulating and evaluating corporate strategies. Sessions focus on the principles of strategic positioning analysis, value chain analysis, and cost driver analysis.

MGT 239 - Topics in Accounting

Introduces advanced topics of special interest in accounting. May be repeated for a maximum of eight credits if the topics are substantially different. Instructional methods include face-to-face lectures, case presentations, assigned readings, and online group discussions.

MGT 416 - Readings in Management

Review and discussion of current research and literature on selected topics in business and management. Research paper and presentation required.

MGT 417 - Current Business Law Issues

Explores current issues in business law, emphasizing concerns faced by new companies. Students learn how the law regulates and shapes businesses; examine the legal role in business formations, operations, and dissolutions; and gain knowledge of contract and intellectual property law.

  • Letter grades only
  • Students may not earn credit for both MGT 417 and MGT 212. Also, students may not receive credit for both MGT 417 and MGT 219 with the course subtitle Current Business Law Issues.

MGT 419 - Global Business Intensive

Introduces advanced topics in global business, with a regional emphasis. Instructional methods include lectures, case presentations, readings, and discussions. A substantial portion of learning outcomes will be met by visiting businesses in another world region, observing operations, and interviewing executives. The visit to the foreign region will typically be one to two weeks and may occur outside the normal academic year.

MGT 420 - Negotiation

Examines methods of conflict resolution needed for effective management in a constantly changing business environment. Applies these tools to the broad spectrum of negotiation problems faced by the manager and professional. Includes simulations, role playing, and cases.

MGT 421 - CEO, the Board of Directors and Corporate Governance

Provides an understanding of relationships among shareholders, managers, and boards. Focuses on the office of the chief executive officer and on the board of directors, including the roles and responsibilities of directors, and the legal, economic, managerial, and psychological issues they confront.

MGT 422 - Creativity and Innovation

Focuses on fostering and maintaining creativity in entrepreneurial ventures and, more broadly, in general management. Reading materials, cases, classroom, and home exercises will help students understand and be able to use creativity in their own working lives.

MGT 425 - Opportunity and Business Model Analysis

Builds on core management courses and deals with identifying and assessing new technological and product opportunities. Assessment methods and frameworks will be introduced for technologies and opportunities. Various business models to profitably address market opportunities will also be discussed.

MGT 427 - Decision Analysis

Provides practical techniques to help structure decision problems and analyze them quantitatively. Techniques help thinking clearly about objectives, alternatives, consequences, and uncertainties, and enable logical judgments with other types of information.

MGT 429 - Topics in Corporate Governance

Introduces advanced topics of special interest in corporate governance. May be repeated for a maximum of eight credits if the topics are substantially different. Instructional methods include face-to-face lectures, case presentations, assigned readings, and online group discussions.

MGT 430 - Biotechnology Industry, Structure, and Strategy

Provides a business overview of the life science industry, its major market segments, financial structure, and financing strategies. Develops an understanding of major industry issues and strategies, including business development, financing, partnering and alliances, emerging trends, ethical and policy issues. Students may not earn credit for both MGT 430 and MGT 250. They are course equivalents. Prerequisites: MBA student or consent of instructor and department stamp.

MGT 439 - Topics in Organizational Behavior

Introduces advanced topics of special interest in management and organizational behavior. May be repeated for a maximum of eight credits if the topics are substantially different. Instructional methods include face-to-face lectures, case presentations, assigned readings, and online group discussions.

MGT 442 - Topics in Decision Sciences

Introduces advanced topics of special interest in management and decision sciences. May be repeated for a maximum of eight credits if the topics are substantially different. Instructional methods include face-to-face lectures, case presentations, assigned readings, and online group discussions.

MGT 443 - Topics in International Business

Introduces advanced topics of special interest in international business (e.g., global supply chain and the rise of Mexican maquiladoras; entrepreneurship in Russia). May be repeated for a maximum of eight credits if the topics are substantially different. Instructional methods include face-to-face lectures, case presentations, assigned readings, and online group discussions.

MGT 444 - Topics in Business Strategy

Advanced topics in business strategy. Instructional methods include face-to-face lecture sessions and case discussions.

MGT 445 - Regulation and Innovation

Addresses the complex role of regulation in business innovation. Includes legal issues such as how to structure a business, whether to seek intellectual property protection, when and how to raise capital or formulate exit strategies, how to make employment decisions.

MGT 449 - Topics in Operations and Technology

Introduces advanced topics of special interest in management and operations. May be repeated for a maximum of eight credits if the topics are substantially different. Instructional methods include face-to-face lectures, case presentations, assigned readings, and online group discussions.

MGT 450 - Project Management

Provides management concepts and tools to enable the more effective design, planning, and control of projects. Includes both the qualitative and quantitative aspects of project management.

MGT 451 - Technology Innovation and Strategy

Outlines tools for formulating and evaluating technology strategy. Includes an introduction to the economics of technical change, models of technological evolution, and models of organizational dynamics and innovation. Provides an understanding of how technology firms gain and sustain competitive advantage.

MGT 452 - New Product Development

Provides comprehensive analytical coverage of the new product development process, focusing on the basic tools, methods, and organizational structures used in new product development and management.

MGT 453 - Supply Chain Management

Describes the systems approach to managing the entire flow of information, materials, and services from raw materials suppliers through factories and warehouses to the end customer, which is the key to productivity and competitiveness of manufacturing and service enterprises.

MGT 459 - Topics in Innovation

Advanced topics in business innovation, delivered by lecture, case discussion, and online instruction.

MGT 463 - Projects in Technology Commercialization

This elective engages students in the process of commercializing technology through experiential learning. Students will gain an increased understanding of commercialization, including introducing a new product into the market, customer development, and market selection. Students will be required to incorporate the latest research methods for identifying customers, analyzing markets, and developing strategies for market entry and growth. Lectures and a student group project will be conducted.

  • Students may not earn credit for both MGT 463 and MGT 223. Also, students may not receive credit for both MGT 463 and MGT 221 Topics in Innovation course with the subtitle Projects in Technology Commercialization.

MGT 464 - Projects in Business Innovation

Students will use latest research in management, marketing, finance, strategy, and operations to analyze current business problems posed by real companies and will recommend to senior management strategies that resolve the problem(s) presented in the project. Students may not earn credit for both MGT464 and MGT224. Students may not receive credit for both MGT 224 and MGT 221 Topics in Innovation with the course subtitle Projects in Business Innovation.

MGT 475 - Research for Marketing Decisions

Methods and applications of qualitative and quantitative marketing research to solve substantive marketing problems. Emphasis on integrating problem formulation, research design, questionnaire construction, and sampling to yield the most valuable information, and on the proper use of statistical methods.

MGT 476 - Marketing Strategy

Addresses formulation and implementation of marketing strategy, based on an integrative view of competitive brand strategy over the product life cycle. Provides a framework for developing marketing strategies yielding sustainable competitive advantage based on customer, competitor, industry, and environmental analysis.

MGT 477 - Consumer Behavior

The course identifies the factors that influence the selection and usage of products and services. Students will be introduced to problems/decisions that include evaluating behavior; understanding the consumers’ decision process, and strategies to create desirable consumer behavior.

MGT 478 - Marketing Communications

This course differentiates decisions/principles considered when developing an overall communications and promotions strategy. Key decisions include the promotional mix, the design, implementation and evaluation of communications strategies, and the thinking required to develop a creative strategy.

MGT 479 - Pricing

This class covers issues in pricing decisions. The main emphasis will be on the data and tools required to make successful profitable pricing decisions.

MGT 485 - E-Commerce

E-Commerce is the online exchange of information leading to mutually beneficial transactions. Students will learn and apply skills related to business opportunity ideation and evaluation, customer and market research, sourcing, fulfillment, positioning, pricing, branding, storytelling, store design, user experience testing, website analytics, search engine optimization, social media, content marketing, digital advertising and online experimentation.

MGT 489 - Topics in Marketing

Introduces advanced topics of special interest in marketing. May be repeated for a maximum of eight credits if the topics are substantially different. Instructional methods include face-to-face lectures, case presentations, assigned readings, and online group discussions.

MGT 491 - Investments

Examines financial theory and empirical evidence useful for making investment decisions. Topics include: portfolio theory, equilibrium models of security prices, the empirical behavior of security prices, market efficiency, and fixed-income markets and behavioral finance.

MGT 492 - Financial Risk Management

Explains how to identify, measure, and analyze investment risks associated with interest rates, currency exchange, and equity markets, and acquire techniques to manage and control risk through the use of over-the-counter and exchange-traded derivatives.

MGT 495 - Topics in Finance

Advanced topics in finance. Instructional methods include face-to-face lectures and case discussions, as well as online instruction.

MGT 496A - Venture Capital Management I

Hands-on experience in venture investing. Direct involvement in all stages of managing Rady Venture Fund, including: applicant sourcing, initial analysis, due diligence, investment negotiation, portfolio monitoring.

  • IP grade awarded at end of quarter
  • Final grade assigned upon completion of MGT 289B.

MGT 496B - Venture Capital Management II

Provides hands-on experience in venture investing. Direct involvement in all stages of managing the Rady Venture Fund, including: sourcing applicants, performing initial analysis, due diligence, investment negotiation, monitoring of the portfolio. Students have substantial input into fund investment decisions.

MGT 497 - Advanced Management Research Practicum

Internship with approved business or governmental agency, allowing student to pursue topics raised in the management core and elective courses. Internship credit may not be applied to fulfill specific course requirements or to credits required for graduation. May be repeated with instructor consent.

MGT 499 - Individual Directed Study

Individual study or research under the direction of a selected faculty member.

MGTF 409 - Mergers, Acquisitions, and Corporate Restructuring

Explains the mergers and acquisitions process. Topics include: history, motivation, valuation, legal framework and tax issues of mergers and acquisitions, anti-takeover strategies, takeover tactics, leveraged buyouts, joint venture, and strategic alliances.

MGTF 410 - New Venture Finance

Focuses on the financing of new ventures and technological innovation. Includes perspectives of both the entrepreneur and the investor, investigating the venture capital process and methods of financial valuation useful in the venture capital industry and for other technology investments.

MGTF 432 - Portfolio Theory in Practice

Provides students with a deeper and broader understanding of risk-return analysis (especially, but not exclusively, mean-variance analysis) than is common among users. Surveys how risk-return analysis is used in practice, and examines the “Modern Portfolio Theory Industry” and its entrepreneurs.