The Master of Science in Management (MSM) Degree
The MSM Program
Who Should Enroll
The Requirements for the MSM Program
Foundation Courses
Core Courses
Concentration Courses
Description of Courses
Application Process
Mailing Information
The Master of Science in Management (MSM) is a
specialized degree program that enhances
managerial decision-making in the areas of Human
Resources Management, Management Information Systems, and
Transportation/Supply Chain Management. The AACSB International recognizes the Master of Science in
Management (MSM) as a specialized graduate management
program.
Top
The
MSM Program
The
MSM degree program builds upon business and
technological linkages that prepare graduates to meet
the challenges of managing a technical and rapidly
changing global environment. The program includes major
concentrations in Human Resources Management (MSM),
Management Information Systems (MIS) and
Transportation/Supply Chain Management (T/SCM).
Human Resources Management (HRM)
The HRM concentration is intended for students
interested in pursuing a career in the HRM function of
organizations or for managers interested in
understanding how to effectively develop and manage
human resources.
Management Information Systems (MIS)
The MIS concentration provides relevant theoretical
study in the development of creative business solutions
through the management and application of information
systems.
Transportation/Supply Chain Management (T/SCM)
The T/SCM concentration addresses the need for
professional knowledge and skills relating to supply
chain management, transport systems, safety standards,
procurement and distribution.
Students with a variety of undergraduate majors are encouraged to apply. The program is designed to appeal to those who either currently work in industry or desire to affiliate with firms or organizations using cutting-edge tools to deliver their product or services. Students in the program could have a business related undergraduate degree and wish to study a particular area in greater depth, or have a non-business related degree with the personal or professional interests that would be enhanced by a high quality graduate program in management education.
The MSM program requires a
minimum of 36 semester-hours. There is no thesis
requirement. Students without an undergraduate
business-related degree will be required to take
appropriate foundation courses, which may extend the
requirements to 48 semester hours. Program requirements
normally include 18 hours of core courses, and 15-18
hours of courses in the major concentration. Students in
the MIS concentration are expected to have competency in
two programming languages such as Visual basic, Cobol,
C++ or Java.
Required courses for the MSM program will be taught on
the A&T Campus, mostly in the evenings.
ACCT - 708
Seminar in Financial Concepts
BUAD - 705 Methods in Business
Analysis
BUAD - 712 Foundation of Enterprise
Management
ECON - 706 Seminar in Economics
ACCT - 714
Managerial Accounting and Finance
BUAD - 713 Business Applications
Development
BUAD - 715 Quantitative Business
Analysis
BUAD - 716 Strategic Marketing
BUAD - 718 Management and Organization
Analysis
ECON - 608 Managerial Economics
Human Resources Management (HRM)
BUAD - 730 Human Resources Management
BUAD - 731 Staffing
BUAD - 732 Training and development
BUAD - 733 Compensation and Benefits
BUAD - 734 Employee Relations
BUAD - 735 Contemporary Issues in HRM
or
BUAD - 736 HRM Strategy
Management Information
Systems(MIS)
BUAD - 719 Information Systems
Planning & Design
BUAD - 740 Business Process Management &
the Digital Firm
BUAD - 742 Telecommunication Systems
Management
BUAD - 744 Enterprise Data Modeling
BUAD - 746 E-Business and E-Commerce
BUAD - 748 MIS Projects
Transportation/Supply Chain
Management (T/SCM)
TRAN - 701 Strategic Logistics Management
TRAN - 720 Analysis and Design of Supply
Chain Systems
TRAN - 725 Purchasing Materials Management
TRAN - 727 Global Supply Chain Management
TRAN - 730 Transportation Planning
Description of Courses
Foundation CoursesACCT-708. Seminar in Financial Concepts
The course will examine basic concepts and tools to provide integrative coverage of accounting and finance. Accounting topics include the interpretation, analysis and use of accounting information, including basic accounting procedures, budgeting, cost tracking and cost/profit analysis. Finance topics include concepts and techniques for planning and managing the acquisition and allocation of financial resources, including cost of capital, capital structure and capital budgeting. Coverage of these areas will be integrated by examining the basic contributions of each are to the decision processes for raising and allocating funds and the purposes they serve in assisting lenders and investors in assessing financial capacity and performance.
BUAD-705. Methods in Business Analysiss
This course focuses on building an understanding of mathematical analysis techniques necessary to solve complex business problems from a wide range of business areas, including inventory, customer service, sales, and quality management. Basic statistical concepts and statistical process improvement are covered. Students will use a variety of computer software packages including Microsoft Excel and SPSS.
BUAD-712. Foundation of Enterprise Management
This course provides an understanding of key themes related to successful enterprise management, and discussions of the interpersonal and intellectual skills necessary to contribute to a highly competitive and globalized business environment. Topics include the globalization of commerce, marketing and market systems, competitive strategy, perspectives on legal and ethical business conduct, information technology, and the elements of quality. Individual and team competencies are developed using materials that involve interpersonal skills, problem-solving, and case analysis.
ECON-706. Seminar in Economics
This course introduces basic microeconomic principles and their applications in business. Basic economic concepts, including marginal analysis of consumer and firm decisions, will be covered along with macroeconomic theories that support managers understanding of the global economic environment and the economic policies affecting that environment.
Core Courses
ACCT-714. Managerial Accounting and Finance
The course focuses on the role of management accounting information systems in planning, controlling, evaluating performance and decision-making. The course covers traditional and contemporary concepts and techniques of product and service costing, budgeting, and interpretation of internal reported information. Emphasis is also give to the application of concepts and decision tools for financial decision-making. Financial resources are essential for the survival of corporation. The course, therefore, will also cover the planning process, financial markets and instruments, how financial resources are acquired and allocated, and how decisions in finance may affect non-financial areas. The course will use case studies and computer-based analysis for an integrative application of finance and managerial accounting concepts. Prerequisites: ACCT 708.
BUAD-715 Business Application Development
This course focuses on the use of object-oriented programming to develop applications for business solutions. Topics include user-interface design, basic programming logic and techniques, database concepts, and database applications.
BUAD-715. Quantitative Business Analysis
This course familiarizes students with basic quantitative techniques for decision-making in all business functions. Specific topics will include data collection and presentation; basic descriptive statistics and probability; discrete and continuous probability distributions; confidence intervals; hypothesis testing; business forecasting; linear and multiple regression models; linear, integer, and nonlinear programming; and computer simulation. Emphasis will be on the application of these techniques for managerial decision-making. Prerequisites: ACCT 708, BUAD 705, BUAD 712 and ECON 706.
BUAD–716. Strategic Marketing
This course provides in-depth examination of the role of marketing in strategic planning and decision-making. Students develop skills critical to directing business-unit marketing strategy and designing or reengineering a customer-driven organization. The course content emphasizes cases and readings. It also exposes students to emerging issues in marketing strategy including relationship marketing and e-commerce. Prerequisites: ACCT 708, BUAD 705, BUAD 712 and ECON 706.
BUAD–718. Management and Organization Analysis
This course is a study of formal organizations as rational, organic, open systems and their behavior in response to an ever-changing, global and domestic environment. It covers macro and micro theories of management and organizations and their application to organizational design and processes. Organizational effectiveness, strategic planning and control, structural designs, leadership, motivation, globalization, and corporate politics and culture are studied through extensive reading, case studies, exploratory research and seminar discussions. Prerequisites: ACCT 708, BUAD 705, BUAD 712 and ECON 706.
ECON–608. Managerial Economics
This course will apply economic principles to decision-making in management. The basic tools and methods of analysis are derived mainly from microeconomics. Additional tools discussed include statistical methods, operations research, financial analysis, and decision-making theory that are applied to managerial decision-making problems. Particular emphasis will be placed on demand analysis, forecasting, pricing and output decisions, cost-benefit analysis, present value analysis, cost-benefit analysis, capital budgeting, risk analysis, and decision making under uncertainty. Prerequisites: ACCT 708, BUAD 705, BUAD 712, ECON 706 and BUAD 715.
Concentration Courses:
Human Resources Management (HRM)BUAD–730. Human Resources Management
This course provides an overview of the design, administration and evaluation of the human resources function. It looks at conceptual issues, polices and practices used by organizations to attract, develop and retain human resources; and the role of human resources management in organizational effectiveness. Topics include an introduction to the activities of the human resource function: staffing, training and development, performance appraisal, compensation and benefits, employee relations, and legal environment of human environment of human resources management, and special issues and challenges in international human resources management. Theories relating to human motivation and behavior are discussed. Prerequisites: ACCT 708, BUAD 705, BUAD 712 and ECON 706.
BUAD–731. Staffing
This course looks at theory and application methods used in the recruitment and selection of employees. Course topics include job analysis, interviewing and testing methods, selection techniques, legal issues in recruitment and selection, internal and external selection processes including performance appraisal and management, staffing philosophies for international operations, and expatriate repatriation. Prerequisites: ACCT 708, BUAD 705, BUAD 712 and ECON 706.
BUAD–732. Training and Development
This course explores the theory and practice used for training and developing human resources in organizations. Course content includes identifying training needs, designing and implementation training programs to satisfy individual and organizational goals, and evaluating training program effectiveness. Workforce diversity, theories of organizational and individual learning, career development, change theory and training for international operations are also discussed. Prerequisites: BUAD 730.
BUAD–733. Compensation and Benefits
This course examines theory and practice in designing and managing compensation and benefit systems in organizations. Issues considered include compensation and benefit systems as vehicles for attracting, motivating, and retaining employees; designing individual and group incentive plans; structuring pension plans; determining wage levels and structures; legal issues and considerations in compensation and benefit administration; and expatriate compensation. Prerequisites: BUAD 730.
BUAD–734. Employee Relations
This course examines the policies and practices used to promote equitable treatment of employees. Topics include employee health and safety, employee communication, equal opportunity and affirmative action, workforce diversity, employee rights, conflict resolution, industrial relations, and international labor relations. Also includes legal aspects of employee relations. Prerequisites: BUAD 730.
BUAD–735. Contemporary Issues in HRM
This course considers important issues affecting the acquisition and utilization of human resources in a dynamic global environment. Topics vary and depend on the current HRM environment. Prerequisites: ACCT 708, BUAD 705, BUAD 712 and ECON 706.
BUAD–736. HRM Strategy
This course focuses on the formulation and implementation of human resources management strategies. Emphasis is placed on the strategic dimensions of recruitment, selection, development and retention of a workforce needed to accomplish organization strategic objectives. Prerequisites: ACCT 708, BUAD 705, BUAD 712 and ECON 706.
Management Information Systems (MIS)
BUAD–719. Information Systems Planning & Design
The course provides students with an understanding of the concepts of planning, analysis, design, and implementation of modern information systems and information architectures. Project planning and design issues will be discussed in terms of the traditional systems developmental lifecycle, business objects models, object oriented analysis and design, and process analysis. Students will use a variety of contemporary tools such as Unified Modeling Language (UML), Computer Aided Software Engineering (CASE), Business Process Management (BPM) and Project Management in their project work. Prerequisites: BUAD 713.
BUAD–740. Business Process Management & the Digital Firm
This is an applied course in information systems concepts and techniques used in business process management (BPM) in an e-business environment. Topics will include tools to assist BPM such as Six Sigma, Balanced Scorecard, Object Oriented analysis, Activity Decision Flow, Resource-Event-Agent and other contemporary continuous process improvement approaches. The implementation issues of organizational fit and innovation diffusion will be discussed along with security and ethics. Prerequisites: ACCT 708, BUAD 705, BUAD 712, BUAD 713, BUAD 719 and ECON 706.
BUAD–742. Telecommunication Systems Management
This course provides in-depth coverage of data communications applications and the management of telecommunications hardware and software. Emphasis is on analysis and design of networking applications, management of telecommunications networks, and evaluation of connectivity options. Topics to be covered include: telecommunications devices, media systems, network hardware and software, network configuration, network applications, cost-benefit analysis, topologies and reliability. Students will work with assembling and testing networks in a network laboratory. Prerequisites: ACCT 708, BUAD 705, BUAD 712 and ECON 706.
BUAD–744. Enterprise Data Modeling
The course is designed to teach new forms of information and data modeling, taking advantage of rich computer media and a variety of conceptual approaches such as Object Role Modeling, Unified Modeling Language, and Entity Relationship Modeling. The role of data modeling in subsequent activities of an Information Technology project will be explored including business intelligence and competitive intelligence. Students will translate conceptual models into workable logical and physical designs resulting in a database implementation. Prerequisites: BUAD 740 and BUAD 742.
BUAD–746. E-Business and E-Commerce
This course is a comprehensive overview of building and managing an e-business. Topics examined include: the decision to bring a business online, choosing a business model, developing a business plan, accepting payments, marketing strategies, and security. A complete web-based e-business storefront will be designed and developed based on a viable business model and marketing plan. Prerequisites: BUAD 740 and BUAD 742.
BUAD–748. MIS Projects
This course provides an in-depth practical application of the techniques used in the development of information technology-based solutions. Using current systems analysis and project management techniques, students will plan, design and implement a software project. Students may work in faculty-supervised teams with sponsoring business. Typical project deliverables include: analysis and evaluation of existing business processes, evaluation of alternative solutions, system functional and data design, interface design, and a project implementation plan. Prerequisites: BUAD 740, BUAD 742 and BUAD 744 or BUAD 746.
Transportation/Supply Chain Management (T/SCM)
TRAN–701. Strategic Logistics Management
This course is designed to introduce students to the critical role of logistics in the achievement of strategic objectives. This approach involves all activities associated with moving raw materials, inventory, and finished goods from the point of origin to the point of use or consumption. The course addresses logistics strategy, planning, customer service goals, transportation fundamentals and decision-making, transportation strategy, inventory and location strategies, organization and control.
TRAN–720. Analysis and Design of Supply Chain Systems
This logistics modeling course deals with modeling logistics forecasts to facilitate supply chain management, mode selection, distribution planning, facility location, network design and optimization, and routing and scheduling. Software will be used extensively to model logistics and supply chain applications.
TRAN–725. Purchasing Materials Management
This course focuses on purchasing as the integration of long-term materials planning with corporate strategic planning. It focuses on the increasingly strategic role of the purchasing professional in business organizations. Areas receiving special attention include collaborative participation in the identification and procurement of key material requirements, determination and application of supplier qualification and selection activities, implementation of supplier development programs, relationship building programs, and participation in supply chain development decisions.
TRAN–727. Global Supply Chain Management
This course addresses issues in global supply chain management. Some topics addressed are international sourcing, evaluating international suppliers, outsourcing, financial management issues, relationship management, information management, and selecting international carriers. The course relies on cases to understand and solve problems in global supply chain management.
TRAN–730. Transportation Planning
This course addresses the transportation planning process and related activities. Topics of special focus are modal classifications, data requirements, transportation demand analysis, and methods of evaluation (GIS, cost-benefit analysis, internal rate of return, payback period, etc). Others are multiple criteria evaluation method, post-project evaluation, finance, transportation demand management, and issues in intelligent transportation systems.
To apply for admission to the MSM in the School of Business and Economics, an applicant must hold a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university and has taken the GMAT within the last five years. In addition the applicant must submit:
1. The completed and signed
application for admission.
2. A $35.00 non-refundable fee.
3. A current resume.
4. Official college transcripts from all higher
education institutions.
5. An acceptable score on the GMAT sent directly from
Educational Testing Service (ETS). The Institutional
code for North carolina A&T State University is 5003.
6. TOEFL scores (required of all foreign applicants)
sent directly from ETS.
7. Three letters of recommendation.
8. Students claiming in-state residence must submit the
residence form.
Completed application packages for admission to the Fall semester must be submitted to the School of graduate Studies by July 1. Applications for admission in subsequent semesters should be submitted by November 1 and April 1 for the Spring and Summer semesters respectively.
Dr. Roger J. Gagnon
Director
Master of Science in Management Program
School of Business and Economics
Quiester Craig Hall, Room B413
North Carolina A&T State University
1601 East Market Street
Greensboro, North Carolina 27411
Phone: 336-256-2277 or 336-334-7656 ext. 6000
Fax: 336-256-2278
Email: MSM@NCAT.EDU
