Management & Leadership Certificates

Organizations use a variety of complex work teams to accomplish their objectives. Unfortunately, many organizational teams are not particularly effective. This course is designed to help students lead, participate and work effectively in a variety of team environments – including virtual teams and groups. Students will develop a greater understanding of group dynamics, of their own behavior in teams, and team leadership skills. The course is highly experiential and involves working in teams on graded and non-graded assignments. These assignments include team presentations and written and oral analysis.

This course explores the theory and practice of negotiating, with an emphasis on bargaining within an organizational context. It develops the knowledge of bargaining concepts and models, as well as skills to apply this knowledge in real-life negotiating situations. The course uses multiple negotiating case role plays to increase involvement and to deepen understanding of negotiating principles in face-to-face and virtual online negotiating environments.

This course develops a conceptual foundation based on theories of emotional intelligence and interpersonal dynamics as essential elements of the leadership role. It considers such topics as perception, personality and attitudes, interpersonal communication, and relationships. The course applies these models and concepts to behavior in the workplace, especially leadership and other managerial and organizational issues. It enhances emotional intelligence and interpersonal competence by developing key skills, such as active listening, assertive expression and conflict resolution.

This course approaches effective communication both as an essential professional skill and as an important function of management. It discusses the elements of communication (argumentation, structure, style, tone and visual appeal) and presents techniques for increasing one's effectiveness in each area. Students read, discuss and write about cases based on tasks that managers commonly face, such as explaining changes in policy, writing performance evaluations, analyzing survey results or other numerical data, and communicating with employees, shareholders, the press and the public. Methods include group work, oral presentations, several writing assignments and role playing. Drafting and revising and computerized word processing are stressed.

This course explores the theory and practice of negotiating, with an emphasis on bargaining within an organizational context. It develops the knowledge of bargaining concepts and models, as well as skills to apply this knowledge in real-life negotiating situations. The course uses multiple negotiating case role plays to increase involvement and to deepen understanding of negotiating principles in face-to-face and virtual online negotiating environments.

This course presents the specific concepts, systems and techniques for managing projects effectively. It leads students through a complete project life cycle, from requirements analysis and project definition to startup, reviews and phase-out. The role of the project manager as team leader is examined, together with important techniques for controlling project costs, schedules and performance. Lectures, case studies and group discussions are combined to develop skills needed by project managers in today's environment.

Teaches the fundamentals of management consulting. Students learn the basics of internal and career consulting as well as how to be good consumers of consulting services. Topics include the consulting process; project, team and client management; ethics of consulting; careers in consulting; and issues surrounding the use of consultants. Exploring the nature of consulting from the vantage points of both consultant and client, the course is designed for graduate students who may be interested in a consulting career, find themselves serving as an internal consultant, do occasional consulting outside their primary job, or need to hire or work with external consultants. Case studies and experiential exercises will be used extensively. Students will learn process of consulting through a hands-on, in-class consulting project with actual client.

This course addresses the knowledge, skills and attitudes leaders need to more fully employ all the resources of the increasingly diverse workforce. The course examines the dynamics of different social identities in the workplace, in the context of exploring how people who are different from each other can work together effectively. Investigates the impact of diversity on individuals, groups, teams, and the organization as a whole.

This course examines the multiple roles of ethical and responsible leadership and the challenges associated with leading organizations and teams in a rapidly changing environment. Through discussion, case analysis, and team-based experiential exercises; students explore the complex issues of responsibly leading and guiding organizations and teams in contemporary society. Focus is placed on the development of the student as evolving leader. Students assess individual strengths and weaknesses as a leader, identify and develop a range of leadership competencies, and then apply these leadership skills to a variety of situations.

Organizations use a variety of complex work teams to accomplish their objectives. Unfortunately, many organizational teams are not particularly effective. This course is designed to help students lead, participate and work effectively in a variety of team environments – including virtual teams and groups. Students will develop a greater understanding of group dynamics, of their own behavior in teams, and team leadership skills. The course is highly experiential and involves working in teams on graded and non-graded assignments. These assignments include team presentations and written and oral analysis.

This course seeks to improve participant awareness of change dynamics, including: the changing nature of change; understanding the enhanced change complexities in a global, virtual environment, readiness for a change versus continuous change; and the challenge of building change capacity (skills and capabilities). The course focus includes key individual, group and organization-level factors essential for informing leaders and followers as they navigate change efforts in organizations.

This course focuses on all aspects of starting a business: selecting promising ideas, initiating new ventures and obtaining initial financing. It concentrates on how ventures are begun, how venture ideas and other key ingredients for startups are derived, and how to evaluate new venture proposals. This course explores business plan development and legal and tax considerations.

In the increasingly complex and global marketplace, innovation is becoming a necessity for competitive strength and survival. Creativity and good ideas alone are not enough for success; they must be transformed into viable goods and services and offered to customers through innovative business models. This course focuses on strategies that leaders use for stimulating and implementing innovation in the workplace. It looks at innovation strategically at the level of the firm and industry. The innovation strategies of successful and unsuccessful firms are highlighted. The course covers topics such as sources of innovation, design thinking, disruptive innovation, business model innovation, first mover advantage/disadvantage, value innovation, and dominant design and standards battles. During the semester, the students will tour innovative companies, and hear from experts in the financing and valuation of small innovative firms.

This course focuses on the nature of creativity and the creative process. It discusses several definitions and theories of creativity, and applies these theories to enhance students' own creativity. Several techniques will students recognize and remove barriers to creative thinking. These techniques will be applied to develop creative approaches to business and marketing cases and students' own business and academic problems. While the focus of the class is on individual creativity, it will also discuss the pros and cons of team creativity and apply techniques to improve team efforts. Organizational creativity and implementing creative solutions will also be covered.