PROGRAM CURRICULUM

Course description
More than ever before, the ability to understand and to be understood is of paramount importance for success in the corporate world. Communication in the broad sense is a major factor contributing to achieving a leading position in business. Expanding key managerial skills is emphasized through effective verbal and written communication, the ability to understand any communication from a strategic viewpoint and the efficient arrangement and presentation of information for various types of audience.

This course gives students the opportunity to develop and improve upon these skills.

Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• demonstrate effective presentation skills
• use relevant electronic business databases available through the library
• skillfully use the resources of myFranklin
• apply spreadsheet skills to analyze business data.

Course description
This course systematically explores the external environment in which businesses operate – legal & regulatory, macroeconomic, cultural, political, technological and natural. Additionally, the course will examine the critical opportunities and threats that arise from an analysis of external business conditions.Students will apply scenario planning to a selected industry and synthesize trends in the external environment in the presence of risk and uncertainty.

Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• analyze the environment of a business from the legal & regulatory, macroeconomic, cultural, political, technological and natural perspectives
• critically assess the business environment of an organization using selected strategic tools
• conduct an in-depth analysis of a specific component of the business environment and relate it to the student's own organization
• construct and present scenarios to synthesize business environment information.

Course description
In today's business world, success is often attributed more to the genius of a company's marketing efforts than to the genius of its products or services. A clear understanding of the importance of marketing, as well as a grasp of effective marketing practices, is essential for anyone who wishes to achieve a position of leadership.In the course, you will gain a working knowledge of both marketing theory and the practical application of innovative marketing strategies. Through detailed studies of consumer behavior, you will learn to understand how product, place, price and promotion overlap.

Outcomes:
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• formulate overall marketing strategy within the context of the organization's business, mission, and goals
• develop a compelling message to present
• analyze marketing opportunities relative to the competition and the environment using information gathering, measurement, and analysis
• create marketing strategies to position and differentiate products and brands
• develop marketing strategies in support of a product innovation introduction plan
• evaluate the key marketing elements on the basis of product/service and customer type.

Course description
Organizations are composed of groups of people who work together to achieve defined outcomes. Experience has proven time and again that the key factor which differentiates successful companies from those struggling to survive is in the people employed. While the Human Resources function is given the specific task of planning for and resolving many employee related issues and needs, individual managers have direct responsibility and accountability for motivating and leading employees to achieve sustained organizational success.

The purpose of this course is to provide you with the knowledge and skills needed to work effectively with Human Resources to enhance the contributions of all employees to achieve organizational effectiveness. You will become familiar with those elements which drive business success, theories of motivation, and methods for creating plans to maximize the human capital of an organization.

Outcomes:
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• examine the major drivers behind organizational effectiveness
• describe methods for enhancing human capital and employee motivation to ensure organizational success
• analyze the primary functions within Human Resources and how they interact within the organization
• evaluate strategies for collaborating with Human Resources to attract, develop, sustain and retain employees in a competitive marketplace
• develop a plan for collaborating with Human Resources to maximize the human capital of an organization.

Course description
This course surveys the fundamental concepts and methods of economic analysis for managers. Real world decision making is emphasised. Application of key economic concepts such as market demand, market supply, market equilibrium, marginal analysis, production, costs, revenue, profit and market structure constitute the core material of the course.

Quantitative spreadsheet-based tools, namely multiple regression analysis and linear programming, will be used to implement and make operational the core economic concepts.

Outcomes:
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• apply economic analysis and linear programming to optimally allocate scarce resources to meet managerial objectives
• estimate and analyze the market demand for a good or service using multiple regression analysis
• estimate and analyze firm-level production and cost functions using multiple regression analysis
• analyze the industry structure and company-level conduct to develop profit maximizing pricing and production strategies.

Course description
More than ever before, today's business is truly world-spanning. Globalization has opened the international marketplace to companies that were once merely regional or even local operations. The result is that the activities and knowledge of company managers is no longer sufficient and require updating.

This course is designed to equip you with the knowledge and decision making skills to perform effectively as
a leader within a company with global operations.
Course content covers multinational business strategies, from exporting to foreign direct investment, as well as economic, political, and cultural influences on the international marketplace.

Outcomes:
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• formulate a perspective about the internationalization of markets and economies
• evaluate the leadership and business challenges of managing people and organizations across borders
• communicate effectively in a global business environment
• conduct a comprehensive analysis of specific geographic locations in terms of setting up operations in the locale
• create an organizational strategy that synthesizes all requirements for doing business globally.

Course description
In today's business environment, the success of an organization depends on the effective and efficient management of operations, and the planning and execution of projects. Guided by these two objectives, you will learn how operations and project management skills help in contributing to the bottom line of an organization.

You will study methods used to select, plan, and execute projects, analyze and improve organizational processes, manage quality, make optimal capacity decisions in supply chains, develop production and inventory plans as well as schedules.

Outcomes:
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• select alternative projects among often competing objectives using multiple criteria decision-making techniques
• develop project plans including schedules and budgets using project management software
• control project performance using earned value analysis
• apply linear programming to operations management problems
• evaluate the impact of product and service design on operations
• analyze operational processes for further improve-ments
• apply quality management.and control concepts related to the innovation of business processes
• analyze an organization's supply chain
• formulate schedules for operational processes
• develop inventory management plans for items within an organizations inventory.

Course description
Effective leadership in today's complex and highly regulated business environment demands more than
a working knowledge of basic accounting practices. Managers must fully grasp sophisticated financial and managerial accounting concepts and be able to apply them with ease in handling day-to-day responsibilities. Managers must also be well versed in the intricacies of corporate governance and asset protection. In this course, students will develop a clear understanding of these critical functions and issues.

Students will study the foundational aspects of financial accounting, including professional structure, the interrelationships of financial statements, and multiple forms of financial analysis. The functional aspects of managerial accounting will also be covered, including planning, decision-making and performance evaluation.

Outcomes:
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• evaluate financial data utilizing various financial statement analysis techniques
• analyze the impact of corporate governance regulations
• compare managerial accounting strategic planning techniques
• assess managerial accounting decision-making techniques
• evaluate managerial accounting performance techniques

Module description
Financial decisions made at the higher levels of a business organization can have far-reaching effects. Intended to achieve firm operating goals and create shareholder value, they must be made judiciously, with a thorough understanding of all the factors involved. In this course, you will learn to apply the analytical techniques required for developing effective and workable financial solutions at the executive level.

You will gain an overall understanding of the workings of the Macedonian financial system. In addition, you will study the concepts of financial risk, return, and the valuation of bonds, and both common and preferred stock, cost of capital, capital budgeting, capital structure, and the evaluation of investment opportunities.

Outcomes:
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• apply time-value-of-money techniques to the valuation of bonds and both common and preferred stock
• take decisions on capital budgets; estimate the relevant cash flows and the appropriate discount rates in making capital budgeting decisions
• examine the factors that drive a company's need for external financing and for determining the optimal mix of debt and equity financing
• analyze the relationship between risk and return in the evaluation of investment opportunities.

Course description
One of the keys to success in today's organizations is the ability to develop, implement, and accurately evaluate effective business strategies.

In this course, you will integrate the knowledge you have gained from your prior MBA courses to develop and sharpen your skills for formulating, deploying and assessing an organization's strategy for achieving competitive advantage in the marketplace. This course will enable you to merge your knowledge of all of these individual disciplines into a comprehensive and meaningful whole.

Outcomes:
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• employ strategic concepts to analyze a chosen industry
• analyze the strategic effectiveness of an organization
• evaluate the implications of strategic decisions made by one business discipline on others and on the business as a whole
• synthesize tools and concepts from prior MBA courses by using an Internet-based business simulation
• Present a multi-year strategic plan to a group of interested stakeholders.