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Taught by Thunderbird's world-class faculty via our high-tech distance-learning platform, these courses prepare you with the skill set and mindset for success on a global scale. Learn more about the online Global MBA.


Core Curriculum

BC 4001 - Business and Managerial Communications (1.5)

This course focuses on effective management communication for personal and corporate leadership development and illustrates how core concepts of communication strategy inform the various channels of management. Students analyze the components of effective communication with regard to theme, audience, style, clarity, cross-cultural sensitivity, structure and organization in both oral and written forms. Its thematic approach includes leadership, ethics, mergers and acquisitions, e-commerce, public language and corporate culture, teaming, and project management.The course includes instruction on oral presentation, career management and interviewing techniques.

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GF 5490 - Global Management for the 21st Century (3.0)

An integrative capstone seminar led by a team of Thunderbird faculty. It examines issues related to management strategies, human resource management, services management, and the relationship to economic decision making.

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GM 4000 - Global Political Economy (3.0)

This course offers an introduction to the fundamentals of the international business environment and its three major aspects: (1) the institutional framework and policy management of international economic relations; (2) risk assessment and strategic analysis of nation-states; and (3) the operational and organizational concerns of the transnational enterprise. The purpose of the course is to provide the international manager with (a) an informed perspective on the institutions and policy processes that shape economic relations between international and national factors and among economic blocs as a foundation for further study in the Thunderbird program, and; (b) the substantive base and analytical tools necessary for acquiring an informed perspective.

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GM 4100 - Fundamentals of Accounting (1.5)

This course focuses on how economic events are reflected in a firm's financial statements including the balance sheet, the income statement, the statement of shareholders' equity, and the statement of cash flows. It also focuses on how financial statement information is used by various stakeholders such as shareholders, creditors, employees, and customers in making decisions with regard to the firm, including credit decisions and/or valuing a firm's equity securities. The political process in which constituents, such as the International Accounting Standards Board, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. Congress, corporate management, and public accounting firms, establish the allowable set of accounting methods -- known as generally accepted accounting principles or GAAP -- is also discussed in the course. Additional topics covered include the effect of alternative accounting methods on a firm's financial statements and the incentives corporate managers have in selecting specific methods within GAAP.

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GM 4101 - Financial Accounting (1.5)

This course focuses on the alternative generally accepted accounting practices (GAAP) available worldwide to value the various assets, liabilities, and shareholders' equity accounts found on corporate balance sheets. It also focuses on how those alternative GAAP impact the net income reported on the income statement and the cash flows from operations reported on the statement of cash flows. The course is designed for future managers whose primary involvement with accounting information is expected to be from a user or decision-making perspective. A unique feature of the course involves the construction of a three-year set of pro forma financial statements for a live company. Students are expected to demonstrate their cumulative knowledge from GM4100 and GM4101 in the development of this group project.

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GM 4102 - Managerial Decision Making (1.5)

This course covers the process of creating and using accounting information for long- and short-run decision making. Topics include cost allocations and their uses, cost behavior, relevant costs and decision making.

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GM 4201 - Finance Fundamentals (1.5)

The first module will focus on the building blocks and the basic theories of Finance. Topics addressed include: Present value (and Net Present Value) concepts; the basics of stock and bond valuation (including the NPVGO model); capital budgeting (various tools of capital budgeting and derivation of cash flow for capital budgeting); portfolio theory; capital structure theory; financial forecasting and management of working capital.

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GM 4202 - Financial Management (1.5)

The second module of Finance picks up where the Fundamentals module leaves off. Topics covered include: extensions of asset pricing and capital structure theories (including agency/signaling issues and dividend policy); working capital management theories and implications of financial market efficiency; financial and real options (including implications for capital budgeting).

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GM 4203 - Global Financial Management (1.5)

The third module of Finance examines corporate finance issues from managerial and strategic perspectives and extends the concepts covered in the previous two modules to cross-border settings. Topics addressed include cross-border capital budgeting; foreign exchange risk management (including currency swaps); domestic and cross-border corporate valuation; corporate valuation in high-growth/high technology/dotcom settings).

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GM 4210 - Global Economics (1.5)

This course investigates the nature of international financial markets; balance of payments; foreign exchange markets and hedging instruments; alternative international monetary arrangements and institutions; and the respective adjustment mechanisms in response to fiscal and monetary policy changes.

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GM 4300 - Data Analysis (3.0)

This course concentrates on a number of commonly applied quantitative tools in everyday business which can be used to improve the quality of managerial decisions. Topics covered include descriptive statistics, basic probability, confidence interval, simulation, sampling, hypothesis testing, experimental design, regression analysis, and linear programming. Different managerial applications of these probabilistic, as well as deterministic, techniques in a variety of business areas will be demonstrated. Using Microsoft Excel, SPSS, @Risk, and LINDO computer packages is emphasized throughout the course.

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GM 4319 - Global Operations Management (1.5)

This course provides an overview of the design, control, and improvement of manufacturing and service productions systems. Topics include operations strategy, product design and process selection, quality management and statistical process control, materials requirements planning, lean thinking, theory of constraints, service delivery and service quality and global supply chain management.

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GM 4402 - Global Enterprise (1.5)

This course focuses on the many aspects of creating and growing a global venture. The concepts of going to market, competitive sustainability, and building a company to last are discussed along with the aspects and characteristics of global entrepreneurs and the opportunity analysis are discussed in both an individual and corporate setting as are global ethics, citizenship and intrapreneurship (corporate venturing).

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GM 4450 - Global Business Leadership for the 21st Century (3.0)

Foundations for Global Business Leadership serves as an introduction to the Global MBA On-Demand program. As such, we will examine the changing international business environment. Our goal is to begin the program's process of understanding the dynamics of the global political economy, examining its effects at the firm level, and identifying skills managers need to function effectively in this environment.

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GM 4464 - Competing Through People (1.5)

This course explores the mix of organizational practices and people that can be the basis of sustainable competitive advantage in the contemporary global business environment. Topics covered include cross-cultural issues in managing people, traditional and emerging models of organizations, organizational culture, leadership, employee skills and motivation, reward systems and change management.

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GM 4468 - Competitive Strategy (1.5)

This foundation course in strategy covers a range of core concepts and analytical techniques relating to competitive advantage in global organizations. It deals with both classical and contemporary issues of importance such as industry analysis, core competence of organizations, top management teams and corporate governance, product/market scope decisions, and value chain analysis. The emphasis is on the application analytical tools and frameworks to understand complex strategy issues.

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GM 4505 - Global Marketing (3.0)

This course provides a managerial orientation to the topic of global marketing in today's complex, rapidly changing international business environment. A key focus is developing competitive advantage by creating customer value. Course participants will gain a fundamental understanding of marketing strategy and marketing analysis (i.e., customer competitor and company analysis) as well as an appreciation of the basic strategic issues involved in market segmentation, market targeting, and market positioning in the international arena. The major tactics/tools used by global marketers to facilitate the management of their international marketing plans (i.e., product development, pricing strategies, marketing communications, distribution management) are also examined. Throughout the course, an emphasis is placed on developing skills for entering new markets and sustaining or growing current markets.

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GM-4600/4620/4640/4650 Regional Business Environment (3.0)

The Regional Business Environment courses deal  with the political and social context in which business activities take place. This includes consideration of eight factors that shape or reflect the operational realities of management and business, including: Patterns of historical development cover political, social and economic events and structures. Geographic environment involves human and economic geography, covering population and natural resource distributions, regional financial and trade centers, and transportation systems. Political environment includes government structure, state role, interest groups, political parties and the policy-making process. Cultural traditions cover religious traditions and socio-cultural
dimensions that have a direct impact on business operations. International environment includes regional organizations, regional political and economic trends, regional peace and conflicts, and the place of the region in the global system. For economic environment, economic policies, current economy patterns, and major industries are discussed. Under legal environment, major regional trade barriers, investment policies, and intellectual property protection issues are covered. There are also discussions on major current issues.

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GM 4800 - Cross Cultural Communication (1.5)

This dynamic and interactive course provides managers with an effective framework for achieving their goals in competitive global business settings. The course will assist students to prepare for and execute time-tested strategies for achieving communication competence with persons from different cultures. It will not only examine theories of culture and communication, but will also place students in an experiential situation to gain valuable skills for overcoming obstacles in global management environments. Through use of cases, multicultural team exercises, and simulations, this course will equip the global manager with tools to solve problems and take advantage of opportunities in a multicultural world.

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GM 4801 - Global Negotiations I (1.5)

This course will focus on the introduction of negotiating in the global context. students will participate in a variety of hands-on activities, such as scenario-driven discussions, case discussions, and student-to-student negotiation exercises.

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GM 4802 - Global Negotiations II (1.5)

This course will continue into the advanced skills of negotiating in the global context, with students participating in a variety of hands-on activities, such as scenario-driven discussions, case discussions, and student-to-student negotiation exercises.

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GM 5470 - Global Strategy (1.5)

This capstone course helps students understand the problems faced by, and the decisions made by, executive managers who have to balance the needs and desires of shareholders, customers, and employees with the requirements of local country mores and government regulations. It requires consolidation of skills and knowledge from a variety of disciplines including management, finance, marketing, and ethics. The course uses the case study approach supplemented by readings and lectures. The cases are directed toward evaluating the conflicting pressures that managers encounter, rather than a detailed analysis of a particular facet.

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GM 5486 - Global Leadership (1.5)

This course provides practical insights into those factors, both external and internal, which impact leadership effectiveness. Topics covered include the achievements of leaders, characteristics of leaders, leading across cultures, leading change and relationship between leaders and followers.

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