Prepare yourself for a career in the global marketplace with courses designed to give you a real-world education in the realities of global business.


Core Curriculum

In-Residence Seminar at Thunderbird

GM 6001 - Global Business Leadership for the 21st Century (3)

This seminar develops the concepts, framework and vision necessary to successfully manage a global enterprise. Key elements include the globalization of economic and political systems, as well as the globalization of business. Students are required to apply the distance interaction tools they will be using later in the program. Thunderbird faculty will lead this seminar.

Term 1

GM 6880 - Cross-Cultural Communication for International Managers (2)

This course provides an intellectual and experiential forum for developing the interpersonal-intercultural communication and interaction skills necessary for international managers. While learning to identify cultural aspects of verbal and nonverbal behavior of persons from different cultures and themselves, students come to recognize cultural differences that can cause difficulties in management situations.

BC 6000 - Business Communications for Executives (3)

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.

GM 6203 - Fundamentals of Macroeconomics (1.5)

This course is an introduction to the determination of national income, employment and the price level. Topics include Keynesian and Monetarist models of the economy; aggregate demand and supply; money and banking; fiscal, monetary and debt policy. This is a waivable course.

GM 6204 - Fundamentals of Microeconomics (1.5)

This course is an introduction to product and resource markets. Topics include supply and demand; price and output decisions under various market structures; elasticity; and governmental intervention and regulation. This is a waivable course.

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Term 2

GM 6000 - Global Political Economy (2)

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 twofold: (1) to provide the international manager with an informed perspective on the institutions and policy processes that shape economic relations between international and national actors and among economic blocs as a foundation for further study in the Thunderbird tripartite programs, and (2) to provide the international manager with the substantive base and analytical tools necessary for acquiring an informed perspective.

GM 6099 - Accounting Fundamentals (1.5)

This course introduces accrual accounting concepts including revenue recognition, matching and asset and liability valuation. Topics covered include the recognition and measurement of accounting events, the preparation and analysis of financial statements (balance sheet, income statement and statement of cash flows), the use of international financial statements and an introduction to inter-corporate investments.

GM 6101 - Financial Accounting (1.5)

This course covers the application of accounting models to the measurement of assets, liabilities and stock-holders' equity. Topics covered include marketable securities, receivable and inventory valuation, fixed and intangible assets, bonds, leases, dividends, stock buybacks, stock splits and foreign currency translation. The emphasis of the course is on the evaluation of corporate financial reporting policy and the usefulness of financial reports for decision making. U.S. and international accounting standards are covered.

GM 6210 - Fundamentals of Managerial Finance (2)

This course presents the basic principles and analytical techniques of financial management. Topics include financial analysis and planning; capital market theory; cost of capital and capital budgeting; dividend and capital structure theory; working capital management; and long-term financing decisions.

Interim

GM 6902 - International Business Interim (1)

This intensive course will be held in different locations worldwide. Each location will provide a seminar focused on a specific focus area. Students have the opportunity to meet with company managers and other experts in the field.

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Term 3

GM 6770 - International Negotiation and Bargaining (2)

This course examines the essentials of negotiation and bargaining processes with repeated exercises to develop these skills. The first half of the course is devoted to increasingly complex negotiations in small groups. During the second half, students assume negotiating positions on a variety of international issues that are currently being negotiated and present them before the entire class.

GM 6468 - Competing through 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.

GM 6464 - 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.

GM 6102 - Managerial Accounting (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.

GM 6143 - Profit Planning (1.5)

This course covers the role of accounting information in controlling domestic and foreign operations and strategic decision making. Topics include strategic cost analysis, management control systems, budgeting and control of foreign operations, including the effects of translation of foreign currencies on performance evaluation.

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Term 4

GM 6260 - Advanced Managerial Finance (3)

This course presents an advanced treatment of the theory and practice of financial decision making in the firm. Topics include efficient markets, portfolio theory, capital-market theory, capital-structure theory, the cost of capital, capital budgeting and dividend policy. Pedagogy involves lectures, textbook readings and case studies.

GM 6212 - International 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; the respective adjustment mechanisms in response to fiscal and monetary policy changes.

GM 6211 - International Trade (1.5)

This course investigates the nature of trade theory; commercial policy; and selected trade and finance problems of developing countries.

GM 6060 - Regional Business Environment in North America (2)

The Regional Business Environment course deals with the political and social context in which business activities take place in North America. This includes consideration of eight factors that shape or reflect the operational realities of management and business. The following topics are included in each RBE course: 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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Term 5

GM 6501 - Global Marketing Strategy (1.5)

This course focuses on developing competitive advantage by creating customer value. An understanding of customer relationships and their strategic implications is developed within the context of competitor and value-chain relationships. Emphasis is placed on: (1) developing an understanding of the analytical and managerial decision tools for creating competitive advantage, and (2) understanding the similarities and the differences in domestic and global marketing.

GM 6502 - Global Marketing Management (1.5)

This course focuses on marketing planning and implementation. It develops a practical knowledge of the marketing management system and its key components, including marketing planning, control and coordination, integrated marketing communications, product development, pricing and distribution channels. Emphasis is placed on developing skills for entering new markets and sustaining or growing current markets.

GM 6320 - Production and Operations Management (3)

This course investigates the quantitative and analytical tools and techniques used by modern operations managers. Though most often used in production areas, these concepts have become central to the service disciplines as well. Topics include capital budgeting, linear programming, forecasting, inventory models, quality control, scheduling, analysis of some queuing models, PERT, CPM and decision theory.

GM 6060 - Regional Business Environment in Latin America (2)

Same as Regional Business Environment in North America, except with a focus on Latin America.

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In-Residence Seminar at Thunderbird

GM 6900 - Latin American Business Leadership for the 21st Century (3)

An integrative capstone seminar led by Tecnologico de Monterrey faculty. It is intended to examine issues related to management strategies and human resource management. This course focuses on initiation planning, execution and control of complex projects in a global context. Some use of project management software (MS Project) will be integrated throughout the course. This class fulfills educational requirements for the Project Management Professional Certification exam.

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Waivable Courses: Microeconomics and Macroeconomics Candidates for the Global MBA will be reviewed for waivers based on the official transcripts (undergraduate and graduate) submitted during the application process.

For registration issues, or assistance with course information pertaining to any of the Global MBA for Latin American Managers courses offered by Thunderbird, contact:

Thunderbird Registrar's Office
Thunderbird School of Global Management
1 Global Place, Glendale, AZ 85306
USA

Phone: 602-978-7595
Fax: 602-978-5432
E-Mail: registrars@thunderbird.edu