Catalog

Master of Science in Management

The School of Business and Management offers the Master of Science in Management degree. The Master of Science in Management (MSM) equips professionals in organizations with team and program management responsibilities with capabilities for globally managing people, projects, and sustainable systems. The degree program provides the systems thinking, knowledge management theories, and practical foundations to solve a wide variety of problems in the most complex organization. The program provides for broad study in functional areas of analysis of management systems with concentrated study in the emphasis areas of Project and Program Management, Operations Management, and Managing with Information Technology.

The MSM offers an articulated program with undergraduate Business Administration.  The qualified undergraduate business administration student applies in advance of the last semester of undergraduate work to begin study for the master's degree while completing the bachelor's degree.  The student is allowed to enroll in up to six units in selected graduate courses that fulfill undergraduate major requirements while also counting towards the master's degree.

Program Requirements

The 36-unit MS in Management degree requires the satisfactory completion of nine courses in the core curriculum including the Capstone Project and a three-course emphasis.

Foundation Courses (Effective Spring 2008

Units
  Statistics 3
Foundation course must be/have been completed with a grade of C or better.  

Core Courses

Units
SY200 Organizational and Management Theory 3
SY218 Systems Management 3
SY221 Business Systems Modeling 3
SY223 Sustainability: Local and Global Management 3
SY225 Decision Support: Forecasting and Optimization 3
SY231 Enterprise Information Management Systems 3
SY247 Enterprise Performance Management 3
SY281 Leadership Concepts 3
SY292 Project Systems Analysis (Capstone) 3
Core Total 27
Area of Emphasis 9
Total 36

AREAS OF EMPHASIS

 
 
The emphasis courses consist of nine additional graduate units in one or a combination of the following areas:

Project and Program Management

Units
SY253 Distribution and Supply Chain Management
3
SY257 Project Management
3
SY269 Global Management of Virtual Teams 3

Managing with Information Technology

Units
SY263 Managing Information Systems 3
SY267 Business Telecommunications: Data, Voice, Multimedia 3
SY269 Global Management of Virtual Teams 3

Operations Management

 
SY253 Distribution and Supply Chain Management 3
SY269 Global Management of Virtual Teams 3
SY280 Global Operations Management 3

General Emphasis

Units
Any three non-core courses; may include courses from other NDNU graduate programs selected in consultation with the student's academic advisor. 9

 

Course Descriptions

SY200 Organizational and Management Theory (3)
A systematic and experimental approach to the analysis of structural components of organizations as well as the behavior of people in them from private to public and nonprofit organizations. The purpose of the coure is to provide the student with a thorough understanding of management theories, contemporary management application issues, and organizational models as they relate to organizational culture and structure.

SY218 Systems Management (3)
Focuses on how to identify important system elements of a project, including how to clarify boundaries, relations, and dynamics of organization systems. Operations research, systems thinking, learning organization, strategic planning, organizational structure, systems dynamics, and sociotechnical design are considered. Partial online course.

SY221 Business Systems Modeling (3)
Focuses on how to design, model, and simulate systems to forecast behavior based on business and organizational strategies, policies, and procedures. Develops insight into the relationship of system structures such as queues, inventories, goal-seeking, and feedback process loops. Students practice techniques for working with client teams and create simulations of real systems. Partial online course. Cross-listed with BA206.

SY223 Sustainability: Local and Global Management (3)
Examines organizational conceptions of sustainability, strategic approaches to value creation and the challenges towards economic performance, social justice and environmental quality.  Sustainable development means leading change, dealing with the environmental consequences of products, processes, and operations from cradle to cradle, and improving every facet of the enterprise.  Partial online course.

SY225 Decision Support: Forecasting and Optimization (3)
Focuses on how to enrich project decision- making through project forecasting and organizational numeric outcomes. Operations research topics including probability and statistics of mean, forecasting, decision trees, linear programming solutions for network, project schedules, and resource optimization are studied. Through applied projects, students learn data selection, software tools, and information interpretation. Partial online course. Cross-listed with BA207.

SY231 Enterprise Information Management Systems (3)
Cross-listed with BA205.  See MBA listings for course description.

SY247 Enterprise Performance Management (3)
Focuses on managing corporate operational performance in real-time enterprise, using holistic practices aligned with business goals and strategy. Adaptive enterprise system process management and decision-making is emphasized. Coursework includes business case analysis with a Balanced Scorecard performance measurement system. Partial online course. Cross-listed with BA247.

SY253 Distribution and Supply Chain Management (3)
Focuses on how to manage operational resources throughout the supply chain using collaborative commerce strategies. Evaluation of resource capability and core competencies, as well as sourcing decision options including: purchase, in-house development, subcontracting, corporate partnerships, acquisitions, and mergers are emphasized. Business case analysis, performance management, integrated distribution systems, and electronic business applications are considered. Partial online course. Cross-listed with BA253.

SY257 Project Management (3)
Focuses on how to plan, organize and implement complex projects. Project initiation, planning, organizing, staffing, scheduling, monitoring and control, conflict management, cost effectiveness, quality, software tools for project management, team processes, and leadership styles are emphasized. Students implement a team project. Partial online course. Cross-listed with BA257.

SY261 Spatial Analysis for Policymakers (3)
Cross-listed with BA261 and PA261. See MPA listings for course description..

SY263 Managing Information Systems (3)
Focuses on how to evaluate, design, and select information systems that support an organization's knowledge management goals. Includes knowledge management, information system analysis, design, and implementation, selection criteria, current and advancing technology, strategic objectives, business processes, reengineering systems, database management systems, decision support, and data mining. Partial online course. Cross-listed with BA208.

SY267 Business Telecommunications: Data, Voice, Multimedia (3)
Focuses on how to research, evaluate, and select telecommunication technology and processes to manage complex, dynamic projects. Students review how to analyze, design, architect, and implement telecommunications systems. Current and advancing network technology, distributed processing, global communications, security, and legacy system reengineering are discussed. Partial online course. Cross-listed with BA210.

SY269 Global Management of Virtual Teams (3)
Focuses on how to organize and lead working groups separated by time, distance, or organizational affiliation. Evaluation of collaboration tools, content management applications, and business process management solutions provide a technology framework. Development of collaborative processes with enabling technologies to support departmental and cross-functional teams for intra-company scenarios, as well as intercompany teams in a value chain that forms a virtual enterprise is emphasized. Partial online course. Cross-listed with BA209.

SY280 Global Operations Management (3)
Cross-listed with BA280. See MBA listings for course description.

SY281 Leadership Concepts (3)

Cross-listed with PA280.  See MPA listings for course description.

SY292 Project Systems Analysis (Capstone) (3)
Prerequisites:
SY200, SY218, SY221, SY223, SY225, SY231, SY247, and SY281.
This course is used to integrate and apply the knowledge gained from previous courses with an emphasis on how to analyze and plan a project and how to select and use systems management methods and tools on a professional project. Project planning, analysis, and design, organization, project, and individual goals, processes, and performance data/information flow and system structure, and measurement of project quality and success are emphasized.

Admission Requirements

Students may enter the program at the beginning of any term and should meet the following requirements:

  • A bachelor's degree from an accredited institution
  • A cumulative grade- point average of 2.5 or better
  • Two academic and/or professional recommendations
  • Work experience preferred
  • A personal interview with the Program Directormay be required
  • The satisfactory completion of undergraduate coursework in physical/natural science, social science, and college-level algebra or above in math
  • International students should also refer to the general graduate admission requirements