Online MBA Course Previews

To better serve our distance students, we offer courses in a modular format. Our schedule consists of five eight-week terms per year. Each course is three semester hours of credit. Students typically take one or two courses per term.

Click on a course name below to view more information about a course. You will find an official course catalog description of the course, more information about individual professors, and a syllabus from a recent semester.

Core Requirement Courses

GRBA 808 - Introduction to Business Strategy

Catalog Description

Improve the student's ability to think strategically and to provide an intellectual framework that enhances understanding of the MBA program. Making sense of corporate complexity and market uncertainty to derive a competitive firm strategy; why firms choose to compete in certain businesses; which business strategies are successful in which environments; and how firms can change in response to dynamic environments. An overarching model for strategic formulation and implementation is developed to facilitate an integrated understanding of the courses that comprise the MBA curriculum. Readings and lectures illustrate strategic management theories and frameworks while case discussions and projects provide opportunities for application.

Taught By

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Studio Portrait of Brandi McManus Dr. Brandi McManus

GRBA 809 - Financial Accounting

Catalog Description

Basics of financial accounting and reporting. The construction of financial statements and their interpretation for internal and external users of financial information.

Taught By

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Studio Portrait of Ling Lin Harris Dr. Ling Lin Harris

Studio Portrait of Tony Kang Dr. Tony Kang

GRBA 811 - Managerial Finance

Catalog Description

A case course designed to meet the financial core requirement in the MBA program. Application of financial theory to business problems. Financial statement analysis, working capital management, capital structure planning, cost of capital, and capital expenditure analysis.

Taught By

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Studio Portrait of Emre Unlu Dr. Emre Unlu

GRBA 812 - Managerial Economics

Catalog Description

Applies economics to problems faced by managers in both the private and public sector. Consideration is given to the impact of the economic environment on decisions made by the firm including the effects of legal, regulatory and social constraints. Internal allocation of resources in organizations from an economic perspective. Economic tools that aid managers, including statistical analysis, are applied to practical decisions.

Taught By

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Studio Portrait of Geoffrey Friesen Dr. Geoffrey C. Friesen

Red Nebraska Business Logo Dr. Julian Atanassov

GRBA 813 - Managerial Marketing

Catalog Description

Mixture of case discussions, readings, lectures, plus written and oral assignments. Development of analytical and decision making skills, and an understanding of the market forces which influence those decisions. Major emphasis on the decision areas of product, distribution, personal selling, advertising and pricing, as well as on the development of integrated marketing programs. Social, ethical, and global issues.

Taught By

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Studio Portrait of Amit Saini Dr. Amit Saini

Studio Portrait of Sunil Singh Dr. Sunil K. Singh

GRBA 814 - Applied Organizational Behavior

Catalog Description

Critical behavioral science theories that contribute to the effective management of human behavior in organizations. Conceptual frameworks that help diagnose and explain the potential for common interpersonal problems. These models serve as the foundation for student efforts to develop behavioral skills and intervention techniques that promote effective individual and team activity leading to positive managerial experiences. Communication, power and influence, conflict management, and perception.

Taught By

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Studio Portrait of Elina Ibrayeva Dr. Elina Ibrayeva

GRBA 815 - Supply Chain Management Strategies

Catalog Description

Strategic implications for the management and coordination of supply chains, including both internal and external operations and the information systems necessary for support. Relationships between operations and information systems and other functional areas of organizations, e.g., accounting, marketing, finance, and engineering/R&D are evaluated, along with relationships with other organizations in the supply chain, are emphasized.

Taught By

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Studio Portrait of Scott Swenseth Dr. Scott R. Swenseth

GRBA 816 - Strategic Human Resource Management

Catalog Description

Development of an understanding of how human resource decisions, strategies, and practices contribute to business performance and a firm's competitive advantage. The Approach to human resource management from a strategic perspective, as it focuses on the relationship between HRM practices and business performance. A general management perspective by focusing on the role of managers and how they can execute effective and ethical human resource practices that support strategic objectives.

Taught By

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Studio Portrait of Jenna Pieper Dr. Jenna R. Pieper

GRBA 851 - Business Analytics

Catalog Description

Broad understanding and knowledge of important business analytic topics and how they can be used to support decision making in all business areas, government, education, and agriculture. Emphasis will be placed on the technical procedures that are used to describe, predict and prescribe data into information for decision making. Students will learn how data exploration results in a sequence of descriptive, predictive and prescriptive processes to result in unique and new information on which decisions can be made.

Taught By

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Studio Portrait of Peter Zhu Dr. Yunxia (Peter) Zhu

Studio Portrait of Wesley Boyce Dr. Wesley S. Boyce

GRBA 853 - Strategic Management and Business Policy

Catalog Description

Development and implementation of corporate strategies and policies. Interrelationships between the external and internal environments of the organization (including functional areas) are stressed through identification, analysis, and implementation of solutions to strategic situations facing varying types of organizations. Policy cases, live cases/industry analyses, and an executive-level simulation game. Bridging the gap between management theory and practice.

Taught By

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Studio Portrait of Tawnya Means Dr. Tawnya Means

Studio Portrait of Laura Poppo Dr. Laura Poppo

Elective Courses

ACCT 858 - Advanced Managerial Accounting

Catalog Description

Seminar in Managerial Accounting

Taught By

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Red Nebraska Business Logo Dr. Marjorie Shelley

ECON 817 - Introductory Econometrics

Catalog Description

Designed to give undergraduate and master's level economics students an introduction to basic econometric methods including economic model estimation and analyses of economic data. Hypothesis formulation and testing, economic prediction and problems in analyzing economic cross-section and time series data are considered.

Taught By

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Studio Portrait of James Schmidt Dr. James Schmidt

ECON 822 - International Finance

Catalog Description

Determinants of exchange rates, international payments, inflation, unemployment, national income, and interest rates in an open economy. International monetary system and capital and financial markets, and of the mechanisms by which a national economy and the rest of the world adjust to external disturbances.

Taught By

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Studio Portrait of Uche Jarrett Dr. Uchechukwu Jarrett

FINA 801 - Quantitative Methods for Finance

Catalog Description

Practical use of statistical and quantitative methods that have wide applicability in business and financial decision making.

Taught By

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Studio Portrait of Roberto Stein Dr. Roberto Stein

FINA 802 - Fixed Income Analysis

Catalog Description

Basic understanding of fixed-income markets, fixed-income securities, and tools employed by market participants to the analysis of fixed-income investments.

Taught By

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Studio Portrait of Stas Nikolova Dr. Stanislava (Stas) Nikolova

FINA 803 - Case Studies in Financial Management

Catalog Description

Development and implementation of financial strategies and policies. Cases will cover financial statement analysis, working capital management, capital structure planning, cost of capital, and capital expenditure analysis.

Taught By

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Studio Portrait of Roberto Stein Dr. Roberto Stein

FINA 804 - Portfolio Management II & Ethics

Catalog Description

Covers elements of the investment management process. Investment management process considers risk, return, and investment constraints. Ethical considerations of this investment management industry.

Taught By

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Studio Portrait of Richard DeFusco Dr. Richard A. DeFusco

FINA 850 - Multinational Financial Analysis

Catalog Description

International aspects of financial management. Exchange risk analysis and management. Accessing international capital markets. International capital budgeting. Numerical optimization technique.

Taught By

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Red Nebraska Business Logo Dr. John Geppert

FINA 855 - Capital Markets and Financial Institutions

Catalog Description

Analysis of the development and functions of the various financial institutions, with emphasis on the nonbank financial intermediary. Sources and uses of funds for each of the major types of intermediary, the nature and structure of financial markets, the behavior of financial institutions, and the theories of interest rate determination.

Taught By

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Studio Portrait of Emre Unlu Dr. Emri Unlu

FINA 862 - Security Valuation and the Buffett Investment Method

Catalog Description

This course covers methods used to value publicly-traded and private equities. Methods used by Warren Buffett are emphasized.

Taught By

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Studio Portrait of Shane Moser Dr. Shane Moser

FINA 863 - Portfolio Management

Catalog Description

The workings of securities markets. The fundamental intuition of the risk-return trade-off. The role of information in financial markets. All major asset pricing models and application to risk management in a portfolio context.

Taught By

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Studio Portrait of Richard DeFusco Dr. Richard A. DeFusco

FINA 867 - Options, Futures, & Derivative Securities

Catalog Description

The use of derivative securities in risk reduction and portfolio management strategies.

Taught By

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Studio Portrait of Richard DeFusco Dr. Richard A. DeFusco

FINA 871 - Nonprofit Financial Management

Catalog Description

Financial Management for the non profit firm examines the planning process for operating, capital expenditure, and cash budgets. This process includes long-term financial planning and the importance of capital structure and investment policies that are aligned to the organization's strategic objectives. All these topics build on the foundation of nonprofit accounting and nonprofit financial statements.

Taught By

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Dr. Jim Croft

GRBA 852 - International Business

Catalog Description

Reconsideration of marketing, management, accounting, and financial concepts within and between foreign environments. Understanding of alternative cultural, economic, and political systems which affect the operations of business firms. Attention to functional business decision making.

Taught By

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Studio Portrait of Brandi McManus Dr. Brandi McManus

Red Nebraska Business Logo Dr. John Kalu Osiri

GRBA 898 - Managerial Skills Seminar: Fundraising in the Nonprofit Organization

Catalog Description

Seminar in current topics in business. Topical issues such as diversity, ethics, leadership, business communication, etc. New topics announced prior to each term in which the course is being offered.

Taught By

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Dr. Jim Croft

GRBA 898 - Managerial Skills Seminar: Influential Communication

Catalog Description

Seminar in current topics in business. Topical issues such as diversity, ethics, leadership, business communication, etc. New topics announced prior to each term in which the course is being offered.

Taught By

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Red Nebraska Business Logo Elaine Pelletier

MNGT 811 - Leading People and Projects

Catalog Description

Organizations are complex systems calling for a leadership processes including the leader, the follower and the context to effect change. Students should emerge with an understanding of many of the basic concepts and generalizations about leadership, which relate to human behavior and interactions in organizations. Objectives and class activities focus on understanding how leaders function in organizations and on one's leadership operations in the organizational setting. Participants will utilize concepts, generalizations, theories and frames of reference to analyze organizations and leadership to understand and improve their functions. Topics covered include: Systems Theory and Organizational theory, the change process and the leadership process, roles in changing organizations, power and politics in organizations, congruence of individual and organizational ethics, and the behavioral concerns in project management.

Taught By

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Red Nebraska Business Logo Dr. James A. Yankech

MNGT 817 - Positivity for Managers

Catalog Description

This course aims to provide an overview of most recent developments in the fields of positive psychology, mindfulness, and positive organizational scholarship. The course will focus on proven positive psychology practices to develop skills to promote flourishing in yourself and those around you. Particular emphasis is placed on how positivity can be applied at an organizational level to improve leadership and employee engagement.

Taught By

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Studio Portrait of Elina Ibrayeva Dr. Elina Ibrayeva

MNGT 818 - Organizational Design for Competitive Advantage

Catalog Description

The process of developing organization designs to increase competitive advantage. Discuss live cases of organizations, evaluate how well their structures support the strategies the Top Management Team has devised, and the impact on overall organizational success.

Taught By

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Studio Portrait of Janet Near Dr. Janet P. Near

MNGT 819 - Strategies for Sustainability

Catalog Description

Provides an examination of the challenges affecting business as a consequence of the overuse of natural resources and our potential to do damage to the world's eco- and natural systems. Will examine these issues with an eye on how such challenges affect business in general, and some industries and sectors in particular.

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Studio Portrait of Jon O'Brien Dr. Jonathan P. O'Brien

ENTR 821 - Initiating and Managing Entrepreneurial Growth

Catalog Description

Focuses on the management of new firms, including small businesses designed to be lifestyle ventures and firms destined to grow. Exposure to variety of growth opportunities including franchising, organic growth and expansion of smaller businesses or units within larger firms. Teaches how to manage a new business and exploit an entrepreneurial opportunity and manage resources to sustain the firm once the business is running. Learn through a variety of hands-on methods designed to enhance their critical thinking and practical business skills. Case study analysis and exposure to thought leadership in the field are part of the core learning methods.

Taught By

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Studio Portrait of Samantha Fairclough Dr. Samantha Fairclough

ENTR 823 - Business Plan Development and Decision Making

Catalog Description

Takes an in-depth look at the business planning process. By the end of the class, students produce their own business plans. Learn through their own business plan writing, through in-depth cases studies, by engaging in role plays and by interacting with business executives. Business plans are a critical part of any organization, thus, preparing students to develop business plans for a variety of new concepts and ideas, whether inside an established firm or as part of the start-up new venture. Students will be asked to enter their business plans into the business planning competitions in which the University participates.

Taught By

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Studio Portrait of Sam Nelson Dr. Samuel A. Nelson

MNGT 828 - Leadership in a Global Context

Catalog Description

Taught from the perspective of US enterprises operating in the global economy. The manner in which cultural, economic, political, and social differences affect the management of business, governmental, military, and other enterprises is considered. Emphasis on problems of managing in Latin America, Europe, and Asia.

Taught By

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Studio Portrait of Elina Ibrayeva Dr. Elina Ibrayeva

MNGT 863 - Compensation Administration

Catalog Description

Design and administration of compensation systems. Deals with determinants of general level of pay, pay structures, wage and salary surveys, job analysis, job evaluation, performance evaluation, benefit plans, and financial incentive systems.

Taught By

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Studio Portrait of Jenna Pieper Dr. Jenna R. Pieper

MNGT 864 - Talent Acquisition

Catalog Description

This course will explain the process by which organizations forecast employment needs, recruit potential employees, select high potential candidates from applicant pools, assess job performance levels, give feedback, train and develop existing employees, and deal with voluntary and involuntary turnover. Students will be provided with examples of tools used by HR professionals in the staffing process. Students will also be expected to evaluate and suggest improvements to real HR recruiting and selection systems based on the information learned in the classroom.

Taught By

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Studio Portrait of Jake Messersmith Dr. Jake Messersmith

MNGT 866 - The Regulatory Environment for Employment and Labor

Catalog Description

Government regulation of employment and labor relations. Includes laws and agencies relating to employment practices, pay, hours, equal employment opportunity, labor relations, safety, health, pensions, and benefits. Social and economic implications of governmental regulation considered.

Taught By

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Studio Portrait of Kevin Wesley Dr. Kevin Wesley

MNGT 871 - Nonprofit Management

Catalog Description

Provide an overview of the management skills required by leaders of nonprofit organizations Discuss the purpose or mission of a nonprofit organization and its place in society. Examine the importance of an organizational vision of success, and how that can lead to a well-developed strategic plan.

Taught By

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Dr. Jim Croft

MNGT 996 - Adaptive Leadership

Catalog Description

This course will focus on applying the principles of adaptive leadership, a model for dealing with difficult organizational challenges. The most persistent problems that organizations face require stakeholder driven change by focusing on altering attitudes, values, priorities and loyalties. This course will walk students through several tools for helping to drive change in their organizations, regardless of position or level in the organization. Students will develop a plan for implementing change in their organizations. Students will also participate in a series of structured peer dilemma sessions, where they will be given a structured framework for helping peers (and themselves) identify and tackle significant organizational challenges.

Taught By

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Studio Portrait of Jake Messersmith Dr. Jake Messersmith

MNGT 996 - Negotiations

Catalog Description

Negotiations - from megamergers on Wall Street to deciding what is for dinner - take unexpected turns and can involve high stakes. Each of us is involved in a negotiation every day whether we know it or not. This course can help you face different negotiations as business and professional leaders to replace anxiety with confidence. There are many situational variables for a single negotiation strategy to be one size fits all. By learning your personal negotiation style, studying a negotiation process, and practicing in low-risk situations, you can learn how to effectively adapt to different people in different negotiations while maintaining your ethics and achieving a positive outcome.

Taught By

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Studio Portrait of Brandi McManus Dr. Brandi McManus

MRKT 826 - Services Marketing

Catalog Description

Services marketing and the services marketing process. Key concepts, issues and terminology. Specific tools and frameworks enabling communication with other professional marketers and analysis of services marketing situations to make realistic recommendations for managerial action.

Taught By

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Studio Portrait of Jamie Hyodo Dr. Jamie Hyodo

MRKT 845 - Advanced Marketing Analytics

Catalog Description

Web, social media, and consumer text analytics; analyzing consumer data streams from the Internet, mobile devices, and sensors; handling very large volumes of data; general data analysis software operation for various marketing problems; marketing platform software for general and specific tasks; learning machines in marketing.

Taught By

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Photo of Dwayne Ball in nature setting with mountains and trees in the background Dr. A. Dwayne Ball

MRKT 850 - Data Driven Marketing Strategy

Catalog Description

Theory and strategic use of large marketing databases. Translating market data into insights for decisions like pricing, advertising response, resource allocation, and new product forecasting. Topics covered include market response models, linear models, clustering and classification, conjoint analysis techniques, resource allocation models, forecasting models, customer profitability analysis, customer choice modeling, value pricing, product line decisions and other significant strategic marketing issues facing today's managers.

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Studio Portrait of S. Sajeesh Dr. S. Sajeesh

MRKT 855 - Marketing and Globalization

Catalog Description

Globalization and resulting changes in the business environment. Access to new consumers, new supplies. The effect on consumer choices. Readings from scholarly and popular press, videos, and a "real world" application. Marketing strategies developed for Nebraska firms and organizations such as value-added food marketers.

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Studio Portrait of Blake Runnalls Dr. Blake Runnalls

SCMA 832 - Planning & Controlling Supply Chain Systems

Catalog Description

Taught predominately by the case method with a few classes for review and summary lectures. Concentrates on higher management decisions involving the manufacturing, service, and public sectors. Facilities planning, labor, aggregate planning, strategic planning, capacity management, and trade-off analysis.

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Studio Portrait of Scott Swenseth Dr. Scott R. Swenseth

SCMA 834 - Advanced Topics in Lean Supply Chain Management

Catalog Description

Focus on the improvement of supply chain operations through the application of lean management principles. Topics include just-in-time, six-sigma, theory of constraints, and associated tools and applications.

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Studio Portrait of Scott Swenseth Dr. Scott R. Swenseth

SCMA 836 - Project Management

Catalog Description

Planning and managing projects from initiation through implementation. Use of tools and techniques for bidding, planning budgeting scheduling, risk management and implementation.

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Red Nebraska Business Logo Dr. David L. Olson

SCMA 837 - Risk and Simulation Modeling

Catalog Description

Analytical and simulation models for decision making in functional areas such as finance, accounting, marketing, personnel, operations, and inventory. Construction of decision models for practical applications. Emphasis on analyzing alternatives and implementing solutions that result in increased productivity.

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Red Nebraska Business Logo Dr. David L. Olson

SCMA 839 - Global Supply Chain Management

Catalog Description

Focus on global aspects of supply chain managing with primary emphasis on sourcing and distribution strategies. Topics will include sourcing strategies, concepts and tools. Specific issues include make versus buy decisions, supplier evaluation and selection, total cost of ownership, contracts and legal terms, negotiation, and purchasing ethics.

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Studio Portrait of Wesley Boyce Dr. Wesley S. Boyce

SCMA 844 - Managing Logistics in the Supply Chain

Catalog Description

Examination of physical distribution activities in the marketing mix from the viewpoints of both providers and users of components of logistics systems. Logistics problems of concern to the marketing manager include time and place utility concepts, spatial relationships of markets, channel design, transportation modes, and inventory management.

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Studio Portrait of Scott Swenseth Dr. Scott R. Swenseth

SCMA 851 - Predictive Analytics

Catalog Description

This course will focus on how knowledge management has been successfully applied in business in the form of predictive analytics. Predictive analytics extends statistical and/or artificial intelligence to provide forecasting capability. It will also describe in non-technical terms the statistical and artificial intelligence-based tools commonly used in forecasting and other business decisions involving big data.

Taught By

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Red Nebraska Business Logo Dr. David L. Olson

SCMA 852 - Data Management and Organization

Catalog Description

Technology of databases and related human and managerial considerations. Databases are studied from the perspective of the logical organization, as well as from the perspective of managers and applications programmers, in the use of organizational data. Consideration of physical organization and SQL. Practical applications of databases.

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Studio Portrait of Majid Nabavi Dr. Majid Nabavi

SCMA 853 - Business Data Mining and Descriptive Analytics

Catalog Description

Data mining applies quantitative analysis to support humans in identifying actionable information from large amounts of data. Actionable means that value can be obtained, which for businesses usually relates to making money. This course will focus on how data mining has been successfully applied in business. It will also describe in non-technical terms how the statistical and artificial intelligence-based tools commonly used in data mining work. The course will also address ethical issues related to use of information obtained through data mining.

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Red Nebraska Business Logo Dr. David L. Olson

SCMA 854 - Advanced Descriptive Analytics

Catalog Description

This course will focus on exploratory and initial data mining, including cluster analysis and link analysis.

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Studio Portrait of Majid Nabavi Dr. Majid Nabavi

SCMA 855 - Prescriptive Analytics

Catalog Description

This course will focus on how optimization modeling techniques can be used to make the best decisions in a variety of business analytics applications. The emphasis will be on the formulation of different optimization problems and the use of the correct quantitative techniques to solve these problems.

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Studio Portrait of Shivam Gupta Dr. Shivam Gupta