Curriculum

Explores the challenges and processes for harnessing technological innovation for new-business development. Integrates technology strategy, innovation in marketing, product development, and organization design for the purpose of enterprise growth. Through readings, cases, and exercises, studies how firms from different industries gain competitive advantage through distinctive products and services and leverage their technologies and skills into new emerging markets. Also focuses on processes for conceiving, financing, and organizing new ventures.

Introduces the history and current status of information systems in healthcare: information architectures, administrative and clinical applications, evidence-based medicine, information retrieval, decision support systems, security and confidentiality, bioinformatics, information system cycles, the electronic health record, key health information systems and standards, and medical devices.

Examines innovation in services and the internal management of business processes. Uses a framework of service/process redesign. Emphasizes strategic initiatives and key organizational change elements critical for improving services to customers; increasing profitability; and building long-term customer loyalty across multiple industry sectors, including information technology, healthcare, financial services, and government. Introduces the various strategic aspects of process improvement in the delivery of services, including managing change and the resulting impact on the organization, supply-chain management in the service industry, process improvement, overcoming organizational resistance, customer involvement, empowerment, and the role of leadership in managing operations. Through guided project work, offers students an opportunity to apply these concepts to services and internal business processes at their own organizations.

Studies patient engagement and health informatics systems and analyses of data collected from these systems. Patient engagement is the ability and willingness of patients to manage their own health and care combined with interventions to increase patient involvement in their own health and care, as well as other positive health behaviors. In these interventions, health informatics systems and analyses of data are used. Offers students an opportunity to engage in data analytic exercises to investigate the underlying design and implementation of health informatics systems used in patient engagement initiatives. Presents an overview of the current state, new technologies, and other areas (health reform, legal, privacy, quantified self) influencing the future direction of patient engagement.

Covers the organization, financing, and outcomes of the U.S. healthcare system. Studies opportunities and challenges to improve the cost and quality of healthcare and expand adequate coverage to all. Non-health informatics students may be able to take the course with permission of the program director.

Examines issues including discrimination and bias, sexual harassment and workplace romance, professional and personal development, power and privilege, work and family, and organizational strategies for promoting equal opportunity and a multicultural approach for leveraging diversity and inclusion. Incorporates readings to generate lively discussions and debates, experiential learning, self-reflection, case studies, and guest speakers who are diversity experts and thought leaders.Diversity in the workplace involves recognizing and capitalizing on individual differences such as religion, gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, national origin, age, and physical ability/disability. Leaders need to address issues of diversity in strategic and ethical ways if they are to compete and succeed in a global economy.

Introduces design principles for creating meaningful displays of information to support effective business decision-making. Studies how to collect and process data; create interactive visualizations; and use them to demonstrate or provide insight into a problem, situation, or phenomenon. Introduces methods to critique visualizations along with ways to identify design principles that make good visualizations effective. Discusses the challenges of making data understandable across a wide range of audiences. Provides an overview of data visualization, key design principles and techniques for visualizing data, and the fundamentals of communication that are required for effective data presentation. Other topics may include ethical uses of information displays, storytelling, infographics, immersive visualizations, and information dashboard design. Offers students an opportunity to use one or more software tools.

Examines data mining perspectives and methods in a business context. Introduces the theoretical foundations for major data mining methods and studies how to select and use the appropriate data mining method and the major advantages for each. Students use contemporary data mining software applications and practice basic programming skills. Focuses on solving real-world problems, which require data cleaning, data transformation, and data modeling.

Introduces how to measure and manage a workforce strategically, including (1) identifying the strategic work that is truly necessary to execute firm strategy; (2) investing in differentiated management systems that support that work; and (3) designing and implementing targeted measurement systems, such as human resources function and workforce scorecards, designed to help to hold line managers accountable for strategic talent. Emphasizes helping students move from a focus on levels associated with a particular workforce attribute (e.g., what is our cost per hire?) to understanding the impact of the workforce on business-level outcomes (e.g., how might an increase in the quality of our project managers affect new product cycle time?).

Examines today’s evolving environment, in which effective utilization of human resources is a source of competitive advantage. To maximize the contribution of organizational members, managers must be able to understand, diagnose, and influence workplace behavior in the context of change. Topics include mana
gement of cross-functional teams and boundaryless organizations. Emphasis is on the role of corporate culture and distributed leadership.

Offers students an opportunity to obtain the insights, frameworks, and tools to effectively manage and develop talent in teams and organizations. Also explores promotion and cross-functional systems that strengthen the organization as well as retention strategies to promote and reward high-quality talent. Managing and developing talent is one of the top three issues on the minds of CEOs from around the world. In fact, CEOs cite managing and developing their leadership talent as the issue that is most important to the future success of their business but that their organizations are least capable of addressing effectively. Offers students an opportunity to engage in various activities intended to illustrate and practice the skills involved in implementing talent management systems.

Designed to improve students’ understanding of the negotiations process and their ability to plan and conduct negotiations effectively. Includes such class activities as readings, lectures, and discussions as well as case discussions and role-playing negotiation exercises.