BUAD 451: Strategic Thinking and Complex Problem Solving

Semester Hours 3.0

This course introduces students to theories and practices of management that allow them to develop decision-making skills and confidence.  Students are expected to understand the separate management functions of planning, organizing, motivating, leading, and controlling and how these functions interact with each other and relate to ethics, decision-making, and organizational effectiveness.  As part of the second half of the course, students will engage with powerful and easy-to-use spreadsheet-based tools that help approach complex problems in management today, including but not limited to optimization, decision analysis, and simulation software.  This material is approached from a managerial rather than a technical perspective focusing on how to apply decision-making and strategy in the twenty-first century.