The tools and resources of the Trading Room are fully integrated into the course to reinforce and expand upon the material covered in class. The purpose of this module is to introduce students to the dynamic macroeconomic environment in which firms operate. Topics include economic indicators, aggregate supply and demand analysis of the economy, sources of business cycles, sources of economic growth, technological change and its impact on productivity, the impact of fiscal policy on the economy, and an introduction to macroeconomic forecasting. This course applies learning from IBF to demonstrate how the functions of operations, marketing, accounting and finance are integrated in business processes to enable information age oraganizations to implement their strategies. After introducing the concept of strategy, the course presents the general characteristics of business processes and the IT systems that enable them.
Students learn to use software to model and analyze processes.
They also learn to evaluate their effectiveness and recognize opportunities for improvements. Company visits permit first hand obesrvation of key processes and discussion with practicing managers responsible for them. In the spring semester, students apply project management skills and software for a team project on process mapping, analysis, evaluation, and recommend process improvements for a client organization. Information technology knowledge and skills are critical assets for the information age manager. This course provides many of the tools and context for the Business Processes course in the Information Age MBA program.