Northeastern/CIO Programs
 

Hone Your Competitive Edge

The pace of change and disruption is unprecedented in business today. As organizations look to their technology leaders to bring them into the future, you need to understand how modern business works. You need to "talk the talk" with your stakeholders to drive value and meet the business’ needs – however fast they may shift.

 

The MBA Fundamentals for Tech Professionals at Northeastern University is built exclusively to meet that need. Over four days, you’ll learn principles such as how companies set their strategy, how they decide which products or services to offer, how they fund expansion and what formulas they use to determine budgets. 


Working closely with some of the leading theorists and practitioners in accounting, finance, strategy, marketing, operations, and organizational behavior, you’ll develop the knowledge and skills you need to: 

  • Influence strategic decision-making 
  • Make the case for strategic technology investments 
  • Negotiate and collaborate on the job 
  • Bring a product to market from innovation to production, distribution and marketing 
  • Manage projects across business disciplines 

Who should attend MBA Fundamentals? 

You! The MBA Fundamentals program is specifically designed for current and aspiring technology leaders who want to future-proof their careers as they help their organizations innovate and adapt to change and disruption.





To see the complete agenda including session times, please download the brochure here.

Day 1: Tuesday, September 19
Focus: Strategy & Accounting
Strategy: Competition & Positioning  
Prof. Samina Karim
  • Evaluate the economic conditions that make industries more or less profitable
  • Analyze how firms pursue strategic positions and compete most effectively
  • Learn about the threats to capturing and sustaining profitability
Accounting: Ratios that Matter
Prof. David Sherman
  • Fundamentals of understanding financial statements – Balance Sheet, Income Statement, and Cash flows
  • Assessing financial performance versus competitors using ratio analysis and other analytic tools
  • Accounting judgments, earnings management, and accounting games – limitations and questions to be considered in financial analysis
Day 2: Wednesday, September 20
Focus: Finance and Organizational Behavior
Finance: Valuation & Decision Making
Prof. Nicole Boyson
  • Understand the corporate impact of monetary policy 
  • Explore a corporation's financial decision-making process
  • Model and value corporate projects and securities using modern financial theory 
Organizational Behavior: Managing People & Organizations
Prof. Marla Baskerville
  • Explore the factors that facilitate and impede effectively leading organizational change
  • Acquire a skill set for successfully navigating organizational politics
  • Understand the challenges and benefits of managing diversity and globalization
Day 3: Thursday, September 21
Focus: Operations, Marketing & Innovation
Operations: Managing the Supply Chain
Prof.  Nada Sanders 
  • Understand key features of a global supply chain network
  • Learn about technologies that drive a digital supply chain
  • Explore strategies for supply chain innovation, resiliency and sustainability
Marketing & Innovation: Delivering Customer Value
Prof. Gloria Barczak
  • Assess the Market through the 5 C's
  • Examine the building blocks of Marketing Strategy
  • Discuss how to deliver the Value Proposition through the 4 P's
Day 4: Friday, September 22
Focus: Information Management
Information Management: Integration within the Enterprise
Prof. Richard Kesner
  • Identify the linkages between an enterprise’s business focus, its information needs and its information technology choices
  • Understand the enterprise’s critical success factors and how these are enabled through the flow of information
  • Explore alternative strategies for meeting the information management and information technology needs of the enterprise