Class Visits
Come walk in the shoes of a Rice MBA for Professionals student. Have you wondered how you could possibly work full time AND be a part of one of the best MBA programs at the same time? How do you balance work, personal and school lives? Has it been a while since you’ve been back in the classroom?
Join us for a class visit to get a hands-on peek at life as a Rice MBA for Professionals student. Read about the available classes and professors who will be leading the classes. Then register for the one that interests you the most. We invite you to see the Rice MBA for Professionals program in action.
Please be considerate when signing up to attend a class since this is indeed a classroom setting. Due to limited space in the classroom, you are only allowed to register for one Class Visit per school year. There are a limited number of seats in the classroom for prospective students. If you need to cancel, please allow at least 1 week.
*** Note that you may select either the Evening Class Visit or the Weekend Class Visit but not both.
Evening Core Class Options:
A typical Evening Class Visit schedule will look like this:
5:30pm — Meet your Class host on campus for dinner with Class of 2013
6:15pm — Class Begins
9:30pm — Optional Social Outing (only on Wednesdays)
Evening Classes You Can Visit:Corporate Finance:
Professor Sebastien Michenaud
The objective of this course is to introduce you to the theory and practice of corporate finance, and to provide you with a set of analytical tools necessary to answer the most important questions related to firms’ financing and investment policies. The theory of corporate finance consists of the following building blocks: valuation, investment decisions, risk and return, derivative securities and financing decisions.
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Wednesday, January 18
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Monday, January 30
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Wednesday, February 15
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Monday, February 27
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Monday, March 5
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Wednesday, March 14
Marketing:
Professor Constance Porter
The objectives of this course are to introduce you to key marketing concepts, increase your familiarity with marketing practices, and develop an in-depth understanding of the steps involved in the marketing process. Other objectives include helping you understand how the marketing research process works, providing you with a set of tools to analyze the competitive and conduct STP Analysis and to familiarize you with the Four Ps.
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Wednesday, January 18
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Monday, January 30
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Wednesday, February 15
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Monday, February 27
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Monday, March 5
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Wednesday, March 14
Managerial Accounting:
Professor Sally Widener
The objectives of this course are to give you an understanding of: the importance difference between cost accounting (valuation) and managerial accounting (decision making); the internal accounting systems of the organization; planning and control techniques; the role of cash management, planning and capital budgeting; the nature of decision-making. After taking the course, you should be able to: develop a model of the organization using a cost-volume-profit perspective; prepare cash forecasts; structure data for intelligent decision-making; and analyze capital budgeting projects, including developing the cash forecasts and determining the appropriate discount rate (cost of capital).
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Monday, April 2
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Monday, April 16
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Wednesday, April 25
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Monday, April 30
Operations:
Professor Thomas Hemmer
This course facilitates the development of skills needed to manage the effective integration of technology, people, and operations. Topics include the development and manufacture of products as well as the creation and delivery of services.
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Monday, April 2
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Monday, April 16
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Wednesday, April 25
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Monday, April 30
Strategy Formulation and Implementation:
Professor Prashant Kale
This course provides you with guidance on how to implement strategies in the real world. It involves anticipating and reacting to future competitor responses and changes, to structuring an organization and its control systems in a manner that will allow for effective implementation of strategies, and working and competing with other firms to ensure the long term success of the firm.
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Monday, May 14
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Tuesday, May 15
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Monday, May 21
Weekend Core and Elective Class Options:
A typical Weekend
Friday Class Visit schedule will look like this:
3:45pm — Meet your Class Host on campus
4:00pm — Class Begins
6:00pm — Dinner with Class Host and the Class of 2013
6:45pm — Class Resumes
A typical Weekend
Saturday Morning Class Visit schedule will look like this:
7:15am — Meet your Class Host on campus
7:30am — Class Begins
12:00pm — Lunch with Class Host and the Class of 2013
Weekend Classes You Can Visit:Business Strategy in the Energy Industry:
Professor Phaedon Papadopoulos
This is a treatment of some of the most popular strategy business models as they apply to the energy industry. The fundamental concepts of Treacy, Boynton, and Business Design models will be highlighted. Case studies of some of the best-in-class energy companies will demonstrate how some of the above models have become the springboard of successful strategy practices in the energy industry. One of the most popular methodologies in the industry, the Three-Horizon methodology, will be introduced and its successful applicability in the energy industry as being one of the most effective tools in growth sustainability and risk minimization will be clearly demonstrated.
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Saturday, January 14 at 7:30am
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Friday, January 27 at 4pm
Digital Business Excellence:
Professor Rich McAvey
After completing the course, students will be able to resolve the following executive priorities:
(1) What value should business leaders expect from information technology?
(2) How do companies stay productive by creating fast, accurate & agile workflow?
(3) How do firms stay lean by provisioning useful, reliable & cost-effective services?
(4) How do companies out-think the competition by building organizational intelligence?
(5) How can firms establish organizational identities across many companies?
(6) How do firms stay ahead by cultivating technology-based innovation?
(7) What competencies must leaders possess to create digital business advantage?
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Saturday, January 14 at 7:30am
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Friday, January 27 at 4pm
International Finance:
Professor John Hund
Exploration of special problems encountered by financial officers in international arenas. Includes the economics of the foreign exchange market, exchange rate risk management, international portfolio management, capital budgeting for international projects, and international financing strategies.
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Saturday, February 11 at 7:30am
Marketing Strategy:
Professor Rob Grant
The course lays out a framework for marketing strategy and guides students through each step in the development process. While business challenges are inevitable, developing and following a well-structured marketing strategy, as laid out in this course, will help avoid many of the pitfalls that can lead businesses into trouble. Case studies, together with examples from the professor’s lengthy business career, will be used to illustrate the principles and identify pathways out of trouble should it occur.
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Saturday, February 11 at 7:30am
Security Analysis:
Professor Dan Watson
This course will focus on valuing income streams from different types of securities. Following is a quick list of topics which build from very simple to increasingly complex variations on the theme: Review net present value calculation under conditions of perfect certainty with respect to all inputs; review broad application to many types of income streams; successively begin to relax assumptions: treasuries, agencies, corporates, and to be topical, sovereign debt; brief detour into the world of credit default swaps somewhere along the line; equity security valuation; blended securities, implied options; asset backed securities.
Leadership:
Professor Scott Sonenshein
The overriding theme of this course is that the ability to lead and make decisions in the current environment which is typified by ambiguity, complexity, uncertainty and volatility. Thus, this course focuses on four aspects of leadership: theory and research, individual and team perspectives, judgment and managerial decision making, and the global environment. Approaches to leadership such as power-influence, situational factors, individual traits, and behaviors are explored. Issues such as the relationship of management to leadership, the value of participative and charismatic leadership, the leader's role in organizational culture and organizational change, and the impact on diversity, are investigated from domestic and international perspectives.
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Friday, January 13 at 4pm
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Friday, February 10 at 4pm
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Saturday, February 25 at 7:30am
Business Government Relations:
Professor Nancy Sauer
Business managers and business schools generally ignore government and public policy. Sometimes, this is warranted as governmental policy is not always that binding over business transactions. However, at other times, this ignorance is not prudent as government through legislations, regulation, and other instruments exerts itself on business. Sometimes firms actively attempt to use governmental policy for advantage over rivals. For students, it is important to understand that these government policies are not purely external but are created from the pressures brought forth by interest groups, including business firms. We will learn some tools to analyze political markets and firm political decision making. We will also learn about the incentives of non-business actors in the public policy arena.
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Friday, March 16 at 4pm
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Friday, April 20 at 4pm
Investor Relations:
Professor John Palizza
Students will learn the theory and practice of investor relations: the process of communicating with investors to allow them to make an informed investment decision regarding a corporation’s stock. Investor relations will be examined as it relates to marketing, capital markets, the legal and regulatory framework, finance and communications. Students will learn about who the potential investors in public companies are and how to reach them; the dynamics of the equities markets; the ways investors view companies; communications methods such as press releases, SEC filings, investor presentations and an understanding of the laws and regulations surrounding public companies and investors. Investor relations managers, former CFOs, analysts, and portfolio managers will serve as guest lecturers to discuss today's investment environment.
You will accomplish all the above through a combination of reading, class participation, case study assignments and either an investor relations presentation on a company or a paper analyzing the investor relations activities of a company.
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Saturday, March 31 at 7:30am
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Friday, April 6 at 4pm
Corporate Governance:
Professor Gerry Sanders
Corporate governance is the system by which corporations are directed and controlled; it encompasses the structures, policies, processes, customs, laws, and institutions designed to oversee and control firms. The common mechanisms of corporate governance include the board of directors, incentive programs for top managers, ownership structure, and the market for corporate control (i.e., the threat of takeover). Governance practices differ from company to company and across countries. International managers and sophisticated investors need a professional understanding of these differences as well as a well-grounded understanding of the effects of alternative mechanisms on manager and firm behaviors and, ultimately, firm performance.
The course introduces students to the mechanisms of governance, including some examination of how governance systems differ around the world. Students learn the costs and benefits of alternative governance mechanisms – law, ownership, boards, incentives etc. – and how they can be applied in individual companies.