Core Subjects & Corporate Responsibility

Flagship Courses - Core Subjects - Breadth Courses - Electives - Special Practicums - Non-GSM

Unless they waive out due to personal expertise, all entering students begin their studies at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management by taking 6 "Core" subjects. While the focus of the Core is to give students the basic tools and foundation they will need to be sucessful during and after their studies, many of them still incorporate Corporate Citizenship themes.

MGT 200A - FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING

The primary emphasis of this course is to assist you in developing the basic skills required to interpret, analyze and evaluate information contained in published financial statements. The course will introduce a variety of financial reporting topics. Social responsibility is emphasized as students are exposed to ethical dilemmas that they may encounter in the business world. Managerial incentives and opportunities for financial disclosure management (e.g., earnings management) is discussed and the corresponding need for integrity and accountability in reporting systems. Widely publicized cases of misleading and/or fraudulent statements (e.g., WorldCom, Bristol-Myers Squibb) are utilized to highlight these issues. The course also touches on the role of the independent auditors. Finally, the course covers differential accounting standards and the needed adjustments to make meaningful financial comparisons across firms.

MGT 201A - THE INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP DYNAMICS

This course looks at justice and ethics at work in several case studies and within discussions of performance appraisal and compensation. Considerations include gender and racial diversity, stereotypes, and bias in promotion and hiring and all students take a "hidden biases" test on line. The course examines leadership and its roles in developing a diverse and ethical culture at work. Learning about and practicing principled negotiation concepts also takes place.

MGT 202A - MARKETS AND THE FIRM

The course examines the decisions of consumers, business and government, and how these players interact. It covers a variety of standard topics in economics, including supply and demand, efficiency, pricing and game theory. Social and environmental responsibility issues enter the discussion at many times during the course, but they especially dominate during the following lectures: Externalities and Property Rights; Labor Markets, Poverty and Income Distribution; The Environment, Health, and Safety, Public Goods and Tax Policy, International Trade and Trade Policy, and WTO and U.S. Cotton Subsidies.

MGT 204 - MARKETING MANAGEMENT

In the advertising section discussion of the ethics of advertising and selling - what does full disclosure mean? The consequences of only pointing positive aspects etc. Should marketers satisfy customers? At what cost? And what are the trade-offs?

MGT 205 - FINANCIAL THEORY AND POLICY

This is an MBA level introductory course in Corporate Finance taught by the Director of the Center for Investor Welfare and Corporate Responsibility and Net Impact Faculty Advisor. We will learn about how firms make investment and financing decisions and, by the end of the quarter, students should be well-grounded in the basic tools of corporate finance. Corporate Citizenship enters the equation through topics on Business and Public Policy, Business and Society, and Corporate Governance.