The B.B.A. in Finance will equip you with a strong technical knowledge of finance, the ability to critically analyze and solve problems associated with the financial operations of a firm, and experience preparing and presenting business reports through a monetary lens.

Hands-On Course Highlights

Financial Analysis and Introduction to Loan Structuring (FIN 4020)
FI 4020 is a course about understanding and analyzing the financial operations of a business with specific emphasis on the funding needs of public and private, non-financial firms. Companies need capital for a variety of reasons and access to adequate and reasonably priced capital is essential to the survival of any firm. The main focus of this class will be on bank loan capital; however, other sources of capital will also be discussed, especially with regards to determining a firm’s appropriate financial structure.

The primary data used to evaluate a firm’s current financial health and future fund needs are the income statement and the balance sheet. The tools employed to examine this data are financial statement inspection, cash flow statements, financial ratios, common-size financial statements, cash budgets, and proforma statements. This course provides a framework for analyzing a firm’s past, estimating its future performance, and valuing its equity. Key concepts from accounting, finance, economics, and business strategy are integrated and applied to financial decision-making. In this course, students will learn contemporary forecasting and valuation techniques used by practitioners as well as evidence from academic research on the effectiveness of these techniques.

Introduction to Financial Data Analytics (FI 4090)
This course provides the foundation for financial data analytics. The objective of this course is to gain experience in analyzing financial data using modern machine learning techniques, statistical methods, and prediction models. Students will perform data analysis using a statistical programming environment to address a range of financial questions in practice. Students will have hands-on experience in the development of data analytics applications.

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Applications in Finance (FI 4092)
This is an advanced undergraduate elective course on artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning applications in finance. Students will develop an understanding on how modern machine learning methods and other analytics techniques can be used to address practical problems encountered in asset management, corporation finance, and financial institution settings. Students will develop programming skills using Python language for the applications of these methods. The techniques discussed will include tree regression, neutral network, textual analysis, web scraping, and data visualization.

Foundations of FinTech (FI 4460)
The financial services industries are changing rapidly with the emergence of financial technology (FinTech). The objective of the course is to provide students with an overview of FinTech and introductions to its applications in financial services, such as commercial and investment banking, digital investing, financial advising, and insurance. Students are expected to develop a broad understanding of the recent FinTech development and its impact on different parts of the financial world. Students will also have hands-on problem solving experiences that can be useful in FinTech applications and innovation. Topics may include but are not limited to: blockchain and cryptocurrencies, smart contracting, P2P lending, crowdfunding, robo-advising, and InsurTech.

Please note: while every section of the above courses might not include exactly the above projects, faculty incorporate real-world learning into the curriculum.

Potential Careers

• Corporate finance
• Commercial banking
• Investment banking
• Hedge funds
• Private equity
• Venture capital
• Financial planning
• Insurance

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The B.B.A. in Hospitality Administration program provides a well-integrated curriculum with a focus on general business and hospitality while incorporating courses in the arts and sciences that prepare students for management positions in the hospitality industry.

Hands-On Course Highlights

Business Analytics for Restaurant Management (HADM 3403)
This course focuses on the analysis of each phase of restaurant operations and management decisions that impact profitability, short-term and long-term success factors, and corresponding metrics. Activities include menu planning; food sourcing; purchasing; receiving; storing; preparation; and service systems for multi-unit restaurants, corporate enterprises, or entrepreneurial start-ups.

Event Management (HADM 3600)
In this popular elective course, students design on- and off-campus events such as pre-basketball game student fairs with contests and food; freshmen move-in welcomes; open houses that familiarize students with the School of Hospitality Administration’s courses and student organizations as well as possible careers; and Georgia State University-sponsored events that can be used for work study credit.

Hospitality Strategic Leadership (HADM 4800)
Upon successful completion of an exam, students earn a Certification in Hotel Industry Analytics, a designation sponsored by industry organizations including the American Hotel & Lodging Association.

Potential Careers

• Event coordinator
• Conference coordinator
• Guest services manager
• Sales and marketing coordinator
• Social media manager
• Restaurant manager
• Restaurant owner/operator
• Manager-in-training (typically corporate programs with major hotel brands and chain restaurants)
• Analyst
• Project manager
• Assistant club manager
• Catering manager
• Trade show manager

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The B.B.A. in management, business analytics concentration provides students with essential business knowledge and analytics skills to address companies' complex issues. Students will learn how to analyze data and apply analytical models to business, organizational, and societal problems.

Hands-On Course Highlights

Introduction to Business Intelligence (MGT 4020)
This course provides students with a foundation in developing insights and analytics-driven decision making processes, and in identifying dimensions and metrics for a given company and/or industry. In groups of three to four peers and under the supervision of the professor, students work with clients to directly apply their learnings in a real-world business environment. Past participating corporations include AT&T, IHG, Boehringer Ingelheim, and entrepreneurial start-ups. After identifying and organizing available data and discussing appropriate business intelligence techniques, students develop a framework that aids in the analysis of a business problem.

Analysis of Business Data (MGT 4110)
In groups of three to four students, students will conduct real-world analytics projects. Each group will formulate business questions that will ultimately lead to business strategies or actions. After following the six phases of the CRISP-DM framework, each group will present key findings of the project through storytelling.

Business Modeling (MGT 4140)
In teams of four to six, students run a hotel using "The Hotel Game," an educational online simulation tool designed to make the economics of pricing more intuitive and easy. The game provides insights into the relationship between selling channels, market structure, and optimal pricing. Each group of students is in charge of setting the prices for their hotel rooms to beat the competition.

Potential Careers

• Data Scientist
• Management Analyst
• Quantitative Analyst
• Business Data Analyst

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The B.B.A. in Marketing program provides students with fundamental preparation in general marketing and an understanding of markets and customers, product development, pricing strategies, advertising and promotion, and methods of distribution. Graduates benefit from innovative and practical curricula that will prepare them for successful marketing careers.

Hands-On Course Highlights

Marketing Metrics (MK 4010)
GSU wants to turn out marketing professionals who can use numbers to compare and evaluate solutions to marketing problems. Decision-makers have to be able to work with numbers in order to be effective. Numbers help to turn vague arguments into provably true or false statements and facilitate comparisons. Numbers create accountability—performance either conforms to projections or it doesn’t. Numbers enhance the ability to improve performance over time by distinguishing between what worked before and what did not. Being ill-equipped to work with numbers is a serious handicap for a marketing professional or for any business decision-maker.

In the short term, students will leave this course better prepared for the marketing capstone course, MK 4900, a case-oriented course where students need to use quantitative information. In the longer term, the ability to use marketing metrics effectively will set marketing professionals apart. Senior decision-makers are demanding increased accountability for past programs and better evidence before authorizing future spending.  Organizations need metrics that capture the impact of marketing programs and distinguish between bad, good and better marketing initiatives, and need people who can manage those metrics.

Social Media Marketing (MK 4305)
In teams of four to six, students act as social media consultants for existing brands from their own research. After researching, planning and identifying objectives, the groups perform an audit and ultimately present a professional social media plan. The class incorporates important social media marketing technologies such as social media dashboards, self-built blog sites, and digital analytics software. Through these approaches, students learn technical, writing and reporting sides of today’s social media marketing.

Principles of Professional Sales (MK 4330)
A significant strategy in business today is developing relationships with potential and existing customers and vendors. The job of developing and enriching these relationships generally falls on the sales force of an organization.  This course, MK4330, will give you an understanding of what salespeople do and help you develop skills necessary to “sell” everything from yourself in a job interview to the latest products and services from your employer.  While many students will use these skills to become an exceptional salesperson, this course will help to develop communication, persuasion and organizational skills that will benefit students and professionals of all fields.  Your professional career will be filled with a variety of one-on-one and group interactions. Whether you choose sales as a career or not, your professional success will reflect your ability to communicate clearly and persuade people to support your ideas and requests.  This class will develop your ability to engage with people, discover their needs, share new ideas, and gain their commitment to act.  We will also learn about sales career opportunities, technology and best practices that can help you succeed in a sales role or when interacting with sales professionals.

Marketing for Entrepreneurs (MK 4850)
MK 4850 is a highly experiential, upper-level undergraduate Marketing course where you’ll learn and apply lean marketing approaches to validate critical business model assumptions that drive the success (or failure) of entrepreneurial ventures, startups and small businesses. After learning the core principles of the Business Model Canvas, customer discovery and traction channels, you’ll hypothesize problems, challenges and unmet needs facing YOUR ideal target customers. Then you’ll segment and target early adopters within your ideal customer segment to validate those assumptions through one-on-one problem validation interviews. You’ll also work in startup teams with fellow co-founders (or you can remain a solopreneur) to launch your own startup (or small business enterprise). You’ll design, execute and analyze the effectiveness of multiple lean marketing experiments to test, validate and iterate your startup’s business model assumptions for target customer segments, value propositions, marketing and sales traction channel strategies, revenue models, pricing options, cost structures and overall business financial projections.

So, whether you aspire to be an entrepreneur or not, your commitment to learning and growing in this course will empower you with a “founder’s” mindset and skill set that will strengthen your marketing, sales, leadership, communications, customer engagement and relationship building abilities… all of which will differentiate you as a more valuable and marketable as a leader in today’s business and economic climate!

Marketing Strategy (MK 4900)
MK 4900 is the capstone course for marketers that will enable you to synthesize and apply your learnings from previous marketing classes and prepare you for a career in marketing or have the necessary skills to be marketing savvy in your chosen field.  You will be exposed to real-life marketing problems for local clients and will be required to develop budgets, timelines, and deliverables.

You will work in groups to collaboratively develop marketing plans that align with broader company business goals and test your comprehension of and application of marketing principles, “sell-in” your ideas to your client and prepare yourself to be a relevant, immediate contributor to a business.

Please note: while every section of the above courses might not include exactly the above projects, faculty incorporate real-world learning into the curriculum.

Potential Careers

• Market research
• Social media
• Product development
• Advertising
• Distribution
• Retailing
• Analytics
• Brand management

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