Marshall School of Business
Courses of Instruction
The terms indicated are expected but are not guaranteed. For the courses offered during any given term, consult the Schedule of Classes.
Major Restrictions
Enrollment in most 500-level business courses by non-business graduate students requires special permission. For information about the registration application process for non-business students, visit the Schedule of Classes.
Business Administration (BUAD)
BUAD 020x Survey of Business Administration (3, FaSp) Survey of the important topics in business administration, including marketing, accounting, finance, management information systems, leadership, business communication, and human resource management. Not available for degree credit. Recommended preparation: 2–5 years management experience.
BUAD 040 Executive Development (4) Problems and cases in contemporary management and business economics in American society. Graded credit/no credit. Open only to participants in managerial institutes and executive programs sponsored by the Marshall School of Business. Open to USC employees.
BUAD 100x Foundations of Finance and Accounting (2) Accounting information in decision-making from the perspective of users and preparers. Basics of financial asset valuation. Consideration of time-value of money and risk. Graded CR/NC. Not available for major or minor credit.
BUAD 101 Freshman Leadership Seminar (2, FaSpSm) Colloquium of leading researchers, authors, and administrators in the Marshall School of Business and other schools at USC. Industry leaders will also be invited to talk about leadership challenges. Graded CR/NC. Open by invitation only to freshman business and accounting majors.
BUAD 102 Global Leadership Seminar (2, FaSpSm) Colloquium of researchers and industry leaders discussing international business and the challenges faced by leaders in a global environment, with a specific focus on China. Prerequisite: BUAD 101. Graded CR/NC. Open by invitation only to freshman business and accounting students. International travel may require additional fees.
BUAD 104 Learning About International Commerce (2, FaSpSm) Provides insight into the opportunities and challenges faced by business professionals operating in a global environment by focusing on international cultural norms. Graded CR/NC. Open only to business and accounting majors.
BUAD 105 The Business Experience (2, Fa) Introduction to and overview of key business functions, their relationships, and how various professional disciplines come together to help form a successful enterprise. Open only to business and accounting majors.
BUAD 200x Economic Foundations for Business (2, FaSp) Examines fundamental concepts of both microeconomics and macroeconomics as they pertain to business and financial decisions. Not available for degree credit to business majors.
BUAD 201x Introduction to Business for Non-Majors (4, FaSp) Introduction to the principles and practices of businesses, sequence of exercises developing the basic skills, and influence of the economy on business and individual decisions. Not available for credit for business or accounting majors.
BUAD 204 Global Business from a Local Perspective (2, Sp) Concepts, frameworks and cultural insights into global business. Includes readings, group projects and visits with Los Angeles area companies that have an international presence. Graded CR/NC. (Duplicates credit in BUAD 102 and BUAD 104.) Open only to business and accounting majors. Not open to freshmen.
BUAD 206 Transfer International Experience (2) Experiential study of international business. Analysis of the impacts of global and international business on an industry. International travel required. Open only to transfer business and accounting majors. Graded CR/NC.
BUAD 206ab Transfer International Experience (2) Experiential study of international business. Analysis of the impacts of global and international business on an industry. International travel required. Open only to transfer business and accounting majors. Graded CR/NC.
BUAD 215x Foundations of Business Finance (4, FaSpSm) Principles and practices of modern financial management; use of financial statements; valuation of investment; asset pricing under uncertainty; elements of financial decisions. Not available for degree credit to business or accounting majors. (Duplicates credit in BUAD 306.) Prerequisite: ACCT 410x or BUAD 280 or BUAD 285a or BUAD 305.
BUAD 252 Choosing and Planning a Future Career in Business (2, FaSpSm) Explore and plan for future career choices and options in business. Learn theoretical principles, best practices and strategies, and contemporary workplace issues/trends. Graded CR/NC.
BUAD 280 Accounting I (4, FaSpSm) Accounting information useful for decision-makers surrounding issues concerning income, expense and cash flows; economic resource, debt and equity capital decisions by managers. (Duplicates credit in BUAD 250ab and BUAD 305.)
BUAD 281 Accounting II (2, FaSpSm) Continuation of Accounting I, enhancing management decision-making with strategic product costing, profit planning and standard costs analysis; using data to facilitate any organization’s success. (Duplicates credit in BUAD 250ab and BUAD 305.) Prerequisite: BUAD 280.
BUAD 285ab Accounting Fundamentals, Financial and Managerial Accounting (4-2, FaSpSm) a: Development and use of accounting information important to investors and professionals with a focus on the analysis of business operations, financial position, and cash flows. (Duplicates credit in former BUAD 250ab, and BUAD 280, BUAD 286b and BUAD 305.) b: Continuation of BUAD 285a: accounting information useful for the analysis of product costing, budgeting and organizational performance. (Duplicates credit in former BUAD 250b, and BUAD 281, BUAD 286a and BUAD 305.) Corequisite: BUAD 285a.
BUAD 286ab Accounting Fundamentals, Managerial and Financial Accounting (4-2, FaSpSm) a: Development and use of accounting information important to executives, managers, and other decision-makers, with a focus on the analysis of business operations and organizational performance. (Duplicates credit in former BUAD 250b, BUAD 281, BUAD 285b and BUAD 305.) b: Continuation of BUAD 286a: accounting information useful for the analysis of the income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement. (Duplicates credit in former BUAD 250a, and BUAD 280, BUAD 285a and BUAD 305.) Corequisite: BUAD 286a.
BUAD 301 Technical Entrepreneurship (3, FaSp) Starting and managing a technological business: developing a viable concept, market and financial planning, product development, organizing the venture, protecting intellectual property rights.
BUAD 302 Communication Strategy in Business (4, FaSpSm) Theory, practices, and techniques of business communication strategy essential to external and organizational communication; group and interpersonal communication; development of skill in oral and written communication.
BUAD 302T Communication Strategy in Accounting (4, FaSp) Theory, practices, and techniques essential to communication in accounting. Interpersonal and group communication; oral presentations; writing; use of communication technologies; communication strategies for varied audiences. (Duplicates credit in BUAD 302.) Open only to accounting and prospective accounting majors.
BUAD 304 Organizational Behavior and Leadership (4, FaSpSm) The role of leadership in business organizations; concepts and skills for managing oneself and others.
BUAD 305 Abridged Core Concepts of Accounting Information (4, FaSp) Uses of accounting information in decision-making; accounting issues concerning income and cash flows, economic resources and capital. Open only to transfer business and accounting majors. (Duplicates credit in BUAD 250ab, BUAD 280, BUAD 281, BUAD 285ab and BUAD 250ab.)
BUAD 306 Business Finance (4, FaSpSm) Financial problems of business enterprise; function of financial manager; sources of funds; instruments, institutions, and practices of finance; problems of financial management using case studies. (Duplicates credit in BUAD 215x.) Prerequisite: ACCT 410 or BUAD 280 or BUAD 285a or BUAD 286b or BUAD 305 and ECON 351x. Corequisite: ECON 252 or ECON 352 and BUAD 310 or EE 464.
BUAD 307 Marketing Fundamentals (4, FaSpSm) Develops a managerial viewpoint in planning and evaluating marketing decisions of the firm: products, pricing, channels, promotion, information processing, legal implications, and marketing in contemporary society. (Duplicates credit in MKT 385x.)
BUAD 310 Applied Business Statistics (4, FaSpSm) Statistical methods for business analysis; data exploration and description; sampling distributions; estimation; hypothesis testing, simple and multiple regression; model building. Extensive computer applications.
BUAD 311 Operations Management (4, FaSpSm) Fundamentals of operations management. Skills needed to analyze, manage, and improve business processes. Topics include: process, capacity, service, and inventory management and optimization. (Duplicates credit in BUAD 311T.) Corequisite: BUAD 310.
BUAD 311T Operations Management for Accounting Majors (4) Learn the fundamentals of operations management and acquire skills to analyze, measure, control and improve production processes. Open to accounting majors only. (Duplicates credit in BUAD 311.)
BUAD 315x Basics of Project and Operations Management for Non-Majors (2, Fa) Introduction to tools and methods for the design, production, and delivery of goods and services. Techniques for planning, monitoring, and controlling complex projects. Not available for degree or major credit for business and accounting majors. (Duplicates credit in BUAD 311 and BUAD 311T.)
BUAD 350 Macroeconomic Analysis for Business Decisions (4, FaSpSm) Behavior of economic indicators over business fluctuations, economic growth, monetary and fiscal policy, exchange rate movements. Prerequisite: ECON 203, ECON 205.
BUAD 351 Economic Analysis for Business Decisions (4, FaSpSm) Theory of the firm in the enterprise system; profits, demand, and cost analysis; market competition and resource allocation; problems of size efficiency and growth. Prerequisite: ECON 203, ECON 205 and either MATH 118 or MATH 125.
BUAD 390 Special Problems (1-4) Supervised, individual studies. No more than one registration permitted. Enrollment by petition only.
BUAD 425 Data Analysis for Decision Making (2, FaSpSm) Leveraging large corporate datasets; slice and dice data; dash boards; data mining and statistical tools; neural network; multiple and logistic regression; decision tree; gain inference and decision making; clustering. Prerequisite: BUAD 310 and BUAD 311 or BUAD 311T; corequisite: BUAD 497.
BUAD 490x Directed Research (1-8, max 12, FaSpSm) Individual research and readings under the supervision of a faculty adviser. Application and proposal required. Not available for graduate credit.
BUAD 493 Marshall Honors Research Seminar (4, Sp) Provides the methodological tools to identify research problems, develop researchable hypotheses, apply appropriate methodologies, conduct research, derive meaningful conclusions from data, write a research proposal. Open only to business and accounting majors.
BUAD 494 Marshall Honors Research and Thesis (2-4, max 4, FaSpSm) Experience in conducting research and writing a thesis under the supervision of a faculty adviser. Open only to students in the Marshall Honors program. (Duplicates credit in ACCT 494.) Graded CR/NC. Prerequisite: ACCT 493 or BUAD 493.
BUAD 495 Practicum in Business Issues (Internship) (1, max 12) Combined classroom discussion and structured, supervised field application of business theories and practices within a part-time employment context. Open only to undergraduate students. Graded CR/NC.
BUAD 497 Strategic Management (4, FaSpSm) Examination of managerial decision-making, planning, and policy under changing environments; readings, cases, exercises, simulations. Prerequisite: BUAD 281 or BUAD 285b or BUAD 286b or BUAD 305 and BUAD 304 and BUAD 307 and BUAD 215x or BUAD 306 and BUAD 302 or BUAD 302T; corequisite: BUAD 311 or BUAD 311T.
BUAD 498 Business Field Project (Undergraduate) (1 or 2, max 3, FaSpSm) Unpaid individual or team projects solving real business problems for client companies; situation analyses; statistical analysis; consulting practicum; oral and written presentations. Open to sophomores, juniors and seniors only. Graded CR/NC.
BUAD 499 Special Topics (2-4, max 8, Irregular) Examination of current literature relevant to the total and changing environment in which business operates.