Tim Nguyen

Introduction to Business and Enterprise
This course provides students who have little to no background in business with a broad overview of business and enterprise in the economy. Students will learn about types of enterprises and a functional framework for understanding a business, including strategy, finance, production, and marketing. This framework will be used to analyze various businesses and non-profits, exploring the advantages and disadvantages of various structures. The course will give overviews of accounting and entrepreneurship, and explore policy and philosophical debates about the morality of for-profit business and the need for corporate responsibility. 3 hrs. lect.

Business Ethics
Capitalism and competitive markets are often considered the most efficient system of simultaneously maximizing private wealth and public good. In the real world, however, truly competitive markets do not exist. Imperfect markets have been made to work efficiently while protecting public good through systems of public intervention, i.e., laws and regulations, and voluntary self-restraint by business organizations in response to societal expectations. In this class we will consider the role of ethics in business, with students analyzing the process by which ethical norms and strongly held moral beliefs guide the conduct of economically driven business organizations. Students will reflect on business managers’ responsibility to their owners, i.e., shareholders, other stakeholders, and society-at-large. 3 hrs. lect./dsc

The Diverse Workplace: Gender, Race and the Modern Corporation
Knowing why and how to harness the power of human difference to facilitate human flourishing is a critical competency for leaders. In this course we will learn about the challenges and opportunities of diversity. This course has three components. First, students will explore ways humans can advance in the modern workplace and how the roles of people of all genders must evolve in order to do so. The second component centers on the issue of race in and at the organization/corporation (for-profit and not-for-profit). And the third component relates to how workplace diversity is a valuable and strategic asset to the modern corporation. Students will learn that organizations, too, are social actors. As such, issues of gender and race shape organizations and their ability to obtain cultural, political, and material resources they need to survive—the organizing process. 3 hrs. lect.

Marketing: Formulation, Methods, and Research
Marketing is both a qualitative and a quantitative discipline. It is one of the rare business fields that actively draws upon and integrates the creative and analytical components of the liberal arts tradition. In this course students will be exposed to a broad overview of marketing principles, focusing on the application of marketing theory to for-profit, not-for-profit, and the public sectors. Cause marketing and social marketing techniques will also be discussed to determine their utility in combating social ills and promoting favorable public health behaviors and outcomes. As the implementation of marketing programs is undergoing a massive transformation from conventional to digital media, students will be exposed to digital designing and marketing, which are driven by a sound understanding of consumer segmentation, brand positioning, distinct product benefits, and relevant in-market executions. (INTD 0120) Introductory statistics course recommended. 3 hrs. lect.

Big Business, Big Data, & Big Obligations
In this course we will examine the cultural, economic, ethical, and legal implications of, analytics, big data, and computation. Drawing on various disciplines in the humanities and the social sciences, students will read works relating to the science of data collection, aggregation, and analysis. Students will learn that with opportunities for both financial gain and social good (which big data brings) comes various perils, including privacy violations, disability/gender/racial discrimination, economic disruption, negative environmental spillovers, and political destabilization.

Corporate Governance
In this reading intensive seminar students will explore how institutions and leaders create value for their internal and external constituents by examining corporate governance and its respective nomenclatures. Corporate governance involves the set of policies, processes, and customs by which an institution is directed. This course engages with questions such as: a) What do investors want? What do they worry about in relation to corporate (board) decisions? b) What is the chief aim of the firm in the eyes of the law, boards and investors? c) What governance modules are helpful in creating value and making sure value accrues to the investors? d) What countries provide superior governance arrangements that allow entrepreneurs to fund-raise money to realize profitable projects? e) How should managers be incentivized and compensated? (INTD 0120 and/or INTD 0217)

Creating New Enterprises To Solve Significant Problems: For-Profit and Social Entrepreneurship
In this class students will explore how entrepreneurial innovators solve significant problems by creating new enterprises, and how these new organizations impact our society. In today’s society, entrepreneurship seems ubiquitous. At times, it appears that entrepreneurs can do no wrong. At other times, they are depicted as over-optimistic fools. Such polar characterizations may sell magazines, but they do not capture what entrepreneurship is, which involves a more complex and interesting story— in both for-profit and social entrepreneurship environments. Students will explore entrepreneurship in depth with the goal of penetrating the popular veneer and uncovering the essence of starting and growing new enterprises designed to solve significant societal problems.

Capitalism & Its Criticisms
In this course we will explore the concept of capitalism and how it carries variegated meanings, which spans a wide range of societies and differing relationships between economic, political, and civic institutions within them. Students will have the opportunity to examine various forms and perspectives of capitalism which include contraband capitalism, racial capitalism, gendered capitalism, and scientific capitalism. We will also track how conceptions of capitalism have changed over time and globally. Primary and secondary works from the field of history, law, economics, philosophy, religion, and sociology will be incorporated to carry out the goal of the course which is to provide tools and perspectives that help students engage thoughtfully in these debates and to extend them into application in their own roles as engaged citizen, corporate, nonprofit, public, and entrepreneurial leaders.

Advanced Topics in Business & Enterprise Seminar
In this seminar, we will explore advance topics in finance, organizations, management science, law and business, marketing, and decision theory. Typically, the theme of the seminar will rotate yearly with odd years being finance oriented and even years being management science or leadership-oriented topics. For AY23, we will explore the quantitative topic of venture capital and private equity. The course will focus on the following four areas: business valuation, financing, private and venture capital industry, and exit. Class discussion, short lectures, individual research projects, and oral presentations will inform student learning experience. (INTD 0120: Intro to Business & Enterprise and INTD 0217: Intro to Finance, or with Instructor Approval)

Independent Study
Approval Required

Financial Literacy & Inequality
This course will apply an interdisciplinary approach to issues of financial literacy, financial exclusion, and financial inequality.  Topics relating to the specified domains include intergenerational equity, retirement security, consumer debt, individual taxation, and economic development.  These concepts provide a disciplined way of thinking about personal financial decisions while simultaneously framing how we think about retirement security and issues of financial equity writ large.

Nonprofits & Civil Society
Nonprofit and civil society organizations of all types play a crucial and growing role in the economy. According to the National Center for Charitable Statistics, there are more than 1.5 million nonprofit organizations in the United States today. According to the Global Journal, there are more than 10 million nongovernmental organizations worldwide. As the nonprofit sector has grown in scope and size, both domestically and internationally, the boundaries between for-profit, governmental, and charitable organizations have become intertwined. In this course we will learn about the economics, history, governance, law, and structure relating to the nonprofit sector (also known as the Third Sector).