Organizational Leadership with Certificate Online Master's Degree Program

Explore concepts and frameworks for how to lead effectively in today's ever-changing world. Using an integrative reflective practice approach, students examine their own approach to leadership and create an initial plan for their own leadership development, as well as the leadership development opportunities for their organization.

Examine how to cultivate meaningful relationships across an organizational system, from co-workers, to team members, to broader stakeholders. Attention will be given to how to leverage both formal and informal relationships to create positive impact. Topics include perceptions, motivation, emotional intelligence, building teams, and conflict management.

Explore how to accelerate organizational change by focusing on and leveraging the core strengths of individuals and the collective system. Learn how to challenge the traditional deficit mindset that pervades organizations, and how to use evidence-based appreciative practices to cultivate shared leadership across a system.

Explore organizational dynamics from a holistic viewpoint and how leading ethically and socially responsibly results in enhanced performance at the individual, group and organizational levels. Special focus will be given to exploring one's own ethical orientation, issues of diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as how leading with a higher purpose can result in both accelerated organizational and broader social impact.

Students use a framework to explore the dynamics of human interaction within and between organizations. Throughout the course, they will use a perspective that a key function of management is to negotiate for resources and use that perspective to develop collaborative relationships with employees, vendors, suppliers, and interested communities.

Explore how to strategically lead continual organizational evolution and apply new business models needed for success in today's ever-changing world. Attention will be given to leading sustainable growth with an intraprenurial mindset, managing disruption, the implications of the digital transformation on organizations, and the power of leading with a purpose.

Explore how to uncover creative insights and innovative solutions for today's organizational challenges. Learn about the systematic process of design thinking from a human-centred approach, including how to cultivate creativity in others and create a culture of innovation.

This course culminates in an applied leadership capstone project to support the translation, application and synthesis of core concepts from previous courses to a final capstone project, through action research and reflection. The project will reflect a real-life situation and will include a description of the situation, stakeholder mapping, identification of key leadership opportunities and challenges, and conceptual basis for recommendations derived from data collection as well as prior learnings and content from the Leadership Program.

Students learn about the accounting process and how businesses move from individual transactions to financial reports. Students explore the integration among various financial reports as well as the impact of transactions on the financial position and profitability of a business.

Cost accounting presents the behavioral aspects of accounting and identifies essential data that managers use for planning and controlling, costing products and services, and performance measurement. Students study the basic concepts, uses, and procedures related to types of costs and costing systems and use this information to solve business problems. They will develop quantitative and qualitative analytical skills to analyze and interpret raw data that support the business decision-making process and inventory costing.

Advances your understanding of how to use financial information to value and analyze firms. Uses an understanding of a firm's strategy, what is contained in financial reports, why firms report certain information, and how to be a sophisticated user of this information. Evaluates current performance and its future sustainability, forecasts future profitability and risk, and values businesses using earnings and book value data. Develops a foundation to effectively communicate financial information.

In this course, students examine essential cybersecurity concepts in the context of different business environments. Students explore a range of topics, including risk, vulnerabilities, security architecture and design, identity and access management, and incident response.

In this course, students learn about threat actors, and threat intelligence collection, analysis, and dissemination. Students also learn how to analyze cyber threats and develop effective countermeasures and examine the legal and ethical implications of threat intelligence gathering and sharing.

In this course, students learn how to develop and implement effective cybersecurity policies and procedures, and study legal and regulatory requirements in cybersecurity, including data protection laws and standards. Students also learn how to align cybersecurity strategies with business objectives.

To thrive in the modern digital era, organizations must cultivate a culture that embraces innovation, collaboration, and agility. This course offers a comprehensive exploration of digital transformation, which is the process of using digital technologies to create new, or modify existing, business processes, culture, and customer experiences to meet changing business and market requirements. Students will learn how to apply strategies and practices to foster a culture that not only adapts to but also anticipates technological advancements. This course also provides insights into leveraging emerging technologies to maintain a competitive edge.

In this course, students explore artificial intelligence (AI) through the lens of enterprise innovation, uncovering how AI is reshaping digital modernization. Students will learn how organizations across sectors are harnessing AI to forge customer relations and enhance process efficiency. Students will also engage with case studies that offer insights and strategies to architect an AI-centric business model tailored to an organization's scale, sector, and data governance strengths.

This course emphasizes a holistic approach to digital transformation by simultaneously addressing an organization's technology resources, business processes, and the outcomes it seeks. The course prepares leaders not just to implement new digital capabilities or streamline processes, but to foster sustained, continuous innovation that meets and anticipates changing customer and market demands. Students will develop a digital transformation strategy that advances enterprise operations, business models, and technology ecosystems, while also enhancing customer and employee interactions with these elements.

Students explore organizational finance with emphasis on investments, financial health, and corporate finance. Through practical application, accurate real-world simulations, and situational analyses, students build a grounding in finance in preparation for more advanced courses in the finance program.

In this course, students will explore the pivotal concepts of corporate finance and their application in contemporary business settings, as well as the intricacies of the capital structure of publicly traded companies, the principles that guide valuation, the investments made by these corporations, and the rationale behind such financial decisions.

In this course, students will embark on a comprehensive exploration of investment theories and practices. The course provides students with a theoretical grounding for investments and teaches them about important issues that all investors need to consider, such as the economy, valuing securities, different types of assets, and the subtleties of modern portfolio theory.

Students learn about the U.S. health care system, including the government's role in the industry, cost and quality issues, managed care, reimbursement mechanisms, legal and regulatory issues, profit vs. non-profit care, the role of technology, and then compare it to international health care systems. Students will begin to conceptualize new models of delivery through analysis of barriers to process improvement and the use of design thinking and analytics. Students will appraise development, implementation and management of system components.

Managing information as a strategic resource is challenging. Students will design IT systems to capture, combine, and transform data into information to measure processes/outcomes of care, support clinical decision-making and management decisions, empower patients, and improve health care operations. Students explore health information systems within the context of associated business processes to develop innovative solutions. Management of change as related to clinical systems will also be stressed to help build buy-in, engage individuals and ultimately improve workflow and system design.

Students learn to apply elements of regulation, law and ethics to the administrative process in a variety of healthcare settings and situations. Healthcare administrators can avoid many legal disputes by understanding basic concepts such as patient rights, informed consent and privacy regulations. Course themes include the legal barriers that interfere with process improvement, malpractice, and the limits on sharing information across institutions. Students analyze recent legal developments, including the Affordable Care Act, medical marijuana, and right to die legislation.

To gain a foundation for the Human Resource certificate, students take a macro-view of the field and examine the role of an HR department as a critical strategic business partner within the organization. Students integrate concepts and current workplace issues, including using new technologies in the field; the need for a broader understanding of business and culture; and how to build and support agile teams that work effectively.

Companies are exploring human capital analytics for workforce reporting and to help make informed decisions about human resources. The continuum of value that analytics bring to an organization includes practices from basic data reporting to predictive analytics. Explore workforce reporting and both traditional and advanced decision-making analytic tools, especially predictive modeling, which make it possible for organizations to inform decision making for the future. Learn to make the business case for using advanced HR analytics.

Coaching in the workplace draws on many related fields including behavioral science, systems thinking and the study of change. After a review of those areas, students will use that foundation to develop a range of coaching tools. Learn to ask the right questions, provide applicable feedback, use a customized approach and help employees learn to independently grapple with problems and find solutions. Finally students will use coaching to deepen an individual's self-awareness to promote action and accountability.

Marketing has the power to shape and influence individuals, communities, and society in myriad ways. Technological innovation continues to change the way we market to consumers, and the ways in which consumers interact with products and services. In this course, students will explore and critically examine the impact of current issues and emergent technology on enhancing the customer experience while at the same time applying foundational marketing approaches to build strategies and tactics for an organization of their choosing.

One of the main responsibilities in marketing is being able to identify the appropriate target markets for a product, service or idea. When the right audience is identified, it is easier to gain their attention and fulfill their needs so they become a returning customer. In this course students will apply consumer behavior theories and practice to explore various ways today's marketers determine their target audiences, how they create messaging that engages those audiences and the ways in which marketing and sales utilize consumer behavior to create lasting customer relationships.

Marketing research is a vast area that supports marketing decision-making. From product development and consumer insights to competitive analysis and predictive analytics, marketing research provides the data necessary to identify successes, understand challenges, and create new opportunities. In this course students will examine lean marketing research techniques, analyze market research data, and develop action plans based on their analysis. Students should expect to utilize appropriate market research tools and platforms as part of their course work.

Positive Organization Development (POD) is the intentional approach to change that emphasizes what elevates and inspires individuals and organizations. Whereas traditional approaches to change have focused on identifying and improving breakdowns and deficits within organizations, POD seeks to uncover positive deviance and assets and accelerate successes within a system. While not ignoring problems, students will explore how to create optimal organizational states by drawing upon the theory and science of Appreciative Inquiry, positive organizational scholarship, positive psychology, and sustainable enterprises.

Students will explore the theory and practice of Appreciative Inquiry (AI) as a specific philosophy and specific action-research framework for creating positive organizational change. Case studies will examine how AI has been applied in different sectors to create positive whole-system change. Students will be introduced to the practical tools and resources for engaging groups and organizations in AI, as well as applying the principles of AI to their own life.

Employee wellbeing in organizations has been shown to impact not only individuals' mental health, but also their collaboration, engagement, productivity. Creating and sustaining a culture that supports the wellbeing of employees in today's continually disrupted and distributed workplace takes intentional design and commitment. This course is designed to provide students with not only the science behind wellbeing, but also practical tools and approaches for empowering organizations to cultivate an enduring culture of wellbeing.

This course is designed to introduce a systematic process for planning, organizing and controlling projects. The course will present a practical methodology for completing projects more quickly with fewer problems. Student work will consist of readings, research, class special-topic presentations, group activities, a project management journal, and participation in a real world IT business project. Students will be encouraged to apply project-management techniques to solve existing real-world technology-related business problems.

In this course, students study Agile project management methodologies, in the context of software development, as a way of achieving Software Engineering quality goals. Students will learn what projects lend themselves to an agile approach, and how the agile approach relates to traditional project management, while learning the tools and techniques of Agile.

In this course, students will explore project uses of accounting and financial information and the development and use of project cost accounts. An introduction to common cost engineering principles, financial systems, and conventions will enable students to develop and evaluate project budgets. In addition, students will learn techniques to integrate resources, schedules, and cost estimates throughout the life of the project to predict and manage cost performance.

In this course students will focus on the key theories, practices, and trends in public administration. Topics include the historical development of public administration in the United States, politics of political institutions, management, leading in public administration, key roles and functions of public administration, organizational structure of government organizations, analysis of key public administration theories, understanding bureaucracy and its role, public administration reforms, and future trends.

In this course, students will focus on the methodology for analyzing, developing, and implementing public policy. Topics include types of public policies, understanding the policy-making process, analyzing public policies, impact analysis of public policies, understanding the role of stakeholders in public policy, economic, social, and political factors influencing policy, and case studies in public policy analysis.

Students will examine public budgeting processes, financial management principles, and fiscal decision-making specific to the public sector. Topics include: the public budgeting process: formulation, execution, and auditing; revenue generation and sources of public funds; expenditure management and cost control; financial planning and forecasting; accountability and transparency; and the evaluation of case studies in public budgeting and financial management.