IdeaWazaWiki - User contributions [en]

Lunar Boom Town

2007-11-26T09:27:51Z

70.110.62.240: /* Applicable Google Discussion Groups */

[[Image:Mooncolony.jpg|thumb|right|300px|An artists impression of a colony on the moon.]]

==Role Playing Referees Now Needed==

* DARPA funds dispenser. - Fixed annual budget for various applications. You compare the merit of grant requests and allocate as fairly and wisely as possible either arbitrarily or increasingly based upon DARPA's actual public priorities.

* Venture Capital Fund managers - Review proposals and then invest funds or feedback as you feel best. Perhaps later as more data collects and some automation is possible we can make this into an actual investment opportunity where micromanagers are actually attempting to manage small investments. Might set it up with play money or stock option exchanges, etc. Some further research into coalition licensing is necessary before feasibility can be contemplated.

==Public Service Bulletin==
There has been some simulated vandal activity (edit wars, personal attacks, faked data citations, misquotes, incorrect hacked engineering software tools, etc.) within these projects and Wikiversity custodians are considering declaring parts of [[Lunar Boom Town]] a designated vandal haven until this malicious behavior has been reigned in effectively. Vested interests please share thoughts below:
* I think [[Cargo Imports]] is bordering on problematical in that there are dangerous physical processes being shared prior to adequate preparation of safety recommendations. [[User:Mirwin|Mirwin]] 06:37, 25 November 2007 (UTC)

==Design Challanges==
Help prove to the polished senior professional engineers whose assistance we need occasionally that our engineering students, combat artists, and syneristic hunter/gather scouts are second to no other chaoatic strategic mobocracy anywhere in the world while we play at getting to the moon with enough profits leftover to be influential investers in the Mars Society's pathetic attempt to get to Mars and back alive with the Chinese junk components that the NATO/Nipponese empire embarrasses their "defense forces" with ..... all I can say really is that it was a nice life for me as one of the few priviged Americans never discriminated against while it lasted. [[User:Mirwin|Mirwin]] 06:08, 26 November 2007 (UTC)

Should the initial automated cargo carrier use methane or LH2 or some other feul mix combination for the delivery crashlander and software stages?
*http://groups.google.com/group/sci.space.policy/browse_thread/thread/70cd1001dac867ee#8dfe8a3c87ad123d

==It may be expensive to live on the moon.==
What kinds of businesses, factories, and exports would it take to pay for the necessary imports? What kinds of skills would be needed? We need to figure all this stuff out before our [[w:Boomtown|boomtown]] will prosper, whether in a virtual simulation or actually on the moon.

Help us budding business tycoons find out and figure it out by gathering and using appropriately sources of information. Remember to report back creatively to assist the entire community. Use of [[w:Open design|open/free design]] methodologies is encouraged to enhance probability of success and shorten development timelines. Primarily, we are interested in living and working on the moon, not licensing technologies for others to do so. Public collaboration and publishing of results is intended to help create future space settlements with dynamic successful economies.

==Open entrepreneurial ideas==
What business could I/you/they/we startup or run in a Lunar Boom Town?

* [[Creative information artist]]
* [[Air Plant]]
* [[/Aluminum Production/]]
* [[/Begillion resource harvesting/|Bagillion resource harvesting]]
* [[/Boarding Habitat/]]
* [[The space adventure group]]
* [[/Boomtown Ice Skating Rink/]]
* [[/Boomtown Plaza Bakery/]] Sample executive s ummary.[http://www.bplans.com/Sample_Business_Plans/Restaurant_Cafe_And_Bakery_Business_Plans/Bakery_Business_Plan/executive_summary.cfm]
* [[Cargo Imports]] Use mass produced disposable one way rockets delivered as needed from highly automated factory with mostly carbon components in lunar stages to import cargo from Earth for Lunar customers. Soft land robotic cargo lander. Crashland the lunar insertion stage into receiving crater full of lunar dust. This becomes carbon-carbon ore for sail to carbon processers or perhaps direct to retail. Pretty easy to burn carbon to create saleable carbon dioxide to greenhouse operaters. Soft lander carries all of feul safety margin to surface. Feul and spacecraft are recycled into the private and/or government GLOP (general left over processors) at best available prices. Cargo delivered to paying customers. A key driver of the business model will probably be standard industrial engineering in driving the costs down by reinvestment of gross cash flows into producing ever cheaper large volume of the disposable rockets. Key startup issue is how much capital to get started and sustain deliveries to market until net profitability is achieved. <object width="425" height="350"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/4MpBsPkr_gM"> </param> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/4MpBsPkr_gM" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"> </embed> </object> <object width="425" height="350"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/50Fk2Vu1B4s"> </param> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/50Fk2Vu1B4s" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"> </embed> </object> Perhaps we should consider an automated warehouse facility. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWb5LlFE69Y
* [[/Carbon commodity imports and futures/]]
* [[/Chicken Farm/]]
* [[/Communications Services/]]
* [[/Fabbers R Us/]]
* [[/Feuling Station/]]
* [[/Glass Production/]]
* [[GLOP (General Left Overs Processers)]]
* [[/Horticulture Nursery/]]
* [[/LOX Domestic and Exports/]]
* [[/Luna's Tomatoes, Juice and Picante Sauce/]]
* [[/Outfitter Services and Supplies/]]
* [[/Nitrogen commodity imports and futures/]]
* [[/Rabbit Ranch/]]
* [[/Remote Rover Operation/]]
* [[/Rover Repairs & Modification/]]
* [[/Rover Outback Racing/]]
* [[/Human Powered Vehicles/]]
* [[/Satellite and Computer Wreckers/]]
* [[/Sintered Regolith/]]
* [[/Spacesuit Maintenance Repair & Enhancement/]]
* [[/Steel Production/]]
* [[/Terraform Station/]]
* [[/Terran Tourist Transport/]]
* [[/Theme Park Rover Maintenance/]]
* [[/Tourist Hotel/]]
* [[/Volume developer/]]
* [[/Volume miner/]]
* [[/Worm Soil Factory/]]
* [[/Water plant/]]
* [[/Retirement community/]]
* [[/Medical treatment/]]
* [[/Building & construction facility/]]
* [[/Earth Weather Forcasting Center/]]

==Potential triggers for lunar boom towns==
* Space Tourism[http://www.spacefuture.com/archive/tourism_in_low_earth_orbit_the_trigger_for_commercial_development.shtml]
* A commitment to extensively explore or settle Mars.[http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/mars/mars_colonize_terraform.html]
* A decision to build a [[w:Space elevator|space elevator]].
* Global warming: A shift to solar power satellites[http://www.nss.org/settlement/ssp/library/index.htm] as part of carbon reduction efforts.
* Advances in Nuclear Fusion using He3 in Feul Cycle. [http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/12/18/fs.moonmining/index.html]
* [[Asteroid mining]][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_mining][http://www.permanent.com]

This project focuses on [[w:business plan|business plan]]s, evaluation of business models, technical approaches, and risk factors.

There is a budding business plan course – [[The Business Plan]] – that may be a bit too technical for our purposes. Wikibooks has some detailed information (Wikibooks:Writing a Business Plan) on standard business plans. Keep in mind we do not need excessive detail to get started and we can all collaborate on our lunar business models and plans. A business plan is merely a communications tool to help tell others how we plan to conduct our business.

Participants will also find [[Principles of Marketing|marketing]] concepts and skills helpful in identifying and analyzing target market segments.

In the meantime we need some icons for one of our local freight company simulators.
* [[CisLunarFreighter]] Java guys requested some .jpegs or .pngs for graphics! Post samples here or there or somewhere you think appropriate.
* [[/Links to technical papers]]
* [[/Sites with information]]

[http://www.mosdownload.com/play.m3u?sf=224737 The current theme song] is by Sharam. We are considering remixing it with some drums to represent discrete large missions abruptly impacting the markets. We use this theme song to represent the complex interplay of businesses and customers in free markets. If you have a better theme song for Lunar Boom Town, please leave a link here or on discussion page so others may evaluate it as a replacement.

== Preliminary map ==
===Design activity===
Using [http://simkin.asu.edu/clem/ online lunar data] find a prime location for our boomtown. Remember, it should be close to [http://www.cmf.nrl.navy.mil/clementine/water/moon_ice.JPG resources] and future customers.

[http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/moon_mountain_020326.html Two scientists pick...] [http://www.lpod.org/?m=20070512 A map with Malapert labeled.]

[[Image:Thumb_long86lat0Clementine.jpg|thumb|right|150px]]

[http://www.cmf.nrl.navy.mil/clementine/water/moon_ice.JPG South Pole view marked with suspected water ice locations.]

[[Feasibility Study Automated Cargo Flow]] - Terran Spaceport Warehouse to Designated Lunar Delivery Zone

== Other concepts ==
* [[/Lunar base light cycles/]]

==See also==
* [[Wikipedia:Colonization of the Moon]]
* [[Wikipedia:Colonization of Mercury]]
* [[Wikipedia:Colonization of the outer Solar System]]
* [[Wikipedia:Colonization of Ceres]]
* [[Wikipedia:Terraforming of Venus]]
* [[Wikipedia:Colonization of Venus]]
* [[Wikipedia:Terraforming of Mars]]
* [[Wikipedia:Colonization of Mars]]
* [[Wikipedia:Planetary habitability]]
* [[Wikipedia:International Space Settlement Design Competition]]

==External links==
* http://www.nas.nasa.gov/About/Education/SpaceSettlement/
* http://www.wstf.nasa.gov/Associ/Mars/default.htm
:Maybe some of our peer teams local designs would be eligible for this NASA design competition or maybe just practice here locally and then go compete globally?
* [[w:International_Space_Settlement_Design_Competition|International Space Settlement Design Competition]]
* http://www.nss.org/settlement/nasa/spaceresvol3/toc.html

===Useful Open/Free Design Tools===
* [http://live.gnome.org/Dia Dia] is free software for creating diagrams. It may be useful for process flow and instrumentation diagrams.
* [http://www.artofillusion.org/ Art of Illusion] is a free 3D Modeling and Rendering environment incredibly useful for design visualization.
* [http://www.blender.org/ Blender] is also a 3D Modeling and Rendering environment augmented with exellent import/export data formats involving game development tools and environments.

===Background information===
* Lunar and Martian dust is a potential problem. [http://www.space.com/adastra/adastra_moondust_060223.html]
* TANSTAFL Lunar vacuum will be compromised for chip making, requiring vacuum pumping. [http://www.islandone.org/Settlements/DegradeLunarVacuum.html]
* Technical Summary of a Simulation of Lunar Base Consumables [http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:uccf5oNJICAJ:www.traclabs.com/~korten/publications/exploration05.pdf+Lunar+methane+recovery&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=49&gl=us]
* Tech Study of Requirements for a Lunar Base[http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:supylenSQlUJ:www.nss.org/settlement/moon/library/2000-SystemArchitectureDevelopmentForASelf-SustainingLunarColony.pdf+Lunar+methane+recovery&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=51&gl=us]
*http://www.kathryncramer.com/lunar_development/2004/11/maximizing_food.html

===Applicable Google Discussion Groups===
* sci.space.policy
* sci.space.history
* sci.space.tech

[[Category:Business learning projects]]
[[Category:Learning projects]]

Lunar Boom Town

2007-11-26T09:27:16Z

70.110.62.240: /* Useful Open/Free Design Tools */

[[Image:Mooncolony.jpg|thumb|right|300px|An artists impression of a colony on the moon.]]

==Role Playing Referees Now Needed==

* DARPA funds dispenser. - Fixed annual budget for various applications. You compare the merit of grant requests and allocate as fairly and wisely as possible either arbitrarily or increasingly based upon DARPA's actual public priorities.

* Venture Capital Fund managers - Review proposals and then invest funds or feedback as you feel best. Perhaps later as more data collects and some automation is possible we can make this into an actual investment opportunity where micromanagers are actually attempting to manage small investments. Might set it up with play money or stock option exchanges, etc. Some further research into coalition licensing is necessary before feasibility can be contemplated.

==Public Service Bulletin==
There has been some simulated vandal activity (edit wars, personal attacks, faked data citations, misquotes, incorrect hacked engineering software tools, etc.) within these projects and Wikiversity custodians are considering declaring parts of [[Lunar Boom Town]] a designated vandal haven until this malicious behavior has been reigned in effectively. Vested interests please share thoughts below:
* I think [[Cargo Imports]] is bordering on problematical in that there are dangerous physical processes being shared prior to adequate preparation of safety recommendations. [[User:Mirwin|Mirwin]] 06:37, 25 November 2007 (UTC)

==Design Challanges==
Help prove to the polished senior professional engineers whose assistance we need occasionally that our engineering students, combat artists, and syneristic hunter/gather scouts are second to no other chaoatic strategic mobocracy anywhere in the world while we play at getting to the moon with enough profits leftover to be influential investers in the Mars Society's pathetic attempt to get to Mars and back alive with the Chinese junk components that the NATO/Nipponese empire embarrasses their "defense forces" with ..... all I can say really is that it was a nice life for me as one of the few priviged Americans never discriminated against while it lasted. [[User:Mirwin|Mirwin]] 06:08, 26 November 2007 (UTC)

Should the initial automated cargo carrier use methane or LH2 or some other feul mix combination for the delivery crashlander and software stages?
*http://groups.google.com/group/sci.space.policy/browse_thread/thread/70cd1001dac867ee#8dfe8a3c87ad123d

==It may be expensive to live on the moon.==
What kinds of businesses, factories, and exports would it take to pay for the necessary imports? What kinds of skills would be needed? We need to figure all this stuff out before our [[w:Boomtown|boomtown]] will prosper, whether in a virtual simulation or actually on the moon.

Help us budding business tycoons find out and figure it out by gathering and using appropriately sources of information. Remember to report back creatively to assist the entire community. Use of [[w:Open design|open/free design]] methodologies is encouraged to enhance probability of success and shorten development timelines. Primarily, we are interested in living and working on the moon, not licensing technologies for others to do so. Public collaboration and publishing of results is intended to help create future space settlements with dynamic successful economies.

==Open entrepreneurial ideas==
What business could I/you/they/we startup or run in a Lunar Boom Town?

* [[Creative information artist]]
* [[Air Plant]]
* [[/Aluminum Production/]]
* [[/Begillion resource harvesting/|Bagillion resource harvesting]]
* [[/Boarding Habitat/]]
* [[The space adventure group]]
* [[/Boomtown Ice Skating Rink/]]
* [[/Boomtown Plaza Bakery/]] Sample executive s ummary.[http://www.bplans.com/Sample_Business_Plans/Restaurant_Cafe_And_Bakery_Business_Plans/Bakery_Business_Plan/executive_summary.cfm]
* [[Cargo Imports]] Use mass produced disposable one way rockets delivered as needed from highly automated factory with mostly carbon components in lunar stages to import cargo from Earth for Lunar customers. Soft land robotic cargo lander. Crashland the lunar insertion stage into receiving crater full of lunar dust. This becomes carbon-carbon ore for sail to carbon processers or perhaps direct to retail. Pretty easy to burn carbon to create saleable carbon dioxide to greenhouse operaters. Soft lander carries all of feul safety margin to surface. Feul and spacecraft are recycled into the private and/or government GLOP (general left over processors) at best available prices. Cargo delivered to paying customers. A key driver of the business model will probably be standard industrial engineering in driving the costs down by reinvestment of gross cash flows into producing ever cheaper large volume of the disposable rockets. Key startup issue is how much capital to get started and sustain deliveries to market until net profitability is achieved. <object width="425" height="350"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/4MpBsPkr_gM"> </param> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/4MpBsPkr_gM" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"> </embed> </object> <object width="425" height="350"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/50Fk2Vu1B4s"> </param> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/50Fk2Vu1B4s" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"> </embed> </object> Perhaps we should consider an automated warehouse facility. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWb5LlFE69Y
* [[/Carbon commodity imports and futures/]]
* [[/Chicken Farm/]]
* [[/Communications Services/]]
* [[/Fabbers R Us/]]
* [[/Feuling Station/]]
* [[/Glass Production/]]
* [[GLOP (General Left Overs Processers)]]
* [[/Horticulture Nursery/]]
* [[/LOX Domestic and Exports/]]
* [[/Luna's Tomatoes, Juice and Picante Sauce/]]
* [[/Outfitter Services and Supplies/]]
* [[/Nitrogen commodity imports and futures/]]
* [[/Rabbit Ranch/]]
* [[/Remote Rover Operation/]]
* [[/Rover Repairs & Modification/]]
* [[/Rover Outback Racing/]]
* [[/Human Powered Vehicles/]]
* [[/Satellite and Computer Wreckers/]]
* [[/Sintered Regolith/]]
* [[/Spacesuit Maintenance Repair & Enhancement/]]
* [[/Steel Production/]]
* [[/Terraform Station/]]
* [[/Terran Tourist Transport/]]
* [[/Theme Park Rover Maintenance/]]
* [[/Tourist Hotel/]]
* [[/Volume developer/]]
* [[/Volume miner/]]
* [[/Worm Soil Factory/]]
* [[/Water plant/]]
* [[/Retirement community/]]
* [[/Medical treatment/]]
* [[/Building & construction facility/]]
* [[/Earth Weather Forcasting Center/]]

==Potential triggers for lunar boom towns==
* Space Tourism[http://www.spacefuture.com/archive/tourism_in_low_earth_orbit_the_trigger_for_commercial_development.shtml]
* A commitment to extensively explore or settle Mars.[http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/mars/mars_colonize_terraform.html]
* A decision to build a [[w:Space elevator|space elevator]].
* Global warming: A shift to solar power satellites[http://www.nss.org/settlement/ssp/library/index.htm] as part of carbon reduction efforts.
* Advances in Nuclear Fusion using He3 in Feul Cycle. [http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/12/18/fs.moonmining/index.html]
* [[Asteroid mining]][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_mining][http://www.permanent.com]

This project focuses on [[w:business plan|business plan]]s, evaluation of business models, technical approaches, and risk factors.

There is a budding business plan course – [[The Business Plan]] – that may be a bit too technical for our purposes. Wikibooks has some detailed information (Wikibooks:Writing a Business Plan) on standard business plans. Keep in mind we do not need excessive detail to get started and we can all collaborate on our lunar business models and plans. A business plan is merely a communications tool to help tell others how we plan to conduct our business.

Participants will also find [[Principles of Marketing|marketing]] concepts and skills helpful in identifying and analyzing target market segments.

In the meantime we need some icons for one of our local freight company simulators.
* [[CisLunarFreighter]] Java guys requested some .jpegs or .pngs for graphics! Post samples here or there or somewhere you think appropriate.
* [[/Links to technical papers]]
* [[/Sites with information]]

[http://www.mosdownload.com/play.m3u?sf=224737 The current theme song] is by Sharam. We are considering remixing it with some drums to represent discrete large missions abruptly impacting the markets. We use this theme song to represent the complex interplay of businesses and customers in free markets. If you have a better theme song for Lunar Boom Town, please leave a link here or on discussion page so others may evaluate it as a replacement.

== Preliminary map ==
===Design activity===
Using [http://simkin.asu.edu/clem/ online lunar data] find a prime location for our boomtown. Remember, it should be close to [http://www.cmf.nrl.navy.mil/clementine/water/moon_ice.JPG resources] and future customers.

[http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/moon_mountain_020326.html Two scientists pick...] [http://www.lpod.org/?m=20070512 A map with Malapert labeled.]

[[Image:Thumb_long86lat0Clementine.jpg|thumb|right|150px]]

[http://www.cmf.nrl.navy.mil/clementine/water/moon_ice.JPG South Pole view marked with suspected water ice locations.]

[[Feasibility Study Automated Cargo Flow]] - Terran Spaceport Warehouse to Designated Lunar Delivery Zone

== Other concepts ==
* [[/Lunar base light cycles/]]

==See also==
* [[Wikipedia:Colonization of the Moon]]
* [[Wikipedia:Colonization of Mercury]]
* [[Wikipedia:Colonization of the outer Solar System]]
* [[Wikipedia:Colonization of Ceres]]
* [[Wikipedia:Terraforming of Venus]]
* [[Wikipedia:Colonization of Venus]]
* [[Wikipedia:Terraforming of Mars]]
* [[Wikipedia:Colonization of Mars]]
* [[Wikipedia:Planetary habitability]]
* [[Wikipedia:International Space Settlement Design Competition]]

==External links==
* http://www.nas.nasa.gov/About/Education/SpaceSettlement/
* http://www.wstf.nasa.gov/Associ/Mars/default.htm
:Maybe some of our peer teams local designs would be eligible for this NASA design competition or maybe just practice here locally and then go compete globally?
* [[w:International_Space_Settlement_Design_Competition|International Space Settlement Design Competition]]
* http://www.nss.org/settlement/nasa/spaceresvol3/toc.html

===Useful Open/Free Design Tools===
* [http://live.gnome.org/Dia Dia] is free software for creating diagrams. It may be useful for process flow and instrumentation diagrams.
* [http://www.artofillusion.org/ Art of Illusion] is a free 3D Modeling and Rendering environment incredibly useful for design visualization.
* [http://www.blender.org/ Blender] is also a 3D Modeling and Rendering environment augmented with exellent import/export data formats involving game development tools and environments.

===Background information===
* Lunar and Martian dust is a potential problem. [http://www.space.com/adastra/adastra_moondust_060223.html]
* TANSTAFL Lunar vacuum will be compromised for chip making, requiring vacuum pumping. [http://www.islandone.org/Settlements/DegradeLunarVacuum.html]
* Technical Summary of a Simulation of Lunar Base Consumables [http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:uccf5oNJICAJ:www.traclabs.com/~korten/publications/exploration05.pdf+Lunar+methane+recovery&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=49&gl=us]
* Tech Study of Requirements for a Lunar Base[http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:supylenSQlUJ:www.nss.org/settlement/moon/library/2000-SystemArchitectureDevelopmentForASelf-SustainingLunarColony.pdf+Lunar+methane+recovery&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=51&gl=us]
*http://www.kathryncramer.com/lunar_development/2004/11/maximizing_food.html

===Applicable Google Discussion Groups===
sci.space.policy
sci.space.history
sci.space.tech

[[Category:Business learning projects]]
[[Category:Learning projects]]

Lunar Boom Town

2007-11-26T09:20:31Z

70.110.62.240: applicable google groups

[[Image:Mooncolony.jpg|thumb|right|300px|An artists impression of a colony on the moon.]]

==Role Playing Referees Now Needed==

* DARPA funds dispenser. - Fixed annual budget for various applications. You compare the merit of grant requests and allocate as fairly and wisely as possible either arbitrarily or increasingly based upon DARPA's actual public priorities.

* Venture Capital Fund managers - Review proposals and then invest funds or feedback as you feel best. Perhaps later as more data collects and some automation is possible we can make this into an actual investment opportunity where micromanagers are actually attempting to manage small investments. Might set it up with play money or stock option exchanges, etc. Some further research into coalition licensing is necessary before feasibility can be contemplated.

==Public Service Bulletin==
There has been some simulated vandal activity (edit wars, personal attacks, faked data citations, misquotes, incorrect hacked engineering software tools, etc.) within these projects and Wikiversity custodians are considering declaring parts of [[Lunar Boom Town]] a designated vandal haven until this malicious behavior has been reigned in effectively. Vested interests please share thoughts below:
* I think [[Cargo Imports]] is bordering on problematical in that there are dangerous physical processes being shared prior to adequate preparation of safety recommendations. [[User:Mirwin|Mirwin]] 06:37, 25 November 2007 (UTC)

==Design Challanges==
Help prove to the polished senior professional engineers whose assistance we need occasionally that our engineering students, combat artists, and syneristic hunter/gather scouts are second to no other chaoatic strategic mobocracy anywhere in the world while we play at getting to the moon with enough profits leftover to be influential investers in the Mars Society's pathetic attempt to get to Mars and back alive with the Chinese junk components that the NATO/Nipponese empire embarrasses their "defense forces" with ..... all I can say really is that it was a nice life for me as one of the few priviged Americans never discriminated against while it lasted. [[User:Mirwin|Mirwin]] 06:08, 26 November 2007 (UTC)

Should the initial automated cargo carrier use methane or LH2 or some other feul mix combination for the delivery crashlander and software stages?
*http://groups.google.com/group/sci.space.policy/browse_thread/thread/70cd1001dac867ee#8dfe8a3c87ad123d

==It may be expensive to live on the moon.==
What kinds of businesses, factories, and exports would it take to pay for the necessary imports? What kinds of skills would be needed? We need to figure all this stuff out before our [[w:Boomtown|boomtown]] will prosper, whether in a virtual simulation or actually on the moon.

Help us budding business tycoons find out and figure it out by gathering and using appropriately sources of information. Remember to report back creatively to assist the entire community. Use of [[w:Open design|open/free design]] methodologies is encouraged to enhance probability of success and shorten development timelines. Primarily, we are interested in living and working on the moon, not licensing technologies for others to do so. Public collaboration and publishing of results is intended to help create future space settlements with dynamic successful economies.

==Open entrepreneurial ideas==
What business could I/you/they/we startup or run in a Lunar Boom Town?

* [[Creative information artist]]
* [[Air Plant]]
* [[/Aluminum Production/]]
* [[/Begillion resource harvesting/|Bagillion resource harvesting]]
* [[/Boarding Habitat/]]
* [[The space adventure group]]
* [[/Boomtown Ice Skating Rink/]]
* [[/Boomtown Plaza Bakery/]] Sample executive s ummary.[http://www.bplans.com/Sample_Business_Plans/Restaurant_Cafe_And_Bakery_Business_Plans/Bakery_Business_Plan/executive_summary.cfm]
* [[Cargo Imports]] Use mass produced disposable one way rockets delivered as needed from highly automated factory with mostly carbon components in lunar stages to import cargo from Earth for Lunar customers. Soft land robotic cargo lander. Crashland the lunar insertion stage into receiving crater full of lunar dust. This becomes carbon-carbon ore for sail to carbon processers or perhaps direct to retail. Pretty easy to burn carbon to create saleable carbon dioxide to greenhouse operaters. Soft lander carries all of feul safety margin to surface. Feul and spacecraft are recycled into the private and/or government GLOP (general left over processors) at best available prices. Cargo delivered to paying customers. A key driver of the business model will probably be standard industrial engineering in driving the costs down by reinvestment of gross cash flows into producing ever cheaper large volume of the disposable rockets. Key startup issue is how much capital to get started and sustain deliveries to market until net profitability is achieved. <object width="425" height="350"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/4MpBsPkr_gM"> </param> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/4MpBsPkr_gM" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"> </embed> </object> <object width="425" height="350"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/50Fk2Vu1B4s"> </param> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/50Fk2Vu1B4s" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"> </embed> </object> Perhaps we should consider an automated warehouse facility. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWb5LlFE69Y
* [[/Carbon commodity imports and futures/]]
* [[/Chicken Farm/]]
* [[/Communications Services/]]
* [[/Fabbers R Us/]]
* [[/Feuling Station/]]
* [[/Glass Production/]]
* [[GLOP (General Left Overs Processers)]]
* [[/Horticulture Nursery/]]
* [[/LOX Domestic and Exports/]]
* [[/Luna's Tomatoes, Juice and Picante Sauce/]]
* [[/Outfitter Services and Supplies/]]
* [[/Nitrogen commodity imports and futures/]]
* [[/Rabbit Ranch/]]
* [[/Remote Rover Operation/]]
* [[/Rover Repairs & Modification/]]
* [[/Rover Outback Racing/]]
* [[/Human Powered Vehicles/]]
* [[/Satellite and Computer Wreckers/]]
* [[/Sintered Regolith/]]
* [[/Spacesuit Maintenance Repair & Enhancement/]]
* [[/Steel Production/]]
* [[/Terraform Station/]]
* [[/Terran Tourist Transport/]]
* [[/Theme Park Rover Maintenance/]]
* [[/Tourist Hotel/]]
* [[/Volume developer/]]
* [[/Volume miner/]]
* [[/Worm Soil Factory/]]
* [[/Water plant/]]
* [[/Retirement community/]]
* [[/Medical treatment/]]
* [[/Building & construction facility/]]
* [[/Earth Weather Forcasting Center/]]

==Potential triggers for lunar boom towns==
* Space Tourism[http://www.spacefuture.com/archive/tourism_in_low_earth_orbit_the_trigger_for_commercial_development.shtml]
* A commitment to extensively explore or settle Mars.[http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/mars/mars_colonize_terraform.html]
* A decision to build a [[w:Space elevator|space elevator]].
* Global warming: A shift to solar power satellites[http://www.nss.org/settlement/ssp/library/index.htm] as part of carbon reduction efforts.
* Advances in Nuclear Fusion using He3 in Feul Cycle. [http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/12/18/fs.moonmining/index.html]
* [[Asteroid mining]][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_mining][http://www.permanent.com]

This project focuses on [[w:business plan|business plan]]s, evaluation of business models, technical approaches, and risk factors.

There is a budding business plan course – [[The Business Plan]] – that may be a bit too technical for our purposes. Wikibooks has some detailed information (Wikibooks:Writing a Business Plan) on standard business plans. Keep in mind we do not need excessive detail to get started and we can all collaborate on our lunar business models and plans. A business plan is merely a communications tool to help tell others how we plan to conduct our business.

Participants will also find [[Principles of Marketing|marketing]] concepts and skills helpful in identifying and analyzing target market segments.

In the meantime we need some icons for one of our local freight company simulators.
* [[CisLunarFreighter]] Java guys requested some .jpegs or .pngs for graphics! Post samples here or there or somewhere you think appropriate.
* [[/Links to technical papers]]
* [[/Sites with information]]

[http://www.mosdownload.com/play.m3u?sf=224737 The current theme song] is by Sharam. We are considering remixing it with some drums to represent discrete large missions abruptly impacting the markets. We use this theme song to represent the complex interplay of businesses and customers in free markets. If you have a better theme song for Lunar Boom Town, please leave a link here or on discussion page so others may evaluate it as a replacement.

== Preliminary map ==
===Design activity===
Using [http://simkin.asu.edu/clem/ online lunar data] find a prime location for our boomtown. Remember, it should be close to [http://www.cmf.nrl.navy.mil/clementine/water/moon_ice.JPG resources] and future customers.

[http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/moon_mountain_020326.html Two scientists pick...] [http://www.lpod.org/?m=20070512 A map with Malapert labeled.]

[[Image:Thumb_long86lat0Clementine.jpg|thumb|right|150px]]

[http://www.cmf.nrl.navy.mil/clementine/water/moon_ice.JPG South Pole view marked with suspected water ice locations.]

[[Feasibility Study Automated Cargo Flow]] - Terran Spaceport Warehouse to Designated Lunar Delivery Zone

== Other concepts ==
* [[/Lunar base light cycles/]]

==See also==
* [[Wikipedia:Colonization of the Moon]]
* [[Wikipedia:Colonization of Mercury]]
* [[Wikipedia:Colonization of the outer Solar System]]
* [[Wikipedia:Colonization of Ceres]]
* [[Wikipedia:Terraforming of Venus]]
* [[Wikipedia:Colonization of Venus]]
* [[Wikipedia:Terraforming of Mars]]
* [[Wikipedia:Colonization of Mars]]
* [[Wikipedia:Planetary habitability]]
* [[Wikipedia:International Space Settlement Design Competition]]

==External links==
* http://www.nas.nasa.gov/About/Education/SpaceSettlement/
* http://www.wstf.nasa.gov/Associ/Mars/default.htm
:Maybe some of our peer teams local designs would be eligible for this NASA design competition or maybe just practice here locally and then go compete globally?
* [[w:International_Space_Settlement_Design_Competition|International Space Settlement Design Competition]]
* http://www.nss.org/settlement/nasa/spaceresvol3/toc.html

===Useful Open/Free Design Tools===
* [http://live.gnome.org/Dia Dia] is free software for creating diagrams. It may be useful for process flow and instrumentation diagrams.

===Background information===
* Lunar and Martian dust is a potential problem. [http://www.space.com/adastra/adastra_moondust_060223.html]
* TANSTAFL Lunar vacuum will be compromised for chip making, requiring vacuum pumping. [http://www.islandone.org/Settlements/DegradeLunarVacuum.html]
* Technical Summary of a Simulation of Lunar Base Consumables [http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:uccf5oNJICAJ:www.traclabs.com/~korten/publications/exploration05.pdf+Lunar+methane+recovery&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=49&gl=us]
* Tech Study of Requirements for a Lunar Base[http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:supylenSQlUJ:www.nss.org/settlement/moon/library/2000-SystemArchitectureDevelopmentForASelf-SustainingLunarColony.pdf+Lunar+methane+recovery&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=51&gl=us]
*http://www.kathryncramer.com/lunar_development/2004/11/maximizing_food.html

===Applicable Google Discussion Groups===
sci.space.policy
sci.space.history
sci.space.tech

[[Category:Business learning projects]]
[[Category:Learning projects]]

Lunar Boom Town/GLOP (General Left Overs Processers)

2007-11-25T20:54:33Z

70.110.62.240: /* Recycle Zone Below This Header */

This is a proven business pattern which must be carefully tailored to local contexts and constraints to place the goodies where they do more good than harm.

Basically, Waste Not Want Not

To operate this GLOP Processor place appropriate information on the item released to the universe in the recycle zone below:

== Recycle Zone Below This Header==

* http://thepathfinder.xwiki.com/xwiki/bin/view/Main/ThePathfinder
* http://thepathfinder.xwiki.com/xwiki/bin/view/Main/Terran+Tankers

mass conveyor articulated on usenet few years back dependent upon interested self organizing volunteers with carry boxes

*google[http://groups.google.com/group/sci.space.policy/browse_thread/thread/4dccf43a2e920b8a/2b64d70660cfdd8a?lnk=st&q=volunteer+mass+flow+mirwin+Michael+R.+Irwin#2b64d70660cfdd8a]
*google[http://groups.google.com/groups/search?q=volunteer+mass+flow+mirwin+Michael+R.+Irwin&qt_s=Search+Groups]
google(volunteer mass flow mirwin Michael R. Irwin groups)

Lunar Boom Town/GLOP (General Left Overs Processers)

2007-11-25T20:47:24Z

70.110.62.240: /* Recycle Zone Below This Header */

Lunar Boom Town/GLOP (General Left Overs Processers)

2007-11-25T20:44:59Z

70.110.62.240: tweak

Lunar Boom Town/GLOP (General Left Overs Processers)

2007-11-25T20:44:10Z

70.110.62.240: need some raw materials so I am recycling some data and keeping it too

Lunar Boom Town

2007-11-25T20:33:33Z

70.110.62.240: /* Open entrepreneurial ideas */

[[Image:Mooncolony.jpg|thumb|right|300px|An artists impression of a colony on the moon.]]

==Role Playing Referees Now Needed==

* DARPA funds dispenser. - Fixed annual budget for various applications. You compare the merit of grant requests and allocate as fairly and wisely as possible either arbitrarily or increasingly based upon DARPA's actual public priorities.

* Venture Capital Fund managers - Review proposals and then invest funds or feedback as you feel best. Perhaps later as more data collects and some automation is possible we can make this into an actual investment opportunity where micromanagers are actually attempting to manage small investments. Might set it up with play money or stock option exchanges, etc. Some further research into coalition licensing is necessary before feasibility can be contemplated.

==Public Service Bulletin==
There has been some simulated vandal activity (edit wars, personal attacks, faked data citations, misquotes, incorrect hacked engineering software tools, etc.) within these projects and Wikiversity custodians are considering declaring parts of [[Lunar Boom Town]] a designated vandal haven until this malicious behavior has been reigned in effectively. Vested interests please share thoughts below:
* I think [[Cargo Imports]] is bordering on problematical in that there are dangerous physical processes being shared prior to adequate preparation of safety recommendations. [[User:Mirwin|Mirwin]] 06:37, 25 November 2007 (UTC)

==It may be expensive to live on the moon.==
What kinds of businesses, factories, and exports would it take to pay for the necessary imports? What kinds of skills would be needed? We need to figure all this stuff out before our [[w:Boomtown|boomtown]] will prosper, whether in a virtual simulation or actually on the moon.

Help us budding business tycoons find out and figure it out by gathering and using appropriately sources of information. Remember to report back creatively to assist the entire community. Use of [[w:Open design|open/free design]] methodologies is encouraged to enhance probability of success and shorten development timelines. Primarily, we are interested in living and working on the moon, not licensing technologies for others to do so. Public collaboration and publishing of results is intended to help create future space settlements with dynamic successful economies.

==Open entrepreneurial ideas==
What business could I/you/they/we startup or run in a Lunar Boom Town?
* [[Air Plant]]
* [[/Aluminum Production/]]
* [[/Begillion resource harvesting/|Bagillion resource harvesting]]
* [[/Boarding Habitat/]]
* [[The space adventure group]]
* [[/Boomtown Ice Skating Rink/]]
* [[/Boomtown Plaza Bakery/]] Sample executive s ummary.[http://www.bplans.com/Sample_Business_Plans/Restaurant_Cafe_And_Bakery_Business_Plans/Bakery_Business_Plan/executive_summary.cfm]
* [[Cargo Imports]] Use mass produced disposable one way rockets delivered as needed from highly automated factory with mostly carbon components in lunar stages to import cargo from Earth for Lunar customers. Soft land robotic cargo lander. Crashland the lunar insertion stage into receiving crater full of lunar dust. This becomes carbon-carbon ore for sail to carbon processers or perhaps direct to retail. Pretty easy to burn carbon to create saleable carbon dioxide to greenhouse operaters. Soft lander carries all of feul safety margin to surface. Feul and spacecraft are recycled into the private and/or government GLOP (general left over processors) at best available prices. Cargo delivered to paying customers. A key driver of the business model will probably be standard industrial engineering in driving the costs down by reinvestment of gross cash flows into producing ever cheaper large volume of the disposable rockets. Key startup issue is how much capital to get started and sustain deliveries to market until net profitability is achieved. <object width="425" height="350"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/4MpBsPkr_gM"> </param> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/4MpBsPkr_gM" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"> </embed> </object> <object width="425" height="350"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/50Fk2Vu1B4s"> </param> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/50Fk2Vu1B4s" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"> </embed> </object> Perhaps we should consider an automated warehouse facility. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWb5LlFE69Y
* [[/Carbon commodity imports and futures/]]
* [[/Chicken Farm/]]
* [[/Communications Services/]]
* [[/Fabbers R Us/]]
* [[/Feuling Station/]]
* [[/Glass Production/]]
* [[GLOP (General Left Overs Processers)]]
* [[/Horticulture Nursery/]]
* [[/LOX Domestic and Exports/]]
* [[/Luna's Tomatoes, Juice and Picante Sauce/]]
* [[/Outfitter Services and Supplies/]]
* [[/Nitrogen commodity imports and futures/]]
* [[/Rabbit Ranch/]]
* [[/Remote Rover Operation/]]
* [[/Rover Repairs & Modification/]]
* [[/Rover Outback Racing/]]
* [[/Human Powered Vehicles/]]
* [[/Satellite and Computer Wreckers/]]
* [[/Sintered Regolith/]]
* [[/Spacesuit Maintenance Repair & Enhancement/]]
* [[/Steel Production/]]
* [[/Terraform Station/]]
* [[/Terran Tourist Transport/]]
* [[/Theme Park Rover Maintenance/]]
* [[/Tourist Hotel/]]
* [[/Volume developer/]]
* [[/Volume miner/]]
* [[/Worm Soil Factory/]]
* [[/Water plant/]]
* [[/Retirement community/]]
* [[/Medical treatment/]]
* [[/Building & construction facility/]]
* [[/Earth Weather Forcasting Center/]]

==Potential triggers for lunar boom towns==
* Space Tourism[http://www.spacefuture.com/archive/tourism_in_low_earth_orbit_the_trigger_for_commercial_development.shtml]
* A commitment to extensively explore or settle Mars.[http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/mars/mars_colonize_terraform.html]
* A decision to build a [[w:Space elevator|space elevator]].
* Global warming: A shift to solar power satellites[http://www.nss.org/settlement/ssp/library/index.htm] as part of carbon reduction efforts.
* Advances in Nuclear Fusion using He3 in Feul Cycle. [http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/12/18/fs.moonmining/index.html]
* [[Asteroid mining]][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_mining][http://www.permanent.com]

This project focuses on [[w:business plan|business plan]]s, evaluation of business models, technical approaches, and risk factors.

There is a budding business plan course – [[The Business Plan]] – that may be a bit too technical for our purposes. Wikibooks has some detailed information (Wikibooks:Writing a Business Plan) on standard business plans. Keep in mind we do not need excessive detail to get started and we can all collaborate on our lunar business models and plans. A business plan is merely a communications tool to help tell others how we plan to conduct our business.

Participants will also find [[Principles of Marketing|marketing]] concepts and skills helpful in identifying and analyzing target market segments.

In the meantime we need some icons for one of our local freight company simulators.
* [[CisLunarFreighter]] Java guys requested some .jpegs or .pngs for graphics! Post samples here or there or somewhere you think appropriate.
* [[/Links to technical papers]]
* [[/Sites with information]]

[http://www.mosdownload.com/play.m3u?sf=224737 The current theme song] is by Sharam. We are considering remixing it with some drums to represent discrete large missions abruptly impacting the markets. We use this theme song to represent the complex interplay of businesses and customers in free markets. If you have a better theme song for Lunar Boom Town, please leave a link here or on discussion page so others may evaluate it as a replacement.

== Preliminary map ==
===Design activity===
Using [http://simkin.asu.edu/clem/ online lunar data] find a prime location for our boomtown. Remember, it should be close to [http://www.cmf.nrl.navy.mil/clementine/water/moon_ice.JPG resources] and future customers.

[http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/moon_mountain_020326.html Two scientists pick...] [http://www.lpod.org/?m=20070512 A map with Malapert labeled.]

[[Image:Thumb_long86lat0Clementine.jpg|thumb|right|150px]]

[http://www.cmf.nrl.navy.mil/clementine/water/moon_ice.JPG South Pole view marked with suspected water ice locations.]

[[Feasibility Study Automated Cargo Flow]] - Terran Spaceport Warehouse to Designated Lunar Delivery Zone

== Other concepts ==
* [[/Lunar base light cycles/]]

==See also==
* [[Wikipedia:Colonization of the Moon]]
* [[Wikipedia:Colonization of Mercury]]
* [[Wikipedia:Colonization of the outer Solar System]]
* [[Wikipedia:Colonization of Ceres]]
* [[Wikipedia:Terraforming of Venus]]
* [[Wikipedia:Colonization of Venus]]
* [[Wikipedia:Terraforming of Mars]]
* [[Wikipedia:Colonization of Mars]]
* [[Wikipedia:Planetary habitability]]
* [[Wikipedia:International Space Settlement Design Competition]]

==External links==
* http://www.nas.nasa.gov/About/Education/SpaceSettlement/
* http://www.wstf.nasa.gov/Associ/Mars/default.htm
:Maybe some of our peer teams local designs would be eligible for this NASA design competition or maybe just practice here locally and then go compete globally?
* [[w:International_Space_Settlement_Design_Competition|International Space Settlement Design Competition]]
* http://www.nss.org/settlement/nasa/spaceresvol3/toc.html

===Useful Open/Free Design Tools===
* [http://live.gnome.org/Dia Dia] is free software for creating diagrams. It may be useful for process flow and instrumentation diagrams.

===Background information===
* Lunar and Martian dust is a potential problem. [http://www.space.com/adastra/adastra_moondust_060223.html]
* TANSTAFL Lunar vacuum will be compromised for chip making, requiring vacuum pumping. [http://www.islandone.org/Settlements/DegradeLunarVacuum.html]
* Technical Summary of a Simulation of Lunar Base Consumables [http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:uccf5oNJICAJ:www.traclabs.com/~korten/publications/exploration05.pdf+Lunar+methane+recovery&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=49&gl=us]
* Tech Study of Requirements for a Lunar Base[http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:supylenSQlUJ:www.nss.org/settlement/moon/library/2000-SystemArchitectureDevelopmentForASelf-SustainingLunarColony.pdf+Lunar+methane+recovery&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=51&gl=us]
*http://www.kathryncramer.com/lunar_development/2004/11/maximizing_food.html

[[Category:Business learning projects]]
[[Category:Learning projects]]

Lunar Boom Town

2007-11-25T20:32:46Z

70.110.62.240: /* Open entrepreneurial ideas */

[[Image:Mooncolony.jpg|thumb|right|300px|An artists impression of a colony on the moon.]]

==Role Playing Referees Now Needed==

* DARPA funds dispenser. - Fixed annual budget for various applications. You compare the merit of grant requests and allocate as fairly and wisely as possible either arbitrarily or increasingly based upon DARPA's actual public priorities.

* Venture Capital Fund managers - Review proposals and then invest funds or feedback as you feel best. Perhaps later as more data collects and some automation is possible we can make this into an actual investment opportunity where micromanagers are actually attempting to manage small investments. Might set it up with play money or stock option exchanges, etc. Some further research into coalition licensing is necessary before feasibility can be contemplated.

==Public Service Bulletin==
There has been some simulated vandal activity (edit wars, personal attacks, faked data citations, misquotes, incorrect hacked engineering software tools, etc.) within these projects and Wikiversity custodians are considering declaring parts of [[Lunar Boom Town]] a designated vandal haven until this malicious behavior has been reigned in effectively. Vested interests please share thoughts below:
* I think [[Cargo Imports]] is bordering on problematical in that there are dangerous physical processes being shared prior to adequate preparation of safety recommendations. [[User:Mirwin|Mirwin]] 06:37, 25 November 2007 (UTC)

==It may be expensive to live on the moon.==
What kinds of businesses, factories, and exports would it take to pay for the necessary imports? What kinds of skills would be needed? We need to figure all this stuff out before our [[w:Boomtown|boomtown]] will prosper, whether in a virtual simulation or actually on the moon.

Help us budding business tycoons find out and figure it out by gathering and using appropriately sources of information. Remember to report back creatively to assist the entire community. Use of [[w:Open design|open/free design]] methodologies is encouraged to enhance probability of success and shorten development timelines. Primarily, we are interested in living and working on the moon, not licensing technologies for others to do so. Public collaboration and publishing of results is intended to help create future space settlements with dynamic successful economies.

==Open entrepreneurial ideas==
What business could I/you/they/we startup or run in a Lunar Boom Town?
* [[Air Plant]]
* [[/Aluminum Production/]]
* [[/Begillion resource harvesting/|Bagillion resource harvesting]]
* [[/Boarding Habitat/]]
* [[The space adventure group]]
* [[/Boomtown Ice Skating Rink/]]
* [[/Boomtown Plaza Bakery/]] Sample executive s ummary.[http://www.bplans.com/Sample_Business_Plans/Restaurant_Cafe_And_Bakery_Business_Plans/Bakery_Business_Plan/executive_summary.cfm]
* [[Cargo Imports]] Use mass produced disposable one way rockets delivered as needed from highly automated factory with mostly carbon components in lunar stages to import cargo from Earth for Lunar customers. Soft land robotic cargo lander. Crashland the lunar insertion stage into receiving crater full of lunar dust. This becomes carbon-carbon ore for sail to carbon processers or perhaps direct to retail. Pretty easy to burn carbon to create saleable carbon dioxide to greenhouse operaters. Soft lander carries all of feul safety margin to surface. Feul and spacecraft are recycled into the private and/or government GLOP (general left over processors) at best available prices. Cargo delivered to paying customers. A key driver of the business model will probably be standard industrial engineering in driving the costs down by reinvestment of gross cash flows into producing ever cheaper large volume of the disposable rockets. Key startup issue is how much capital to get started and sustain deliveries to market until net profitability is achieved. <object width="425" height="350"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/4MpBsPkr_gM"> </param> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/4MpBsPkr_gM" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"> </embed> </object> <object width="425" height="350"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/50Fk2Vu1B4s"> </param> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/50Fk2Vu1B4s" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"> </embed> </object> Perhaps we should consider an automated warehouse facility. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWb5LlFE69Y
* [[/Carbon commodity imports and futures/]]
* [[/Chicken Farm/]]
* [[/Communications Services/]]
* [[/Fabbers R Us/]]
* [[/Feuling Station/]]
* [[/Glass Production/]]
* [[GLOP (General Left Overs Processers]]
* [[/Horticulture Nursery/]]
* [[/LOX Domestic and Exports/]]
* [[/Luna's Tomatoes, Juice and Picante Sauce/]]
* [[/Outfitter Services and Supplies/]]
* [[/Nitrogen commodity imports and futures/]]
* [[/Rabbit Ranch/]]
* [[/Remote Rover Operation/]]
* [[/Rover Repairs & Modification/]]
* [[/Rover Outback Racing/]]
* [[/Human Powered Vehicles/]]
* [[/Satellite and Computer Wreckers/]]
* [[/Sintered Regolith/]]
* [[/Spacesuit Maintenance Repair & Enhancement/]]
* [[/Steel Production/]]
* [[/Terraform Station/]]
* [[/Terran Tourist Transport/]]
* [[/Theme Park Rover Maintenance/]]
* [[/Tourist Hotel/]]
* [[/Volume developer/]]
* [[/Volume miner/]]
* [[/Worm Soil Factory/]]
* [[/Water plant/]]
* [[/Retirement community/]]
* [[/Medical treatment/]]
* [[/Building & construction facility/]]
* [[/Earth Weather Forcasting Center/]]

==Potential triggers for lunar boom towns==
* Space Tourism[http://www.spacefuture.com/archive/tourism_in_low_earth_orbit_the_trigger_for_commercial_development.shtml]
* A commitment to extensively explore or settle Mars.[http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/mars/mars_colonize_terraform.html]
* A decision to build a [[w:Space elevator|space elevator]].
* Global warming: A shift to solar power satellites[http://www.nss.org/settlement/ssp/library/index.htm] as part of carbon reduction efforts.
* Advances in Nuclear Fusion using He3 in Feul Cycle. [http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/12/18/fs.moonmining/index.html]
* [[Asteroid mining]][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_mining][http://www.permanent.com]

This project focuses on [[w:business plan|business plan]]s, evaluation of business models, technical approaches, and risk factors.

There is a budding business plan course – [[The Business Plan]] – that may be a bit too technical for our purposes. Wikibooks has some detailed information (Wikibooks:Writing a Business Plan) on standard business plans. Keep in mind we do not need excessive detail to get started and we can all collaborate on our lunar business models and plans. A business plan is merely a communications tool to help tell others how we plan to conduct our business.

Participants will also find [[Principles of Marketing|marketing]] concepts and skills helpful in identifying and analyzing target market segments.

In the meantime we need some icons for one of our local freight company simulators.
* [[CisLunarFreighter]] Java guys requested some .jpegs or .pngs for graphics! Post samples here or there or somewhere you think appropriate.
* [[/Links to technical papers]]
* [[/Sites with information]]

[http://www.mosdownload.com/play.m3u?sf=224737 The current theme song] is by Sharam. We are considering remixing it with some drums to represent discrete large missions abruptly impacting the markets. We use this theme song to represent the complex interplay of businesses and customers in free markets. If you have a better theme song for Lunar Boom Town, please leave a link here or on discussion page so others may evaluate it as a replacement.

== Preliminary map ==
===Design activity===
Using [http://simkin.asu.edu/clem/ online lunar data] find a prime location for our boomtown. Remember, it should be close to [http://www.cmf.nrl.navy.mil/clementine/water/moon_ice.JPG resources] and future customers.

[http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/moon_mountain_020326.html Two scientists pick...] [http://www.lpod.org/?m=20070512 A map with Malapert labeled.]

[[Image:Thumb_long86lat0Clementine.jpg|thumb|right|150px]]

[http://www.cmf.nrl.navy.mil/clementine/water/moon_ice.JPG South Pole view marked with suspected water ice locations.]

[[Feasibility Study Automated Cargo Flow]] - Terran Spaceport Warehouse to Designated Lunar Delivery Zone

== Other concepts ==
* [[/Lunar base light cycles/]]

==See also==
* [[Wikipedia:Colonization of the Moon]]
* [[Wikipedia:Colonization of Mercury]]
* [[Wikipedia:Colonization of the outer Solar System]]
* [[Wikipedia:Colonization of Ceres]]
* [[Wikipedia:Terraforming of Venus]]
* [[Wikipedia:Colonization of Venus]]
* [[Wikipedia:Terraforming of Mars]]
* [[Wikipedia:Colonization of Mars]]
* [[Wikipedia:Planetary habitability]]
* [[Wikipedia:International Space Settlement Design Competition]]

==External links==
* http://www.nas.nasa.gov/About/Education/SpaceSettlement/
* http://www.wstf.nasa.gov/Associ/Mars/default.htm
:Maybe some of our peer teams local designs would be eligible for this NASA design competition or maybe just practice here locally and then go compete globally?
* [[w:International_Space_Settlement_Design_Competition|International Space Settlement Design Competition]]
* http://www.nss.org/settlement/nasa/spaceresvol3/toc.html

===Useful Open/Free Design Tools===
* [http://live.gnome.org/Dia Dia] is free software for creating diagrams. It may be useful for process flow and instrumentation diagrams.

===Background information===
* Lunar and Martian dust is a potential problem. [http://www.space.com/adastra/adastra_moondust_060223.html]
* TANSTAFL Lunar vacuum will be compromised for chip making, requiring vacuum pumping. [http://www.islandone.org/Settlements/DegradeLunarVacuum.html]
* Technical Summary of a Simulation of Lunar Base Consumables [http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:uccf5oNJICAJ:www.traclabs.com/~korten/publications/exploration05.pdf+Lunar+methane+recovery&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=49&gl=us]
* Tech Study of Requirements for a Lunar Base[http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:supylenSQlUJ:www.nss.org/settlement/moon/library/2000-SystemArchitectureDevelopmentForASelf-SustainingLunarColony.pdf+Lunar+methane+recovery&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=51&gl=us]
*http://www.kathryncramer.com/lunar_development/2004/11/maximizing_food.html

[[Category:Business learning projects]]
[[Category:Learning projects]]

Wiki business plan

2007-10-22T05:42:17Z

70.110.42.219: /* Current Status */ add a qualifying statement

This is a collaborative business plan. What will this business do? What will this business sell? Who will particpate in this business? How will it make money? Will it benefit society? These are the questions to answer. Be creative, be imaginative.

There are many projects, like RepRap, OpenCores, OLPC, Cambrian House, Zopa, WikiMedia, etc, in which people collaborate to create something they deem good.

{{main|Wikipedia:Business plan}}
: This page was adapted from Wikipedia: [[Wikipedia:Content of a business plan|Content of a business plan]].

Things to keep in mind:
* There is no fixed content for a business plan.
* The content and format of the business plan is determined by the goals and audience.
* A business plan should contain whatever information is needed to decide whether or not to pursue a goal.
* Once a business plan has been developed, the key decision making points are usually summarized in an [[#Executive Summary|executive summary]].

Business plans typically cover five major content areas:
* [[#Organizational Background|Background information]]
* [[#Marketing Plan|A marketing plan]]
* [[#Operational Plan|An operational plan]]
* [[#Financial Plan|A financial plan]]
* A discussion of the [[#Decision Making Criteria|decision making criteria]] that should be used to approve the plan.

== Executive Summary ==
The executive summary summarizes the key points of the business plan. It should define the decision to be made and the reasons for approval. The specific content will be highly dependent on the core purpose and target audience. To get a sense of the difference the purpose and target audience can make, here are three different sets of key points for an executive summary - one for a loan request, one for a start-up seeking venture finance, and one for an internal plan. Items unique to a particular kind of plan are highlighted in bold:

A loan request executive summary might contain the following information:
* Company information: name of company, '''years in business''', legal structure, minority and majority owners
* Brief description of project
* '''Amount and length of loan'''
* Objective reasons why the bank should be confident that the loan will be paid back. This likely will include
** Financial track record
** The future revenue stream
** Any contracts in place that might guarantee the revenue stream is more than just a forecast.

For a new venture, the executive summary might contain:
* Company information: name of company, '''proposed legal structure''', current legal structure, minority and majority investors.
* '''Amount of investment requested'''
* '''Expected terminal value'''
* '''Description of market opportunity'''
* '''Objective reasons why the market opportunity can be exploited by this particular team'''

For an internal project plan, the executive summary might look like this:
* Company information: '''not applicable'''
* Description of project
* '''Project mandate: who requested the proposal, who is being assigned to carry it out'''
* '''Strategic''', '''tactical''' and financial justifications
* Summary of resources needed: '''staff''', funds, '''facilities'''

In some cases information will overlap. For example, some of the reasons why a loan is likely to be repaid might equally as well be used as justification for the kind of extraordinary return expected by venture capitalists.

In some cases the business plan as a whole contains similar information, but for one type of plan it is mere detail and for another it is a key decision making factor. For instance, both start-ups and internal projects need staff and facilities. However the staffing and facilities needs are considered details in a plan for start-up financing. In a plan for internal projects they are key elements and, in fact, may be the only resources needed.

Key points:
* Funding will come from a diverse size of monetary investments, from fifty cents to an unlimited amount.
* The products that will be used to create a return on investment will be created by and decided upon by the investors and community involved in the business.

== Organizational Background ==
In a written plan information may appear in a separate section, an appendix, or may be omitted all together depending on the nature of the plan. If the plan is directed at people outside of the company, a brief synopsis may appear in the executive summary. This will be supplemented with a more detailed discussion else where in the plan.

Wikiversity was established around August 2006. It is part of the Wikimedia Foundation and is a sister project to Wikipedia, a rather large project. Participants of Wikiversity can use Wikiversity as a way to explore different modes of learning. Specifically, "learning by doing" is the prefered way to learn. Businesses, can involved different people from a myriad of different disciplines. Running a business can be an invaluable learning experience for those who participate in such an endeavor. Wikiversity is an open community. Anyone can join as long as they adhere to the community standards arrived upon via the consensus of the community. In general, if participants act civil, are bold, and assume good faith in others, things function fairly smoothly, and because Wikiversity is a wiki, that anyone can edit, it tends to grow.

With all that in mind, this business plan is a seed that may or may not grow. Theoretically, because there are over a billion users on the Internet, and because everyone has access and the rights to constructively edit this plan in good faith, it could potentially become something that is useful to both individuals and society on a wider level. It seems that social entities and systems come about because of a need and a want, and perhaps this plan could fulfill an unfilled need and want.

So in summary, anyone can join this organization, and anyone can help fullfill the mission that is decided upon by the participants.

=== Mission Statement ===
A mission statement is a brief (one sentence or less) description of a company or other organization's purpose. It typically explains what the organization provides to its clients, in general terms that most of the employees can relate to. Although a company might use its mission statement as an advertising slogan, a more common use is to remind executives and employees of the overall goal they are expected to pursue.
<center><big><big><big>'''Do good.'''</big></big></big></center>

=== Current Status ===
* Number of employees
: 0
* Annual sales figures
: 0
* Key product lines
: To be determined.
* Location of facilities
: There are no facilities at this point.
* Current stage of development (start-ups)
On a scale from 1 to 10, a 0.
* Corporate structure - in the U.S. the options are:
** [[Wikipedia:Sole proprietor|Sole proprietor]]
** [[Wikipedia:Partnership|Partnership]]
** [[Wikipedia:Joint Venture|Joint Venture]]
** [[Wikipedia:Publicly traded corporation|Publicly traded corporation]]
: If micro to macro financed, could sorta be this
** [[Wikipedia:Limited liability company|Limited liability company]]
: Maybe
** [[Wikipedia:Public utility|Public utility]]
** [[Wikipedia:Non-profit organization|Non-profit organization]]
: Co-op perhaps
* Names of the majority investor, if any
: Not applicable

=== History ===
* Founding date
: 19 October 2007
* Major successes
* Strategically valuable learning experiences

=== Management Team ===
* Board members
* Owners
* Senior managers
* Managing partners
* Head scientists and researchers

== Marketing Plan ==
The marketing plan has five objectives:
If the product is a new product with no existing market, one must identify all substitute products. For each significant substitute product one must explain:
* Name, features, why substitute, why proposed product better
** Create a product with a subpage like [[/One Laptop Per Person/]], [[/wPhone/]] and so forth
* Switching costs and why new product justifies switching
* Expected adoption dynamics
* Expected role once market begins to develop (see above for existing products)

=== Pricing ===
* Chosen price points
* Proposed [[Wikipedia:Pricing|pricing strategy]]
* Research supporting chosen price points

=== Demand Management ===
In economics, demand management is the art or science of controlling economic demand to avoid a recession. The term is also used to refer to management of the distribution of, and access to goods and services on the basis of needs. An example is social security and welfare services. Rather than increasing budgets for these things, governments may develop policies that allocate existing resources according a hierarchy of need.

=== Distribution ===
* [[Wikipedia:Distribution (business)|Distribution strategy]]
* List of major distributors
* Current status of negotiations

=== Promotion and Brand Development ===
* [[Wikipedia:Promotion (marketing)|Promotion strategy]]
The promotion of this company and this companies products will be done virally.

== Operational Plan ==

=== Current Product/Project Status ===
None as of yet.

=== Research and Development Plan ===
Keep your eyes open. Think about what would be useful and socially beneficial.

=== Manufacturing/Deployment Plan ===
* [[Wikipedia:Supply chain|Supply chain]] requirements
* Production inputs
* Facility requirements - size, layout, capacity, location
* Equipment requirements
* Warehousing needs for raw materials, finished goods
** Space requirements

=== Information and Communications Technology Plan ===
* Systems needed
** Operations: Billing, HR, SCM, CRM, Knowledge bases, etc
** Websites: internal, public
* Security and privacy requirements
* Hardware requirements
* Off-the-shelf software needed
* Custom development requirements

=== Staffing Plan ===
Once capital is accrued utilize those desiring to learn, and where someone can't fullfill a role in a safe learning capacity, hire someone to do it and teach others how to do what they are doing when appropriate.

==== Staffing Needs ====
* List of roles
:Collaborators to write the business plan.
* Management structure
:Loose. Management is done by those who choose to take a leadership posistion.
* For each role
:* Number of employees
::0
:* Proposed compensation
::What is appropriate, available and fair. Perhaps for right now, the satisfaction that you are potentially contributing to something good would be enough.
:* Availability
::Quite.

==== Union issues ====
None.

==== Training Requirements ====
Utilize Wikiversity

==== Hiring Time Table ====
No hurry.

==== Staffing Budget ====
$0

=== Business Process Outsourcing Plan ===

=== Asset Development Plan ===

==== Intellectual Property Plan ====
* Intellectual property inventory
* Portfolio development plan

==== Acquisition Plan ====
Some business plans gain competitive advantage by buying companies up and down the value chain. Some gain competitive advantage by buying up companies and consolidating them. Sometimes a business plan will seek to earn a superior return by adding superior management talent to an existing weak company.

For more information see: [[Wikipedia:Mergers and Acquisitions|Mergers and Acquisitions]].

When acquisitions form a major part of the business strategy, the acquisition plan needs to be included in the business plan.
* Acquisition strategy
* Proposed acquisition targets
* Effect on market structure (if consolidation plan is being proposed)

==== Organizational Learning Plan ====
The organizational learning plan discusses what lessons will be learned from the marketing, operational, and finance plans and how those lessons will be consolidated to gain strategic advantage.
* Market sensing - organization's method for collecting information about customers (George Day)
* [[Wikipedia:Strategic Staircase|Strategic Staircase]] - the accumulation of future competencies by building on existing competencies. (Michael Hays, Costas Markides)

=== Cost Allocation Model ===
If variable costs play an important role in the business plan, it may be helpful to include a cost allocation model. This is particularly true if one has a unique business model that creates competitive advantage by transforming traditionally fixed costs into variable costs.
* Fixed cost
* Variable costs

== Financial Plan ==
For more information, see [[Wikipedia:Financial plan]].

=== Current Financing ===
* Key investors or owner:
** You.
* Angels, friends, and family:
* Existing loans and liabilities
** Terms, obligations
*** None.

=== Funding Needs ===
To be determined.

=== Funding Plan ===
* IMF - no
* World Bank - no
* Micro investments
: Everyone earns a share in the profits depending on how much they invest.
: Share of profits = (% of Business owned) * (Net earnings - a certain % reinvested in the company)
: % of business owned = (An individual's investment) / (Total all owners have ever invested)

=== Financial History ===

=== Financial Forecasts ===
* Sometimes called [[wikipedia:pro forma|pro forma]]s
** Balance sheet
** Income statement
** Cash flow statement
* 1-3-5-7 year projections (depends on length of project)
** For loans, repayment period determines length of projections, i.e. a six month loan doesn't need seven year forecasts
** For investments point at which returns stabilize ([[wikipedia:terminal value|terminal value]]) determines length of forecast
* Annual, quarterly, and monthly versions should be provided
* Graphs of key values often helpful: gross revenue, EBITDA, NPV, etc.
* Financial portions of the marketing, asset development, and operations are often placed in this section rather than in the section discussing th plan. They are viewed as elaboration on the various line items in the pro-formas.

=== Valuation ===

== Risk analysis ==
For more information, see [[Wikipedia:Risk analysis]].

=== Risk Evaluation ===
* Market risks- lack of surgeons; large geographical area so that we don't compete against our own clients;
** New entrants to market
*** Ease of entry
*** Potential threat to market share - advertising companies
** Slower than expected adoption
* Operational risks
* Staffing risks- embedding the right candidate for the right surgeon
** Availability of skilled workforce- x-pharma reps, x-equipment reps
** Union issues
* Financing risks
** Liabilities
** Poorly worded investor contracts at risk for litigation
** Investor pull-out
** Lack of follow-on funding to complete project
* Managerial risks
** Poor board or investor dynamics
** Agency risk particular to the venture

=== Risk Management Plan ===
Detailed plans are more often found as part of in internal plans.

For both companies and consumers that participate in online business, security concerns are very important. Many consumers are hesitant to buy items over the Internet because they do not trust that their personal information will remain private. Recently, some companies that do business online have been caught giving away or selling information about their customers. Several of these companies have guarantees on their websites, claiming customer information will be private. By selling customer information, these companies are breaking their own, publicized policy. Some companies that buy customer information offer the option for individuals to have their information removed from the database (known as opting out).

Plans written for funders may need to include a high level description if there are significant controllable risks.
* Methods and procedures to limit liabilities
* Reserve funds
* Continuity of operations plan

== Decision Making Criteria ==
* Wikipedia: [[Wikipedia:Break even analysis|Break even analysis]]
* Wikipedia: [[Wikipedia:NPV|NPV]]
* Wikipedia: [[Wikipedia:IRR|IRR]]
* Wikipedia: [[Wikipedia:Balanced Scorecard|Balanced Scorecard]]

== See also ==
* [[School:Business]]
* [[Wikiversity's Business Incubator]]
* [[Wikipedia:Content of a business plan]]
* [[Wikipedia:Business plan]]
* [[Novel economic mechanisms]]

==External links==
* [http://www.cambrianhouse.com/ Cambrian House]
* [http://www.cambrianhouse.com/idea/idea-promoter/ideas-id/MKHdFW4/ The idea at Cambrian House]
* [http://wikiworld.com/wiki/index.php/SolarCellFarms Solar Cell Farms]

[[Category:Business]]
[[Category:Wiki]]
[[Category:Management]]
[[Category:Entrepreneurship]]

Lunar Boom Town/Begillion resource harvesting

2007-09-13T04:50:11Z

70.110.45.203: fix typo

Bagillion is a large multinational corporation which harvest almost any material imaginable from the regolith. It's primary product is He3 which requires it to move millions upon millions of cubic meters of regolith per year. Naturally, it is more profitable to turn some of the moved material into other products after the He3 is extracted than not.

Slag remaining after materials processing is sintered (heated until it clumps together in a mold) into paving blocks and used to create roads.

Construction is currently under on the equatorial belt highway and the nearside Pole to Pole freeway. These highways are intended to support widespread lunar settlement on generous land grants recently issued by the U.N. Extraterrestial Settltement Agency. The Equatorial Belt Highway is intended to allow solar road trains to follow the sun around the moon as they transport critical cargo.

Technical Papers

* Materials Processing for Self Replicating Systems for Earth [http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:PaGCD6q4L-UJ:www.osti.gov/bridge/servlets/purl/768220-u0FTk4/webviewable/768220.PDF+Exponential+Growth+of+Large+Self-Reproducing+Machine+Systems&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=us]

[[Category:Lunar Boom Town]]

Archive:CisLunarFreighter/Initial splashscreen, launcher, menu

2007-01-29T04:22:35Z

70.110.42.176: add a go to main components link

go to main component list[http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/CisLunarFreighter_A_Requirements_Analysis_and_High_Level_Design_Exercise]

Component Name:Launcher

Responsibilities: This is the main java file which calls the splash animation, initializes the game, then calls the main menu for initial player interaction. When the player is done this module terminates the program.

Collaborators:

* Animation player
* Background display
* Main Menu

Archive:CisLunarFreighter/Initial splashscreen, launcher, menu

2007-01-29T04:19:27Z

70.110.42.176: Initial cut at launcher responsibilities

Component Name:Launcher

Responsibilities: This is the main java file which calls the splash animation, initializes the game, then calls the main menu for initial player interaction. When the player is done this module terminates the program.

Collaborators:

* Animation player
* Background display
* Main Menu

Archive:CisLunarFreighter/Requirement analysis and high level design

2007-01-29T04:12:29Z

70.110.42.176: break page into sections

Object Oriented Software Engineering
:Component, Responsibility, Collaborators (CRC)Cards - 4" X 6" note cards
::Design, Code, or Case Scenario Walkthroughs

==CRC Cards==

This exercise is based loosely upon the technique demonstrated in Chapter One of Classic Data Structures in C++ by Timothy A. Budd, cp1994 by Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc. In a local object orieted design project using C++ CRC (Component, Responsibility, Collaborating Objects) cards are used to jot down names and bullets outlining the high level components identified in walkthrough as required for the project design.

==Local Adaptation==

The procedure we shall use here for asnychronous, distributed, walkthroughs is as follows: Individual files shall be created for proposed components. Responsibilities for that component jotted down in bullet form at the top of the screen, simulating a 4" X 6" note card. When another component is called a link will be created to that component. Actions the component must complete are list in the bottom half of the computer screen/file.

For the highest level walkthough or design Budd designates the most important characteristics of potential design components as:
1. A small set of well defined responsibilities must result. If the component has too many responsibilities then it should be busted into multiple components and the walkthrough reaccomplished.
2. Interactions with other components should be minimalized to the greatest extent possible.

Effort expended achieving the two characteristics above will provide large benefits in the coding process and final code.

==Draft Component/Card Set==

* [[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card Initial Splashscreen, Launcher, Menu]]
* [[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card Load and Mission Generator]]
* [[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card Ship]]
* [[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card Ship Designer]]
* [[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card Personal Game Data]]
* [[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card Terran Spaceport]]
* [[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card Spacecraft Freight Load Planner]]
* [[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card Planetary Takeoff or Lander Screen]]
::Terran, Lunar, Asteroid, or Saturn Pirate Base
* [[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card Pilot's Cockpit Screen]]
::Mini Map Radar Overview, Cockpit Menu, Headsup Communicator
* [[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card 2D Overview Asteroids or Meteor Shower Flythrough]]
* [[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card Solar System Game Controller]]
* [[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card User Keyboard Interface Controller]]
* [[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card User Mouse Interface Controller]]
* [[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card Background Music Selection and Player]]
* [[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card Lunar Spaceport]]

Archive:CisLunarFreighter/Requirement analysis and high level design

2007-01-29T04:10:32Z

70.110.42.176: fix formatting of card list

Object Oriented Software Engineering
:Component, Responsibility, Collaborators (CRC)Cards - 3" X 5" note cards
::Design, Code, or Case Scenario Walkthroughs

This exercise is based loosely upon the technique demonstrated in Chapter One of Classic Data Structures in C++ by Timothy A. Budd, cp1994 by Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc. In a local object orieted design project using C++ CRC (Component, Responsibility, Collaborating Objects) cards are used to jot down names and bullets outlining the high level components identified in walkthrough as required for the project design.

The procedure we shall use here for asnychronous, distributed, walkthroughs is as follows: Individual files shall be created for proposed components. Responsibilities for that component jotted down in bullet form at the top of the screen, simulating a 3" X 5" note card. When another component is called a link will be created to that component. Actions the component must complete are list in the bottom half of the computer screen/file.

For the highest level walkthough or design Budd designates the most important characteristics of potential design components as:
1. A small set of well defined responsibilities must result. If the component has too many responsibilities then it should be busted into multiple components and the walkthrough reaccomplished.
2. Interactions with other components should be minimalized to the greatest extent possible.

Effort expended achieving the two characteristics above will provide large benefits in the coding process and final code.

==Draft Component/Card Set==

* [[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card Initial Splashscreen, Launcher, Menu]]
* [[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card Load and Mission Generator]]
* [[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card Ship]]
* [[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card Ship Designer]]
* [[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card Personal Game Data]]
* [[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card Terran Spaceport]]
* [[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card Spacecraft Freight Load Planner]]
* [[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card Planetary Takeoff or Lander Screen]]
::Terran, Lunar, Asteroid, or Saturn Pirate Base
* [[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card Pilot's Cockpit Screen]]
::Mini Map Radar Overview, Cockpit Menu, Headsup Communicator
* [[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card 2D Overview Asteroids or Meteor Shower Flythrough]]
* [[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card Solar System Game Controller]]
* [[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card User Keyboard Interface Controller]]
* [[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card User Mouse Interface Controller]]
* [[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card Background Music Selection and Player]]
* [[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card Lunar Spaceport]]

Archive:CisLunarFreighter/Requirement analysis and high level design

2007-01-29T04:08:44Z

70.110.42.176: Begin high level design process for cisLunarFreighter

Object Oriented Software Engineering
:Component, Responsibility, Collaborators (CRC)Cards - 3" X 5" note cards
::Design, Code, or Case Scenario Walkthroughs

This exercise is based loosely upon the technique demonstrated in Chapter One of Classic Data Structures in C++ by Timothy A. Budd, cp1994 by Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc. In a local object orieted design project using C++ CRC (Component, Responsibility, Collaborating Objects) cards are used to jot down names and bullets outlining the high level components identified in walkthrough as required for the project design.

The procedure we shall use here for asnychronous, distributed, walkthroughs is as follows: Individual files shall be created for proposed components. Responsibilities for that component jotted down in bullet form at the top of the screen, simulating a 3" X 5" note card. When another component is called a link will be created to that component. Actions the component must complete are list in the bottom half of the computer screen/file.

For the highest level walkthough or design Budd designates the most important characteristics of potential design components as:
1. A small set of well defined responsibilities must result. If the component has too many responsibilities then it should be busted into multiple components and the walkthrough reaccomplished.
2. Interactions with other components should be minimalized to the greatest extent possible.

Effort expended achieving the two characteristics above will provide large benefits in the coding process and final code.

Draft Component/Card Set

[[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card Initial Splashscreen, Launcher, Menu]]
[[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card Load and Mission Generator]]
[[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card Ship]]
[[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card Ship Designer]]
[[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card Personal Game Data]]
[[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card Terran Spaceport]]
[[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card Spacecraft Freight Load Planner]]
[[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card Planetary Takeoff or Lander Screen]]
:Terran, Lunar, Asteroid, or Saturn Pirate Base
[[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card Pilot's Cockpit Screen]]
:Mini Map Radar Overview, Cockpit Menu, Headsup Communicator
[[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card 2D Overview Asteroids or Meteor Shower Flythrough]]
[[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card Solar System Game Controller]]
[[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card User Keyboard Interface Controller]]
[[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card User Mouse Interface Controller]]
[[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card Background Music Selection and Player]]
[[cisLunarFreighter CRC Card Lunar Spaceport]]

Archive:CisLunarFreighter/Detailed requirements analysis

2007-01-29T03:26:02Z

70.110.42.176: An exercise to shake out high level requirements and design

An overview of major requirements: What do we and the users want from a/the game?

1. Entertainment -- should be fun.
*Hands on ship control against fairly realistic g fields is fun
*Dodging debris and asteroids is fun
*Blasting asteroids to mine for valuable ore or artifacts is fun
*Working together as a team to accomplish some giant task is fun.
*Communicating with online buddies

2. Social -- Interaction with other people via
* chat -- most mud environments allow this
* email -- useful or not?
* game consequences -- makes the game more interesting
::Loads delivered begin to pile up or generate demand for missions. Player or others may undertake new missions.

3. Educational - Exposure to some science, engineering, and operations concepts
::Links to applicable background reading of various levels
::Internal math and reading requirements

* Math practice - Examples
:: Loading of feul and cargo mass vs. destination decisions in math assistance screen demonstrating use of spreadsheets in load balancing calculations with easy reference and reading showing sample problem solutions to control the center of mass. Java applet with sliders to allow easy selection for within specification loading.
:: MalFunction might occasionally require mission abort or manual calculations.
:: Misfortune (hijacked to Saturn by pirates) might require decisions about how much cargo to abandon or redistribute manually as feul.

* Reading around the web
* Use of open source tools for modding
* Software design and coding techniques
[[Category:Game Design]]

4. Reinforcement of Societal Norms

*Aliens and Pirates are best avoided but blasting is ok for self defense. Self defense applies only if your ship has taken demonstrable damage from the other side of the battle.
*Mistakes blasting other freighters results poor reputation, Space Patrol pursuit, and eventual game session loss or incarceration, ship lockdown.
*Responding successfuly to distress signals can improve standing with police.
*Mistakenly blasting a Space Patrol ship is not survivable since escalting levels of Space Patrol show up to capture or blast miscreants.

[[cisLunarFreighter A Requirements Analysis and High Level Design Exercise]]

Basic Java Language

2007-01-20T01:14:28Z

70.110.61.95: /* Touch on Classes */

This lesson discusses the basics of the Java language, including variables, primitives, operators, statements and Java writing conventions.

=Touch on Classes=

Everything in Java is specified inside classes. Classes are bodies of statements, methods, and variables. A statement can be thought of as the smallest standalone element of an imperative programming language (or a language that explicitly specify an algorithm to achieve a goal, opposed to declarative programming, which explicitly specifies a goal and leaves the implementation of that goal to algorithms within the support software). A program is formed by a sequence of one or more statements (e.g. if x, then y). A statement will have internal components (e.g. expressions). A method usually consists of a sequence of statements to perform an action, a set of input parameters to customize those actions, and possibly an output value (called return value) of some kind. There is a method called main that all classes have. This is the start point of your program - where everything must begin. To create a class, the syntax (or basic outline in code) is:
<pre>
[Protection] class [Name] [Extend/Implements...]
</pre>
Right now, let's examine the first 3. "[Protection]" refers to permissions of who can access the class, and will be discussed later. The label "class" is required to create a class. "Name" can be any valid identifier (see Valid Identifiers...). The name will be used to create objects (more later...). Here is what you type to create a class, as for now, and all you must worry about:
<pre>
public class NAME
</pre>
NAME, again,is the identifier. (Java is case sensitive; so NAME is different from Name. Industry convention suggest naming classes using mixed case, starting with an uppercase letter.[http://java.sun.com/docs/codeconv/html/CodeConvTOC.doc.html] For example: NameNumberTwo)

Classes also have a body - where you actually put the things. To create the body you have a { and }. For example:
<pre>
public class NAME
{

}
</pre>
This, essentially creates a class. All the code goes between the {, called the opening brace, and the }, called the closing brace.

=Protection=
{{Template:confusing|December 2006}}
Java allows you to hide your code from other code. There are three '''access modifiers''' and four '''access levels''' (one level is the default, used when no modifier appears). If your class attempts to access another class, it will only be able to if it is allowed access. If you don't have access to the code you're trying to access, the compiler will notice and you'll get a compile-time error. The four levels and three modifiers are as follows:

<center>
{| border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=5
| '''Modifier'''
| '''Level'''
| '''Accessible From'''
|-
| <code>private</code>
| Private
| An object of the exact same class as the declaring class
|-
|
| Default; sometimes called ''package-private''
| An object of the same package as the declaring class
|-
| <code>protected</code>
| Protected
| An object of the same or subclass of the declaring class
|-
| <code>public</code>
| Public
| Anywhere
|}
</center>

The ''declaring class'' is the class containing the field, method, or nested class being modified. (For example, if the class <code>Foo</code> contains a method <code>bar()</code>, <code>Foo</code> is <code>bar()</code>'s declaring class.)

The protected and default levels deal with [[Java/Inheritance|inheritance]] and [[Java Deployment|packages]] respectively; these concepts are dealt with in later lessons. For now, declare all classes public (private classes are only useful — or even possible — when nested, and nested classes definitely comes later). Methods should be public if they're meant to be called by other classes. Declare a method private if it should only be called by its own class.

=Statements=
All operations are done in statements. Every statement ends in a semicolon: ;. Statements can set a variable with the '=' operator. This sets the variable you wish to set to another variable or a value. Values can only be used on primitive types. As you saw in the HelloWorld program, there was one statement: <code>System.out.println("Hello, World")</code>. This is one type of statement called "calling a method". More will be discussed later. Finally, you can declare a variable. If a class has no statements, it would do nothing.

=Variables=
Variables are used to store information in a computer's memory. Like its name implies, variables are values that can be changed. There are two main categories of variables: reference variables and primitive variables. Reference variables are place holders for objects (More on objects in Lesson 4, Java Objects and Classes.) Primitive variables are given a value of a primitive, a basic value. Variables are all given a type when they are declared, such as "int" or "String".
==Declaring Variables==
To declare a variable, use this syntax:
<pre>
[protection] [classname] [identifier]
</pre>
This is one type of statement. The class name is the type of variable you want. Currently, you will only use basic primitive variables, but you will learn about objects soon. Here is an example of declaring a variable:
<pre>
public int myInt
</pre>
myInt has protection of public. It is of class int, or Integer (see Primitive Types). int is a class in Java. When you say that, you are basically making a primitive object.

==Primitive Data Types==
Primitives are the simplest type of data. Primitives consist of numbers, letters and strings of letters (more than one letter in one variable). The following table shows all the types of primitives.
<center>
{| border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=5
| '''Primitive'''
| '''Description'''
| '''Values'''
|-
| byte
| A brief, 8-bit integer
| Whole numbers -128 through 127
|-
| short
| A short, 16-bit integer
| Whole numbers -32,768 through 32,767
|-
| int
| A 32 bit integer
| Whole numbers -2,147,483,648 through 2,147,483,647
|-
| long
| A long, 64 bit integer
| Whole numbers -9,223,372,036,854,775,808 through 9,223,372,036,854,775,807
|-
| float
| Single-precision floating point (32-bit IEEE 754)
| Smallest positive non-zero: 14e-45, Largest positive non-zero: 3.4028234e38
|-
| double
| Double-precision floating point (64-bit IEEE 754)
| Smallest positive non-zero: 4.9e-324, Largest positive non-zero: 1.797693157e308
|-
| char
| A single character
| All Unicode characters
|-
| boolean
| A Boolean value
| '''true''' or '''false'''
|-
| String
| A group of characters
| Any formation of characters
|}
</center>

Using what you have learned, You may have guessed how to create a long or double.

<code>long myLong;</code>

and

<code>double myDouble;</code>

==Operators==

===Assignment Operator '='===
The assignment operator sets the variable on its left equal to the value on its right. This code creates the variable ''a'' and sets it equal to 5
<pre>int a;
a = 5;</pre>
Fairly simple, right? Here is where it can get a little more tricky.
<pre>int a;
int b;
b = 6;
a = b; //a equals 6</pre>
At first glance, you might think that the last statement is setting ''a'' equal to the letter "b", but instead it is setting ''a'' equal to the ''value'' of ''b'', which is 6. Essentially, a '''is''' now 6. You can also set a variable and declare it on the same line:
<pre>
int a = 6;
</pre>
However, you can't say <code>char myChar = y;</code> to set a character to 'y'. You have to use ' ' for characters. That is: <code>char myChar = 'y';</code>. For Strings, use " ". That is: <code>String myString = "This is an example of a string"</code>. Note how characters are just 1 and strings can consist of entire words.

Finally, what is the difference between double/float and int/long. Well, doubles and floats can have decimals: <code>float myFloat = 5.1;</code>

Now, why would you want to set a variable? For further use, ie, to access at a later time. For example, you can do calculations with other operators...

===Addition Operator +===
The addition operator is different from the = operator. It does not set anything. You would need the = operator to do any setting.

If you want to you want to use the addition operator to add 6 to the value of ''a'', it would be used like this:
<pre>a = a + 6;</pre>
Or you can use a shortcut in order to reach the same result as the above.
<pre>a += 6;</pre>
There are shortcuts to all of the operators, which will be shown in the following sections.

===Subtraction -, Division / and Multiplication * Operators===

Just like the addition operator, the Subtraction, Division, and Multiplication operators are used as follows:
<pre>
int a;

a = a-1;
a = a/1;
a = a*1;
</pre>

The result of "a" in each example would be simply
<pre>
1st a - "a" minus 1
2nd a - "a" divided by 1
3rd a - "a" multiplied by 1
</pre>

When all of the operators are used at once, for example:
<pre>
int a, b, c, d;

a = a-b/c*d;
</pre>
The Java Programming Language would use the order of operations in this example.

Here is a shortcut for subtracting a value from int myInt:
<pre>
myInt -= 4;
</pre>

=Valid Identifiers=
There are several rules for the naming of your variables. Identifiers can be named using all the letters from A through Z (capital or lowercase, you choose), numbers 0-9 and underscore _ and the dollar sign $. The first character of the identifier cannot be a number, but it can be a letter, _ or $.

You can't create two variables with the same identifier, all identifiers must be unique. You also can't use an identifier that is a Java keyword. Here is a list of all the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java_keywords Java Keywords]. [[Flashcards for Java keywords]] provides some assistance in memorizing the concepts behind specific keywords.
=Using the Displayer with Variables=
This section is about printing to the console using <code>System.out.println();</code>.

For Strings, it is extremely simple:
<code>System.out.println(STRING IDENTIFIER HERE);</code>

But for other variables, you have to do it like this:
<code>System.out.println(VARIABLE IDENT + "")</code>

This is because that method's parameter requires a string, and to change a variable to a string you say +"". Note that this only works on primitive types. On objects you have to have a method toString(), which we will learn about later.

Example:
<code>System.out.println(54 + "")</code>

You can also do multiple variables on the same line:
<code>System.out.println(false + 54 + "")</code>

You can put it anywhere: <code>System.out.println(false + "" + 54)</code>

Note that this won't work for two literal numeric values:
<code>System.out.println(54 + 32)</code>. It would mistake it for the adding operator for values. For strings, the operator is different. So you would have to do: <code>System.out.println(54+""+32)</code>

Now you can do calculations and print the result! For example, say you want to print 6*6*6*6. Here is the code:
<pre>
public class Multiplying
{
public static void main(String args[])
{
int a = 6;
int b = a*a*a*a;
System.out.println(b + "");
}
}
</pre>

=Comments=
Comments are notes that the developer can insert into their code. This allows the developer to keep track of their code and helps when developers are collaborating on a project. It is good to write a summary of the following code at the beginning of your methods, classes, etc. The Java compiler completely ignores comments, so you can say anything in them

Comments are written using two forward slashes
<pre>//This is a comment</pre>
Comments can be written at the end of a line
<pre>System.out.println("I love comments"); //This is also a comment</pre>
Comments can also be written on multiple lines by starting with '''/*''' and ending with'''*/'''.
<pre>/* Comment 1
Comment 2
Comment 3 */</pre>
Sun recommends the above form be reserved for information intended for automatic JavaDoc documentation.

=Compiling and Running your program=
To compile your program, go to the directory you saved it. Note that if your class was named NaMe then your file '''must''' be named NaMe.java. Anyways, type: <code>javac NaMe.java</code> where NaMe is your class name. To run, type <code>java NaMe</code>.

Note that if the compiler reports syntax errors with your code, you must look in your source code and fix them. These are usually typos, but can be missing colons (;) or other formatting issues.

If, when running, it reports invalid class file, the compiler might not have created a file. It should have given an error message at compile time.

=Asking the User=
Now, let's go on to asking the user to enter a number and doing calculations on it. Basically: <code>JOptionPane.showInputDialog(null, "Hello. Enter something")</code>. Try putting that in a class (in the main method, of course) and run it. Currently, we can't do anything with it because the value is deleted.

Because what you enter can consist of letters OR numbers, and any length of them, what is "produced" by that is a String. The following will work: <code>String mine = JOptionPane.showInputDialog(null, "Now I can set a String!");</code>. Now lets say that after you get the string you want to print it. Just like regularly, add the following line: <code>System.out.println(mine);</code>.

Now you probably want to be able to enter a number. Java provides a method of changing a String to an int. It is Integer.parseInt(String_Here);. So lets say you want the user to enter a number and you print it. Do:
<pre>
int mine = Integer.parseInt(JOptionPane.showInputDialog(null, "Now I can set an INTEGER!"));
System.out.println(mine);
</pre>
And now, of course, you can do whatever you want with that...

=Exercises=
A. Create a program that stores a String with the value "ABC". Then print the value using System.out.println(StringIdentifierHere). Don't use System.out.prinln("ABC"), as we are focusing on creating variables.

B. Do the above with a long set to 10000. Note that you have to say System.out.println(LongIdentifier + "").
 <hr>

{{1lvlnav|[[Topic:Java|Java]]|[[Introduction to Java]]|[[Java Decision Structures]]}}

[[Category:Java]]
[[Category:Learning activities]]

Master of Business Administration

2006-10-28T13:51:34Z

70.110.165.189: /* Corporate Strategy */

Welcome to the Wikiversity '''Master of Business Administration Program''', part of the [[School:Business|School of Business]].

==Introduction==
This document will link and organize the information found here on WikiMedia and elsewhere on the internet to provide a comprehensive business education such as one provided by the top business schools in the world.

A Master in Business Administration (MBA) is unlike many other academic programs. While most Master programs provide a further specialization within a particular school or discipline (such as law), an MBA is typically interdisciplinary, drawing from the fields of psychology, sociology, economics, accounting and finance.

Most of the material found within an MBA program is not unique to business. Rather, an MBA provides exposure to the diverse ideas which are most useful to a person who is interested in succeeding in business within an-easy-to learn two-year bundle. Despite all the drinking and socializing, an MBA can be a lot of work. If you work through all the concepts referenced, it should take you awhile (probably 2,000+ hours). You're also going to have to get good at Excel.

Let's get started.

==Core Course Overview==

Some MBA programs have core course requirements in the fields listed below. For examples, please refer to the core requirements of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INSEAD INSEAD],
[http://mba.sciences-po.fr/us/deroulement.htm Sciences-Po],
[http://www.hbs.edu/mba/academics/required.html Harvard Business School], [http://mba.wharton.upenn.edu/mba/academics/curriculum/core.php Wharton Business School], and [http://www2.gsb.columbia.edu/students/affairs/courseinfo/core.HTML Columbia Business School].

Many MBA programs also have coursework on advanced topics based on these core subjects. In addition, there are diverse subjects that make-up an MBA curriculum.

==Coursework==
===Basic Probability and Statistics===

The grounding for many futher concepts in business, as in other applied disciplines, is a thorough understanding of [[Wikibooks:statistics|statistics]]. A good free source for understanding probability is [http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Echance/teaching_aids/books_articles/probability_book/amsbook.mac.pdf Introduction to Probability]. In particular [[Wikipedia:Regression_analysis|regression analysis]] is going to be useful. Regression is fundamental to the concept of Beta in Finance and conjoint analysis in Marketing. In addition, the statistical concepts of standard deviation and variance are the fundamental concepts which underly the concept of pooling risk in operations management.

The directions on how to perform a regression analysis in Excel can be found online at [http://www2.hpu.edu/mlane/FIN640/Regression_in_Excel.htm Regression Analysis Using Microsoft Excel]. Once you have completed a few regressions in Excel, you have performed the highest level of statistical analysis which most MBA's become familiar with. Congratulations! You are ready to move on.

===Financial Accounting===

A good place to start is [[Wikibooks:Accounting|Accounting]]. While most MBA's are not a big fan of double entry book keeping, finance starts with accounting. Understanding what [[Wikibooks:depreciation|depreciation]] (the spreading of the cost of an tangible asset over time) and [[Wikibooks:Accounting/Amortization|amortization]] (the spreading of the cost of an intangible asset over time) are is going to be essential to understanding corporate finance (if only because you are going to need to reverse out the effects from GAAP Income Statements to get cash flows).

===Managerial Accounting===

[[Wikipedia:Management_accounting|Managerial Accounting]] refers to the broad application of accounting concepts to financial data to create reports to be interpreted by management. Such financial data, in contrast to [[#Financial Accounting|Financial Accounting]], does not have to comply with GAAP, the FASB, or the filing requirements of the SEC, since it is meant only for internal consumption within an organization.

The major subjects to learn include:

*[[Wikipedia:cost accounting|cost accounting]]
*[[Wikipedia:activity based costing|activity based costing]]
*[[wikipedia:project costing|project costing]]
*[[Wikipedia:budgeting|budgeting]]

===Microeconomics===
A good place to start is the Wikibooks course on [[Wikibooks:Microeconomics|Microeconomics]]. Particularly, the concept that in an industry where there is high competition between firms that those firms will theoretically make zero economic profit should be thoroughly understood; that fact of life is the foundation of much of cooperate strategy, and the root to how to make excess profits (that is, profits greater than your [[Wikipedia:Cost of Capital|Cost of Capital]]).

===Macroeconomics===
Read the Wikibook on [[Wikibooks:Macroeconomics|Macroeconomics]]. In particular, the working of currencys, current account deficits, and the relationship between economic performance, monetary policy, and interest rates will be useful for finance and (ultimately) [[#Capital Markets|Capital Markets]].

===Decision Models===

Decision models are part of the core curriculum of many business schools. The reason why is probably because "average" performance of a firm is distinct from the implied performance of the averages, if the components which combine to create that average performance have differing distributions or deviations.

Decision models will typically cover the following concepts and software packages:
*[[Wikipedia:decision tree|decision trees]]
*[[Wikipedia:linear programming|linear programming]]
*[http://www.decisioneering.com/crystal_ball/index.html Crystal Ball] or [http://www.palisade.com/risk/ @Risk] simulation software. Download yourself a free trial, play with it for a month, working through the tutorials. You'll do alright.

===Corporate Finance===

[[Wikibooks:Finance|Finance]] is among the most stereotypically MBA things an MBA will learn.

If you want to understand corporate finance, learn thoroughly:
*what the implications of the [[Wikipedia:Modigliani-Miller_theorem|Modigliani-Miller theorem]]
*the [[Wikipedia:time value of money|time value of money]]
*how to calculate the [[Wikipedia:Net Present Value|NPV]] of a project
*how to calculate the [[Wikipedia:WACC|WACC]] of a project or company
*how to do a decent [[Wikipedia:Discounted Cash Flow|DCF]]

Putting it all together, you'd get something called a model. That model will tell you how much any asset that generates cash flows (such as a stock) is worth. People in business think that this might be useful to know.

More specifically, these tools are useful for evaluating the potential returns on various courses of action, including but not limited to capital investments.

===Marketing Strategy===

Key concepts to learn in [[Wikipedia:Marketing|Marketing]]:

* [[Wikipedia:Marketing Mix|Marketing Mix]]
** the 4 C's (Company, Context, Customers, Competition)
** the 4 P's (Product, Place, Price, Promotion)

===Marketing Implementation===

Key concepts to learn:
* [[Wikipedia:Customer lifetime value|Customer lifetime value]]
* [[Wikipedia:conjoint analysis|conjoint analysis]]

===Corporate Strategy===

Key concepts to learn:

* [[Wikipedia:Porter%27s_five_forces|Porters Five Forces]]
* [http://amadeus.management.mcgill.ca/~mark.mortensen/orgweb/summaries/mse/content/Porter.html Positioning]
* [[Wikipedia:Game Theory|Game Theory]]
* [http://globecareers.workopolis.com/servlet/Content/fasttrack/20051012/CABOOKS12?section=ManagingBooks Sustainable Competitive Advantage]
* [[Wikipedia:Strategy maps|Strategy Maps]] and the [[Wikipedia:Balanced_scorecard|Balanced Scorecard]]

Good thing to read when the summaries of the concepts won't do:

* [http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=9&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffaculty.washington.edu%2Fcastlej%2FENTRE475%2FArticles%2520of%2520interest%2FWhat%2520is%2520Strategy-Porter.pdf&ei=ZFdmRMWYCMHqaMvUzd4J&sig2=Cd8RuCoZbnd4QDmLvILozA Porter, What is Strategy?]

===Organizational Behavior and Structure===
Organizational behavior classes cover concepts such as:
*[[Wikipedia:Taylorism|Taylorism]]
*[[Wikipedia:Hawthorne Effect|The Hawthorne Effect]]
*[[Wikipedia:Social network|Social Networks]]
*[[Wikipedia:Organizational Behavior|Organizational Behavior]]

===Leadership===
Leadership classes might cover:
*the ideas of [[Wikipedia:Robert Cialdini|Robert Cialdini]]
*the results of your [[Wikipedia:MBTI|Myers-Briggs test]]

Generally, understanding yourself and influencing other people is the focus of a leadership class. A fair bit of [[#Negotiations|Negotiations]] content might be thrown in as well.

===Operations Management===

Operations classes typically cover:

* [[Wikipedia:Supply Chain management|Supply chain management]], in particular the [[Wikipedia:Newsvendor|Newsvendor]] model
* [[Wikipedia:Six Sigma|Six Sigma]] and other quality management concepts
* Risk pooling-that is, the managerial signifance of the fact that when you combine two processes the deviation increases by the square of the summation (because variances are additive, standard deviations are not). Risk pooling is often the root cause of [[Wikipedia:economies of scale|economies of scale]].
* [[Wikipedia:Queueing theory|Queueing theory]] which is helpful if you want to optimize business processes.
* [[Wikipedia:Management information system|Management Information Systems]]

===Negotiations===

[[Wikipedia:Negotiations|Negotiating]] is important for business at many levels. [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140157352/sr=8-1/qid=1147551981/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-9077880-7298216?%5Fencoding=UTF8 Getting to Yes] seems to be the core text to understand how to sucessfully achieve good outcomes from negotiations. A good summary of Getting to Yes can be found many places online (such as: [http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/example/fish7513.htm Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In]). Read that and you're all set.

===Ethics===

Probably read up on [[Wikipedia:Sarbanes Oxley|Sarbanes Oxley]]. Also, reading [http://www.peace.ca/kindergarten.htm these important tips] would probably be useful.

==Additional Coursework==

===Capital Markets===
The two central concepts in capital markets are:
*[[Wikipedia:Arbitrage|Arbitrage]]
*[[Wikipedia:Risk Premium|Risk Premium]]

With those concepts, (and the ideas learned in [[#Corporate Finance|finance]]), you can price:
*[[Wikipedia:Fixed Income|Fixed Income]]
*[[Wikipedia:Swap|Swaps]]
*[[Wikipedia:Forward price|Forward Rates]]

==Further Reading==

[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591840570/qid=1147720345/sr=2-3/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_3/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Competition Demystified] by Bruce Greenwald

[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0425098478/qid=1147720399/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 The One Minute Manager] by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson

[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0142000280/qid=1147720483/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Getting Things Done] by David Allen

[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0471733067/qid=1147720524/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 The Little Book that Beats the Street] by Joel Greenblatt

[http://www.gettingtogradschool.com/MBA-Business_School Getting To Grad School] More info regarding MBA & GMAT

==About the Contributors==

One of the first contributors to this curriculum overview was John O'Brien. John received his MBA from Columbia Business School in 2006. He can be contacted online at [http://www.pulplit.net/contact-us/ pulplit.net].

[[Category:Master of Business Administration]]

Master of Business Administration

2006-10-28T13:50:39Z

70.110.165.189: /* Corporate Strategy */

Welcome to the Wikiversity '''Master of Business Administration Program''', part of the [[School:Business|School of Business]].

==Introduction==
This document will link and organize the information found here on WikiMedia and elsewhere on the internet to provide a comprehensive business education such as one provided by the top business schools in the world.

A Master in Business Administration (MBA) is unlike many other academic programs. While most Master programs provide a further specialization within a particular school or discipline (such as law), an MBA is typically interdisciplinary, drawing from the fields of psychology, sociology, economics, accounting and finance.

Most of the material found within an MBA program is not unique to business. Rather, an MBA provides exposure to the diverse ideas which are most useful to a person who is interested in succeeding in business within an-easy-to learn two-year bundle. Despite all the drinking and socializing, an MBA can be a lot of work. If you work through all the concepts referenced, it should take you awhile (probably 2,000+ hours). You're also going to have to get good at Excel.

Let's get started.

==Core Course Overview==

Some MBA programs have core course requirements in the fields listed below. For examples, please refer to the core requirements of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INSEAD INSEAD],
[http://mba.sciences-po.fr/us/deroulement.htm Sciences-Po],
[http://www.hbs.edu/mba/academics/required.html Harvard Business School], [http://mba.wharton.upenn.edu/mba/academics/curriculum/core.php Wharton Business School], and [http://www2.gsb.columbia.edu/students/affairs/courseinfo/core.HTML Columbia Business School].

Many MBA programs also have coursework on advanced topics based on these core subjects. In addition, there are diverse subjects that make-up an MBA curriculum.

==Coursework==
===Basic Probability and Statistics===

The grounding for many futher concepts in business, as in other applied disciplines, is a thorough understanding of [[Wikibooks:statistics|statistics]]. A good free source for understanding probability is [http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Echance/teaching_aids/books_articles/probability_book/amsbook.mac.pdf Introduction to Probability]. In particular [[Wikipedia:Regression_analysis|regression analysis]] is going to be useful. Regression is fundamental to the concept of Beta in Finance and conjoint analysis in Marketing. In addition, the statistical concepts of standard deviation and variance are the fundamental concepts which underly the concept of pooling risk in operations management.

The directions on how to perform a regression analysis in Excel can be found online at [http://www2.hpu.edu/mlane/FIN640/Regression_in_Excel.htm Regression Analysis Using Microsoft Excel]. Once you have completed a few regressions in Excel, you have performed the highest level of statistical analysis which most MBA's become familiar with. Congratulations! You are ready to move on.

===Financial Accounting===

A good place to start is [[Wikibooks:Accounting|Accounting]]. While most MBA's are not a big fan of double entry book keeping, finance starts with accounting. Understanding what [[Wikibooks:depreciation|depreciation]] (the spreading of the cost of an tangible asset over time) and [[Wikibooks:Accounting/Amortization|amortization]] (the spreading of the cost of an intangible asset over time) are is going to be essential to understanding corporate finance (if only because you are going to need to reverse out the effects from GAAP Income Statements to get cash flows).

===Managerial Accounting===

[[Wikipedia:Management_accounting|Managerial Accounting]] refers to the broad application of accounting concepts to financial data to create reports to be interpreted by management. Such financial data, in contrast to [[#Financial Accounting|Financial Accounting]], does not have to comply with GAAP, the FASB, or the filing requirements of the SEC, since it is meant only for internal consumption within an organization.

The major subjects to learn include:

*[[Wikipedia:cost accounting|cost accounting]]
*[[Wikipedia:activity based costing|activity based costing]]
*[[wikipedia:project costing|project costing]]
*[[Wikipedia:budgeting|budgeting]]

===Microeconomics===
A good place to start is the Wikibooks course on [[Wikibooks:Microeconomics|Microeconomics]]. Particularly, the concept that in an industry where there is high competition between firms that those firms will theoretically make zero economic profit should be thoroughly understood; that fact of life is the foundation of much of cooperate strategy, and the root to how to make excess profits (that is, profits greater than your [[Wikipedia:Cost of Capital|Cost of Capital]]).

===Macroeconomics===
Read the Wikibook on [[Wikibooks:Macroeconomics|Macroeconomics]]. In particular, the working of currencys, current account deficits, and the relationship between economic performance, monetary policy, and interest rates will be useful for finance and (ultimately) [[#Capital Markets|Capital Markets]].

===Decision Models===

Decision models are part of the core curriculum of many business schools. The reason why is probably because "average" performance of a firm is distinct from the implied performance of the averages, if the components which combine to create that average performance have differing distributions or deviations.

Decision models will typically cover the following concepts and software packages:
*[[Wikipedia:decision tree|decision trees]]
*[[Wikipedia:linear programming|linear programming]]
*[http://www.decisioneering.com/crystal_ball/index.html Crystal Ball] or [http://www.palisade.com/risk/ @Risk] simulation software. Download yourself a free trial, play with it for a month, working through the tutorials. You'll do alright.

===Corporate Finance===

[[Wikibooks:Finance|Finance]] is among the most stereotypically MBA things an MBA will learn.

If you want to understand corporate finance, learn thoroughly:
*what the implications of the [[Wikipedia:Modigliani-Miller_theorem|Modigliani-Miller theorem]]
*the [[Wikipedia:time value of money|time value of money]]
*how to calculate the [[Wikipedia:Net Present Value|NPV]] of a project
*how to calculate the [[Wikipedia:WACC|WACC]] of a project or company
*how to do a decent [[Wikipedia:Discounted Cash Flow|DCF]]

Putting it all together, you'd get something called a model. That model will tell you how much any asset that generates cash flows (such as a stock) is worth. People in business think that this might be useful to know.

More specifically, these tools are useful for evaluating the potential returns on various courses of action, including but not limited to capital investments.

===Marketing Strategy===

Key concepts to learn in [[Wikipedia:Marketing|Marketing]]:

* [[Wikipedia:Marketing Mix|Marketing Mix]]
** the 4 C's (Company, Context, Customers, Competition)
** the 4 P's (Product, Place, Price, Promotion)

===Marketing Implementation===

Key concepts to learn:
* [[Wikipedia:Customer lifetime value|Customer lifetime value]]
* [[Wikipedia:conjoint analysis|conjoint analysis]]

===Corporate Strategy===

Key concepts to learn:

* [[Wikipedia:Porter%27s_five_forces|Porters Five Forces]]
* [http://amadeus.management.mcgill.ca/~mark.mortensen/orgweb/summaries/mse/content/Porter.html Positioning]
* [[Wikipedia:Game Theory|Game Theory]]
* [http://globecareers.workopolis.com/servlet/Content/fasttrack/20051012/CABOOKS12?section=ManagingBooks Sustainable Competitive Advantage]
* [[Wikipedia:Balanced_scorecard|Balanced Scorecard]] and [[Wikipedia:Strategy maps|Strategy Maps]]

Good thing to read when the summaries of the concepts won't do:

* [http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=9&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffaculty.washington.edu%2Fcastlej%2FENTRE475%2FArticles%2520of%2520interest%2FWhat%2520is%2520Strategy-Porter.pdf&ei=ZFdmRMWYCMHqaMvUzd4J&sig2=Cd8RuCoZbnd4QDmLvILozA Porter, What is Strategy?]

===Organizational Behavior and Structure===
Organizational behavior classes cover concepts such as:
*[[Wikipedia:Taylorism|Taylorism]]
*[[Wikipedia:Hawthorne Effect|The Hawthorne Effect]]
*[[Wikipedia:Social network|Social Networks]]
*[[Wikipedia:Organizational Behavior|Organizational Behavior]]

===Leadership===
Leadership classes might cover:
*the ideas of [[Wikipedia:Robert Cialdini|Robert Cialdini]]
*the results of your [[Wikipedia:MBTI|Myers-Briggs test]]

Generally, understanding yourself and influencing other people is the focus of a leadership class. A fair bit of [[#Negotiations|Negotiations]] content might be thrown in as well.

===Operations Management===

Operations classes typically cover:

* [[Wikipedia:Supply Chain management|Supply chain management]], in particular the [[Wikipedia:Newsvendor|Newsvendor]] model
* [[Wikipedia:Six Sigma|Six Sigma]] and other quality management concepts
* Risk pooling-that is, the managerial signifance of the fact that when you combine two processes the deviation increases by the square of the summation (because variances are additive, standard deviations are not). Risk pooling is often the root cause of [[Wikipedia:economies of scale|economies of scale]].
* [[Wikipedia:Queueing theory|Queueing theory]] which is helpful if you want to optimize business processes.
* [[Wikipedia:Management information system|Management Information Systems]]

===Negotiations===

[[Wikipedia:Negotiations|Negotiating]] is important for business at many levels. [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140157352/sr=8-1/qid=1147551981/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-9077880-7298216?%5Fencoding=UTF8 Getting to Yes] seems to be the core text to understand how to sucessfully achieve good outcomes from negotiations. A good summary of Getting to Yes can be found many places online (such as: [http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/example/fish7513.htm Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In]). Read that and you're all set.

===Ethics===

Probably read up on [[Wikipedia:Sarbanes Oxley|Sarbanes Oxley]]. Also, reading [http://www.peace.ca/kindergarten.htm these important tips] would probably be useful.

==Additional Coursework==

===Capital Markets===
The two central concepts in capital markets are:
*[[Wikipedia:Arbitrage|Arbitrage]]
*[[Wikipedia:Risk Premium|Risk Premium]]

With those concepts, (and the ideas learned in [[#Corporate Finance|finance]]), you can price:
*[[Wikipedia:Fixed Income|Fixed Income]]
*[[Wikipedia:Swap|Swaps]]
*[[Wikipedia:Forward price|Forward Rates]]

==Further Reading==

[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591840570/qid=1147720345/sr=2-3/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_3/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Competition Demystified] by Bruce Greenwald

[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0425098478/qid=1147720399/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 The One Minute Manager] by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson

[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0142000280/qid=1147720483/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Getting Things Done] by David Allen

[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0471733067/qid=1147720524/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 The Little Book that Beats the Street] by Joel Greenblatt

[http://www.gettingtogradschool.com/MBA-Business_School Getting To Grad School] More info regarding MBA & GMAT

==About the Contributors==

One of the first contributors to this curriculum overview was John O'Brien. John received his MBA from Columbia Business School in 2006. He can be contacted online at [http://www.pulplit.net/contact-us/ pulplit.net].

[[Category:Master of Business Administration]]

Master of Business Administration

2006-08-28T00:07:41Z

70.110.135.192: /* Marketing Strategy */

==Introduction==
This document will attempt to link and organize the information found here on WikiMedia and elsewhere on the internet to provide a comprehensive business education such as one provided by the top business schools in the world.

A Master in Business Administration (MBA) is unlike many other academic programs. While most Master programs provide a further specialization within a particular school or discipline (such as law), an MBA is typically quite inter-disciplinary, drawing from the fields of psychology, sociology, economics and finance.

As such, most of the material found within an MBA program is not unique to the world of business. Rather, an MBA provides exposure to the diverse concepts which are most useful to a person who is interested in succeeding in business within an easy to learn two-year bundle. Despite all the drinking and socializing, a MBA can be a lot of work. If you work through all the concepts referenced, it should take you quite awhile (probably 2,000+ hours). You're also going to have to get really good at Excel.

Let's get started.

==Master of Business Administration Core Course Overview==

Some MBA programs have a core course requirements in the fields listed below. For example core MBA program requirements, please refer to the core requirements of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INSEAD INSEAD],
[[http://mba.sciences-po.fr/us/deroulement.htm Sciences-Po]],
[http://www.hbs.edu/mba/academics/required.html Harvard Business School], [http://mba.wharton.upenn.edu/mba/academics/curriculum/core.php Wharton Business School], and [http://www2.gsb.columbia.edu/students/affairs/courseinfo/core.HTML Columbia Business School].

Most MBA programs then have additional coursework on diverse subjects as well as advanced topics in the prior subjects.

==Coursework==
===Basic Probability and Statistics===

The grounding for many futher concepts in business, as in other applied disciplines, is a thorough understanding of [[Wikibooks:statistics|statistics]]. A good free source for understanding probability is [http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Echance/teaching_aids/books_articles/probability_book/amsbook.mac.pdf Introduction to Probability]. In particular [[Wikipedia:Regression_analysis|regression analysis]] is going to be useful. Regression is fundamental to the concept of Beta in Finance, conjoint analysis in Marketing, and the pooling of risk in operations management.

The directions on how to perform a regression analysis in Excel can be found online at [http://www2.hpu.edu/mlane/FIN640/Regression_in_Excel.htm Regression Analysis Using Microsoft Excel]. Once you have completed a few regressions in Excel, you have performed the highest level of statistical analysis which most MBA's become familiar with. Congratulations! You are ready to move on.

===Financial Accounting===

A good place to start is [[Wikibooks:Accounting|Accounting]]. While most MBA's are not a big fan of double entry book keeping, finance starts with accounting. Understanding what [[Wikibooks:depreciation|depreciation]] (the spreading of the cost of an tangible asset over time) and [[Wikibooks:Accounting/Amortization|amortization]] (the spreading of the cost of an intangible asset over time) are is going to be essential to understanding corporate finance (if only because you are going to need to reverse out the effects from GAAP Income Statements to get cash flows).

===Managerial Accounting===

[[Wikipedia:Management_accounting|Managerial Accounting]] refers to the broad application of accounting concepts to financial data with the purpose of being consumed by management. Such financial data, in contrast to [[#Financial Accounting|Financial Accounting]], does not have to comply with GAAP, the FASB, or the filing requirements of the SEC, since it is meant only for internal consumption within an organization.

The major subjects to learn include:

*[[Wikipedia:cost accounting|cost accounting]]
*[[Wikipedia:activity based costing|activity based costing]]
*[[wikipedia:project costing|project costing]]
*[[Wikipedia:budgeting|budgeting]]

===Microeconomics===
A good place to start is the Wikibooks course on [[Wikibooks:Microeconomics|Microeconomics]]. Particularly, the concept that in an industry with high competition firms make zero economic profit should be thoroughly understood; that fact of life is the foundation of much of cooperate strategy, and the root to how to make excess profits (that is, profits greater than your [[Wikipedia:Cost of Capital|Cost of Capital]]).

===Macroeconomics===
Read the Wikibook on [[Wikibooks:Macroeconomics|Macroeconomics]]. In particular, the working of currencys, current account deficits, and the relationship between economic performance, monetary policy, and interest rates will be useful for finance and (ultimately) [[#Capital Markets|Capital Markets]].

===Decision Models===

Decision models are part of the core curriculum of many business schools. The reason why is probably because "average" performance of a firm is distinct from the implied performance of the averages, if the components which combine to create that average performance have differing distributions or deviations.

Decision models will typically cover the following concepts and software packages:
*[[Wikipedia:decision tree|decision trees]]
*[[Wikipedia:linear programming|linear programming]]
*[[Wikipedia:Management information system|Management Information Systems]]
*[http://www.decisioneering.com/crystal_ball/index.html Crystal Ball] or [http://www.palisade.com/risk/ @Risk] simulation software. Download yourself a free trial, play with it for a month, working through the tutorials. You'll do alright.

===Corporate Finance===

[[Wikibooks:Finance|Finance]] is among the most stereotypically MBA things an MBA will learn.

If you want to understand corporate finance, learn thoroughly:
*what the implications of the [[Wikipedia:Modigliani-Miller_theorem|Modigliani-Miller theorem]]
*the [[Wikipedia:time value of money|time value of money]]
*how to calculate the [[Wikipedia:Net Present Value|NPV]] of a project
*how to calculate the [[Wikipedia:WACC|WACC]] of a project or company
*how to do a decent [[Wikipedia:Discounted Cash Flow|DCF]]

Putting it all together, you'd get something called a model. That model will tell you how much any asset that generates cash flows (such as a stock) is worth. People in business think that this might be useful to know.

===Marketing Strategy===

Key concepts to learn in [[Wikipedia:Marketing|Marketing]]:

* [[Wikipedia:Marketing Mix|Marketing Mix]]
** the 4 C's (Company, Context, Customers, Competition)
** the 4 P's (Product, Place, Price, Promotion)

===Marketing Implementation===

Key concepts to learn:
* [[Wikipedia:Customer lifetime value|Customer lifetime value]]
* [[Wikipedia:conjoint analysis|conjoint analysis]]

===Corporate Strategy===

Key concepts to learn:

* [[Wikipedia:Porter%27s_five_forces|Porters Five Forces]]
* [http://amadeus.management.mcgill.ca/~mark.mortensen/orgweb/summaries/mse/content/Porter.html Positioning]
* [[Wikipedia:Game Theory|Game Theory]]
* [http://globecareers.workopolis.com/servlet/Content/fasttrack/20051012/CABOOKS12?section=ManagingBooks Sustainable Competitive Advantage]
* [[Wikipedia:Strategy maps|Strategy Maps]]

Good thing to read when the summaries of the concepts won't do:

* [http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=9&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffaculty.washington.edu%2Fcastlej%2FENTRE475%2FArticles%2520of%2520interest%2FWhat%2520is%2520Strategy-Porter.pdf&ei=ZFdmRMWYCMHqaMvUzd4J&sig2=Cd8RuCoZbnd4QDmLvILozA Porter, What is Strategy?]

===Organizational Behavior and Structure===
Organizational behavior classes cover concepts such as:
*[[Wikipedia:Taylorism|Taylorism]]
*[[Wikipedia:Hawthorne Effect|The Hawthorne Effect]]
*[[Wikipedia:Social network|Social Networks]]
*[[Wikipedia:Organizational Behavior|Organizational Behavior]]

===Leadership===
Leadership classes might cover:
*the ideas of [[Wikipedia:Robert Cialdini|Robert Cialdini]]
*the results of your [[Wikipedia:MBTI|Myers-Briggs test]]

Generally, understanding yourself and influencing other people is the focus of a leadership class. A fair bit of [[#Negotiations|Negotiations]] content might be thrown in as well.

===Operations Management===

Operations classes typically cover:

* [[Wikipedia:Supply Chain management|Supply chain management]], in particular the [[Wikipedia:Newsvendor|Newsvendor]] model
* [[Wikipedia:Six Sigma|Six Sigma]] and other quality management concepts
* Risk pooling-that is, the managerial signifance of the fact that when you combine two processes the deviation increases by the square of the summation (because variances are additive, standard deviations are not). Risk pooling is often the root cause of [[Wikipedia:economies of scale|economies of scale]].
* [[Wikipedia:Queueing theory|Queueing theory]] which is helpful is you want to optimize business processes.

===Negotiations===

[[Wikipedia:Negotiations|Negotiating]] is important for business at many levels. [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140157352/sr=8-1/qid=1147551981/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-9077880-7298216?%5Fencoding=UTF8 Getting to Yes] seems to be the core text to understand how to sucessfully achieve good outcomes from negotiations. A good summary of Getting to Yes can be found many places online (such as: [http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/example/fish7513.htm Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In]). Read that and you're all set.

===Ethics===

Probably read up on [[Wikipedia:Sarbanes Oxley|Sarbanes Oxley]]. Also, reading [http://www.peace.ca/kindergarten.htm these important tips] would probably be useful.

==Additional Coursework==

===Capital Markets===
The two central concepts in capital markets are:
*[[Wikipedia:Arbitrage|Arbitrage]]
*[[Wikipedia:Risk Premium|Risk Premium]]

With those concepts, (and the ideas learned in [[#Corporate Finance|finance]]), you can price:
*[[Wikipedia:Fixed Income|Fixed Income]]
*[[Wikipedia:Swap|Swaps]]
*[[Wikipedia:Forward price|Forward Rates]]

==Further Reading==

[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591840570/qid=1147720345/sr=2-3/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_3/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Competition Demystified] by Bruce Greenwald

[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0425098478/qid=1147720399/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 The One Minute Manager] by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson

[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0142000280/qid=1147720483/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Getting Things Done] by David Allen

[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0471733067/qid=1147720524/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 The Little Book that Beats the Street] by Joel Greenblatt

==About the Contributors==

One of the first contributors to this curriculum overview was John O'Brien. John received his MBA from Columbia Business School in 2005. He can be contacted online at [http://www.pulplit.net/contact-us/ pulplit.net].

Master of Business Administration

2006-08-28T00:01:35Z

70.110.135.192: /* Marketing Strategy */

==Introduction==
This document will attempt to link and organize the information found here on WikiMedia and elsewhere on the internet to provide a comprehensive business education such as one provided by the top business schools in the world.

A Master in Business Administration (MBA) is unlike many other academic programs. While most Master programs provide a further specialization within a particular school or discipline (such as law), an MBA is typically quite inter-disciplinary, drawing from the fields of psychology, sociology, economics and finance.

As such, most of the material found within an MBA program is not unique to the world of business. Rather, an MBA provides exposure to the diverse concepts which are most useful to a person who is interested in succeeding in business within an easy to learn two-year bundle. Despite all the drinking and socializing, a MBA can be a lot of work. If you work through all the concepts referenced, it should take you quite awhile (probably 2,000+ hours). You're also going to have to get really good at Excel.

Let's get started.

==Master of Business Administration Core Course Overview==

Some MBA programs have a core course requirements in the fields listed below. For example core MBA program requirements, please refer to the core requirements of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INSEAD INSEAD],
[[http://mba.sciences-po.fr/us/deroulement.htm Sciences-Po]],
[http://www.hbs.edu/mba/academics/required.html Harvard Business School], [http://mba.wharton.upenn.edu/mba/academics/curriculum/core.php Wharton Business School], and [http://www2.gsb.columbia.edu/students/affairs/courseinfo/core.HTML Columbia Business School].

Most MBA programs then have additional coursework on diverse subjects as well as advanced topics in the prior subjects.

==Coursework==
===Basic Probability and Statistics===

The grounding for many futher concepts in business, as in other applied disciplines, is a thorough understanding of [[Wikibooks:statistics|statistics]]. A good free source for understanding probability is [http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Echance/teaching_aids/books_articles/probability_book/amsbook.mac.pdf Introduction to Probability]. In particular [[Wikipedia:Regression_analysis|regression analysis]] is going to be useful. Regression is fundamental to the concept of Beta in Finance, conjoint analysis in Marketing, and the pooling of risk in operations management.

The directions on how to perform a regression analysis in Excel can be found online at [http://www2.hpu.edu/mlane/FIN640/Regression_in_Excel.htm Regression Analysis Using Microsoft Excel]. Once you have completed a few regressions in Excel, you have performed the highest level of statistical analysis which most MBA's become familiar with. Congratulations! You are ready to move on.

===Financial Accounting===

A good place to start is [[Wikibooks:Accounting|Accounting]]. While most MBA's are not a big fan of double entry book keeping, finance starts with accounting. Understanding what [[Wikibooks:depreciation|depreciation]] (the spreading of the cost of an tangible asset over time) and [[Wikibooks:Accounting/Amortization|amortization]] (the spreading of the cost of an intangible asset over time) are is going to be essential to understanding corporate finance (if only because you are going to need to reverse out the effects from GAAP Income Statements to get cash flows).

===Managerial Accounting===

[[Wikipedia:Management_accounting|Managerial Accounting]] refers to the broad application of accounting concepts to financial data with the purpose of being consumed by management. Such financial data, in contrast to [[#Financial Accounting|Financial Accounting]], does not have to comply with GAAP, the FASB, or the filing requirements of the SEC, since it is meant only for internal consumption within an organization.

The major subjects to learn include:

*[[Wikipedia:cost accounting|cost accounting]]
*[[Wikipedia:activity based costing|activity based costing]]
*[[wikipedia:project costing|project costing]]
*[[Wikipedia:budgeting|budgeting]]

===Microeconomics===
A good place to start is the Wikibooks course on [[Wikibooks:Microeconomics|Microeconomics]]. Particularly, the concept that in an industry with high competition firms make zero economic profit should be thoroughly understood; that fact of life is the foundation of much of cooperate strategy, and the root to how to make excess profits (that is, profits greater than your [[Wikipedia:Cost of Capital|Cost of Capital]]).

===Macroeconomics===
Read the Wikibook on [[Wikibooks:Macroeconomics|Macroeconomics]]. In particular, the working of currencys, current account deficits, and the relationship between economic performance, monetary policy, and interest rates will be useful for finance and (ultimately) [[#Capital Markets|Capital Markets]].

===Decision Models===

Decision models are part of the core curriculum of many business schools. The reason why is probably because "average" performance of a firm is distinct from the implied performance of the averages, if the components which combine to create that average performance have differing distributions or deviations.

Decision models will typically cover the following concepts and software packages:
*[[Wikipedia:decision tree|decision trees]]
*[[Wikipedia:linear programming|linear programming]]
*[[Wikipedia:Management information system|Management Information Systems]]
*[http://www.decisioneering.com/crystal_ball/index.html Crystal Ball] or [http://www.palisade.com/risk/ @Risk] simulation software. Download yourself a free trial, play with it for a month, working through the tutorials. You'll do alright.

===Corporate Finance===

[[Wikibooks:Finance|Finance]] is among the most stereotypically MBA things an MBA will learn.

If you want to understand corporate finance, learn thoroughly:
*what the implications of the [[Wikipedia:Modigliani-Miller_theorem|Modigliani-Miller theorem]]
*the [[Wikipedia:time value of money|time value of money]]
*how to calculate the [[Wikipedia:Net Present Value|NPV]] of a project
*how to calculate the [[Wikipedia:WACC|WACC]] of a project or company
*how to do a decent [[Wikipedia:Discounted Cash Flow|DCF]]

Putting it all together, you'd get something called a model. That model will tell you how much any asset that generates cash flows (such as a stock) is worth. People in business think that this might be useful to know.

===Marketing Strategy===

Key concepts to learn in [[Wikipedia:Marketing|Marketing]]:
====[[Wikipedia:Marketing Mix|Marketing Mix]]====
* the 4 C's (Company, Context, Customers, Competition)
* the 4 P's (Product, Place, Price, Promotion)

===Marketing Implementation===

Key concepts to learn:
* [[Wikipedia:Customer lifetime value|Customer lifetime value]]
* [[Wikipedia:conjoint analysis|conjoint analysis]]

===Corporate Strategy===

Key concepts to learn:

* [[Wikipedia:Porter%27s_five_forces|Porters Five Forces]]
* [http://amadeus.management.mcgill.ca/~mark.mortensen/orgweb/summaries/mse/content/Porter.html Positioning]
* [[Wikipedia:Game Theory|Game Theory]]
* [http://globecareers.workopolis.com/servlet/Content/fasttrack/20051012/CABOOKS12?section=ManagingBooks Sustainable Competitive Advantage]
* [[Wikipedia:Strategy maps|Strategy Maps]]

Good thing to read when the summaries of the concepts won't do:

* [http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=9&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffaculty.washington.edu%2Fcastlej%2FENTRE475%2FArticles%2520of%2520interest%2FWhat%2520is%2520Strategy-Porter.pdf&ei=ZFdmRMWYCMHqaMvUzd4J&sig2=Cd8RuCoZbnd4QDmLvILozA Porter, What is Strategy?]

===Organizational Behavior and Structure===
Organizational behavior classes cover concepts such as:
*[[Wikipedia:Taylorism|Taylorism]]
*[[Wikipedia:Hawthorne Effect|The Hawthorne Effect]]
*[[Wikipedia:Social network|Social Networks]]
*[[Wikipedia:Organizational Behavior|Organizational Behavior]]

===Leadership===
Leadership classes might cover:
*the ideas of [[Wikipedia:Robert Cialdini|Robert Cialdini]]
*the results of your [[Wikipedia:MBTI|Myers-Briggs test]]

Generally, understanding yourself and influencing other people is the focus of a leadership class. A fair bit of [[#Negotiations|Negotiations]] content might be thrown in as well.

===Operations Management===

Operations classes typically cover:

* [[Wikipedia:Supply Chain management|Supply chain management]], in particular the [[Wikipedia:Newsvendor|Newsvendor]] model
* [[Wikipedia:Six Sigma|Six Sigma]] and other quality management concepts
* Risk pooling-that is, the managerial signifance of the fact that when you combine two processes the deviation increases by the square of the summation (because variances are additive, standard deviations are not). Risk pooling is often the root cause of [[Wikipedia:economies of scale|economies of scale]].
* [[Wikipedia:Queueing theory|Queueing theory]] which is helpful is you want to optimize business processes.

===Negotiations===

[[Wikipedia:Negotiations|Negotiating]] is important for business at many levels. [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140157352/sr=8-1/qid=1147551981/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-9077880-7298216?%5Fencoding=UTF8 Getting to Yes] seems to be the core text to understand how to sucessfully achieve good outcomes from negotiations. A good summary of Getting to Yes can be found many places online (such as: [http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/example/fish7513.htm Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In]). Read that and you're all set.

===Ethics===

Probably read up on [[Wikipedia:Sarbanes Oxley|Sarbanes Oxley]]. Also, reading [http://www.peace.ca/kindergarten.htm these important tips] would probably be useful.

==Additional Coursework==

===Capital Markets===
The two central concepts in capital markets are:
*[[Wikipedia:Arbitrage|Arbitrage]]
*[[Wikipedia:Risk Premium|Risk Premium]]

With those concepts, (and the ideas learned in [[#Corporate Finance|finance]]), you can price:
*[[Wikipedia:Fixed Income|Fixed Income]]
*[[Wikipedia:Swap|Swaps]]
*[[Wikipedia:Forward price|Forward Rates]]

==Further Reading==

[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591840570/qid=1147720345/sr=2-3/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_3/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Competition Demystified] by Bruce Greenwald

[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0425098478/qid=1147720399/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 The One Minute Manager] by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson

[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0142000280/qid=1147720483/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Getting Things Done] by David Allen

[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0471733067/qid=1147720524/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 The Little Book that Beats the Street] by Joel Greenblatt

==About the Contributors==

One of the first contributors to this curriculum overview was John O'Brien. John received his MBA from Columbia Business School in 2005. He can be contacted online at [http://www.pulplit.net/contact-us/ pulplit.net].

Master of Business Administration

2006-08-27T19:09:01Z

70.110.135.192: /* Decision Models */

==Introduction==
This document will attempt to link and organize the information found here on WikiMedia and elsewhere on the internet to provide a comprehensive business education such as one provided by the top business schools in the world.

A Master in Business Administration (MBA) is unlike many other academic programs. While most Master programs provide a further specialization within a particular school or discipline (such as law), an MBA is typically quite inter-disciplinary, drawing from the fields of psychology, sociology, economics and finance.

As such, most of the material found within an MBA program is not unique to the world of business. Rather, an MBA provides exposure to the diverse concepts which are most useful to a person who is interested in succeeding in business within an easy to learn two-year bundle. Despite all the drinking and socializing, a MBA can be a lot of work. If you work through all the concepts referenced, it should take you quite awhile (probably 2,000+ hours). You're also going to have to get really good at Excel.

Let's get started.

==Master of Business Administration Core Course Overview==

Some MBA programs have a core course requirements in the fields listed below. For example core MBA program requirements, please refer to the core requirements of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INSEAD INSEAD],
[[http://mba.sciences-po.fr/us/deroulement.htm Sciences-Po]],
[http://www.hbs.edu/mba/academics/required.html Harvard Business School], [http://mba.wharton.upenn.edu/mba/academics/curriculum/core.php Wharton Business School], and [http://www2.gsb.columbia.edu/students/affairs/courseinfo/core.HTML Columbia Business School].

Most MBA programs then have additional coursework on diverse subjects as well as advanced topics in the prior subjects.

==Coursework==
===Basic Probability and Statistics===

The grounding for many futher concepts in business, as in other applied disciplines, is a thorough understanding of [[Wikibooks:statistics|statistics]]. A good free source for understanding probability is [http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Echance/teaching_aids/books_articles/probability_book/amsbook.mac.pdf Introduction to Probability]. In particular [[Wikipedia:Regression_analysis|regression analysis]] is going to be useful. Regression is fundamental to the concept of Beta in Finance, conjoint analysis in Marketing, and the pooling of risk in operations management.

The directions on how to perform a regression analysis in Excel can be found online at [http://www2.hpu.edu/mlane/FIN640/Regression_in_Excel.htm Regression Analysis Using Microsoft Excel]. Once you have completed a few regressions in Excel, you have performed the highest level of statistical analysis which most MBA's become familiar with. Congratulations! You are ready to move on.

===Financial Accounting===

A good place to start is [[Wikibooks:Accounting|Accounting]]. While most MBA's are not a big fan of double entry book keeping, finance starts with accounting. Understanding what [[Wikibooks:depreciation|depreciation]] (the spreading of the cost of an tangible asset over time) and [[Wikibooks:Accounting/Amortization|amortization]] (the spreading of the cost of an intangible asset over time) are is going to be essential to understanding corporate finance (if only because you are going to need to reverse out the effects from GAAP Income Statements to get cash flows).

===Managerial Accounting===

[[Wikipedia:Management_accounting|Managerial Accounting]] refers to the broad application of accounting concepts to financial data with the purpose of being consumed by management. Such financial data, in contrast to [[#Financial Accounting|Financial Accounting]], does not have to comply with GAAP, the FASB, or the filing requirements of the SEC, since it is meant only for internal consumption within an organization.

The major subjects to learn include:

*[[Wikipedia:cost accounting|cost accounting]]
*[[Wikipedia:activity based costing|activity based costing]]
*[[wikipedia:project costing|project costing]]
*[[Wikipedia:budgeting|budgeting]]

===Microeconomics===
A good place to start is the Wikibooks course on [[Wikibooks:Microeconomics|Microeconomics]]. Particularly, the concept that in an industry with high competition firms make zero economic profit should be thoroughly understood; that fact of life is the foundation of much of cooperate strategy, and the root to how to make excess profits (that is, profits greater than your [[Wikipedia:Cost of Capital|Cost of Capital]]).

===Macroeconomics===
Read the Wikibook on [[Wikibooks:Macroeconomics|Macroeconomics]]. In particular, the working of currencys, current account deficits, and the relationship between economic performance, monetary policy, and interest rates will be useful for finance and (ultimately) [[#Capital Markets|Capital Markets]].

===Decision Models===

Decision models are part of the core curriculum of many business schools. The reason why is probably because "average" performance of a firm is distinct from the implied performance of the averages, if the components which combine to create that average performance have differing distributions or deviations.

Decision models will typically cover the following concepts and software packages:
*[[Wikipedia:decision tree|decision trees]]
*[[Wikipedia:linear programming|linear programming]]
*[[Wikipedia:Management information system|Management Information Systems]]
*[http://www.decisioneering.com/crystal_ball/index.html Crystal Ball] or [http://www.palisade.com/risk/ @Risk] simulation software. Download yourself a free trial, play with it for a month, working through the tutorials. You'll do alright.

===Corporate Finance===

[[Wikibooks:Finance|Finance]] is among the most stereotypically MBA things an MBA will learn.

If you want to understand corporate finance, learn thoroughly:
*what the implications of the [[Wikipedia:Modigliani-Miller_theorem|Modigliani-Miller theorem]]
*the [[Wikipedia:time value of money|time value of money]]
*how to calculate the [[Wikipedia:Net Present Value|NPV]] of a project
*how to calculate the [[Wikipedia:WACC|WACC]] of a project or company
*how to do a decent [[Wikipedia:Discounted Cash Flow|DCF]]

Putting it all together, you'd get something called a model. That model will tell you how much any asset that generates cash flows (such as a stock) is worth. People in business think that this might be useful to know.

===Marketing Strategy===

Key concepts to learn in [[Wikipedia:Marketing|Marketing]]:
* the 4 C's (Company, Context, Customers, Competition)
* the 4 P's (Product, Place, Price, Promotion)

===Marketing Implementation===

Key concepts to learn:
* [[Wikipedia:Customer lifetime value|Customer lifetime value]]
* [[Wikipedia:conjoint analysis|conjoint analysis]]

===Corporate Strategy===

Key concepts to learn:

* [[Wikipedia:Porter%27s_five_forces|Porters Five Forces]]
* [http://amadeus.management.mcgill.ca/~mark.mortensen/orgweb/summaries/mse/content/Porter.html Positioning]
* [[Wikipedia:Game Theory|Game Theory]]
* [http://globecareers.workopolis.com/servlet/Content/fasttrack/20051012/CABOOKS12?section=ManagingBooks Sustainable Competitive Advantage]
* [[Wikipedia:Strategy maps|Strategy Maps]]

Good thing to read when the summaries of the concepts won't do:

* [http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=9&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffaculty.washington.edu%2Fcastlej%2FENTRE475%2FArticles%2520of%2520interest%2FWhat%2520is%2520Strategy-Porter.pdf&ei=ZFdmRMWYCMHqaMvUzd4J&sig2=Cd8RuCoZbnd4QDmLvILozA Porter, What is Strategy?]

===Organizational Behavior and Structure===
Organizational behavior classes cover concepts such as:
*[[Wikipedia:Taylorism|Taylorism]]
*[[Wikipedia:Hawthorne Effect|The Hawthorne Effect]]
*[[Wikipedia:Social network|Social Networks]]
*[[Wikipedia:Organizational Behavior|Organizational Behavior]]

===Leadership===
Leadership classes might cover:
*the ideas of [[Wikipedia:Robert Cialdini|Robert Cialdini]]
*the results of your [[Wikipedia:MBTI|Myers-Briggs test]]

Generally, understanding yourself and influencing other people is the focus of a leadership class. A fair bit of [[#Negotiations|Negotiations]] content might be thrown in as well.

===Operations Management===

Operations classes typically cover:

* [[Wikipedia:Supply Chain management|Supply chain management]], in particular the [[Wikipedia:Newsvendor|Newsvendor]] model
* [[Wikipedia:Six Sigma|Six Sigma]] and other quality management concepts
* Risk pooling-that is, the managerial signifance of the fact that when you combine two processes the deviation increases by the square of the summation (because variances are additive, standard deviations are not). Risk pooling is often the root cause of [[Wikipedia:economies of scale|economies of scale]].
* [[Wikipedia:Queueing theory|Queueing theory]] which is helpful is you want to optimize business processes.

===Negotiations===

[[Wikipedia:Negotiations|Negotiating]] is important for business at many levels. [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140157352/sr=8-1/qid=1147551981/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-9077880-7298216?%5Fencoding=UTF8 Getting to Yes] seems to be the core text to understand how to sucessfully achieve good outcomes from negotiations. A good summary of Getting to Yes can be found many places online (such as: [http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/example/fish7513.htm Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In]). Read that and you're all set.

===Ethics===

Probably read up on [[Wikipedia:Sarbanes Oxley|Sarbanes Oxley]]. Also, reading [http://www.peace.ca/kindergarten.htm these important tips] would probably be useful.

==Additional Coursework==

===Capital Markets===
The two central concepts in capital markets are:
*[[Wikipedia:Arbitrage|Arbitrage]]
*[[Wikipedia:Risk Premium|Risk Premium]]

With those concepts, (and the ideas learned in [[#Corporate Finance|finance]]), you can price:
*[[Wikipedia:Fixed Income|Fixed Income]]
*[[Wikipedia:Swap|Swaps]]
*[[Wikipedia:Forward price|Forward Rates]]

==Further Reading==

[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591840570/qid=1147720345/sr=2-3/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_3/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Competition Demystified] by Bruce Greenwald

[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0425098478/qid=1147720399/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 The One Minute Manager] by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson

[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0142000280/qid=1147720483/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Getting Things Done] by David Allen

[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0471733067/qid=1147720524/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 The Little Book that Beats the Street] by Joel Greenblatt

==About the Contributors==

One of the first contributors to this curriculum overview was John O'Brien. John received his MBA from Columbia Business School in 2005. He can be contacted online at [http://www.pulplit.net/contact-us/ pulplit.net].

Master of Business Administration

2006-08-27T18:43:57Z

70.110.135.192: /* Corporate Strategy */

==Introduction==
This document will attempt to link and organize the information found here on WikiMedia and elsewhere on the internet to provide a comprehensive business education such as one provided by the top business schools in the world.

A Master in Business Administration (MBA) is unlike many other academic programs. While most Master programs provide a further specialization within a particular school or discipline (such as law), an MBA is typically quite inter-disciplinary, drawing from the fields of psychology, sociology, economics and finance.

As such, most of the material found within an MBA program is not unique to the world of business. Rather, an MBA provides exposure to the diverse concepts which are most useful to a person who is interested in succeeding in business within an easy to learn two-year bundle. Despite all the drinking and socializing, a MBA can be a lot of work. If you work through all the concepts referenced, it should take you quite awhile (probably 2,000+ hours). You're also going to have to get really good at Excel.

Let's get started.

==Master of Business Administration Core Course Overview==

Some MBA programs have a core course requirements in the fields listed below. For example core MBA program requirements, please refer to the core requirements of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INSEAD INSEAD],
[[http://mba.sciences-po.fr/us/deroulement.htm Sciences-Po]],
[http://www.hbs.edu/mba/academics/required.html Harvard Business School], [http://mba.wharton.upenn.edu/mba/academics/curriculum/core.php Wharton Business School], and [http://www2.gsb.columbia.edu/students/affairs/courseinfo/core.HTML Columbia Business School].

Most MBA programs then have additional coursework on diverse subjects as well as advanced topics in the prior subjects.

==Coursework==
===Basic Probability and Statistics===

The grounding for many futher concepts in business, as in other applied disciplines, is a thorough understanding of [[Wikibooks:statistics|statistics]]. A good free source for understanding probability is [http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Echance/teaching_aids/books_articles/probability_book/amsbook.mac.pdf Introduction to Probability]. In particular [[Wikipedia:Regression_analysis|regression analysis]] is going to be useful. Regression is fundamental to the concept of Beta in Finance, conjoint analysis in Marketing, and the pooling of risk in operations management.

The directions on how to perform a regression analysis in Excel can be found online at [http://www2.hpu.edu/mlane/FIN640/Regression_in_Excel.htm Regression Analysis Using Microsoft Excel]. Once you have completed a few regressions in Excel, you have performed the highest level of statistical analysis which most MBA's become familiar with. Congratulations! You are ready to move on.

===Financial Accounting===

A good place to start is [[Wikibooks:Accounting|Accounting]]. While most MBA's are not a big fan of double entry book keeping, finance starts with accounting. Understanding what [[Wikibooks:depreciation|depreciation]] (the spreading of the cost of an tangible asset over time) and [[Wikibooks:Accounting/Amortization|amortization]] (the spreading of the cost of an intangible asset over time) are is going to be essential to understanding corporate finance (if only because you are going to need to reverse out the effects from GAAP Income Statements to get cash flows).

===Managerial Accounting===

[[Wikipedia:Management_accounting|Managerial Accounting]] refers to the broad application of accounting concepts to financial data with the purpose of being consumed by management. Such financial data, in contrast to [[#Financial Accounting|Financial Accounting]], does not have to comply with GAAP, the FASB, or the filing requirements of the SEC, since it is meant only for internal consumption within an organization.

The major subjects to learn include:

*[[Wikipedia:cost accounting|cost accounting]]
*[[Wikipedia:activity based costing|activity based costing]]
*[[wikipedia:project costing|project costing]]
*[[Wikipedia:budgeting|budgeting]]

===Microeconomics===
A good place to start is the Wikibooks course on [[Wikibooks:Microeconomics|Microeconomics]]. Particularly, the concept that in an industry with high competition firms make zero economic profit should be thoroughly understood; that fact of life is the foundation of much of cooperate strategy, and the root to how to make excess profits (that is, profits greater than your [[Wikipedia:Cost of Capital|Cost of Capital]]).

===Macroeconomics===
Read the Wikibook on [[Wikibooks:Macroeconomics|Macroeconomics]]. In particular, the working of currencys, current account deficits, and the relationship between economic performance, monetary policy, and interest rates will be useful for finance and (ultimately) [[#Capital Markets|Capital Markets]].

===Decision Models===

Decision models are part of the core curriculum of many business schools. The reason why is probably because "average" performance of a firm is distinct from the implied performance of the averages, if the components which combine to create that average performance have differing distributions or deviations.

Decision models will typically cover the following concepts and software packages:
*[[Wikipedia:decision tree|decision trees]]
*[[Wikipedia:linear programming|linear programming]]
*[http://www.decisioneering.com/crystal_ball/index.html Crystal Ball] or [http://www.palisade.com/risk/ @Risk] simulation software. Download yourself a free trial, play with it for a month, working through the tutorials. You'll do alright.

===Corporate Finance===

[[Wikibooks:Finance|Finance]] is among the most stereotypically MBA things an MBA will learn.

If you want to understand corporate finance, learn thoroughly:
*what the implications of the [[Wikipedia:Modigliani-Miller_theorem|Modigliani-Miller theorem]]
*the [[Wikipedia:time value of money|time value of money]]
*how to calculate the [[Wikipedia:Net Present Value|NPV]] of a project
*how to calculate the [[Wikipedia:WACC|WACC]] of a project or company
*how to do a decent [[Wikipedia:Discounted Cash Flow|DCF]]

Putting it all together, you'd get something called a model. That model will tell you how much any asset that generates cash flows (such as a stock) is worth. People in business think that this might be useful to know.

===Marketing Strategy===

Key concepts to learn in [[Wikipedia:Marketing|Marketing]]:
* the 4 C's (Company, Context, Customers, Competition)
* the 4 P's (Product, Place, Price, Promotion)

===Marketing Implementation===

Key concepts to learn:
* [[Wikipedia:Customer lifetime value|Customer lifetime value]]
* [[Wikipedia:conjoint analysis|conjoint analysis]]

===Corporate Strategy===

Key concepts to learn:

* [[Wikipedia:Porter%27s_five_forces|Porters Five Forces]]
* [http://amadeus.management.mcgill.ca/~mark.mortensen/orgweb/summaries/mse/content/Porter.html Positioning]
* [[Wikipedia:Game Theory|Game Theory]]
* [http://globecareers.workopolis.com/servlet/Content/fasttrack/20051012/CABOOKS12?section=ManagingBooks Sustainable Competitive Advantage]
* [[Wikipedia:Strategy maps|Strategy Maps]]

Good thing to read when the summaries of the concepts won't do:

* [http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=9&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffaculty.washington.edu%2Fcastlej%2FENTRE475%2FArticles%2520of%2520interest%2FWhat%2520is%2520Strategy-Porter.pdf&ei=ZFdmRMWYCMHqaMvUzd4J&sig2=Cd8RuCoZbnd4QDmLvILozA Porter, What is Strategy?]

===Organizational Behavior and Structure===
Organizational behavior classes cover concepts such as:
*[[Wikipedia:Taylorism|Taylorism]]
*[[Wikipedia:Hawthorne Effect|The Hawthorne Effect]]
*[[Wikipedia:Social network|Social Networks]]
*[[Wikipedia:Organizational Behavior|Organizational Behavior]]

===Leadership===
Leadership classes might cover:
*the ideas of [[Wikipedia:Robert Cialdini|Robert Cialdini]]
*the results of your [[Wikipedia:MBTI|Myers-Briggs test]]

Generally, understanding yourself and influencing other people is the focus of a leadership class. A fair bit of [[#Negotiations|Negotiations]] content might be thrown in as well.

===Operations Management===

Operations classes typically cover:

* [[Wikipedia:Supply Chain management|Supply chain management]], in particular the [[Wikipedia:Newsvendor|Newsvendor]] model
* [[Wikipedia:Six Sigma|Six Sigma]] and other quality management concepts
* Risk pooling-that is, the managerial signifance of the fact that when you combine two processes the deviation increases by the square of the summation (because variances are additive, standard deviations are not). Risk pooling is often the root cause of [[Wikipedia:economies of scale|economies of scale]].
* [[Wikipedia:Queueing theory|Queueing theory]] which is helpful is you want to optimize business processes.

===Negotiations===

[[Wikipedia:Negotiations|Negotiating]] is important for business at many levels. [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140157352/sr=8-1/qid=1147551981/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-9077880-7298216?%5Fencoding=UTF8 Getting to Yes] seems to be the core text to understand how to sucessfully achieve good outcomes from negotiations. A good summary of Getting to Yes can be found many places online (such as: [http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/example/fish7513.htm Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In]). Read that and you're all set.

===Ethics===

Probably read up on [[Wikipedia:Sarbanes Oxley|Sarbanes Oxley]]. Also, reading [http://www.peace.ca/kindergarten.htm these important tips] would probably be useful.

==Additional Coursework==

===Capital Markets===
The two central concepts in capital markets are:
*[[Wikipedia:Arbitrage|Arbitrage]]
*[[Wikipedia:Risk Premium|Risk Premium]]

With those concepts, (and the ideas learned in [[#Corporate Finance|finance]]), you can price:
*[[Wikipedia:Fixed Income|Fixed Income]]
*[[Wikipedia:Swap|Swaps]]
*[[Wikipedia:Forward price|Forward Rates]]

==Further Reading==

[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591840570/qid=1147720345/sr=2-3/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_3/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Competition Demystified] by Bruce Greenwald

[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0425098478/qid=1147720399/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 The One Minute Manager] by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson

[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0142000280/qid=1147720483/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Getting Things Done] by David Allen

[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0471733067/qid=1147720524/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 The Little Book that Beats the Street] by Joel Greenblatt

==About the Contributors==

One of the first contributors to this curriculum overview was John O'Brien. John received his MBA from Columbia Business School in 2005. He can be contacted online at [http://www.pulplit.net/contact-us/ pulplit.net].

Master of Business Administration

2006-08-27T18:17:10Z

70.110.135.192: /* Further Reading */

==Introduction==
This document will attempt to link and organize the information found here on WikiMedia and elsewhere on the internet to provide a comprehensive business education such as one provided by the top business schools in the world.

A Master in Business Administration (MBA) is unlike many other academic programs. While most Master programs provide a further specialization within a particular school or discipline (such as law), an MBA is typically quite inter-disciplinary, drawing from the fields of psychology, sociology, economics and finance.

As such, most of the material found within an MBA program is not unique to the world of business. Rather, an MBA provides exposure to the diverse concepts which are most useful to a person who is interested in succeeding in business within an easy to learn two-year bundle. Despite all the drinking and socializing, a MBA can be a lot of work. If you work through all the concepts referenced, it should take you quite awhile (probably 2,000+ hours). You're also going to have to get really good at Excel.

Let's get started.

==Master of Business Administration Core Course Overview==

Some MBA programs have a core course requirements in the fields listed below. For example core MBA program requirements, please refer to the core requirements of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INSEAD INSEAD],
[[http://mba.sciences-po.fr/us/deroulement.htm Sciences-Po]],
[http://www.hbs.edu/mba/academics/required.html Harvard Business School], [http://mba.wharton.upenn.edu/mba/academics/curriculum/core.php Wharton Business School], and [http://www2.gsb.columbia.edu/students/affairs/courseinfo/core.HTML Columbia Business School].

Most MBA programs then have additional coursework on diverse subjects as well as advanced topics in the prior subjects.

==Coursework==
===Basic Probability and Statistics===

The grounding for many futher concepts in business, as in other applied disciplines, is a thorough understanding of [[Wikibooks:statistics|statistics]]. A good free source for understanding probability is [http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Echance/teaching_aids/books_articles/probability_book/amsbook.mac.pdf Introduction to Probability]. In particular [[Wikipedia:Regression_analysis|regression analysis]] is going to be useful. Regression is fundamental to the concept of Beta in Finance, conjoint analysis in Marketing, and the pooling of risk in operations management.

The directions on how to perform a regression analysis in Excel can be found online at [http://www2.hpu.edu/mlane/FIN640/Regression_in_Excel.htm Regression Analysis Using Microsoft Excel]. Once you have completed a few regressions in Excel, you have performed the highest level of statistical analysis which most MBA's become familiar with. Congratulations! You are ready to move on.

===Financial Accounting===

A good place to start is [[Wikibooks:Accounting|Accounting]]. While most MBA's are not a big fan of double entry book keeping, finance starts with accounting. Understanding what [[Wikibooks:depreciation|depreciation]] (the spreading of the cost of an tangible asset over time) and [[Wikibooks:Accounting/Amortization|amortization]] (the spreading of the cost of an intangible asset over time) are is going to be essential to understanding corporate finance (if only because you are going to need to reverse out the effects from GAAP Income Statements to get cash flows).

===Managerial Accounting===

[[Wikipedia:Management_accounting|Managerial Accounting]] refers to the broad application of accounting concepts to financial data with the purpose of being consumed by management. Such financial data, in contrast to [[#Financial Accounting|Financial Accounting]], does not have to comply with GAAP, the FASB, or the filing requirements of the SEC, since it is meant only for internal consumption within an organization.

The major subjects to learn include:

*[[Wikipedia:cost accounting|cost accounting]]
*[[Wikipedia:activity based costing|activity based costing]]
*[[wikipedia:project costing|project costing]]
*[[Wikipedia:budgeting|budgeting]]

===Microeconomics===
A good place to start is the Wikibooks course on [[Wikibooks:Microeconomics|Microeconomics]]. Particularly, the concept that in an industry with high competition firms make zero economic profit should be thoroughly understood; that fact of life is the foundation of much of cooperate strategy, and the root to how to make excess profits (that is, profits greater than your [[Wikipedia:Cost of Capital|Cost of Capital]]).

===Macroeconomics===
Read the Wikibook on [[Wikibooks:Macroeconomics|Macroeconomics]]. In particular, the working of currencys, current account deficits, and the relationship between economic performance, monetary policy, and interest rates will be useful for finance and (ultimately) [[#Capital Markets|Capital Markets]].

===Decision Models===

Decision models are part of the core curriculum of many business schools. The reason why is probably because "average" performance of a firm is distinct from the implied performance of the averages, if the components which combine to create that average performance have differing distributions or deviations.

Decision models will typically cover the following concepts and software packages:
*[[Wikipedia:decision tree|decision trees]]
*[[Wikipedia:linear programming|linear programming]]
*[http://www.decisioneering.com/crystal_ball/index.html Crystal Ball] or [http://www.palisade.com/risk/ @Risk] simulation software. Download yourself a free trial, play with it for a month, working through the tutorials. You'll do alright.

===Corporate Finance===

[[Wikibooks:Finance|Finance]] is among the most stereotypically MBA things an MBA will learn.

If you want to understand corporate finance, learn thoroughly:
*what the implications of the [[Wikipedia:Modigliani-Miller_theorem|Modigliani-Miller theorem]]
*the [[Wikipedia:time value of money|time value of money]]
*how to calculate the [[Wikipedia:Net Present Value|NPV]] of a project
*how to calculate the [[Wikipedia:WACC|WACC]] of a project or company
*how to do a decent [[Wikipedia:Discounted Cash Flow|DCF]]

Putting it all together, you'd get something called a model. That model will tell you how much any asset that generates cash flows (such as a stock) is worth. People in business think that this might be useful to know.

===Marketing Strategy===

Key concepts to learn in [[Wikipedia:Marketing|Marketing]]:
* the 4 C's (Company, Context, Customers, Competition)
* the 4 P's (Product, Place, Price, Promotion)

===Marketing Implementation===

Key concepts to learn:
* [[Wikipedia:Customer lifetime value|Customer lifetime value]]
* [[Wikipedia:conjoint analysis|conjoint analysis]]

===Corporate Strategy===

Key concepts to learn:

* [[Wikipedia:Porter%27s_five_forces|Porters Five Forces]]
* [http://amadeus.management.mcgill.ca/~mark.mortensen/orgweb/summaries/mse/content/Porter.html Positioning]
* [[Wikipedia:Game Theory|Game Theory]]
* [http://globecareers.workopolis.com/servlet/Content/fasttrack/20051012/CABOOKS12?section=ManagingBooks Sustainable Competitive Advantage]

Good thing to read when the summaries of the concepts won't do:

* [http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=9&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffaculty.washington.edu%2Fcastlej%2FENTRE475%2FArticles%2520of%2520interest%2FWhat%2520is%2520Strategy-Porter.pdf&ei=ZFdmRMWYCMHqaMvUzd4J&sig2=Cd8RuCoZbnd4QDmLvILozA Porter, What is Strategy?]

===Organizational Behavior and Structure===
Organizational behavior classes cover concepts such as:
*[[Wikipedia:Taylorism|Taylorism]]
*[[Wikipedia:Hawthorne Effect|The Hawthorne Effect]]
*[[Wikipedia:Social network|Social Networks]]
*[[Wikipedia:Organizational Behavior|Organizational Behavior]]

===Leadership===
Leadership classes might cover:
*the ideas of [[Wikipedia:Robert Cialdini|Robert Cialdini]]
*the results of your [[Wikipedia:MBTI|Myers-Briggs test]]

Generally, understanding yourself and influencing other people is the focus of a leadership class. A fair bit of [[#Negotiations|Negotiations]] content might be thrown in as well.

===Operations Management===

Operations classes typically cover:

* [[Wikipedia:Supply Chain management|Supply chain management]], in particular the [[Wikipedia:Newsvendor|Newsvendor]] model
* [[Wikipedia:Six Sigma|Six Sigma]] and other quality management concepts
* Risk pooling-that is, the managerial signifance of the fact that when you combine two processes the deviation increases by the square of the summation (because variances are additive, standard deviations are not). Risk pooling is often the root cause of [[Wikipedia:economies of scale|economies of scale]].
* [[Wikipedia:Queueing theory|Queueing theory]] which is helpful is you want to optimize business processes.

===Negotiations===

[[Wikipedia:Negotiations|Negotiating]] is important for business at many levels. [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140157352/sr=8-1/qid=1147551981/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-9077880-7298216?%5Fencoding=UTF8 Getting to Yes] seems to be the core text to understand how to sucessfully achieve good outcomes from negotiations. A good summary of Getting to Yes can be found many places online (such as: [http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/example/fish7513.htm Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In]). Read that and you're all set.

===Ethics===

Probably read up on [[Wikipedia:Sarbanes Oxley|Sarbanes Oxley]]. Also, reading [http://www.peace.ca/kindergarten.htm these important tips] would probably be useful.

==Additional Coursework==

===Capital Markets===
The two central concepts in capital markets are:
*[[Wikipedia:Arbitrage|Arbitrage]]
*[[Wikipedia:Risk Premium|Risk Premium]]

With those concepts, (and the ideas learned in [[#Corporate Finance|finance]]), you can price:
*[[Wikipedia:Fixed Income|Fixed Income]]
*[[Wikipedia:Swap|Swaps]]
*[[Wikipedia:Forward price|Forward Rates]]

==Further Reading==

[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591840570/qid=1147720345/sr=2-3/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_3/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Competition Demystified] by Bruce Greenwald

[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0425098478/qid=1147720399/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 The One Minute Manager] by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson

[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0142000280/qid=1147720483/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Getting Things Done] by David Allen

[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0471733067/qid=1147720524/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 The Little Book that Beats the Street] by Joel Greenblatt

==About the Contributors==

One of the first contributors to this curriculum overview was John O'Brien. John received his MBA from Columbia Business School in 2005. He can be contacted online at [http://www.pulplit.net/contact-us/ pulplit.net].

Master of Business Administration

2006-08-27T18:13:22Z

70.110.135.192: /* Ethics */

==Introduction==
This document will attempt to link and organize the information found here on WikiMedia and elsewhere on the internet to provide a comprehensive business education such as one provided by the top business schools in the world.

A Master in Business Administration (MBA) is unlike many other academic programs. While most Master programs provide a further specialization within a particular school or discipline (such as law), an MBA is typically quite inter-disciplinary, drawing from the fields of psychology, sociology, economics and finance.

As such, most of the material found within an MBA program is not unique to the world of business. Rather, an MBA provides exposure to the diverse concepts which are most useful to a person who is interested in succeeding in business within an easy to learn two-year bundle. Despite all the drinking and socializing, a MBA can be a lot of work. If you work through all the concepts referenced, it should take you quite awhile (probably 2,000+ hours). You're also going to have to get really good at Excel.

Let's get started.

==Master of Business Administration Core Course Overview==

Some MBA programs have a core course requirements in the fields listed below. For example core MBA program requirements, please refer to the core requirements of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INSEAD INSEAD],
[[http://mba.sciences-po.fr/us/deroulement.htm Sciences-Po]],
[http://www.hbs.edu/mba/academics/required.html Harvard Business School], [http://mba.wharton.upenn.edu/mba/academics/curriculum/core.php Wharton Business School], and [http://www2.gsb.columbia.edu/students/affairs/courseinfo/core.HTML Columbia Business School].

Most MBA programs then have additional coursework on diverse subjects as well as advanced topics in the prior subjects.

==Coursework==
===Basic Probability and Statistics===

The grounding for many futher concepts in business, as in other applied disciplines, is a thorough understanding of [[Wikibooks:statistics|statistics]]. A good free source for understanding probability is [http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Echance/teaching_aids/books_articles/probability_book/amsbook.mac.pdf Introduction to Probability]. In particular [[Wikipedia:Regression_analysis|regression analysis]] is going to be useful. Regression is fundamental to the concept of Beta in Finance, conjoint analysis in Marketing, and the pooling of risk in operations management.

The directions on how to perform a regression analysis in Excel can be found online at [http://www2.hpu.edu/mlane/FIN640/Regression_in_Excel.htm Regression Analysis Using Microsoft Excel]. Once you have completed a few regressions in Excel, you have performed the highest level of statistical analysis which most MBA's become familiar with. Congratulations! You are ready to move on.

===Financial Accounting===

A good place to start is [[Wikibooks:Accounting|Accounting]]. While most MBA's are not a big fan of double entry book keeping, finance starts with accounting. Understanding what [[Wikibooks:depreciation|depreciation]] (the spreading of the cost of an tangible asset over time) and [[Wikibooks:Accounting/Amortization|amortization]] (the spreading of the cost of an intangible asset over time) are is going to be essential to understanding corporate finance (if only because you are going to need to reverse out the effects from GAAP Income Statements to get cash flows).

===Managerial Accounting===

[[Wikipedia:Management_accounting|Managerial Accounting]] refers to the broad application of accounting concepts to financial data with the purpose of being consumed by management. Such financial data, in contrast to [[#Financial Accounting|Financial Accounting]], does not have to comply with GAAP, the FASB, or the filing requirements of the SEC, since it is meant only for internal consumption within an organization.

The major subjects to learn include:

*[[Wikipedia:cost accounting|cost accounting]]
*[[Wikipedia:activity based costing|activity based costing]]
*[[wikipedia:project costing|project costing]]
*[[Wikipedia:budgeting|budgeting]]

===Microeconomics===
A good place to start is the Wikibooks course on [[Wikibooks:Microeconomics|Microeconomics]]. Particularly, the concept that in an industry with high competition firms make zero economic profit should be thoroughly understood; that fact of life is the foundation of much of cooperate strategy, and the root to how to make excess profits (that is, profits greater than your [[Wikipedia:Cost of Capital|Cost of Capital]]).

===Macroeconomics===
Read the Wikibook on [[Wikibooks:Macroeconomics|Macroeconomics]]. In particular, the working of currencys, current account deficits, and the relationship between economic performance, monetary policy, and interest rates will be useful for finance and (ultimately) [[#Capital Markets|Capital Markets]].

===Decision Models===

Decision models are part of the core curriculum of many business schools. The reason why is probably because "average" performance of a firm is distinct from the implied performance of the averages, if the components which combine to create that average performance have differing distributions or deviations.

Decision models will typically cover the following concepts and software packages:
*[[Wikipedia:decision tree|decision trees]]
*[[Wikipedia:linear programming|linear programming]]
*[http://www.decisioneering.com/crystal_ball/index.html Crystal Ball] or [http://www.palisade.com/risk/ @Risk] simulation software. Download yourself a free trial, play with it for a month, working through the tutorials. You'll do alright.

===Corporate Finance===

[[Wikibooks:Finance|Finance]] is among the most stereotypically MBA things an MBA will learn.

If you want to understand corporate finance, learn thoroughly:
*what the implications of the [[Wikipedia:Modigliani-Miller_theorem|Modigliani-Miller theorem]]
*the [[Wikipedia:time value of money|time value of money]]
*how to calculate the [[Wikipedia:Net Present Value|NPV]] of a project
*how to calculate the [[Wikipedia:WACC|WACC]] of a project or company
*how to do a decent [[Wikipedia:Discounted Cash Flow|DCF]]

Putting it all together, you'd get something called a model. That model will tell you how much any asset that generates cash flows (such as a stock) is worth. People in business think that this might be useful to know.

===Marketing Strategy===

Key concepts to learn in [[Wikipedia:Marketing|Marketing]]:
* the 4 C's (Company, Context, Customers, Competition)
* the 4 P's (Product, Place, Price, Promotion)

===Marketing Implementation===

Key concepts to learn:
* [[Wikipedia:Customer lifetime value|Customer lifetime value]]
* [[Wikipedia:conjoint analysis|conjoint analysis]]

===Corporate Strategy===

Key concepts to learn:

* [[Wikipedia:Porter%27s_five_forces|Porters Five Forces]]
* [http://amadeus.management.mcgill.ca/~mark.mortensen/orgweb/summaries/mse/content/Porter.html Positioning]
* [[Wikipedia:Game Theory|Game Theory]]
* [http://globecareers.workopolis.com/servlet/Content/fasttrack/20051012/CABOOKS12?section=ManagingBooks Sustainable Competitive Advantage]

Good thing to read when the summaries of the concepts won't do:

* [http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=9&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffaculty.washington.edu%2Fcastlej%2FENTRE475%2FArticles%2520of%2520interest%2FWhat%2520is%2520Strategy-Porter.pdf&ei=ZFdmRMWYCMHqaMvUzd4J&sig2=Cd8RuCoZbnd4QDmLvILozA Porter, What is Strategy?]

===Organizational Behavior and Structure===
Organizational behavior classes cover concepts such as:
*[[Wikipedia:Taylorism|Taylorism]]
*[[Wikipedia:Hawthorne Effect|The Hawthorne Effect]]
*[[Wikipedia:Social network|Social Networks]]
*[[Wikipedia:Organizational Behavior|Organizational Behavior]]

===Leadership===
Leadership classes might cover:
*the ideas of [[Wikipedia:Robert Cialdini|Robert Cialdini]]
*the results of your [[Wikipedia:MBTI|Myers-Briggs test]]

Generally, understanding yourself and influencing other people is the focus of a leadership class. A fair bit of [[#Negotiations|Negotiations]] content might be thrown in as well.

===Operations Management===

Operations classes typically cover:

* [[Wikipedia:Supply Chain management|Supply chain management]], in particular the [[Wikipedia:Newsvendor|Newsvendor]] model
* [[Wikipedia:Six Sigma|Six Sigma]] and other quality management concepts
* Risk pooling-that is, the managerial signifance of the fact that when you combine two processes the deviation increases by the square of the summation (because variances are additive, standard deviations are not). Risk pooling is often the root cause of [[Wikipedia:economies of scale|economies of scale]].
* [[Wikipedia:Queueing theory|Queueing theory]] which is helpful is you want to optimize business processes.

===Negotiations===

[[Wikipedia:Negotiations|Negotiating]] is important for business at many levels. [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140157352/sr=8-1/qid=1147551981/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-9077880-7298216?%5Fencoding=UTF8 Getting to Yes] seems to be the core text to understand how to sucessfully achieve good outcomes from negotiations. A good summary of Getting to Yes can be found many places online (such as: [http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/example/fish7513.htm Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In]). Read that and you're all set.

===Ethics===

Probably read up on [[Wikipedia:Sarbanes Oxley|Sarbanes Oxley]]. Also, reading [http://www.peace.ca/kindergarten.htm these important tips] would probably be useful.

==Additional Coursework==

===Capital Markets===
The two central concepts in capital markets are:
*[[Wikipedia:Arbitrage|Arbitrage]]
*[[Wikipedia:Risk Premium|Risk Premium]]

With those concepts, (and the ideas learned in [[#Corporate Finance|finance]]), you can price:
*[[Wikipedia:Fixed Income|Fixed Income]]
*[[Wikipedia:Swap|Swaps]]
*[[Wikipedia:Forward price|Forward Rates]]

==Further Reading==

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591840570/qid=1147720345/sr=2-3/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_3/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Competition Demystified]] by Bruce Greenwald

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0425098478/qid=1147720399/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 The One Minute Manager]] by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0142000280/qid=1147720483/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Getting Things Done]] by David Allen

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0471733067/qid=1147720524/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 The Little Book that Beats the Street]] by Joel Greenblatt

==About the Contributors==

One of the first contributors to this curriculum overview was John O'Brien. John received his MBA from Columbia Business School in 2005. He can be contacted online at [http://www.pulplit.net/contact-us/ pulplit.net].

Master of Business Administration

2006-08-27T18:12:57Z

70.110.135.192: /* Negotiations */

==Introduction==
This document will attempt to link and organize the information found here on WikiMedia and elsewhere on the internet to provide a comprehensive business education such as one provided by the top business schools in the world.

A Master in Business Administration (MBA) is unlike many other academic programs. While most Master programs provide a further specialization within a particular school or discipline (such as law), an MBA is typically quite inter-disciplinary, drawing from the fields of psychology, sociology, economics and finance.

As such, most of the material found within an MBA program is not unique to the world of business. Rather, an MBA provides exposure to the diverse concepts which are most useful to a person who is interested in succeeding in business within an easy to learn two-year bundle. Despite all the drinking and socializing, a MBA can be a lot of work. If you work through all the concepts referenced, it should take you quite awhile (probably 2,000+ hours). You're also going to have to get really good at Excel.

Let's get started.

==Master of Business Administration Core Course Overview==

Some MBA programs have a core course requirements in the fields listed below. For example core MBA program requirements, please refer to the core requirements of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INSEAD INSEAD],
[[http://mba.sciences-po.fr/us/deroulement.htm Sciences-Po]],
[http://www.hbs.edu/mba/academics/required.html Harvard Business School], [http://mba.wharton.upenn.edu/mba/academics/curriculum/core.php Wharton Business School], and [http://www2.gsb.columbia.edu/students/affairs/courseinfo/core.HTML Columbia Business School].

Most MBA programs then have additional coursework on diverse subjects as well as advanced topics in the prior subjects.

==Coursework==
===Basic Probability and Statistics===

The grounding for many futher concepts in business, as in other applied disciplines, is a thorough understanding of [[Wikibooks:statistics|statistics]]. A good free source for understanding probability is [http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Echance/teaching_aids/books_articles/probability_book/amsbook.mac.pdf Introduction to Probability]. In particular [[Wikipedia:Regression_analysis|regression analysis]] is going to be useful. Regression is fundamental to the concept of Beta in Finance, conjoint analysis in Marketing, and the pooling of risk in operations management.

The directions on how to perform a regression analysis in Excel can be found online at [http://www2.hpu.edu/mlane/FIN640/Regression_in_Excel.htm Regression Analysis Using Microsoft Excel]. Once you have completed a few regressions in Excel, you have performed the highest level of statistical analysis which most MBA's become familiar with. Congratulations! You are ready to move on.

===Financial Accounting===

A good place to start is [[Wikibooks:Accounting|Accounting]]. While most MBA's are not a big fan of double entry book keeping, finance starts with accounting. Understanding what [[Wikibooks:depreciation|depreciation]] (the spreading of the cost of an tangible asset over time) and [[Wikibooks:Accounting/Amortization|amortization]] (the spreading of the cost of an intangible asset over time) are is going to be essential to understanding corporate finance (if only because you are going to need to reverse out the effects from GAAP Income Statements to get cash flows).

===Managerial Accounting===

[[Wikipedia:Management_accounting|Managerial Accounting]] refers to the broad application of accounting concepts to financial data with the purpose of being consumed by management. Such financial data, in contrast to [[#Financial Accounting|Financial Accounting]], does not have to comply with GAAP, the FASB, or the filing requirements of the SEC, since it is meant only for internal consumption within an organization.

The major subjects to learn include:

*[[Wikipedia:cost accounting|cost accounting]]
*[[Wikipedia:activity based costing|activity based costing]]
*[[wikipedia:project costing|project costing]]
*[[Wikipedia:budgeting|budgeting]]

===Microeconomics===
A good place to start is the Wikibooks course on [[Wikibooks:Microeconomics|Microeconomics]]. Particularly, the concept that in an industry with high competition firms make zero economic profit should be thoroughly understood; that fact of life is the foundation of much of cooperate strategy, and the root to how to make excess profits (that is, profits greater than your [[Wikipedia:Cost of Capital|Cost of Capital]]).

===Macroeconomics===
Read the Wikibook on [[Wikibooks:Macroeconomics|Macroeconomics]]. In particular, the working of currencys, current account deficits, and the relationship between economic performance, monetary policy, and interest rates will be useful for finance and (ultimately) [[#Capital Markets|Capital Markets]].

===Decision Models===

Decision models are part of the core curriculum of many business schools. The reason why is probably because "average" performance of a firm is distinct from the implied performance of the averages, if the components which combine to create that average performance have differing distributions or deviations.

Decision models will typically cover the following concepts and software packages:
*[[Wikipedia:decision tree|decision trees]]
*[[Wikipedia:linear programming|linear programming]]
*[http://www.decisioneering.com/crystal_ball/index.html Crystal Ball] or [http://www.palisade.com/risk/ @Risk] simulation software. Download yourself a free trial, play with it for a month, working through the tutorials. You'll do alright.

===Corporate Finance===

[[Wikibooks:Finance|Finance]] is among the most stereotypically MBA things an MBA will learn.

If you want to understand corporate finance, learn thoroughly:
*what the implications of the [[Wikipedia:Modigliani-Miller_theorem|Modigliani-Miller theorem]]
*the [[Wikipedia:time value of money|time value of money]]
*how to calculate the [[Wikipedia:Net Present Value|NPV]] of a project
*how to calculate the [[Wikipedia:WACC|WACC]] of a project or company
*how to do a decent [[Wikipedia:Discounted Cash Flow|DCF]]

Putting it all together, you'd get something called a model. That model will tell you how much any asset that generates cash flows (such as a stock) is worth. People in business think that this might be useful to know.

===Marketing Strategy===

Key concepts to learn in [[Wikipedia:Marketing|Marketing]]:
* the 4 C's (Company, Context, Customers, Competition)
* the 4 P's (Product, Place, Price, Promotion)

===Marketing Implementation===

Key concepts to learn:
* [[Wikipedia:Customer lifetime value|Customer lifetime value]]
* [[Wikipedia:conjoint analysis|conjoint analysis]]

===Corporate Strategy===

Key concepts to learn:

* [[Wikipedia:Porter%27s_five_forces|Porters Five Forces]]
* [http://amadeus.management.mcgill.ca/~mark.mortensen/orgweb/summaries/mse/content/Porter.html Positioning]
* [[Wikipedia:Game Theory|Game Theory]]
* [http://globecareers.workopolis.com/servlet/Content/fasttrack/20051012/CABOOKS12?section=ManagingBooks Sustainable Competitive Advantage]

Good thing to read when the summaries of the concepts won't do:

* [http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=9&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffaculty.washington.edu%2Fcastlej%2FENTRE475%2FArticles%2520of%2520interest%2FWhat%2520is%2520Strategy-Porter.pdf&ei=ZFdmRMWYCMHqaMvUzd4J&sig2=Cd8RuCoZbnd4QDmLvILozA Porter, What is Strategy?]

===Organizational Behavior and Structure===
Organizational behavior classes cover concepts such as:
*[[Wikipedia:Taylorism|Taylorism]]
*[[Wikipedia:Hawthorne Effect|The Hawthorne Effect]]
*[[Wikipedia:Social network|Social Networks]]
*[[Wikipedia:Organizational Behavior|Organizational Behavior]]

===Leadership===
Leadership classes might cover:
*the ideas of [[Wikipedia:Robert Cialdini|Robert Cialdini]]
*the results of your [[Wikipedia:MBTI|Myers-Briggs test]]

Generally, understanding yourself and influencing other people is the focus of a leadership class. A fair bit of [[#Negotiations|Negotiations]] content might be thrown in as well.

===Operations Management===

Operations classes typically cover:

* [[Wikipedia:Supply Chain management|Supply chain management]], in particular the [[Wikipedia:Newsvendor|Newsvendor]] model
* [[Wikipedia:Six Sigma|Six Sigma]] and other quality management concepts
* Risk pooling-that is, the managerial signifance of the fact that when you combine two processes the deviation increases by the square of the summation (because variances are additive, standard deviations are not). Risk pooling is often the root cause of [[Wikipedia:economies of scale|economies of scale]].
* [[Wikipedia:Queueing theory|Queueing theory]] which is helpful is you want to optimize business processes.

===Negotiations===

[[Wikipedia:Negotiations|Negotiating]] is important for business at many levels. [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140157352/sr=8-1/qid=1147551981/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-9077880-7298216?%5Fencoding=UTF8 Getting to Yes] seems to be the core text to understand how to sucessfully achieve good outcomes from negotiations. A good summary of Getting to Yes can be found many places online (such as: [http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/example/fish7513.htm Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In]). Read that and you're all set.

===Ethics===

Probably read up on [[Wikipedia:Sarbanes Oxley|Sarbanes Oxley]]. Also, reading [[http://www.peace.ca/kindergarten.htm these important tips]] would probably be useful.

==Additional Coursework==

===Capital Markets===
The two central concepts in capital markets are:
*[[Wikipedia:Arbitrage|Arbitrage]]
*[[Wikipedia:Risk Premium|Risk Premium]]

With those concepts, (and the ideas learned in [[#Corporate Finance|finance]]), you can price:
*[[Wikipedia:Fixed Income|Fixed Income]]
*[[Wikipedia:Swap|Swaps]]
*[[Wikipedia:Forward price|Forward Rates]]

==Further Reading==

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591840570/qid=1147720345/sr=2-3/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_3/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Competition Demystified]] by Bruce Greenwald

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0425098478/qid=1147720399/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 The One Minute Manager]] by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0142000280/qid=1147720483/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Getting Things Done]] by David Allen

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0471733067/qid=1147720524/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 The Little Book that Beats the Street]] by Joel Greenblatt

==About the Contributors==

One of the first contributors to this curriculum overview was John O'Brien. John received his MBA from Columbia Business School in 2005. He can be contacted online at [http://www.pulplit.net/contact-us/ pulplit.net].

Master of Business Administration

2006-08-27T18:11:19Z

70.110.135.192: /* Negotiations */

==Introduction==
This document will attempt to link and organize the information found here on WikiMedia and elsewhere on the internet to provide a comprehensive business education such as one provided by the top business schools in the world.

A Master in Business Administration (MBA) is unlike many other academic programs. While most Master programs provide a further specialization within a particular school or discipline (such as law), an MBA is typically quite inter-disciplinary, drawing from the fields of psychology, sociology, economics and finance.

As such, most of the material found within an MBA program is not unique to the world of business. Rather, an MBA provides exposure to the diverse concepts which are most useful to a person who is interested in succeeding in business within an easy to learn two-year bundle. Despite all the drinking and socializing, a MBA can be a lot of work. If you work through all the concepts referenced, it should take you quite awhile (probably 2,000+ hours). You're also going to have to get really good at Excel.

Let's get started.

==Master of Business Administration Core Course Overview==

Some MBA programs have a core course requirements in the fields listed below. For example core MBA program requirements, please refer to the core requirements of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INSEAD INSEAD],
[[http://mba.sciences-po.fr/us/deroulement.htm Sciences-Po]],
[http://www.hbs.edu/mba/academics/required.html Harvard Business School], [http://mba.wharton.upenn.edu/mba/academics/curriculum/core.php Wharton Business School], and [http://www2.gsb.columbia.edu/students/affairs/courseinfo/core.HTML Columbia Business School].

Most MBA programs then have additional coursework on diverse subjects as well as advanced topics in the prior subjects.

==Coursework==
===Basic Probability and Statistics===

The grounding for many futher concepts in business, as in other applied disciplines, is a thorough understanding of [[Wikibooks:statistics|statistics]]. A good free source for understanding probability is [http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Echance/teaching_aids/books_articles/probability_book/amsbook.mac.pdf Introduction to Probability]. In particular [[Wikipedia:Regression_analysis|regression analysis]] is going to be useful. Regression is fundamental to the concept of Beta in Finance, conjoint analysis in Marketing, and the pooling of risk in operations management.

The directions on how to perform a regression analysis in Excel can be found online at [http://www2.hpu.edu/mlane/FIN640/Regression_in_Excel.htm Regression Analysis Using Microsoft Excel]. Once you have completed a few regressions in Excel, you have performed the highest level of statistical analysis which most MBA's become familiar with. Congratulations! You are ready to move on.

===Financial Accounting===

A good place to start is [[Wikibooks:Accounting|Accounting]]. While most MBA's are not a big fan of double entry book keeping, finance starts with accounting. Understanding what [[Wikibooks:depreciation|depreciation]] (the spreading of the cost of an tangible asset over time) and [[Wikibooks:Accounting/Amortization|amortization]] (the spreading of the cost of an intangible asset over time) are is going to be essential to understanding corporate finance (if only because you are going to need to reverse out the effects from GAAP Income Statements to get cash flows).

===Managerial Accounting===

[[Wikipedia:Management_accounting|Managerial Accounting]] refers to the broad application of accounting concepts to financial data with the purpose of being consumed by management. Such financial data, in contrast to [[#Financial Accounting|Financial Accounting]], does not have to comply with GAAP, the FASB, or the filing requirements of the SEC, since it is meant only for internal consumption within an organization.

The major subjects to learn include:

*[[Wikipedia:cost accounting|cost accounting]]
*[[Wikipedia:activity based costing|activity based costing]]
*[[wikipedia:project costing|project costing]]
*[[Wikipedia:budgeting|budgeting]]

===Microeconomics===
A good place to start is the Wikibooks course on [[Wikibooks:Microeconomics|Microeconomics]]. Particularly, the concept that in an industry with high competition firms make zero economic profit should be thoroughly understood; that fact of life is the foundation of much of cooperate strategy, and the root to how to make excess profits (that is, profits greater than your [[Wikipedia:Cost of Capital|Cost of Capital]]).

===Macroeconomics===
Read the Wikibook on [[Wikibooks:Macroeconomics|Macroeconomics]]. In particular, the working of currencys, current account deficits, and the relationship between economic performance, monetary policy, and interest rates will be useful for finance and (ultimately) [[#Capital Markets|Capital Markets]].

===Decision Models===

Decision models are part of the core curriculum of many business schools. The reason why is probably because "average" performance of a firm is distinct from the implied performance of the averages, if the components which combine to create that average performance have differing distributions or deviations.

Decision models will typically cover the following concepts and software packages:
*[[Wikipedia:decision tree|decision trees]]
*[[Wikipedia:linear programming|linear programming]]
*[http://www.decisioneering.com/crystal_ball/index.html Crystal Ball] or [http://www.palisade.com/risk/ @Risk] simulation software. Download yourself a free trial, play with it for a month, working through the tutorials. You'll do alright.

===Corporate Finance===

[[Wikibooks:Finance|Finance]] is among the most stereotypically MBA things an MBA will learn.

If you want to understand corporate finance, learn thoroughly:
*what the implications of the [[Wikipedia:Modigliani-Miller_theorem|Modigliani-Miller theorem]]
*the [[Wikipedia:time value of money|time value of money]]
*how to calculate the [[Wikipedia:Net Present Value|NPV]] of a project
*how to calculate the [[Wikipedia:WACC|WACC]] of a project or company
*how to do a decent [[Wikipedia:Discounted Cash Flow|DCF]]

Putting it all together, you'd get something called a model. That model will tell you how much any asset that generates cash flows (such as a stock) is worth. People in business think that this might be useful to know.

===Marketing Strategy===

Key concepts to learn in [[Wikipedia:Marketing|Marketing]]:
* the 4 C's (Company, Context, Customers, Competition)
* the 4 P's (Product, Place, Price, Promotion)

===Marketing Implementation===

Key concepts to learn:
* [[Wikipedia:Customer lifetime value|Customer lifetime value]]
* [[Wikipedia:conjoint analysis|conjoint analysis]]

===Corporate Strategy===

Key concepts to learn:

* [[Wikipedia:Porter%27s_five_forces|Porters Five Forces]]
* [http://amadeus.management.mcgill.ca/~mark.mortensen/orgweb/summaries/mse/content/Porter.html Positioning]
* [[Wikipedia:Game Theory|Game Theory]]
* [http://globecareers.workopolis.com/servlet/Content/fasttrack/20051012/CABOOKS12?section=ManagingBooks Sustainable Competitive Advantage]

Good thing to read when the summaries of the concepts won't do:

* [http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=9&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffaculty.washington.edu%2Fcastlej%2FENTRE475%2FArticles%2520of%2520interest%2FWhat%2520is%2520Strategy-Porter.pdf&ei=ZFdmRMWYCMHqaMvUzd4J&sig2=Cd8RuCoZbnd4QDmLvILozA Porter, What is Strategy?]

===Organizational Behavior and Structure===
Organizational behavior classes cover concepts such as:
*[[Wikipedia:Taylorism|Taylorism]]
*[[Wikipedia:Hawthorne Effect|The Hawthorne Effect]]
*[[Wikipedia:Social network|Social Networks]]
*[[Wikipedia:Organizational Behavior|Organizational Behavior]]

===Leadership===
Leadership classes might cover:
*the ideas of [[Wikipedia:Robert Cialdini|Robert Cialdini]]
*the results of your [[Wikipedia:MBTI|Myers-Briggs test]]

Generally, understanding yourself and influencing other people is the focus of a leadership class. A fair bit of [[#Negotiations|Negotiations]] content might be thrown in as well.

===Operations Management===

Operations classes typically cover:

* [[Wikipedia:Supply Chain management|Supply chain management]], in particular the [[Wikipedia:Newsvendor|Newsvendor]] model
* [[Wikipedia:Six Sigma|Six Sigma]] and other quality management concepts
* Risk pooling-that is, the managerial signifance of the fact that when you combine two processes the deviation increases by the square of the summation (because variances are additive, standard deviations are not). Risk pooling is often the root cause of [[Wikipedia:economies of scale|economies of scale]].
* [[Wikipedia:Queueing theory|Queueing theory]] which is helpful is you want to optimize business processes.

===Negotiations===

[[Wikipedia:Negotiations|Negotiating]] is important for business at many levels. [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140157352/sr=8-1/qid=1147551981/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-9077880-7298216?%5Fencoding=UTF8 Getting to Yes] seems to be the core text to understand how to sucessfully achieve good outcomes from negotiations. A good summary of Getting to Yes can be found many places online (such as at http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/example/fish7513.htm). Read that and you're all set.

===Ethics===

Probably read up on [[Wikipedia:Sarbanes Oxley|Sarbanes Oxley]]. Also, reading [[http://www.peace.ca/kindergarten.htm these important tips]] would probably be useful.

==Additional Coursework==

===Capital Markets===
The two central concepts in capital markets are:
*[[Wikipedia:Arbitrage|Arbitrage]]
*[[Wikipedia:Risk Premium|Risk Premium]]

With those concepts, (and the ideas learned in [[#Corporate Finance|finance]]), you can price:
*[[Wikipedia:Fixed Income|Fixed Income]]
*[[Wikipedia:Swap|Swaps]]
*[[Wikipedia:Forward price|Forward Rates]]

==Further Reading==

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591840570/qid=1147720345/sr=2-3/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_3/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Competition Demystified]] by Bruce Greenwald

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0425098478/qid=1147720399/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 The One Minute Manager]] by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0142000280/qid=1147720483/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Getting Things Done]] by David Allen

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0471733067/qid=1147720524/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 The Little Book that Beats the Street]] by Joel Greenblatt

==About the Contributors==

One of the first contributors to this curriculum overview was John O'Brien. John received his MBA from Columbia Business School in 2005. He can be contacted online at [http://www.pulplit.net/contact-us/ pulplit.net].

Master of Business Administration

2006-08-27T18:06:34Z

70.110.135.192: /* Corporate Strategy */

==Introduction==
This document will attempt to link and organize the information found here on WikiMedia and elsewhere on the internet to provide a comprehensive business education such as one provided by the top business schools in the world.

A Master in Business Administration (MBA) is unlike many other academic programs. While most Master programs provide a further specialization within a particular school or discipline (such as law), an MBA is typically quite inter-disciplinary, drawing from the fields of psychology, sociology, economics and finance.

As such, most of the material found within an MBA program is not unique to the world of business. Rather, an MBA provides exposure to the diverse concepts which are most useful to a person who is interested in succeeding in business within an easy to learn two-year bundle. Despite all the drinking and socializing, a MBA can be a lot of work. If you work through all the concepts referenced, it should take you quite awhile (probably 2,000+ hours). You're also going to have to get really good at Excel.

Let's get started.

==Master of Business Administration Core Course Overview==

Some MBA programs have a core course requirements in the fields listed below. For example core MBA program requirements, please refer to the core requirements of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INSEAD INSEAD],
[[http://mba.sciences-po.fr/us/deroulement.htm Sciences-Po]],
[http://www.hbs.edu/mba/academics/required.html Harvard Business School], [http://mba.wharton.upenn.edu/mba/academics/curriculum/core.php Wharton Business School], and [http://www2.gsb.columbia.edu/students/affairs/courseinfo/core.HTML Columbia Business School].

Most MBA programs then have additional coursework on diverse subjects as well as advanced topics in the prior subjects.

==Coursework==
===Basic Probability and Statistics===

The grounding for many futher concepts in business, as in other applied disciplines, is a thorough understanding of [[Wikibooks:statistics|statistics]]. A good free source for understanding probability is [http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Echance/teaching_aids/books_articles/probability_book/amsbook.mac.pdf Introduction to Probability]. In particular [[Wikipedia:Regression_analysis|regression analysis]] is going to be useful. Regression is fundamental to the concept of Beta in Finance, conjoint analysis in Marketing, and the pooling of risk in operations management.

The directions on how to perform a regression analysis in Excel can be found online at [http://www2.hpu.edu/mlane/FIN640/Regression_in_Excel.htm Regression Analysis Using Microsoft Excel]. Once you have completed a few regressions in Excel, you have performed the highest level of statistical analysis which most MBA's become familiar with. Congratulations! You are ready to move on.

===Financial Accounting===

A good place to start is [[Wikibooks:Accounting|Accounting]]. While most MBA's are not a big fan of double entry book keeping, finance starts with accounting. Understanding what [[Wikibooks:depreciation|depreciation]] (the spreading of the cost of an tangible asset over time) and [[Wikibooks:Accounting/Amortization|amortization]] (the spreading of the cost of an intangible asset over time) are is going to be essential to understanding corporate finance (if only because you are going to need to reverse out the effects from GAAP Income Statements to get cash flows).

===Managerial Accounting===

[[Wikipedia:Management_accounting|Managerial Accounting]] refers to the broad application of accounting concepts to financial data with the purpose of being consumed by management. Such financial data, in contrast to [[#Financial Accounting|Financial Accounting]], does not have to comply with GAAP, the FASB, or the filing requirements of the SEC, since it is meant only for internal consumption within an organization.

The major subjects to learn include:

*[[Wikipedia:cost accounting|cost accounting]]
*[[Wikipedia:activity based costing|activity based costing]]
*[[wikipedia:project costing|project costing]]
*[[Wikipedia:budgeting|budgeting]]

===Microeconomics===
A good place to start is the Wikibooks course on [[Wikibooks:Microeconomics|Microeconomics]]. Particularly, the concept that in an industry with high competition firms make zero economic profit should be thoroughly understood; that fact of life is the foundation of much of cooperate strategy, and the root to how to make excess profits (that is, profits greater than your [[Wikipedia:Cost of Capital|Cost of Capital]]).

===Macroeconomics===
Read the Wikibook on [[Wikibooks:Macroeconomics|Macroeconomics]]. In particular, the working of currencys, current account deficits, and the relationship between economic performance, monetary policy, and interest rates will be useful for finance and (ultimately) [[#Capital Markets|Capital Markets]].

===Decision Models===

Decision models are part of the core curriculum of many business schools. The reason why is probably because "average" performance of a firm is distinct from the implied performance of the averages, if the components which combine to create that average performance have differing distributions or deviations.

Decision models will typically cover the following concepts and software packages:
*[[Wikipedia:decision tree|decision trees]]
*[[Wikipedia:linear programming|linear programming]]
*[http://www.decisioneering.com/crystal_ball/index.html Crystal Ball] or [http://www.palisade.com/risk/ @Risk] simulation software. Download yourself a free trial, play with it for a month, working through the tutorials. You'll do alright.

===Corporate Finance===

[[Wikibooks:Finance|Finance]] is among the most stereotypically MBA things an MBA will learn.

If you want to understand corporate finance, learn thoroughly:
*what the implications of the [[Wikipedia:Modigliani-Miller_theorem|Modigliani-Miller theorem]]
*the [[Wikipedia:time value of money|time value of money]]
*how to calculate the [[Wikipedia:Net Present Value|NPV]] of a project
*how to calculate the [[Wikipedia:WACC|WACC]] of a project or company
*how to do a decent [[Wikipedia:Discounted Cash Flow|DCF]]

Putting it all together, you'd get something called a model. That model will tell you how much any asset that generates cash flows (such as a stock) is worth. People in business think that this might be useful to know.

===Marketing Strategy===

Key concepts to learn in [[Wikipedia:Marketing|Marketing]]:
* the 4 C's (Company, Context, Customers, Competition)
* the 4 P's (Product, Place, Price, Promotion)

===Marketing Implementation===

Key concepts to learn:
* [[Wikipedia:Customer lifetime value|Customer lifetime value]]
* [[Wikipedia:conjoint analysis|conjoint analysis]]

===Corporate Strategy===

Key concepts to learn:

* [[Wikipedia:Porter%27s_five_forces|Porters Five Forces]]
* [http://amadeus.management.mcgill.ca/~mark.mortensen/orgweb/summaries/mse/content/Porter.html Positioning]
* [[Wikipedia:Game Theory|Game Theory]]
* [http://globecareers.workopolis.com/servlet/Content/fasttrack/20051012/CABOOKS12?section=ManagingBooks Sustainable Competitive Advantage]

Good thing to read when the summaries of the concepts won't do:

* [http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=9&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffaculty.washington.edu%2Fcastlej%2FENTRE475%2FArticles%2520of%2520interest%2FWhat%2520is%2520Strategy-Porter.pdf&ei=ZFdmRMWYCMHqaMvUzd4J&sig2=Cd8RuCoZbnd4QDmLvILozA Porter, What is Strategy?]

===Organizational Behavior and Structure===
Organizational behavior classes cover concepts such as:
*[[Wikipedia:Taylorism|Taylorism]]
*[[Wikipedia:Hawthorne Effect|The Hawthorne Effect]]
*[[Wikipedia:Social network|Social Networks]]
*[[Wikipedia:Organizational Behavior|Organizational Behavior]]

===Leadership===
Leadership classes might cover:
*the ideas of [[Wikipedia:Robert Cialdini|Robert Cialdini]]
*the results of your [[Wikipedia:MBTI|Myers-Briggs test]]

Generally, understanding yourself and influencing other people is the focus of a leadership class. A fair bit of [[#Negotiations|Negotiations]] content might be thrown in as well.

===Operations Management===

Operations classes typically cover:

* [[Wikipedia:Supply Chain management|Supply chain management]], in particular the [[Wikipedia:Newsvendor|Newsvendor]] model
* [[Wikipedia:Six Sigma|Six Sigma]] and other quality management concepts
* Risk pooling-that is, the managerial signifance of the fact that when you combine two processes the deviation increases by the square of the summation (because variances are additive, standard deviations are not). Risk pooling is often the root cause of [[Wikipedia:economies of scale|economies of scale]].
* [[Wikipedia:Queueing theory|Queueing theory]] which is helpful is you want to optimize business processes.

===Negotiations===

[[Wikipedia:Negotiations|Negotiating]] is important for business at many levels. [[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140157352/sr=8-1/qid=1147551981/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-9077880-7298216?%5Fencoding=UTF8 Getting to Yes]] seems to be the core text to understand how to sucessfully achieve good outcomes from negotiations. A good summary of Getting to Yes can be found many places online (such as at http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/example/fish7513.htm). Read that and you're all set.

===Ethics===

Probably read up on [[Wikipedia:Sarbanes Oxley|Sarbanes Oxley]]. Also, reading [[http://www.peace.ca/kindergarten.htm these important tips]] would probably be useful.

==Additional Coursework==

===Capital Markets===
The two central concepts in capital markets are:
*[[Wikipedia:Arbitrage|Arbitrage]]
*[[Wikipedia:Risk Premium|Risk Premium]]

With those concepts, (and the ideas learned in [[#Corporate Finance|finance]]), you can price:
*[[Wikipedia:Fixed Income|Fixed Income]]
*[[Wikipedia:Swap|Swaps]]
*[[Wikipedia:Forward price|Forward Rates]]

==Further Reading==

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591840570/qid=1147720345/sr=2-3/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_3/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Competition Demystified]] by Bruce Greenwald

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0425098478/qid=1147720399/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 The One Minute Manager]] by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0142000280/qid=1147720483/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Getting Things Done]] by David Allen

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0471733067/qid=1147720524/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 The Little Book that Beats the Street]] by Joel Greenblatt

==About the Contributors==

One of the first contributors to this curriculum overview was John O'Brien. John received his MBA from Columbia Business School in 2005. He can be contacted online at [http://www.pulplit.net/contact-us/ pulplit.net].

Master of Business Administration

2006-08-27T18:04:59Z

70.110.135.192: /* Corporate Finance */

==Introduction==
This document will attempt to link and organize the information found here on WikiMedia and elsewhere on the internet to provide a comprehensive business education such as one provided by the top business schools in the world.

A Master in Business Administration (MBA) is unlike many other academic programs. While most Master programs provide a further specialization within a particular school or discipline (such as law), an MBA is typically quite inter-disciplinary, drawing from the fields of psychology, sociology, economics and finance.

As such, most of the material found within an MBA program is not unique to the world of business. Rather, an MBA provides exposure to the diverse concepts which are most useful to a person who is interested in succeeding in business within an easy to learn two-year bundle. Despite all the drinking and socializing, a MBA can be a lot of work. If you work through all the concepts referenced, it should take you quite awhile (probably 2,000+ hours). You're also going to have to get really good at Excel.

Let's get started.

==Master of Business Administration Core Course Overview==

Some MBA programs have a core course requirements in the fields listed below. For example core MBA program requirements, please refer to the core requirements of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INSEAD INSEAD],
[[http://mba.sciences-po.fr/us/deroulement.htm Sciences-Po]],
[http://www.hbs.edu/mba/academics/required.html Harvard Business School], [http://mba.wharton.upenn.edu/mba/academics/curriculum/core.php Wharton Business School], and [http://www2.gsb.columbia.edu/students/affairs/courseinfo/core.HTML Columbia Business School].

Most MBA programs then have additional coursework on diverse subjects as well as advanced topics in the prior subjects.

==Coursework==
===Basic Probability and Statistics===

The grounding for many futher concepts in business, as in other applied disciplines, is a thorough understanding of [[Wikibooks:statistics|statistics]]. A good free source for understanding probability is [http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Echance/teaching_aids/books_articles/probability_book/amsbook.mac.pdf Introduction to Probability]. In particular [[Wikipedia:Regression_analysis|regression analysis]] is going to be useful. Regression is fundamental to the concept of Beta in Finance, conjoint analysis in Marketing, and the pooling of risk in operations management.

The directions on how to perform a regression analysis in Excel can be found online at [http://www2.hpu.edu/mlane/FIN640/Regression_in_Excel.htm Regression Analysis Using Microsoft Excel]. Once you have completed a few regressions in Excel, you have performed the highest level of statistical analysis which most MBA's become familiar with. Congratulations! You are ready to move on.

===Financial Accounting===

A good place to start is [[Wikibooks:Accounting|Accounting]]. While most MBA's are not a big fan of double entry book keeping, finance starts with accounting. Understanding what [[Wikibooks:depreciation|depreciation]] (the spreading of the cost of an tangible asset over time) and [[Wikibooks:Accounting/Amortization|amortization]] (the spreading of the cost of an intangible asset over time) are is going to be essential to understanding corporate finance (if only because you are going to need to reverse out the effects from GAAP Income Statements to get cash flows).

===Managerial Accounting===

[[Wikipedia:Management_accounting|Managerial Accounting]] refers to the broad application of accounting concepts to financial data with the purpose of being consumed by management. Such financial data, in contrast to [[#Financial Accounting|Financial Accounting]], does not have to comply with GAAP, the FASB, or the filing requirements of the SEC, since it is meant only for internal consumption within an organization.

The major subjects to learn include:

*[[Wikipedia:cost accounting|cost accounting]]
*[[Wikipedia:activity based costing|activity based costing]]
*[[wikipedia:project costing|project costing]]
*[[Wikipedia:budgeting|budgeting]]

===Microeconomics===
A good place to start is the Wikibooks course on [[Wikibooks:Microeconomics|Microeconomics]]. Particularly, the concept that in an industry with high competition firms make zero economic profit should be thoroughly understood; that fact of life is the foundation of much of cooperate strategy, and the root to how to make excess profits (that is, profits greater than your [[Wikipedia:Cost of Capital|Cost of Capital]]).

===Macroeconomics===
Read the Wikibook on [[Wikibooks:Macroeconomics|Macroeconomics]]. In particular, the working of currencys, current account deficits, and the relationship between economic performance, monetary policy, and interest rates will be useful for finance and (ultimately) [[#Capital Markets|Capital Markets]].

===Decision Models===

Decision models are part of the core curriculum of many business schools. The reason why is probably because "average" performance of a firm is distinct from the implied performance of the averages, if the components which combine to create that average performance have differing distributions or deviations.

Decision models will typically cover the following concepts and software packages:
*[[Wikipedia:decision tree|decision trees]]
*[[Wikipedia:linear programming|linear programming]]
*[http://www.decisioneering.com/crystal_ball/index.html Crystal Ball] or [http://www.palisade.com/risk/ @Risk] simulation software. Download yourself a free trial, play with it for a month, working through the tutorials. You'll do alright.

===Corporate Finance===

[[Wikibooks:Finance|Finance]] is among the most stereotypically MBA things an MBA will learn.

If you want to understand corporate finance, learn thoroughly:
*what the implications of the [[Wikipedia:Modigliani-Miller_theorem|Modigliani-Miller theorem]]
*the [[Wikipedia:time value of money|time value of money]]
*how to calculate the [[Wikipedia:Net Present Value|NPV]] of a project
*how to calculate the [[Wikipedia:WACC|WACC]] of a project or company
*how to do a decent [[Wikipedia:Discounted Cash Flow|DCF]]

Putting it all together, you'd get something called a model. That model will tell you how much any asset that generates cash flows (such as a stock) is worth. People in business think that this might be useful to know.

===Marketing Strategy===

Key concepts to learn in [[Wikipedia:Marketing|Marketing]]:
* the 4 C's (Company, Context, Customers, Competition)
* the 4 P's (Product, Place, Price, Promotion)

===Marketing Implementation===

Key concepts to learn:
* [[Wikipedia:Customer lifetime value|Customer lifetime value]]
* [[Wikipedia:conjoint analysis|conjoint analysis]]

===Corporate Strategy===

Key concepts to learn:

* [[Wikipedia:Porter%27s_five_forces|Porters Five Forces]]
* [[http://amadeus.management.mcgill.ca/~mark.mortensen/orgweb/summaries/mse/content/Porter.html Positioning]]
* [[Wikipedia:Game Theory|Game Theory]]
* [[http://globecareers.workopolis.com/servlet/Content/fasttrack/20051012/CABOOKS12?section=ManagingBooks Sustainable Competitive Advantage]]

Good thing to read when the summaries of the concepts won't do:

* [[http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=9&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffaculty.washington.edu%2Fcastlej%2FENTRE475%2FArticles%2520of%2520interest%2FWhat%2520is%2520Strategy-Porter.pdf&ei=ZFdmRMWYCMHqaMvUzd4J&sig2=Cd8RuCoZbnd4QDmLvILozA Porter, What is Strategy?]]

===Organizational Behavior and Structure===
Organizational behavior classes cover concepts such as:
*[[Wikipedia:Taylorism|Taylorism]]
*[[Wikipedia:Hawthorne Effect|The Hawthorne Effect]]
*[[Wikipedia:Social network|Social Networks]]
*[[Wikipedia:Organizational Behavior|Organizational Behavior]]

===Leadership===
Leadership classes might cover:
*the ideas of [[Wikipedia:Robert Cialdini|Robert Cialdini]]
*the results of your [[Wikipedia:MBTI|Myers-Briggs test]]

Generally, understanding yourself and influencing other people is the focus of a leadership class. A fair bit of [[#Negotiations|Negotiations]] content might be thrown in as well.

===Operations Management===

Operations classes typically cover:

* [[Wikipedia:Supply Chain management|Supply chain management]], in particular the [[Wikipedia:Newsvendor|Newsvendor]] model
* [[Wikipedia:Six Sigma|Six Sigma]] and other quality management concepts
* Risk pooling-that is, the managerial signifance of the fact that when you combine two processes the deviation increases by the square of the summation (because variances are additive, standard deviations are not). Risk pooling is often the root cause of [[Wikipedia:economies of scale|economies of scale]].
* [[Wikipedia:Queueing theory|Queueing theory]] which is helpful is you want to optimize business processes.

===Negotiations===

[[Wikipedia:Negotiations|Negotiating]] is important for business at many levels. [[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140157352/sr=8-1/qid=1147551981/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-9077880-7298216?%5Fencoding=UTF8 Getting to Yes]] seems to be the core text to understand how to sucessfully achieve good outcomes from negotiations. A good summary of Getting to Yes can be found many places online (such as at http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/example/fish7513.htm). Read that and you're all set.

===Ethics===

Probably read up on [[Wikipedia:Sarbanes Oxley|Sarbanes Oxley]]. Also, reading [[http://www.peace.ca/kindergarten.htm these important tips]] would probably be useful.

==Additional Coursework==

===Capital Markets===
The two central concepts in capital markets are:
*[[Wikipedia:Arbitrage|Arbitrage]]
*[[Wikipedia:Risk Premium|Risk Premium]]

With those concepts, (and the ideas learned in [[#Corporate Finance|finance]]), you can price:
*[[Wikipedia:Fixed Income|Fixed Income]]
*[[Wikipedia:Swap|Swaps]]
*[[Wikipedia:Forward price|Forward Rates]]

==Further Reading==

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591840570/qid=1147720345/sr=2-3/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_3/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Competition Demystified]] by Bruce Greenwald

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0425098478/qid=1147720399/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 The One Minute Manager]] by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0142000280/qid=1147720483/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Getting Things Done]] by David Allen

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0471733067/qid=1147720524/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 The Little Book that Beats the Street]] by Joel Greenblatt

==About the Contributors==

One of the first contributors to this curriculum overview was John O'Brien. John received his MBA from Columbia Business School in 2005. He can be contacted online at [http://www.pulplit.net/contact-us/ pulplit.net].

Master of Business Administration

2006-08-27T18:02:33Z

70.110.135.192: /* Decision Models */

==Introduction==
This document will attempt to link and organize the information found here on WikiMedia and elsewhere on the internet to provide a comprehensive business education such as one provided by the top business schools in the world.

A Master in Business Administration (MBA) is unlike many other academic programs. While most Master programs provide a further specialization within a particular school or discipline (such as law), an MBA is typically quite inter-disciplinary, drawing from the fields of psychology, sociology, economics and finance.

As such, most of the material found within an MBA program is not unique to the world of business. Rather, an MBA provides exposure to the diverse concepts which are most useful to a person who is interested in succeeding in business within an easy to learn two-year bundle. Despite all the drinking and socializing, a MBA can be a lot of work. If you work through all the concepts referenced, it should take you quite awhile (probably 2,000+ hours). You're also going to have to get really good at Excel.

Let's get started.

==Master of Business Administration Core Course Overview==

Some MBA programs have a core course requirements in the fields listed below. For example core MBA program requirements, please refer to the core requirements of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INSEAD INSEAD],
[[http://mba.sciences-po.fr/us/deroulement.htm Sciences-Po]],
[http://www.hbs.edu/mba/academics/required.html Harvard Business School], [http://mba.wharton.upenn.edu/mba/academics/curriculum/core.php Wharton Business School], and [http://www2.gsb.columbia.edu/students/affairs/courseinfo/core.HTML Columbia Business School].

Most MBA programs then have additional coursework on diverse subjects as well as advanced topics in the prior subjects.

==Coursework==
===Basic Probability and Statistics===

The grounding for many futher concepts in business, as in other applied disciplines, is a thorough understanding of [[Wikibooks:statistics|statistics]]. A good free source for understanding probability is [http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Echance/teaching_aids/books_articles/probability_book/amsbook.mac.pdf Introduction to Probability]. In particular [[Wikipedia:Regression_analysis|regression analysis]] is going to be useful. Regression is fundamental to the concept of Beta in Finance, conjoint analysis in Marketing, and the pooling of risk in operations management.

The directions on how to perform a regression analysis in Excel can be found online at [http://www2.hpu.edu/mlane/FIN640/Regression_in_Excel.htm Regression Analysis Using Microsoft Excel]. Once you have completed a few regressions in Excel, you have performed the highest level of statistical analysis which most MBA's become familiar with. Congratulations! You are ready to move on.

===Financial Accounting===

A good place to start is [[Wikibooks:Accounting|Accounting]]. While most MBA's are not a big fan of double entry book keeping, finance starts with accounting. Understanding what [[Wikibooks:depreciation|depreciation]] (the spreading of the cost of an tangible asset over time) and [[Wikibooks:Accounting/Amortization|amortization]] (the spreading of the cost of an intangible asset over time) are is going to be essential to understanding corporate finance (if only because you are going to need to reverse out the effects from GAAP Income Statements to get cash flows).

===Managerial Accounting===

[[Wikipedia:Management_accounting|Managerial Accounting]] refers to the broad application of accounting concepts to financial data with the purpose of being consumed by management. Such financial data, in contrast to [[#Financial Accounting|Financial Accounting]], does not have to comply with GAAP, the FASB, or the filing requirements of the SEC, since it is meant only for internal consumption within an organization.

The major subjects to learn include:

*[[Wikipedia:cost accounting|cost accounting]]
*[[Wikipedia:activity based costing|activity based costing]]
*[[wikipedia:project costing|project costing]]
*[[Wikipedia:budgeting|budgeting]]

===Microeconomics===
A good place to start is the Wikibooks course on [[Wikibooks:Microeconomics|Microeconomics]]. Particularly, the concept that in an industry with high competition firms make zero economic profit should be thoroughly understood; that fact of life is the foundation of much of cooperate strategy, and the root to how to make excess profits (that is, profits greater than your [[Wikipedia:Cost of Capital|Cost of Capital]]).

===Macroeconomics===
Read the Wikibook on [[Wikibooks:Macroeconomics|Macroeconomics]]. In particular, the working of currencys, current account deficits, and the relationship between economic performance, monetary policy, and interest rates will be useful for finance and (ultimately) [[#Capital Markets|Capital Markets]].

===Decision Models===

Decision models are part of the core curriculum of many business schools. The reason why is probably because "average" performance of a firm is distinct from the implied performance of the averages, if the components which combine to create that average performance have differing distributions or deviations.

Decision models will typically cover the following concepts and software packages:
*[[Wikipedia:decision tree|decision trees]]
*[[Wikipedia:linear programming|linear programming]]
*[http://www.decisioneering.com/crystal_ball/index.html Crystal Ball] or [http://www.palisade.com/risk/ @Risk] simulation software. Download yourself a free trial, play with it for a month, working through the tutorials. You'll do alright.

===Corporate Finance===

[[Finance]] is among the most stereotypically MBA things an MBA will learn.

If you want to understand corporate finance, learn thoroughly:
*what the implications of the [[Wikipedia:Modigliani-Miller_theorem|Modigliani-Miller theorem]]
*the [[Wikipedia:time value of money|time value of money]]
*how to calculate the [[Wikipedia:Net Present Value|NPV]] of a project
*how to calculate the [[Wikipedia:WACC|WACC]] of a project or company
*how to do a decent [[Wikipedia:Discounted Cash Flow|DCF]]

Putting it all together, you'd get something called a model. That model will tell you how much any asset that generates cash flows (such as a stock) is worth. People in business think that this might be useful to know.

===Marketing Strategy===

Key concepts to learn in [[Wikipedia:Marketing|Marketing]]:
* the 4 C's (Company, Context, Customers, Competition)
* the 4 P's (Product, Place, Price, Promotion)

===Marketing Implementation===

Key concepts to learn:
* [[Wikipedia:Customer lifetime value|Customer lifetime value]]
* [[Wikipedia:conjoint analysis|conjoint analysis]]

===Corporate Strategy===

Key concepts to learn:

* [[Wikipedia:Porter%27s_five_forces|Porters Five Forces]]
* [[http://amadeus.management.mcgill.ca/~mark.mortensen/orgweb/summaries/mse/content/Porter.html Positioning]]
* [[Wikipedia:Game Theory|Game Theory]]
* [[http://globecareers.workopolis.com/servlet/Content/fasttrack/20051012/CABOOKS12?section=ManagingBooks Sustainable Competitive Advantage]]

Good thing to read when the summaries of the concepts won't do:

* [[http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=9&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffaculty.washington.edu%2Fcastlej%2FENTRE475%2FArticles%2520of%2520interest%2FWhat%2520is%2520Strategy-Porter.pdf&ei=ZFdmRMWYCMHqaMvUzd4J&sig2=Cd8RuCoZbnd4QDmLvILozA Porter, What is Strategy?]]

===Organizational Behavior and Structure===
Organizational behavior classes cover concepts such as:
*[[Wikipedia:Taylorism|Taylorism]]
*[[Wikipedia:Hawthorne Effect|The Hawthorne Effect]]
*[[Wikipedia:Social network|Social Networks]]
*[[Wikipedia:Organizational Behavior|Organizational Behavior]]

===Leadership===
Leadership classes might cover:
*the ideas of [[Wikipedia:Robert Cialdini|Robert Cialdini]]
*the results of your [[Wikipedia:MBTI|Myers-Briggs test]]

Generally, understanding yourself and influencing other people is the focus of a leadership class. A fair bit of [[#Negotiations|Negotiations]] content might be thrown in as well.

===Operations Management===

Operations classes typically cover:

* [[Wikipedia:Supply Chain management|Supply chain management]], in particular the [[Wikipedia:Newsvendor|Newsvendor]] model
* [[Wikipedia:Six Sigma|Six Sigma]] and other quality management concepts
* Risk pooling-that is, the managerial signifance of the fact that when you combine two processes the deviation increases by the square of the summation (because variances are additive, standard deviations are not). Risk pooling is often the root cause of [[Wikipedia:economies of scale|economies of scale]].
* [[Wikipedia:Queueing theory|Queueing theory]] which is helpful is you want to optimize business processes.

===Negotiations===

[[Wikipedia:Negotiations|Negotiating]] is important for business at many levels. [[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140157352/sr=8-1/qid=1147551981/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-9077880-7298216?%5Fencoding=UTF8 Getting to Yes]] seems to be the core text to understand how to sucessfully achieve good outcomes from negotiations. A good summary of Getting to Yes can be found many places online (such as at http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/example/fish7513.htm). Read that and you're all set.

===Ethics===

Probably read up on [[Wikipedia:Sarbanes Oxley|Sarbanes Oxley]]. Also, reading [[http://www.peace.ca/kindergarten.htm these important tips]] would probably be useful.

==Additional Coursework==

===Capital Markets===
The two central concepts in capital markets are:
*[[Wikipedia:Arbitrage|Arbitrage]]
*[[Wikipedia:Risk Premium|Risk Premium]]

With those concepts, (and the ideas learned in [[#Corporate Finance|finance]]), you can price:
*[[Wikipedia:Fixed Income|Fixed Income]]
*[[Wikipedia:Swap|Swaps]]
*[[Wikipedia:Forward price|Forward Rates]]

==Further Reading==

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591840570/qid=1147720345/sr=2-3/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_3/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Competition Demystified]] by Bruce Greenwald

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0425098478/qid=1147720399/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 The One Minute Manager]] by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0142000280/qid=1147720483/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Getting Things Done]] by David Allen

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0471733067/qid=1147720524/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 The Little Book that Beats the Street]] by Joel Greenblatt

==About the Contributors==

One of the first contributors to this curriculum overview was John O'Brien. John received his MBA from Columbia Business School in 2005. He can be contacted online at [http://www.pulplit.net/contact-us/ pulplit.net].

Master of Business Administration

2006-08-27T17:59:46Z

70.110.135.192: /* Basic Probability and Statistics */

==Introduction==
This document will attempt to link and organize the information found here on WikiMedia and elsewhere on the internet to provide a comprehensive business education such as one provided by the top business schools in the world.

A Master in Business Administration (MBA) is unlike many other academic programs. While most Master programs provide a further specialization within a particular school or discipline (such as law), an MBA is typically quite inter-disciplinary, drawing from the fields of psychology, sociology, economics and finance.

As such, most of the material found within an MBA program is not unique to the world of business. Rather, an MBA provides exposure to the diverse concepts which are most useful to a person who is interested in succeeding in business within an easy to learn two-year bundle. Despite all the drinking and socializing, a MBA can be a lot of work. If you work through all the concepts referenced, it should take you quite awhile (probably 2,000+ hours). You're also going to have to get really good at Excel.

Let's get started.

==Master of Business Administration Core Course Overview==

Some MBA programs have a core course requirements in the fields listed below. For example core MBA program requirements, please refer to the core requirements of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INSEAD INSEAD],
[[http://mba.sciences-po.fr/us/deroulement.htm Sciences-Po]],
[http://www.hbs.edu/mba/academics/required.html Harvard Business School], [http://mba.wharton.upenn.edu/mba/academics/curriculum/core.php Wharton Business School], and [http://www2.gsb.columbia.edu/students/affairs/courseinfo/core.HTML Columbia Business School].

Most MBA programs then have additional coursework on diverse subjects as well as advanced topics in the prior subjects.

==Coursework==
===Basic Probability and Statistics===

The grounding for many futher concepts in business, as in other applied disciplines, is a thorough understanding of [[Wikibooks:statistics|statistics]]. A good free source for understanding probability is [http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Echance/teaching_aids/books_articles/probability_book/amsbook.mac.pdf Introduction to Probability]. In particular [[Wikipedia:Regression_analysis|regression analysis]] is going to be useful. Regression is fundamental to the concept of Beta in Finance, conjoint analysis in Marketing, and the pooling of risk in operations management.

The directions on how to perform a regression analysis in Excel can be found online at [http://www2.hpu.edu/mlane/FIN640/Regression_in_Excel.htm Regression Analysis Using Microsoft Excel]. Once you have completed a few regressions in Excel, you have performed the highest level of statistical analysis which most MBA's become familiar with. Congratulations! You are ready to move on.

===Financial Accounting===

A good place to start is [[Wikibooks:Accounting|Accounting]]. While most MBA's are not a big fan of double entry book keeping, finance starts with accounting. Understanding what [[Wikibooks:depreciation|depreciation]] (the spreading of the cost of an tangible asset over time) and [[Wikibooks:Accounting/Amortization|amortization]] (the spreading of the cost of an intangible asset over time) are is going to be essential to understanding corporate finance (if only because you are going to need to reverse out the effects from GAAP Income Statements to get cash flows).

===Managerial Accounting===

[[Wikipedia:Management_accounting|Managerial Accounting]] refers to the broad application of accounting concepts to financial data with the purpose of being consumed by management. Such financial data, in contrast to [[#Financial Accounting|Financial Accounting]], does not have to comply with GAAP, the FASB, or the filing requirements of the SEC, since it is meant only for internal consumption within an organization.

The major subjects to learn include:

*[[Wikipedia:cost accounting|cost accounting]]
*[[Wikipedia:activity based costing|activity based costing]]
*[[wikipedia:project costing|project costing]]
*[[Wikipedia:budgeting|budgeting]]

===Microeconomics===
A good place to start is the Wikibooks course on [[Wikibooks:Microeconomics|Microeconomics]]. Particularly, the concept that in an industry with high competition firms make zero economic profit should be thoroughly understood; that fact of life is the foundation of much of cooperate strategy, and the root to how to make excess profits (that is, profits greater than your [[Wikipedia:Cost of Capital|Cost of Capital]]).

===Macroeconomics===
Read the Wikibook on [[Wikibooks:Macroeconomics|Macroeconomics]]. In particular, the working of currencys, current account deficits, and the relationship between economic performance, monetary policy, and interest rates will be useful for finance and (ultimately) [[#Capital Markets|Capital Markets]].

===Decision Models===

Decision models are part of the core curriculum of many business schools. The reason why is probably because "average" performance of a firm is distinct from the implied performance of the averages, if the components which combine to create that average performance have differing distributions or deviations.

Decision models will typically cover the following concepts and software packages:
*[[Wikipedia:decision tree|decision trees]]
*[[Wikipedia:linear programming|linear programming]]
*[[http://www.decisioneering.com/crystal_ball/index.html Crystal Ball]] or [[http://www.palisade.com/risk/ @Risk]] simulation software. Download yourself a free trial, play with it for a month, working through the tutorials. You'll do alright.

===Corporate Finance===

[[Finance]] is among the most stereotypically MBA things an MBA will learn.

If you want to understand corporate finance, learn thoroughly:
*what the implications of the [[Wikipedia:Modigliani-Miller_theorem|Modigliani-Miller theorem]]
*the [[Wikipedia:time value of money|time value of money]]
*how to calculate the [[Wikipedia:Net Present Value|NPV]] of a project
*how to calculate the [[Wikipedia:WACC|WACC]] of a project or company
*how to do a decent [[Wikipedia:Discounted Cash Flow|DCF]]

Putting it all together, you'd get something called a model. That model will tell you how much any asset that generates cash flows (such as a stock) is worth. People in business think that this might be useful to know.

===Marketing Strategy===

Key concepts to learn in [[Wikipedia:Marketing|Marketing]]:
* the 4 C's (Company, Context, Customers, Competition)
* the 4 P's (Product, Place, Price, Promotion)

===Marketing Implementation===

Key concepts to learn:
* [[Wikipedia:Customer lifetime value|Customer lifetime value]]
* [[Wikipedia:conjoint analysis|conjoint analysis]]

===Corporate Strategy===

Key concepts to learn:

* [[Wikipedia:Porter%27s_five_forces|Porters Five Forces]]
* [[http://amadeus.management.mcgill.ca/~mark.mortensen/orgweb/summaries/mse/content/Porter.html Positioning]]
* [[Wikipedia:Game Theory|Game Theory]]
* [[http://globecareers.workopolis.com/servlet/Content/fasttrack/20051012/CABOOKS12?section=ManagingBooks Sustainable Competitive Advantage]]

Good thing to read when the summaries of the concepts won't do:

* [[http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=9&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffaculty.washington.edu%2Fcastlej%2FENTRE475%2FArticles%2520of%2520interest%2FWhat%2520is%2520Strategy-Porter.pdf&ei=ZFdmRMWYCMHqaMvUzd4J&sig2=Cd8RuCoZbnd4QDmLvILozA Porter, What is Strategy?]]

===Organizational Behavior and Structure===
Organizational behavior classes cover concepts such as:
*[[Wikipedia:Taylorism|Taylorism]]
*[[Wikipedia:Hawthorne Effect|The Hawthorne Effect]]
*[[Wikipedia:Social network|Social Networks]]
*[[Wikipedia:Organizational Behavior|Organizational Behavior]]

===Leadership===
Leadership classes might cover:
*the ideas of [[Wikipedia:Robert Cialdini|Robert Cialdini]]
*the results of your [[Wikipedia:MBTI|Myers-Briggs test]]

Generally, understanding yourself and influencing other people is the focus of a leadership class. A fair bit of [[#Negotiations|Negotiations]] content might be thrown in as well.

===Operations Management===

Operations classes typically cover:

* [[Wikipedia:Supply Chain management|Supply chain management]], in particular the [[Wikipedia:Newsvendor|Newsvendor]] model
* [[Wikipedia:Six Sigma|Six Sigma]] and other quality management concepts
* Risk pooling-that is, the managerial signifance of the fact that when you combine two processes the deviation increases by the square of the summation (because variances are additive, standard deviations are not). Risk pooling is often the root cause of [[Wikipedia:economies of scale|economies of scale]].
* [[Wikipedia:Queueing theory|Queueing theory]] which is helpful is you want to optimize business processes.

===Negotiations===

[[Wikipedia:Negotiations|Negotiating]] is important for business at many levels. [[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140157352/sr=8-1/qid=1147551981/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-9077880-7298216?%5Fencoding=UTF8 Getting to Yes]] seems to be the core text to understand how to sucessfully achieve good outcomes from negotiations. A good summary of Getting to Yes can be found many places online (such as at http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/example/fish7513.htm). Read that and you're all set.

===Ethics===

Probably read up on [[Wikipedia:Sarbanes Oxley|Sarbanes Oxley]]. Also, reading [[http://www.peace.ca/kindergarten.htm these important tips]] would probably be useful.

==Additional Coursework==

===Capital Markets===
The two central concepts in capital markets are:
*[[Wikipedia:Arbitrage|Arbitrage]]
*[[Wikipedia:Risk Premium|Risk Premium]]

With those concepts, (and the ideas learned in [[#Corporate Finance|finance]]), you can price:
*[[Wikipedia:Fixed Income|Fixed Income]]
*[[Wikipedia:Swap|Swaps]]
*[[Wikipedia:Forward price|Forward Rates]]

==Further Reading==

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591840570/qid=1147720345/sr=2-3/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_3/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Competition Demystified]] by Bruce Greenwald

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0425098478/qid=1147720399/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 The One Minute Manager]] by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0142000280/qid=1147720483/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Getting Things Done]] by David Allen

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0471733067/qid=1147720524/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 The Little Book that Beats the Street]] by Joel Greenblatt

==About the Contributors==

One of the first contributors to this curriculum overview was John O'Brien. John received his MBA from Columbia Business School in 2005. He can be contacted online at [http://www.pulplit.net/contact-us/ pulplit.net].

Master of Business Administration

2006-08-27T17:59:08Z

70.110.135.192: /* Financial Accounting */

==Introduction==
This document will attempt to link and organize the information found here on WikiMedia and elsewhere on the internet to provide a comprehensive business education such as one provided by the top business schools in the world.

A Master in Business Administration (MBA) is unlike many other academic programs. While most Master programs provide a further specialization within a particular school or discipline (such as law), an MBA is typically quite inter-disciplinary, drawing from the fields of psychology, sociology, economics and finance.

As such, most of the material found within an MBA program is not unique to the world of business. Rather, an MBA provides exposure to the diverse concepts which are most useful to a person who is interested in succeeding in business within an easy to learn two-year bundle. Despite all the drinking and socializing, a MBA can be a lot of work. If you work through all the concepts referenced, it should take you quite awhile (probably 2,000+ hours). You're also going to have to get really good at Excel.

Let's get started.

==Master of Business Administration Core Course Overview==

Some MBA programs have a core course requirements in the fields listed below. For example core MBA program requirements, please refer to the core requirements of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INSEAD INSEAD],
[[http://mba.sciences-po.fr/us/deroulement.htm Sciences-Po]],
[http://www.hbs.edu/mba/academics/required.html Harvard Business School], [http://mba.wharton.upenn.edu/mba/academics/curriculum/core.php Wharton Business School], and [http://www2.gsb.columbia.edu/students/affairs/courseinfo/core.HTML Columbia Business School].

Most MBA programs then have additional coursework on diverse subjects as well as advanced topics in the prior subjects.

==Coursework==
===Basic Probability and Statistics===

The grounding for many futher concepts in business, as in other applied disciplines, is a thorough understanding of [[statistics]]. A good free source for understanding probability is [http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Echance/teaching_aids/books_articles/probability_book/amsbook.mac.pdf Introduction to Probability]. In particular [[Wikipedia:Regression_analysis|regression analysis]] is going to be useful. Regression is fundamental to the concept of Beta in Finance, conjoint analysis in Marketing, and the pooling of risk in operations management.

The directions on how to perform a regression analysis in Excel can be found online at [http://www2.hpu.edu/mlane/FIN640/Regression_in_Excel.htm Regression Analysis Using Microsoft Excel]. Once you have completed a few regressions in Excel, you have performed the highest level of statistical analysis which most MBA's become familiar with. Congratulations! You are ready to move on.

===Financial Accounting===

A good place to start is [[Wikibooks:Accounting|Accounting]]. While most MBA's are not a big fan of double entry book keeping, finance starts with accounting. Understanding what [[Wikibooks:depreciation|depreciation]] (the spreading of the cost of an tangible asset over time) and [[Wikibooks:Accounting/Amortization|amortization]] (the spreading of the cost of an intangible asset over time) are is going to be essential to understanding corporate finance (if only because you are going to need to reverse out the effects from GAAP Income Statements to get cash flows).

===Managerial Accounting===

[[Wikipedia:Management_accounting|Managerial Accounting]] refers to the broad application of accounting concepts to financial data with the purpose of being consumed by management. Such financial data, in contrast to [[#Financial Accounting|Financial Accounting]], does not have to comply with GAAP, the FASB, or the filing requirements of the SEC, since it is meant only for internal consumption within an organization.

The major subjects to learn include:

*[[Wikipedia:cost accounting|cost accounting]]
*[[Wikipedia:activity based costing|activity based costing]]
*[[wikipedia:project costing|project costing]]
*[[Wikipedia:budgeting|budgeting]]

===Microeconomics===
A good place to start is the Wikibooks course on [[Wikibooks:Microeconomics|Microeconomics]]. Particularly, the concept that in an industry with high competition firms make zero economic profit should be thoroughly understood; that fact of life is the foundation of much of cooperate strategy, and the root to how to make excess profits (that is, profits greater than your [[Wikipedia:Cost of Capital|Cost of Capital]]).

===Macroeconomics===
Read the Wikibook on [[Wikibooks:Macroeconomics|Macroeconomics]]. In particular, the working of currencys, current account deficits, and the relationship between economic performance, monetary policy, and interest rates will be useful for finance and (ultimately) [[#Capital Markets|Capital Markets]].

===Decision Models===

Decision models are part of the core curriculum of many business schools. The reason why is probably because "average" performance of a firm is distinct from the implied performance of the averages, if the components which combine to create that average performance have differing distributions or deviations.

Decision models will typically cover the following concepts and software packages:
*[[Wikipedia:decision tree|decision trees]]
*[[Wikipedia:linear programming|linear programming]]
*[[http://www.decisioneering.com/crystal_ball/index.html Crystal Ball]] or [[http://www.palisade.com/risk/ @Risk]] simulation software. Download yourself a free trial, play with it for a month, working through the tutorials. You'll do alright.

===Corporate Finance===

[[Finance]] is among the most stereotypically MBA things an MBA will learn.

If you want to understand corporate finance, learn thoroughly:
*what the implications of the [[Wikipedia:Modigliani-Miller_theorem|Modigliani-Miller theorem]]
*the [[Wikipedia:time value of money|time value of money]]
*how to calculate the [[Wikipedia:Net Present Value|NPV]] of a project
*how to calculate the [[Wikipedia:WACC|WACC]] of a project or company
*how to do a decent [[Wikipedia:Discounted Cash Flow|DCF]]

Putting it all together, you'd get something called a model. That model will tell you how much any asset that generates cash flows (such as a stock) is worth. People in business think that this might be useful to know.

===Marketing Strategy===

Key concepts to learn in [[Wikipedia:Marketing|Marketing]]:
* the 4 C's (Company, Context, Customers, Competition)
* the 4 P's (Product, Place, Price, Promotion)

===Marketing Implementation===

Key concepts to learn:
* [[Wikipedia:Customer lifetime value|Customer lifetime value]]
* [[Wikipedia:conjoint analysis|conjoint analysis]]

===Corporate Strategy===

Key concepts to learn:

* [[Wikipedia:Porter%27s_five_forces|Porters Five Forces]]
* [[http://amadeus.management.mcgill.ca/~mark.mortensen/orgweb/summaries/mse/content/Porter.html Positioning]]
* [[Wikipedia:Game Theory|Game Theory]]
* [[http://globecareers.workopolis.com/servlet/Content/fasttrack/20051012/CABOOKS12?section=ManagingBooks Sustainable Competitive Advantage]]

Good thing to read when the summaries of the concepts won't do:

* [[http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=9&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffaculty.washington.edu%2Fcastlej%2FENTRE475%2FArticles%2520of%2520interest%2FWhat%2520is%2520Strategy-Porter.pdf&ei=ZFdmRMWYCMHqaMvUzd4J&sig2=Cd8RuCoZbnd4QDmLvILozA Porter, What is Strategy?]]

===Organizational Behavior and Structure===
Organizational behavior classes cover concepts such as:
*[[Wikipedia:Taylorism|Taylorism]]
*[[Wikipedia:Hawthorne Effect|The Hawthorne Effect]]
*[[Wikipedia:Social network|Social Networks]]
*[[Wikipedia:Organizational Behavior|Organizational Behavior]]

===Leadership===
Leadership classes might cover:
*the ideas of [[Wikipedia:Robert Cialdini|Robert Cialdini]]
*the results of your [[Wikipedia:MBTI|Myers-Briggs test]]

Generally, understanding yourself and influencing other people is the focus of a leadership class. A fair bit of [[#Negotiations|Negotiations]] content might be thrown in as well.

===Operations Management===

Operations classes typically cover:

* [[Wikipedia:Supply Chain management|Supply chain management]], in particular the [[Wikipedia:Newsvendor|Newsvendor]] model
* [[Wikipedia:Six Sigma|Six Sigma]] and other quality management concepts
* Risk pooling-that is, the managerial signifance of the fact that when you combine two processes the deviation increases by the square of the summation (because variances are additive, standard deviations are not). Risk pooling is often the root cause of [[Wikipedia:economies of scale|economies of scale]].
* [[Wikipedia:Queueing theory|Queueing theory]] which is helpful is you want to optimize business processes.

===Negotiations===

[[Wikipedia:Negotiations|Negotiating]] is important for business at many levels. [[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140157352/sr=8-1/qid=1147551981/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-9077880-7298216?%5Fencoding=UTF8 Getting to Yes]] seems to be the core text to understand how to sucessfully achieve good outcomes from negotiations. A good summary of Getting to Yes can be found many places online (such as at http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/example/fish7513.htm). Read that and you're all set.

===Ethics===

Probably read up on [[Wikipedia:Sarbanes Oxley|Sarbanes Oxley]]. Also, reading [[http://www.peace.ca/kindergarten.htm these important tips]] would probably be useful.

==Additional Coursework==

===Capital Markets===
The two central concepts in capital markets are:
*[[Wikipedia:Arbitrage|Arbitrage]]
*[[Wikipedia:Risk Premium|Risk Premium]]

With those concepts, (and the ideas learned in [[#Corporate Finance|finance]]), you can price:
*[[Wikipedia:Fixed Income|Fixed Income]]
*[[Wikipedia:Swap|Swaps]]
*[[Wikipedia:Forward price|Forward Rates]]

==Further Reading==

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591840570/qid=1147720345/sr=2-3/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_3/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Competition Demystified]] by Bruce Greenwald

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0425098478/qid=1147720399/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 The One Minute Manager]] by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0142000280/qid=1147720483/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Getting Things Done]] by David Allen

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0471733067/qid=1147720524/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 The Little Book that Beats the Street]] by Joel Greenblatt

==About the Contributors==

One of the first contributors to this curriculum overview was John O'Brien. John received his MBA from Columbia Business School in 2005. He can be contacted online at [http://www.pulplit.net/contact-us/ pulplit.net].

Master of Business Administration

2006-08-27T17:55:17Z

70.110.135.192: /* Basic Probability and Statistics */

==Introduction==
This document will attempt to link and organize the information found here on WikiMedia and elsewhere on the internet to provide a comprehensive business education such as one provided by the top business schools in the world.

A Master in Business Administration (MBA) is unlike many other academic programs. While most Master programs provide a further specialization within a particular school or discipline (such as law), an MBA is typically quite inter-disciplinary, drawing from the fields of psychology, sociology, economics and finance.

As such, most of the material found within an MBA program is not unique to the world of business. Rather, an MBA provides exposure to the diverse concepts which are most useful to a person who is interested in succeeding in business within an easy to learn two-year bundle. Despite all the drinking and socializing, a MBA can be a lot of work. If you work through all the concepts referenced, it should take you quite awhile (probably 2,000+ hours). You're also going to have to get really good at Excel.

Let's get started.

==Master of Business Administration Core Course Overview==

Some MBA programs have a core course requirements in the fields listed below. For example core MBA program requirements, please refer to the core requirements of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INSEAD INSEAD],
[[http://mba.sciences-po.fr/us/deroulement.htm Sciences-Po]],
[http://www.hbs.edu/mba/academics/required.html Harvard Business School], [http://mba.wharton.upenn.edu/mba/academics/curriculum/core.php Wharton Business School], and [http://www2.gsb.columbia.edu/students/affairs/courseinfo/core.HTML Columbia Business School].

Most MBA programs then have additional coursework on diverse subjects as well as advanced topics in the prior subjects.

==Coursework==
===Basic Probability and Statistics===

The grounding for many futher concepts in business, as in other applied disciplines, is a thorough understanding of [[statistics]]. A good free source for understanding probability is [http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Echance/teaching_aids/books_articles/probability_book/amsbook.mac.pdf Introduction to Probability]. In particular [[Wikipedia:Regression_analysis|regression analysis]] is going to be useful. Regression is fundamental to the concept of Beta in Finance, conjoint analysis in Marketing, and the pooling of risk in operations management.

The directions on how to perform a regression analysis in Excel can be found online at [http://www2.hpu.edu/mlane/FIN640/Regression_in_Excel.htm Regression Analysis Using Microsoft Excel]. Once you have completed a few regressions in Excel, you have performed the highest level of statistical analysis which most MBA's become familiar with. Congratulations! You are ready to move on.

===Financial Accounting===

A good place to start is [[Accounting]]. While most MBA's are not a big fan of double entry book keeping, finance starts with accounting. Understanding what [[depreciation]] (the spreading of the cost of an tangible asset over time) and [[Accounting/Amortization|amortization]] (the spreading of the cost of an intangible asset over time) are is going to be essential to understanding corporate finance (if only because you are going to need to reverse out the effects from GAAP Income Statements to get cash flows).

===Managerial Accounting===

[[Wikipedia:Management_accounting|Managerial Accounting]] refers to the broad application of accounting concepts to financial data with the purpose of being consumed by management. Such financial data, in contrast to [[#Financial Accounting|Financial Accounting]], does not have to comply with GAAP, the FASB, or the filing requirements of the SEC, since it is meant only for internal consumption within an organization.

The major subjects to learn include:

*[[Wikipedia:cost accounting|cost accounting]]
*[[Wikipedia:activity based costing|activity based costing]]
*[[wikipedia:project costing|project costing]]
*[[Wikipedia:budgeting|budgeting]]

===Microeconomics===
A good place to start is the Wikibooks course on [[Wikibooks:Microeconomics|Microeconomics]]. Particularly, the concept that in an industry with high competition firms make zero economic profit should be thoroughly understood; that fact of life is the foundation of much of cooperate strategy, and the root to how to make excess profits (that is, profits greater than your [[Wikipedia:Cost of Capital|Cost of Capital]]).

===Macroeconomics===
Read the Wikibook on [[Wikibooks:Macroeconomics|Macroeconomics]]. In particular, the working of currencys, current account deficits, and the relationship between economic performance, monetary policy, and interest rates will be useful for finance and (ultimately) [[#Capital Markets|Capital Markets]].

===Decision Models===

Decision models are part of the core curriculum of many business schools. The reason why is probably because "average" performance of a firm is distinct from the implied performance of the averages, if the components which combine to create that average performance have differing distributions or deviations.

Decision models will typically cover the following concepts and software packages:
*[[Wikipedia:decision tree|decision trees]]
*[[Wikipedia:linear programming|linear programming]]
*[[http://www.decisioneering.com/crystal_ball/index.html Crystal Ball]] or [[http://www.palisade.com/risk/ @Risk]] simulation software. Download yourself a free trial, play with it for a month, working through the tutorials. You'll do alright.

===Corporate Finance===

[[Finance]] is among the most stereotypically MBA things an MBA will learn.

If you want to understand corporate finance, learn thoroughly:
*what the implications of the [[Wikipedia:Modigliani-Miller_theorem|Modigliani-Miller theorem]]
*the [[Wikipedia:time value of money|time value of money]]
*how to calculate the [[Wikipedia:Net Present Value|NPV]] of a project
*how to calculate the [[Wikipedia:WACC|WACC]] of a project or company
*how to do a decent [[Wikipedia:Discounted Cash Flow|DCF]]

Putting it all together, you'd get something called a model. That model will tell you how much any asset that generates cash flows (such as a stock) is worth. People in business think that this might be useful to know.

===Marketing Strategy===

Key concepts to learn in [[Wikipedia:Marketing|Marketing]]:
* the 4 C's (Company, Context, Customers, Competition)
* the 4 P's (Product, Place, Price, Promotion)

===Marketing Implementation===

Key concepts to learn:
* [[Wikipedia:Customer lifetime value|Customer lifetime value]]
* [[Wikipedia:conjoint analysis|conjoint analysis]]

===Corporate Strategy===

Key concepts to learn:

* [[Wikipedia:Porter%27s_five_forces|Porters Five Forces]]
* [[http://amadeus.management.mcgill.ca/~mark.mortensen/orgweb/summaries/mse/content/Porter.html Positioning]]
* [[Wikipedia:Game Theory|Game Theory]]
* [[http://globecareers.workopolis.com/servlet/Content/fasttrack/20051012/CABOOKS12?section=ManagingBooks Sustainable Competitive Advantage]]

Good thing to read when the summaries of the concepts won't do:

* [[http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=9&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffaculty.washington.edu%2Fcastlej%2FENTRE475%2FArticles%2520of%2520interest%2FWhat%2520is%2520Strategy-Porter.pdf&ei=ZFdmRMWYCMHqaMvUzd4J&sig2=Cd8RuCoZbnd4QDmLvILozA Porter, What is Strategy?]]

===Organizational Behavior and Structure===
Organizational behavior classes cover concepts such as:
*[[Wikipedia:Taylorism|Taylorism]]
*[[Wikipedia:Hawthorne Effect|The Hawthorne Effect]]
*[[Wikipedia:Social network|Social Networks]]
*[[Wikipedia:Organizational Behavior|Organizational Behavior]]

===Leadership===
Leadership classes might cover:
*the ideas of [[Wikipedia:Robert Cialdini|Robert Cialdini]]
*the results of your [[Wikipedia:MBTI|Myers-Briggs test]]

Generally, understanding yourself and influencing other people is the focus of a leadership class. A fair bit of [[#Negotiations|Negotiations]] content might be thrown in as well.

===Operations Management===

Operations classes typically cover:

* [[Wikipedia:Supply Chain management|Supply chain management]], in particular the [[Wikipedia:Newsvendor|Newsvendor]] model
* [[Wikipedia:Six Sigma|Six Sigma]] and other quality management concepts
* Risk pooling-that is, the managerial signifance of the fact that when you combine two processes the deviation increases by the square of the summation (because variances are additive, standard deviations are not). Risk pooling is often the root cause of [[Wikipedia:economies of scale|economies of scale]].
* [[Wikipedia:Queueing theory|Queueing theory]] which is helpful is you want to optimize business processes.

===Negotiations===

[[Wikipedia:Negotiations|Negotiating]] is important for business at many levels. [[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140157352/sr=8-1/qid=1147551981/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-9077880-7298216?%5Fencoding=UTF8 Getting to Yes]] seems to be the core text to understand how to sucessfully achieve good outcomes from negotiations. A good summary of Getting to Yes can be found many places online (such as at http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/example/fish7513.htm). Read that and you're all set.

===Ethics===

Probably read up on [[Wikipedia:Sarbanes Oxley|Sarbanes Oxley]]. Also, reading [[http://www.peace.ca/kindergarten.htm these important tips]] would probably be useful.

==Additional Coursework==

===Capital Markets===
The two central concepts in capital markets are:
*[[Wikipedia:Arbitrage|Arbitrage]]
*[[Wikipedia:Risk Premium|Risk Premium]]

With those concepts, (and the ideas learned in [[#Corporate Finance|finance]]), you can price:
*[[Wikipedia:Fixed Income|Fixed Income]]
*[[Wikipedia:Swap|Swaps]]
*[[Wikipedia:Forward price|Forward Rates]]

==Further Reading==

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591840570/qid=1147720345/sr=2-3/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_3/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Competition Demystified]] by Bruce Greenwald

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0425098478/qid=1147720399/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 The One Minute Manager]] by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0142000280/qid=1147720483/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Getting Things Done]] by David Allen

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0471733067/qid=1147720524/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 The Little Book that Beats the Street]] by Joel Greenblatt

==About the Contributors==

One of the first contributors to this curriculum overview was John O'Brien. John received his MBA from Columbia Business School in 2005. He can be contacted online at [http://www.pulplit.net/contact-us/ pulplit.net].

Master of Business Administration

2006-08-27T16:24:39Z

70.110.208.162: /* Macroeconomics */

==Introduction==
This document will attempt to link and organize the information found here on WikiMedia and elsewhere on the internet to provide a comprehensive business education such as one provided by the top business schools in the world.

A Master in Business Administration (MBA) is unlike many other academic programs. While most Master programs provide a further specialization within a particular school or discipline (such as law), an MBA is typically quite inter-disciplinary, drawing from the fields of psychology, sociology, economics and finance.

As such, most of the material found within an MBA program is not unique to the world of business. Rather, an MBA provides exposure to the diverse concepts which are most useful to a person who is interested in succeeding in business within an easy to learn two-year bundle. Despite all the drinking and socializing, a MBA can be a lot of work. If you work through all the concepts referenced, it should take you quite awhile (probably 2,000+ hours). You're also going to have to get really good at Excel.

Let's get started.

==Master of Business Administration Core Course Overview==

Some MBA programs have a core course requirements in the fields listed below. For example core MBA program requirements, please refer to the core requirements of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INSEAD INSEAD],
[[http://mba.sciences-po.fr/us/deroulement.htm Sciences-Po]],
[http://www.hbs.edu/mba/academics/required.html Harvard Business School], [http://mba.wharton.upenn.edu/mba/academics/curriculum/core.php Wharton Business School], and [http://www2.gsb.columbia.edu/students/affairs/courseinfo/core.HTML Columbia Business School].

Most MBA programs then have additional coursework on diverse subjects as well as advanced topics in the prior subjects.

==Coursework==
===Basic Probability and Statistics===

The grounding for many futher concepts in business, as in other applied disciplines, is a thorough understanding of [[statistics]]. A good free source for understanding probability is http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Echance/teaching_aids/books_articles/probability_book/amsbook.mac.pdf. In particular [[Wikipedia:Regression_analysis|regression analysis]] is going to be useful. Regression is fundamental to the concept of Beta in Finance, conjoint analysis in Marketing, and the pooling of risk in operations management.

The directions on how to perform an regression analysis in Excel can be found online at http://www2.hpu.edu/mlane/FIN640/Regression_in_Excel.htm. Once you have completed a few regressions in Excel, you have performed the highest level of statistical analysis which most MBA's become familiar with. Congratulations! You are ready to move on.

===Financial Accounting===

A good place to start is [[Accounting]]. While most MBA's are not a big fan of double entry book keeping, finance starts with accounting. Understanding what [[depreciation]] (the spreading of the cost of an tangible asset over time) and [[Accounting/Amortization|amortization]] (the spreading of the cost of an intangible asset over time) are is going to be essential to understanding corporate finance (if only because you are going to need to reverse out the effects from GAAP Income Statements to get cash flows).

===Managerial Accounting===

[[Wikipedia:Management_accounting|Managerial Accounting]] refers to the broad application of accounting concepts to financial data with the purpose of being consumed by management. Such financial data, in contrast to [[#Financial Accounting|Financial Accounting]], does not have to comply with GAAP, the FASB, or the filing requirements of the SEC, since it is meant only for internal consumption within an organization.

The major subjects to learn include:

*[[Wikipedia:cost accounting|cost accounting]]
*[[Wikipedia:activity based costing|activity based costing]]
*[[wikipedia:project costing|project costing]]
*[[Wikipedia:budgeting|budgeting]]

===Microeconomics===
A good place to start is the Wikibooks course on [[Wikibooks:Microeconomics|Microeconomics]]. Particularly, the concept that in an industry with high competition firms make zero economic profit should be thoroughly understood; that fact of life is the foundation of much of cooperate strategy, and the root to how to make excess profits (that is, profits greater than your [[Wikipedia:Cost of Capital|Cost of Capital]]).

===Macroeconomics===
Read the Wikibook on [[Wikibooks:Macroeconomics|Macroeconomics]]. In particular, the working of currencys, current account deficits, and the relationship between economic performance, monetary policy, and interest rates will be useful for finance and (ultimately) [[#Capital Markets|Capital Markets]].

===Decision Models===

Decision models are part of the core curriculum of many business schools. The reason why is probably because "average" performance of a firm is distinct from the implied performance of the averages, if the components which combine to create that average performance have differing distributions or deviations.

Decision models will typically cover the following concepts and software packages:
*[[Wikipedia:decision tree|decision trees]]
*[[Wikipedia:linear programming|linear programming]]
*[[http://www.decisioneering.com/crystal_ball/index.html Crystal Ball]] or [[http://www.palisade.com/risk/ @Risk]] simulation software. Download yourself a free trial, play with it for a month, working through the tutorials. You'll do alright.

===Corporate Finance===

[[Finance]] is among the most stereotypically MBA things an MBA will learn.

If you want to understand corporate finance, learn thoroughly:
*what the implications of the [[Wikipedia:Modigliani-Miller_theorem|Modigliani-Miller theorem]]
*the [[Wikipedia:time value of money|time value of money]]
*how to calculate the [[Wikipedia:Net Present Value|NPV]] of a project
*how to calculate the [[Wikipedia:WACC|WACC]] of a project or company
*how to do a decent [[Wikipedia:Discounted Cash Flow|DCF]]

Putting it all together, you'd get something called a model. That model will tell you how much any asset that generates cash flows (such as a stock) is worth. People in business think that this might be useful to know.

===Marketing Strategy===

Key concepts to learn in [[Wikipedia:Marketing|Marketing]]:
* the 4 C's (Company, Context, Customers, Competition)
* the 4 P's (Product, Place, Price, Promotion)

===Marketing Implementation===

Key concepts to learn:
* [[Wikipedia:Customer lifetime value|Customer lifetime value]]
* [[Wikipedia:conjoint analysis|conjoint analysis]]

===Corporate Strategy===

Key concepts to learn:

* [[Wikipedia:Porter%27s_five_forces|Porters Five Forces]]
* [[http://amadeus.management.mcgill.ca/~mark.mortensen/orgweb/summaries/mse/content/Porter.html Positioning]]
* [[Wikipedia:Game Theory|Game Theory]]
* [[http://globecareers.workopolis.com/servlet/Content/fasttrack/20051012/CABOOKS12?section=ManagingBooks Sustainable Competitive Advantage]]

Good thing to read when the summaries of the concepts won't do:

* [[http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=9&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffaculty.washington.edu%2Fcastlej%2FENTRE475%2FArticles%2520of%2520interest%2FWhat%2520is%2520Strategy-Porter.pdf&ei=ZFdmRMWYCMHqaMvUzd4J&sig2=Cd8RuCoZbnd4QDmLvILozA Porter, What is Strategy?]]

===Organizational Behavior and Structure===
Organizational behavior classes cover concepts such as:
*[[Wikipedia:Taylorism|Taylorism]]
*[[Wikipedia:Hawthorne Effect|The Hawthorne Effect]]
*[[Wikipedia:Social network|Social Networks]]
*[[Wikipedia:Organizational Behavior|Organizational Behavior]]

===Leadership===
Leadership classes might cover:
*the ideas of [[Wikipedia:Robert Cialdini|Robert Cialdini]]
*the results of your [[Wikipedia:MBTI|Myers-Briggs test]]

Generally, understanding yourself and influencing other people is the focus of a leadership class. A fair bit of [[#Negotiations|Negotiations]] content might be thrown in as well.

===Operations Management===

Operations classes typically cover:

* [[Wikipedia:Supply Chain management|Supply chain management]], in particular the [[Wikipedia:Newsvendor|Newsvendor]] model
* [[Wikipedia:Six Sigma|Six Sigma]] and other quality management concepts
* Risk pooling-that is, the managerial signifance of the fact that when you combine two processes the deviation increases by the square of the summation (because variances are additive, standard deviations are not). Risk pooling is often the root cause of [[Wikipedia:economies of scale|economies of scale]].
* [[Wikipedia:Queueing theory|Queueing theory]] which is helpful is you want to optimize business processes.

===Negotiations===

[[Wikipedia:Negotiations|Negotiating]] is important for business at many levels. [[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140157352/sr=8-1/qid=1147551981/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-9077880-7298216?%5Fencoding=UTF8 Getting to Yes]] seems to be the core text to understand how to sucessfully achieve good outcomes from negotiations. A good summary of Getting to Yes can be found many places online (such as at http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/example/fish7513.htm). Read that and you're all set.

===Ethics===

Probably read up on [[Wikipedia:Sarbanes Oxley|Sarbanes Oxley]]. Also, reading [[http://www.peace.ca/kindergarten.htm these important tips]] would probably be useful.

==Additional Coursework==

===Capital Markets===
The two central concepts in capital markets are:
*[[Wikipedia:Arbitrage|Arbitrage]]
*[[Wikipedia:Risk Premium|Risk Premium]]

With those concepts, (and the ideas learned in [[#Corporate Finance|finance]]), you can price:
*[[Wikipedia:Fixed Income|Fixed Income]]
*[[Wikipedia:Swap|Swaps]]
*[[Wikipedia:Forward price|Forward Rates]]

==Further Reading==

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591840570/qid=1147720345/sr=2-3/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_3/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Competition Demystified]] by Bruce Greenwald

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0425098478/qid=1147720399/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 The One Minute Manager]] by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0142000280/qid=1147720483/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Getting Things Done]] by David Allen

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0471733067/qid=1147720524/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 The Little Book that Beats the Street]] by Joel Greenblatt

==About the Contributors==

One of the first contributors to this curriculum overview was John O'Brien. John received his MBA from Columbia Business School in 2005. He can be contacted online at [http://www.pulplit.net/contact-us/ pulplit.net].

Master of Business Administration

2006-08-27T16:24:17Z

70.110.208.162: /* Microeconomics */

==Introduction==
This document will attempt to link and organize the information found here on WikiMedia and elsewhere on the internet to provide a comprehensive business education such as one provided by the top business schools in the world.

A Master in Business Administration (MBA) is unlike many other academic programs. While most Master programs provide a further specialization within a particular school or discipline (such as law), an MBA is typically quite inter-disciplinary, drawing from the fields of psychology, sociology, economics and finance.

As such, most of the material found within an MBA program is not unique to the world of business. Rather, an MBA provides exposure to the diverse concepts which are most useful to a person who is interested in succeeding in business within an easy to learn two-year bundle. Despite all the drinking and socializing, a MBA can be a lot of work. If you work through all the concepts referenced, it should take you quite awhile (probably 2,000+ hours). You're also going to have to get really good at Excel.

Let's get started.

==Master of Business Administration Core Course Overview==

Some MBA programs have a core course requirements in the fields listed below. For example core MBA program requirements, please refer to the core requirements of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INSEAD INSEAD],
[[http://mba.sciences-po.fr/us/deroulement.htm Sciences-Po]],
[http://www.hbs.edu/mba/academics/required.html Harvard Business School], [http://mba.wharton.upenn.edu/mba/academics/curriculum/core.php Wharton Business School], and [http://www2.gsb.columbia.edu/students/affairs/courseinfo/core.HTML Columbia Business School].

Most MBA programs then have additional coursework on diverse subjects as well as advanced topics in the prior subjects.

==Coursework==
===Basic Probability and Statistics===

The grounding for many futher concepts in business, as in other applied disciplines, is a thorough understanding of [[statistics]]. A good free source for understanding probability is http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Echance/teaching_aids/books_articles/probability_book/amsbook.mac.pdf. In particular [[Wikipedia:Regression_analysis|regression analysis]] is going to be useful. Regression is fundamental to the concept of Beta in Finance, conjoint analysis in Marketing, and the pooling of risk in operations management.

The directions on how to perform an regression analysis in Excel can be found online at http://www2.hpu.edu/mlane/FIN640/Regression_in_Excel.htm. Once you have completed a few regressions in Excel, you have performed the highest level of statistical analysis which most MBA's become familiar with. Congratulations! You are ready to move on.

===Financial Accounting===

A good place to start is [[Accounting]]. While most MBA's are not a big fan of double entry book keeping, finance starts with accounting. Understanding what [[depreciation]] (the spreading of the cost of an tangible asset over time) and [[Accounting/Amortization|amortization]] (the spreading of the cost of an intangible asset over time) are is going to be essential to understanding corporate finance (if only because you are going to need to reverse out the effects from GAAP Income Statements to get cash flows).

===Managerial Accounting===

[[Wikipedia:Management_accounting|Managerial Accounting]] refers to the broad application of accounting concepts to financial data with the purpose of being consumed by management. Such financial data, in contrast to [[#Financial Accounting|Financial Accounting]], does not have to comply with GAAP, the FASB, or the filing requirements of the SEC, since it is meant only for internal consumption within an organization.

The major subjects to learn include:

*[[Wikipedia:cost accounting|cost accounting]]
*[[Wikipedia:activity based costing|activity based costing]]
*[[wikipedia:project costing|project costing]]
*[[Wikipedia:budgeting|budgeting]]

===Microeconomics===
A good place to start is the Wikibooks course on [[Wikibooks:Microeconomics|Microeconomics]]. Particularly, the concept that in an industry with high competition firms make zero economic profit should be thoroughly understood; that fact of life is the foundation of much of cooperate strategy, and the root to how to make excess profits (that is, profits greater than your [[Wikipedia:Cost of Capital|Cost of Capital]]).

===Macroeconomics===
Read the Wikibook on [[Wikibooks:Macroeconomics]]. In particular, the working of currencys, current account deficits, and the relationship between economic performance, monetary policy, and interest rates will be useful for finance and (ultimately) [[#Capital Markets|Capital Markets]].

===Decision Models===

Decision models are part of the core curriculum of many business schools. The reason why is probably because "average" performance of a firm is distinct from the implied performance of the averages, if the components which combine to create that average performance have differing distributions or deviations.

Decision models will typically cover the following concepts and software packages:
*[[Wikipedia:decision tree|decision trees]]
*[[Wikipedia:linear programming|linear programming]]
*[[http://www.decisioneering.com/crystal_ball/index.html Crystal Ball]] or [[http://www.palisade.com/risk/ @Risk]] simulation software. Download yourself a free trial, play with it for a month, working through the tutorials. You'll do alright.

===Corporate Finance===

[[Finance]] is among the most stereotypically MBA things an MBA will learn.

If you want to understand corporate finance, learn thoroughly:
*what the implications of the [[Wikipedia:Modigliani-Miller_theorem|Modigliani-Miller theorem]]
*the [[Wikipedia:time value of money|time value of money]]
*how to calculate the [[Wikipedia:Net Present Value|NPV]] of a project
*how to calculate the [[Wikipedia:WACC|WACC]] of a project or company
*how to do a decent [[Wikipedia:Discounted Cash Flow|DCF]]

Putting it all together, you'd get something called a model. That model will tell you how much any asset that generates cash flows (such as a stock) is worth. People in business think that this might be useful to know.

===Marketing Strategy===

Key concepts to learn in [[Wikipedia:Marketing|Marketing]]:
* the 4 C's (Company, Context, Customers, Competition)
* the 4 P's (Product, Place, Price, Promotion)

===Marketing Implementation===

Key concepts to learn:
* [[Wikipedia:Customer lifetime value|Customer lifetime value]]
* [[Wikipedia:conjoint analysis|conjoint analysis]]

===Corporate Strategy===

Key concepts to learn:

* [[Wikipedia:Porter%27s_five_forces|Porters Five Forces]]
* [[http://amadeus.management.mcgill.ca/~mark.mortensen/orgweb/summaries/mse/content/Porter.html Positioning]]
* [[Wikipedia:Game Theory|Game Theory]]
* [[http://globecareers.workopolis.com/servlet/Content/fasttrack/20051012/CABOOKS12?section=ManagingBooks Sustainable Competitive Advantage]]

Good thing to read when the summaries of the concepts won't do:

* [[http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=9&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffaculty.washington.edu%2Fcastlej%2FENTRE475%2FArticles%2520of%2520interest%2FWhat%2520is%2520Strategy-Porter.pdf&ei=ZFdmRMWYCMHqaMvUzd4J&sig2=Cd8RuCoZbnd4QDmLvILozA Porter, What is Strategy?]]

===Organizational Behavior and Structure===
Organizational behavior classes cover concepts such as:
*[[Wikipedia:Taylorism|Taylorism]]
*[[Wikipedia:Hawthorne Effect|The Hawthorne Effect]]
*[[Wikipedia:Social network|Social Networks]]
*[[Wikipedia:Organizational Behavior|Organizational Behavior]]

===Leadership===
Leadership classes might cover:
*the ideas of [[Wikipedia:Robert Cialdini|Robert Cialdini]]
*the results of your [[Wikipedia:MBTI|Myers-Briggs test]]

Generally, understanding yourself and influencing other people is the focus of a leadership class. A fair bit of [[#Negotiations|Negotiations]] content might be thrown in as well.

===Operations Management===

Operations classes typically cover:

* [[Wikipedia:Supply Chain management|Supply chain management]], in particular the [[Wikipedia:Newsvendor|Newsvendor]] model
* [[Wikipedia:Six Sigma|Six Sigma]] and other quality management concepts
* Risk pooling-that is, the managerial signifance of the fact that when you combine two processes the deviation increases by the square of the summation (because variances are additive, standard deviations are not). Risk pooling is often the root cause of [[Wikipedia:economies of scale|economies of scale]].
* [[Wikipedia:Queueing theory|Queueing theory]] which is helpful is you want to optimize business processes.

===Negotiations===

[[Wikipedia:Negotiations|Negotiating]] is important for business at many levels. [[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140157352/sr=8-1/qid=1147551981/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-9077880-7298216?%5Fencoding=UTF8 Getting to Yes]] seems to be the core text to understand how to sucessfully achieve good outcomes from negotiations. A good summary of Getting to Yes can be found many places online (such as at http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/example/fish7513.htm). Read that and you're all set.

===Ethics===

Probably read up on [[Wikipedia:Sarbanes Oxley|Sarbanes Oxley]]. Also, reading [[http://www.peace.ca/kindergarten.htm these important tips]] would probably be useful.

==Additional Coursework==

===Capital Markets===
The two central concepts in capital markets are:
*[[Wikipedia:Arbitrage|Arbitrage]]
*[[Wikipedia:Risk Premium|Risk Premium]]

With those concepts, (and the ideas learned in [[#Corporate Finance|finance]]), you can price:
*[[Wikipedia:Fixed Income|Fixed Income]]
*[[Wikipedia:Swap|Swaps]]
*[[Wikipedia:Forward price|Forward Rates]]

==Further Reading==

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591840570/qid=1147720345/sr=2-3/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_3/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Competition Demystified]] by Bruce Greenwald

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0425098478/qid=1147720399/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 The One Minute Manager]] by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0142000280/qid=1147720483/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Getting Things Done]] by David Allen

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0471733067/qid=1147720524/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 The Little Book that Beats the Street]] by Joel Greenblatt

==About the Contributors==

One of the first contributors to this curriculum overview was John O'Brien. John received his MBA from Columbia Business School in 2005. He can be contacted online at [http://www.pulplit.net/contact-us/ pulplit.net].

Master of Business Administration

2006-08-27T15:47:52Z

70.110.208.162: /* Macroeconomics */

==Introduction==
This document will attempt to link and organize the information found here on WikiMedia and elsewhere on the internet to provide a comprehensive business education such as one provided by the top business schools in the world.

A Master in Business Administration (MBA) is unlike many other academic programs. While most Master programs provide a further specialization within a particular school or discipline (such as law), an MBA is typically quite inter-disciplinary, drawing from the fields of psychology, sociology, economics and finance.

As such, most of the material found within an MBA program is not unique to the world of business. Rather, an MBA provides exposure to the diverse concepts which are most useful to a person who is interested in succeeding in business within an easy to learn two-year bundle. Despite all the drinking and socializing, a MBA can be a lot of work. If you work through all the concepts referenced, it should take you quite awhile (probably 2,000+ hours). You're also going to have to get really good at Excel.

Let's get started.

==Master of Business Administration Core Course Overview==

Some MBA programs have a core course requirements in the fields listed below. For example core MBA program requirements, please refer to the core requirements of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INSEAD INSEAD],
[[http://mba.sciences-po.fr/us/deroulement.htm Sciences-Po]],
[http://www.hbs.edu/mba/academics/required.html Harvard Business School], [http://mba.wharton.upenn.edu/mba/academics/curriculum/core.php Wharton Business School], and [http://www2.gsb.columbia.edu/students/affairs/courseinfo/core.HTML Columbia Business School].

Most MBA programs then have additional coursework on diverse subjects as well as advanced topics in the prior subjects.

==Coursework==
===Basic Probability and Statistics===

The grounding for many futher concepts in business, as in other applied disciplines, is a thorough understanding of [[statistics]]. A good free source for understanding probability is http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Echance/teaching_aids/books_articles/probability_book/amsbook.mac.pdf. In particular [[Wikipedia:Regression_analysis|regression analysis]] is going to be useful. Regression is fundamental to the concept of Beta in Finance, conjoint analysis in Marketing, and the pooling of risk in operations management.

The directions on how to perform an regression analysis in Excel can be found online at http://www2.hpu.edu/mlane/FIN640/Regression_in_Excel.htm. Once you have completed a few regressions in Excel, you have performed the highest level of statistical analysis which most MBA's become familiar with. Congratulations! You are ready to move on.

===Financial Accounting===

A good place to start is [[Accounting]]. While most MBA's are not a big fan of double entry book keeping, finance starts with accounting. Understanding what [[depreciation]] (the spreading of the cost of an tangible asset over time) and [[Accounting/Amortization|amortization]] (the spreading of the cost of an intangible asset over time) are is going to be essential to understanding corporate finance (if only because you are going to need to reverse out the effects from GAAP Income Statements to get cash flows).

===Managerial Accounting===

[[Wikipedia:Management_accounting|Managerial Accounting]] refers to the broad application of accounting concepts to financial data with the purpose of being consumed by management. Such financial data, in contrast to [[#Financial Accounting|Financial Accounting]], does not have to comply with GAAP, the FASB, or the filing requirements of the SEC, since it is meant only for internal consumption within an organization.

The major subjects to learn include:

*[[Wikipedia:cost accounting|cost accounting]]
*[[Wikipedia:activity based costing|activity based costing]]
*[[wikipedia:project costing|project costing]]
*[[Wikipedia:budgeting|budgeting]]

===Microeconomics===
A good place to start is the Wikibooks course on [[Wikibooks:Microeconomics]]. Particularly, the concept that in an industry with high competition firms make zero economic profit should be thoroughly understood; that fact of life is the foundation of much of cooperate strategy, and the root to how to make excess profits (that is, profits greater than your [[Wikipedia:Cost of Capital|Cost of Capital]]).

===Macroeconomics===
Read the Wikibook on [[Wikibooks:Macroeconomics]]. In particular, the working of currencys, current account deficits, and the relationship between economic performance, monetary policy, and interest rates will be useful for finance and (ultimately) [[#Capital Markets|Capital Markets]].

===Decision Models===

Decision models are part of the core curriculum of many business schools. The reason why is probably because "average" performance of a firm is distinct from the implied performance of the averages, if the components which combine to create that average performance have differing distributions or deviations.

Decision models will typically cover the following concepts and software packages:
*[[Wikipedia:decision tree|decision trees]]
*[[Wikipedia:linear programming|linear programming]]
*[[http://www.decisioneering.com/crystal_ball/index.html Crystal Ball]] or [[http://www.palisade.com/risk/ @Risk]] simulation software. Download yourself a free trial, play with it for a month, working through the tutorials. You'll do alright.

===Corporate Finance===

[[Finance]] is among the most stereotypically MBA things an MBA will learn.

If you want to understand corporate finance, learn thoroughly:
*what the implications of the [[Wikipedia:Modigliani-Miller_theorem|Modigliani-Miller theorem]]
*the [[Wikipedia:time value of money|time value of money]]
*how to calculate the [[Wikipedia:Net Present Value|NPV]] of a project
*how to calculate the [[Wikipedia:WACC|WACC]] of a project or company
*how to do a decent [[Wikipedia:Discounted Cash Flow|DCF]]

Putting it all together, you'd get something called a model. That model will tell you how much any asset that generates cash flows (such as a stock) is worth. People in business think that this might be useful to know.

===Marketing Strategy===

Key concepts to learn in [[Wikipedia:Marketing|Marketing]]:
* the 4 C's (Company, Context, Customers, Competition)
* the 4 P's (Product, Place, Price, Promotion)

===Marketing Implementation===

Key concepts to learn:
* [[Wikipedia:Customer lifetime value|Customer lifetime value]]
* [[Wikipedia:conjoint analysis|conjoint analysis]]

===Corporate Strategy===

Key concepts to learn:

* [[Wikipedia:Porter%27s_five_forces|Porters Five Forces]]
* [[http://amadeus.management.mcgill.ca/~mark.mortensen/orgweb/summaries/mse/content/Porter.html Positioning]]
* [[Wikipedia:Game Theory|Game Theory]]
* [[http://globecareers.workopolis.com/servlet/Content/fasttrack/20051012/CABOOKS12?section=ManagingBooks Sustainable Competitive Advantage]]

Good thing to read when the summaries of the concepts won't do:

* [[http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=9&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffaculty.washington.edu%2Fcastlej%2FENTRE475%2FArticles%2520of%2520interest%2FWhat%2520is%2520Strategy-Porter.pdf&ei=ZFdmRMWYCMHqaMvUzd4J&sig2=Cd8RuCoZbnd4QDmLvILozA Porter, What is Strategy?]]

===Organizational Behavior and Structure===
Organizational behavior classes cover concepts such as:
*[[Wikipedia:Taylorism|Taylorism]]
*[[Wikipedia:Hawthorne Effect|The Hawthorne Effect]]
*[[Wikipedia:Social network|Social Networks]]
*[[Wikipedia:Organizational Behavior|Organizational Behavior]]

===Leadership===
Leadership classes might cover:
*the ideas of [[Wikipedia:Robert Cialdini|Robert Cialdini]]
*the results of your [[Wikipedia:MBTI|Myers-Briggs test]]

Generally, understanding yourself and influencing other people is the focus of a leadership class. A fair bit of [[#Negotiations|Negotiations]] content might be thrown in as well.

===Operations Management===

Operations classes typically cover:

* [[Wikipedia:Supply Chain management|Supply chain management]], in particular the [[Wikipedia:Newsvendor|Newsvendor]] model
* [[Wikipedia:Six Sigma|Six Sigma]] and other quality management concepts
* Risk pooling-that is, the managerial signifance of the fact that when you combine two processes the deviation increases by the square of the summation (because variances are additive, standard deviations are not). Risk pooling is often the root cause of [[Wikipedia:economies of scale|economies of scale]].
* [[Wikipedia:Queueing theory|Queueing theory]] which is helpful is you want to optimize business processes.

===Negotiations===

[[Wikipedia:Negotiations|Negotiating]] is important for business at many levels. [[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140157352/sr=8-1/qid=1147551981/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-9077880-7298216?%5Fencoding=UTF8 Getting to Yes]] seems to be the core text to understand how to sucessfully achieve good outcomes from negotiations. A good summary of Getting to Yes can be found many places online (such as at http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/example/fish7513.htm). Read that and you're all set.

===Ethics===

Probably read up on [[Wikipedia:Sarbanes Oxley|Sarbanes Oxley]]. Also, reading [[http://www.peace.ca/kindergarten.htm these important tips]] would probably be useful.

==Additional Coursework==

===Capital Markets===
The two central concepts in capital markets are:
*[[Wikipedia:Arbitrage|Arbitrage]]
*[[Wikipedia:Risk Premium|Risk Premium]]

With those concepts, (and the ideas learned in [[#Corporate Finance|finance]]), you can price:
*[[Wikipedia:Fixed Income|Fixed Income]]
*[[Wikipedia:Swap|Swaps]]
*[[Wikipedia:Forward price|Forward Rates]]

==Further Reading==

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591840570/qid=1147720345/sr=2-3/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_3/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Competition Demystified]] by Bruce Greenwald

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0425098478/qid=1147720399/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 The One Minute Manager]] by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0142000280/qid=1147720483/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Getting Things Done]] by David Allen

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0471733067/qid=1147720524/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 The Little Book that Beats the Street]] by Joel Greenblatt

==About the Contributors==

One of the first contributors to this curriculum overview was John O'Brien. John received his MBA from Columbia Business School in 2005. He can be contacted online at [http://www.pulplit.net/contact-us/ pulplit.net].

Master of Business Administration

2006-08-27T15:46:55Z

70.110.208.162: /* Microeconomics */

==Introduction==
This document will attempt to link and organize the information found here on WikiMedia and elsewhere on the internet to provide a comprehensive business education such as one provided by the top business schools in the world.

A Master in Business Administration (MBA) is unlike many other academic programs. While most Master programs provide a further specialization within a particular school or discipline (such as law), an MBA is typically quite inter-disciplinary, drawing from the fields of psychology, sociology, economics and finance.

As such, most of the material found within an MBA program is not unique to the world of business. Rather, an MBA provides exposure to the diverse concepts which are most useful to a person who is interested in succeeding in business within an easy to learn two-year bundle. Despite all the drinking and socializing, a MBA can be a lot of work. If you work through all the concepts referenced, it should take you quite awhile (probably 2,000+ hours). You're also going to have to get really good at Excel.

Let's get started.

==Master of Business Administration Core Course Overview==

Some MBA programs have a core course requirements in the fields listed below. For example core MBA program requirements, please refer to the core requirements of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INSEAD INSEAD],
[[http://mba.sciences-po.fr/us/deroulement.htm Sciences-Po]],
[http://www.hbs.edu/mba/academics/required.html Harvard Business School], [http://mba.wharton.upenn.edu/mba/academics/curriculum/core.php Wharton Business School], and [http://www2.gsb.columbia.edu/students/affairs/courseinfo/core.HTML Columbia Business School].

Most MBA programs then have additional coursework on diverse subjects as well as advanced topics in the prior subjects.

==Coursework==
===Basic Probability and Statistics===

The grounding for many futher concepts in business, as in other applied disciplines, is a thorough understanding of [[statistics]]. A good free source for understanding probability is http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Echance/teaching_aids/books_articles/probability_book/amsbook.mac.pdf. In particular [[Wikipedia:Regression_analysis|regression analysis]] is going to be useful. Regression is fundamental to the concept of Beta in Finance, conjoint analysis in Marketing, and the pooling of risk in operations management.

The directions on how to perform an regression analysis in Excel can be found online at http://www2.hpu.edu/mlane/FIN640/Regression_in_Excel.htm. Once you have completed a few regressions in Excel, you have performed the highest level of statistical analysis which most MBA's become familiar with. Congratulations! You are ready to move on.

===Financial Accounting===

A good place to start is [[Accounting]]. While most MBA's are not a big fan of double entry book keeping, finance starts with accounting. Understanding what [[depreciation]] (the spreading of the cost of an tangible asset over time) and [[Accounting/Amortization|amortization]] (the spreading of the cost of an intangible asset over time) are is going to be essential to understanding corporate finance (if only because you are going to need to reverse out the effects from GAAP Income Statements to get cash flows).

===Managerial Accounting===

[[Wikipedia:Management_accounting|Managerial Accounting]] refers to the broad application of accounting concepts to financial data with the purpose of being consumed by management. Such financial data, in contrast to [[#Financial Accounting|Financial Accounting]], does not have to comply with GAAP, the FASB, or the filing requirements of the SEC, since it is meant only for internal consumption within an organization.

The major subjects to learn include:

*[[Wikipedia:cost accounting|cost accounting]]
*[[Wikipedia:activity based costing|activity based costing]]
*[[wikipedia:project costing|project costing]]
*[[Wikipedia:budgeting|budgeting]]

===Microeconomics===
A good place to start is the Wikibooks course on [[Wikibooks:Microeconomics]]. Particularly, the concept that in an industry with high competition firms make zero economic profit should be thoroughly understood; that fact of life is the foundation of much of cooperate strategy, and the root to how to make excess profits (that is, profits greater than your [[Wikipedia:Cost of Capital|Cost of Capital]]).

===Macroeconomics===
Read the Wikibook on [[Macroeconomics]]. In particular, the working of currencys, current account deficits, and the relationship between economic performance, monetary policy, and interest rates will be useful for finance and (ultimately) [[#Capital Markets|Capital Markets]].

===Decision Models===

Decision models are part of the core curriculum of many business schools. The reason why is probably because "average" performance of a firm is distinct from the implied performance of the averages, if the components which combine to create that average performance have differing distributions or deviations.

Decision models will typically cover the following concepts and software packages:
*[[Wikipedia:decision tree|decision trees]]
*[[Wikipedia:linear programming|linear programming]]
*[[http://www.decisioneering.com/crystal_ball/index.html Crystal Ball]] or [[http://www.palisade.com/risk/ @Risk]] simulation software. Download yourself a free trial, play with it for a month, working through the tutorials. You'll do alright.

===Corporate Finance===

[[Finance]] is among the most stereotypically MBA things an MBA will learn.

If you want to understand corporate finance, learn thoroughly:
*what the implications of the [[Wikipedia:Modigliani-Miller_theorem|Modigliani-Miller theorem]]
*the [[Wikipedia:time value of money|time value of money]]
*how to calculate the [[Wikipedia:Net Present Value|NPV]] of a project
*how to calculate the [[Wikipedia:WACC|WACC]] of a project or company
*how to do a decent [[Wikipedia:Discounted Cash Flow|DCF]]

Putting it all together, you'd get something called a model. That model will tell you how much any asset that generates cash flows (such as a stock) is worth. People in business think that this might be useful to know.

===Marketing Strategy===

Key concepts to learn in [[Wikipedia:Marketing|Marketing]]:
* the 4 C's (Company, Context, Customers, Competition)
* the 4 P's (Product, Place, Price, Promotion)

===Marketing Implementation===

Key concepts to learn:
* [[Wikipedia:Customer lifetime value|Customer lifetime value]]
* [[Wikipedia:conjoint analysis|conjoint analysis]]

===Corporate Strategy===

Key concepts to learn:

* [[Wikipedia:Porter%27s_five_forces|Porters Five Forces]]
* [[http://amadeus.management.mcgill.ca/~mark.mortensen/orgweb/summaries/mse/content/Porter.html Positioning]]
* [[Wikipedia:Game Theory|Game Theory]]
* [[http://globecareers.workopolis.com/servlet/Content/fasttrack/20051012/CABOOKS12?section=ManagingBooks Sustainable Competitive Advantage]]

Good thing to read when the summaries of the concepts won't do:

* [[http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=9&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffaculty.washington.edu%2Fcastlej%2FENTRE475%2FArticles%2520of%2520interest%2FWhat%2520is%2520Strategy-Porter.pdf&ei=ZFdmRMWYCMHqaMvUzd4J&sig2=Cd8RuCoZbnd4QDmLvILozA Porter, What is Strategy?]]

===Organizational Behavior and Structure===
Organizational behavior classes cover concepts such as:
*[[Wikipedia:Taylorism|Taylorism]]
*[[Wikipedia:Hawthorne Effect|The Hawthorne Effect]]
*[[Wikipedia:Social network|Social Networks]]
*[[Wikipedia:Organizational Behavior|Organizational Behavior]]

===Leadership===
Leadership classes might cover:
*the ideas of [[Wikipedia:Robert Cialdini|Robert Cialdini]]
*the results of your [[Wikipedia:MBTI|Myers-Briggs test]]

Generally, understanding yourself and influencing other people is the focus of a leadership class. A fair bit of [[#Negotiations|Negotiations]] content might be thrown in as well.

===Operations Management===

Operations classes typically cover:

* [[Wikipedia:Supply Chain management|Supply chain management]], in particular the [[Wikipedia:Newsvendor|Newsvendor]] model
* [[Wikipedia:Six Sigma|Six Sigma]] and other quality management concepts
* Risk pooling-that is, the managerial signifance of the fact that when you combine two processes the deviation increases by the square of the summation (because variances are additive, standard deviations are not). Risk pooling is often the root cause of [[Wikipedia:economies of scale|economies of scale]].
* [[Wikipedia:Queueing theory|Queueing theory]] which is helpful is you want to optimize business processes.

===Negotiations===

[[Wikipedia:Negotiations|Negotiating]] is important for business at many levels. [[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140157352/sr=8-1/qid=1147551981/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-9077880-7298216?%5Fencoding=UTF8 Getting to Yes]] seems to be the core text to understand how to sucessfully achieve good outcomes from negotiations. A good summary of Getting to Yes can be found many places online (such as at http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/example/fish7513.htm). Read that and you're all set.

===Ethics===

Probably read up on [[Wikipedia:Sarbanes Oxley|Sarbanes Oxley]]. Also, reading [[http://www.peace.ca/kindergarten.htm these important tips]] would probably be useful.

==Additional Coursework==

===Capital Markets===
The two central concepts in capital markets are:
*[[Wikipedia:Arbitrage|Arbitrage]]
*[[Wikipedia:Risk Premium|Risk Premium]]

With those concepts, (and the ideas learned in [[#Corporate Finance|finance]]), you can price:
*[[Wikipedia:Fixed Income|Fixed Income]]
*[[Wikipedia:Swap|Swaps]]
*[[Wikipedia:Forward price|Forward Rates]]

==Further Reading==

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591840570/qid=1147720345/sr=2-3/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_3/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Competition Demystified]] by Bruce Greenwald

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0425098478/qid=1147720399/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 The One Minute Manager]] by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0142000280/qid=1147720483/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Getting Things Done]] by David Allen

[[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0471733067/qid=1147720524/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2363331-7851323?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 The Little Book that Beats the Street]] by Joel Greenblatt

==About the Contributors==

One of the first contributors to this curriculum overview was John O'Brien. John received his MBA from Columbia Business School in 2005. He can be contacted online at [http://www.pulplit.net/contact-us/ pulplit.net].

Archive:Fanboy

2005-04-08T01:16:19Z

70.110.172.190: added some more info on fangirls

'''Fanboy''' is a term used to describe someone who is utterly devoted to a single subject or [[hobby]], often to the point where it is considered an [[obsession]]. The term originated in comic book circles, to describe someone who was socially insecure and used comics as a shield from interaction, hence the dispareging conotations. Fanboys are often experts on minor details regarding their hobbies, and they take these details extremely seriously. The term itself is often used in a derogatory manner by less serious fans of the same material. Nevertheless, self-labeling usages of the term have been noted; in the songs of the fannish [[parody]] [[musician]] [[Luke Ski]], many characters proudly consider themselves ''fanboys''. The term is usually applied to people in their teens or 20s. Within this group, common objects of deference for fanboys are [[TV show]]s, [[film|movie]]s, [[anime]], [[video game console]]s, [[video games]], [[operating system]]s and [[software]] companies. The female equivalent is sometimes called a [[fangirl]]. Fangirls tend to be more devoted to emotional and romantic aspects of their [[fandom]], especially [[shipping (fandom)|shipping]].

Stereotypically, fanboys are attributed with a [[sycophant]]ic devotion to the creators and principles behind a work they are currently enthralled by, but will quickly move their attention elsewhere once something better or just newer comes along. A good example of this is [[Harry Knowles]] and his associates at [[Ain't It Cool News]], whose particular focus is on [[film|movies]] in the [[action movie|action]], [[fantasy]], adventure and [[superhero]] genres. Fanboys are noted for a very emotional attachment to their chosen subject, often taking negative remarks about it as a personal attack. They will readily engage in debates, but will fall back on emotional responses.

The stereotypical image of the fanboy is as an unkempt, often overweight, and generally unattractive figure of a young man who appears as a loud mouthed pseudo-intellectual. A popular depiction of this stereotype is the [[Comic Book Guy]] on [[The Simpsons]]. In the mid 1990s, the emergence of [[slacker]] culture changed this image somewhat. Movies such as [[Kevin Smith]]'s Jersey Trilogy ([[Clerks (movie)|Clerks]], [[Mallrats]], and [[Chasing Amy]]), altered the image of the fanboy. As electronic entertainment gained popularity, the term became increasingly applied to video gamers and television addicts. As a result, a subculture emerged which readily labeled itself as fanboys. Within this group, more effort is taken to fit in with a perceived standard, resulting in a more outgoing attitude, even among those with insecurities. This outgoing stance is often felt to be abrasive by those not involved in the culture as deeply.

See also: [[addiction]]; [[otaku]]; [[anorak (slang)|anorak]].

----

The letter sequence "FANBOYS" is also a [[mnemonic]] for the words ''for'', ''and'', ''nor'', ''but'', ''or'', ''yet'', and ''so''. These words are [[coordinating conjunction]]s, which are used to join two [[independent clause]]s. It is customary to place a [[comma (punctuation)|comma]] after the first clause. Some [[Prescription and description|prescriptive]] grammarians say that one should not start a sentence with a coordinating conjunction. But others don't. (See [[English grammar]].)

== External link ==

* Explanation of the use of coordinating conjunctions from the [[New Mexico State University|NMSU]] Writing Center: http://www.nmsu.edu/~english/wc/wccocunj.html

[[Category:Rennies]]
[[Category:Men]]