Course Curriculum

NEC's curriculum provides a way for students to achieve their cherished lifelong learning goals.

The Master of Science in Management - Marketing Management online program at New England College (NEC) consists of nine courses for a total of 36 credit hours. You will begin the program with core courses and then progress into the concentration courses that focus on your area of interest. At the end of the program, you will use the skills learned within the program in a practical problem-solving capstone project.

Below is a list of the core courses, concentration courses, and the capstone project:

Organization Management and Leadership - 4 credits
This course combines theory and practice by encouraging students to learn traditional and contemporary leadership theories and apply them in analyzing the behavior of leaders, colleagues, and subordinates. Through a variety of readings, cases, and exercises, students will examine effective leadership models. Topics include the evolution of leadership; the roles of strategy and vision in transformational change; the development of leaders; the leadership responsibilities of creating effective teams, organizations, and cultures; the exploration of different leadership styles; and current popular approaches to leadership theory.

Managing Projects in Organizations - 4 credits
This course presents an overview of managing a project from start to finish. Students will examine project organizational structure, work breakdown, scheduling, budgeting, costing, resource allocation, and human resource considerations throughout the project process. Topics include the management of human resources and team building; planning and control; scope management; time and cost management; quality and risk management; and technical tools, including GANTT and PERT charting.

Professional and Organizational Ethics:
A Global Perspective - 4 credits
This course explores and analyzes the relationships among stakeholders in business and the global economy. The moral implications of organizations and decisions are explored. Included are their social effects and the tension that exists between achieving desirable outcomes and attending to the means by which they are achieved. Topics include theories of morality; analysis of ethical decision-making; interaction and conflicts among personal, professional, and organizational values; the effect of cultural diversity on individual and group values; current issues related to the "flattening" of the business environment; and the impact of ethical considerations on the responsible achievement of business goals. The roles of individual and collective choice in the management of competitive environments and organizational positions on contemporary moral issues are also examined.

Managerial Accounting and Finance for Leadership - 4 credits
This course discusses how to more effectively and ethically lead and influence in situations where financial issues play a key role, with particular attention to public fiscal management. It introduces the concepts and principles of financial management and managerial accounting, discussing development, using budgets for planning and control, demonstrating accountability, and establishing priorities within an organization. Students will explore the tools and techniques available to maximize the use of scarce resources, and the implications of public funding and cost accounting for programs and initiatives within the organization.

Strategic Planning and Policy - 4 credits
The primary focus of this course is strategic planning in a business unit, which is the foundational level for competitive analysis and analysis of the issues central to a firm's short-term and long-term competitive success. Using a combination of case studies and industry field research, students will assume the roles of key decision-makers and/or advisors in analyzing these issues and offering recommendations for strategic change. In conjunction with these assignments, students will also be challenged to critically examine revolutionary changes now occurring in some marketing organizations, such as vertical integration, horizontal consolidation, strategic alliances and joint ventures, entrepreneurial startups, and the development of niche networks.

Customer Relationship Management - 4 credits
Built around the notion of the customer lifecycle, this course emphasizes analytical approaches to customer relationship management. Topics include identifying good prospects and customer acquisition; customer development via up-selling, cross-selling and personalization; customer attrition and retention; and customer lifetime value.

Organizational Communication, Conflict Resolution and Negotiation - 4 credits
This course explores the psychological aspects of communication among individuals and groups from a relationship management perspective. Students study group formation and development as well as the intricacies of coaching, mentoring, and conflict resolution. The impact of organizational behavior on leadership effectiveness is explored. Organizational communication, including form and informal communication, is analyzed to determine the relationship between communication and organization satisfaction and effectiveness. Topics include preparing for a negotiation, understanding individual preferences, identifying ethical and cross-cultural issues, and determining when and how to utilize available outside resources. Students assess the importance of coaching and open communication when Inspiring individuals to overcome barriers to peak performance.

Market Research – 4 credits
This course provides an overview of information needs of the marketing decision-maker. Emphasis is on methods and techniques that may be employed for the collection and analysis of primary data. Major topics include designing of research projects, generating primary data, designing questionnaires, sampling for survey research, using experimental design, controlling data collection, and analyzing data.

Master's Capstone Project – 4 credits
In this summative course in the program, each student will undertake a major investigation of a significant leadership and management challenge. Students propose either a public policy initiative or an organizational change or innovation that is responsive to the problem they have identified. In the process of researching the problem and proposing an evidence-based solution or improvement, students integrate principles, theories, and methods learned in required program courses.

Students may enroll in a non-credit self-study Proposal Development course, whenever and as often as they wish. The Proposal Development course guides them in writing an approvable proposal. Once the proposal is approved and students have completed all other courses in their program, they may enroll in the Capstone course. During this final course in the program, students will gather and analyze their research, and create a viable strategic plan for implementing their project.