COMM 1001 (3CR)
INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS
This course provides the
student with an introduction to the nature of business and its functional areas.
The topics covered include: the environment of business; forms of business
ownership; entrepreneurship and small business; financing, financial management,
and financial institutions; marketing; operations management; accounting; and
managing human resources.
COMM 2101 (3CR)
INTRODUCTORY FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING I
This course introduces the accounting model and analysis of Financial Statements
and the important concepts associated with them.
Prereq: 9 credits from any combination of the following 12 credits:
MATH 1111, ECON 1000 (or ECON 1001 and 1011), 3 credits in Computer Science;
or permission of the Department.
Exclusion: COMM 1111
COMM 2121 (3CR)
INTRODUCTORY FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING II
This course examines in greater detail the principles, practices and techniques of
financial accounting first introduced in Commerce 2101.
Prereq: COMM 2101; or permission of the Department.
Exclusion: COMM 1121
COMM 2131 (3CR)
MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING
An introduction to the principles and practices of management accounting, with a
concentration on the decision making process. Topics include the use of accounting data
in short-run and long-run decision making; managerial planning, control, and internal
performance evaluation; and an introduction to variance analysis.
Prereq: COMM 2101; or permission of the Department.
Exclusion: COMM 2111
COMM 2201 (3CR)
FUNDAMENTALS OF MARKETING
A consumer orientation is essential for effective marketing decision making. In
this course, the meaning of products and services to the consumer is stressed. Students
have the opportunity to develop fundamental skills in analysis, report writing, and
presentations.
Prereq: 9 credits from any combination of the following 12 credits:
MATH 1111, ECON 1000 (or ECON 1001 and 1011), 3 credits in Computer
Science; or permission of the Department.
COMM 2211 (3CR)
MARKETING MANAGEMENT
The development and implementation of marketing strategy is the primary concern of
marketing management. This course covers the key elements of a marketing strategy:
competitive positioning, product/service strategy, pricing strategy, distribution
strategy and marketing communications strategy. Students are provided with opportunities
to develop analytical, decision-making and communication skills.
Prereq: COMM 2201; or permission of the Department.
COMM 2301 (3CR)
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR I
This course focuses on the micro aspects of organizational behaviour. It emphasizes
human needs, motivation, perception, individual differences, personality, job design,
work attitudes, performance appraisal, and stress management. The objective is to ensure
that potential managers interact more effectively with subordinates, peers and superiors
in the organizational setting. Teaching methodology includes lectures, discussions, and
case analysis.
Prereq: 9 credits from any combination of the following 12 credits:
MATH 1111, ECON 1000 (or ECON 1001 and 1011), 3 credits in Computer
Science; or permission of the Department.
COMM 2311 (3CR)
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR II
This course focuses on the macro aspects of organizational behaviour. Topics
include group processes in the organization and their relationship to effectiveness,
intergroup conflict, cooperation, leadership, communication, team dynamics, and
organizational change.
Prereq: COMM 2301; or permission of the Department.
Exclusion: COMM 3331
COMM 2361 (3CR)
INTRODUCTION TO ENTREPRENEURSHIP
An introduction to issues relating to the planning and launching of one's own small
enterprise startup. Topics covered include business planning, market opportunity
assessment, competitive environment, cash management, debt financing, legal organization
of a business, taxation of a small business, legal and regulatory framework, operational
planning, and managing employees. This is a course intended as an elective for students
in degree programmes other than the Bachelor of Commerce or the Bachelor of Arts with a
Major or Honours in Commerce.
Prereq: Second year standing in the university or two years of prior full time work
experience.
Exclusion: COMM 1001, 3361
COMM 3111 (3CR)
INTERMEDIATE ACCOUNTING I
This course expands basic accounting concepts learned in Commerce 2101 and 2121. It
develops the general accounting theory of assets, liabilities, income, equity, and funds
flow. Particular emphasis will be placed on the conceptual framework of accounting,
revenue and expense recognition, asset and liability recognition, and measurement and
disclosure.
Prereq: COMM 2121; or permission of the Department.
COMM 3121 (3CR)
INTERMEDIATE ACCOUNTING II
The following topics are discussed: shareholders' equity, dilutive securities,
investments, and a series of special topics, including: corporate income taxes, pension
costs, leases, and accounting changes and error analysis.
Prereq: COMM 3111; or permission of the Department.
COMM 3131 (3CR)
COST ACCOUNTING
A study of the principles, procedures and techniques of analysis used in cost
accounting. This course will cover operating budgets, product costing, predetermined
costs, planning and control, relevant costs, and variance analysis.
Prereq: COMM 2131; or permission of the Department.
COMM 3141 (3CR)
ACCOUNTING THEORY
This course examines the historical development of accounting theory and practice
with particular emphasis on the theory of income and asset valuation. Topics include the
theoretical basis for past and present accounting principles and current issues and
developments in accounting practice.
Prereq: COMM 2121; or permission of the Department.
COMM 3151 (3CR)
TAXATION
The course will explore the basic principles of taxation in Canada, with emphasis
on Canadian Income Tax. It stresses the effects of taxation on business decisions by
individuals and corporations.
Prereq: COMM 2131 and ECON 1000, (or 1001 and 1011); or permission of the
Department.
Exclusion: COMM 4111
COMM 3161 (3CR)
INTRODUCTION TO AUDITING
This course introduces the role of auditing in society and the ethics and standards
of professional conduct expected of auditors. It develops a conceptual understanding of
key decisions made by auditors when examining and reporting on financial statements. It
develops an appreciation of the complex environment in comprehensive or value-for-money
audit on corporations and public institutions.
Prereq: COMM 2121; or permission of the Department.
Exclusion: COMM 4151
COMM 3211 (3CR)
CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
The course examines social, psychological, situational, and economic influences on
the consumer decision-making process of individuals and families. It emphasizes new
product adoption, marketing communications, and consumer research applications.
Prereq: COMM 2211; or permission of the Department.
COMM 3231 (3CR)
MARKETING CHANNELS OF DISTRIBUTION
Marketing strategy is implemented within the context of channels of distribution.
This course studies distribution issues faced by manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers,
and specialized institutions. It emphasizes inventory issues, product assortment
decisions, channel negotiations, and channel change.
Prereq: COMM 2211; or permission of the Department.
COMM 3251 (3CR)
INTERNATIONAL MARKETING
Markets are becoming increasingly global. This course explores the managerial
aspects of exporting and importing companies, multi-national firms, and small to large
businesses serving global markets.
Prereq: COMM 2211; or permission of the Department.
COMM 3261 (3CR)
INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS
This course provides a broad exposure to the promotional mix concentrating on
integrated marketing communications and its key elements: advertising, personal selling,
sales promotion, public relations, direct marketing, and other forms of communications.
Canadian advertising institutions, government legislation and industry regulations are
considered in relation to social and economic concepts. Emphasis is placed on
understanding the marketing communications process and its place in an organization's
planning process.
Prereq: COMM 2211; or permission of the Department.
Exclusion: COMM 4251
COMM 3321 (3CR)
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
This course examines human resource management functions in formal organizations,
both public and private. Topics covered include human resource planning, recruitment,
selection, performance appraisal and employment equity; training and development;
compensation systems and the management of employee benefits; and the role of the human
resource manager.
Prereq: COMM 2301; or permission of the Department.
COMM 3341 (3CR)
ORGANIZATIONAL THEORY
This course examines current theory and research on the design of effective
organizations. It focuses on interrelationships among an organization's formal and
informal structures, culture, technology, and competitive environment and the different
types of organizations resulting from different configurations of these elements. Topics
may include power and politics in and about the organization, goal setting,
organizational effectiveness and efficiency, and organizational renewal.
Prereq: COMM 2311; or permission of the Department.
COMM 3351 (3CR)
SMALL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
This course examines the structure of the small and micro-business sector in Canada
and the United States and the most significant management issues characteristic of small
enterprise. These include business opportunity assessment for small enterprises,
competitive advantage, ownership and management structure, government/small business
relations, planning, data-base management, financing, financial management, and
marketing.
Prereq: COMM 2131 and 2201 or COMM 1001 and registration in third year; or permission of
the Department.
COMM 3361 (3CR)
ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND NEW VENTURE CREATION
An examination of the process of business venture creation and start-up and of the
role of the entrepreneur in this process. Topics include business opportunity assessment,
the structure and function of the business plan, new venture financing, and the legal and
regulatory aspects of start-up. The course will centre on the students' projects, calling
for the development of business ideas and authorship of business plans.
Prereq: COMM 2131 and 2201 or COMM 1001 and registration in third year; or permission of
the Department.
Exclusion: COMM 4341
COMM 3371 (3CR)
ISSUES IN BUSINESS AND SOCIETY
This course examines problems in managing relations between the firm and its many
stakeholders, including shareholders, government, public interest groups, employees,
other firms with which it does business, consumers, and society at large. Such topics as
business ethics, the social responsibility of business, business and the environment,
pluralism, foreign ownership, consumerism, and the multi-national organization are
examined.
Prereq: COMM 2131 and 2301; or permission of the Department.
Exclusion: COMM 4371
COMM 3411 (3CR)
QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS FOR BUSINESS DECISIONS
An introduction to formalized methods of arriving at business decisions. Topics
will be selected from constrained optimization models, decision models, game theory,
Markovian processes, network models, forecasting, and dynamic programming.
Prereq: MATH 1111, 3 credits in Computer Science and MATH 2321 (or ECON 2701 or PSYC
2011) or permission of the Department.
Note: Counts as an Economics elective for students taking a Major, Minor or Honours in
Economics.
COMM 3421 (3CR)
PRODUCTION AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
An introduction to issues and problems in the area of operations management. Topics
include: productivity, product design and process selection (manufacturing and services),
quality control, capacity planning, facility layout, work measurement, just-in-time
inventory systems, synchronized manufacturing, and automation.
Prereq: COMM 2131 and MATH 2311; or permission of the Department.
COMM 3431 (3CR)
MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS
This course covers the information systems approach to the decision-making process.
Such methods as Critical Path Planning, Electronic Data Processing and others will be
studied in reference to a total information system. The student will be involved in
identifying, evaluating, and designing information flows.
Prereq: 3 credits in Computer Science and COMM 2131; or permission of the
Department.
Exclusion: COMM 4411
COMM 3441 (3CR)
INTRODUCTION TO ELECTRONIC COMMERCE
This course is designed to introduce students to concepts and practices in
e-commerce. Topics include Internet security and the transference of data information,
using the Internet for creating management information systems, organizational issues
associated with e-commerce, the World Wide Web as a strategic business tool, marketing
products, services and ideas through Internet based media, and supplier/customer
communication issues.
Prereq: Third year standing plus twelve credits in Commerce; or permission of the
Department.
COMM 3501 (3CR)
INTRODUCTION TO FINANCE
Important topics in this course include value, capital budgeting, the relationship
of risk and expected return, market efficiency, capital structure and dividend policy.
Other topics such as option theory, hedging, the theory of interest, and international
finance may be introduced. The institutional setting of financial management in North
America, and specifically in Canada, will be discussed.
Prereq: ECON 1000, (or 1001 and 1011), MATH 1111, 3 credits in Computer Science and MATH
2321 (or ECON 2701 or PSYC 2011) and COMM 2101; or permission of the Department.
Note: Counts as an Economics elective for students taking a Major, Minor or Honours in
Economics.
COMM 3611 (3CR)
COMMERCIAL LAW
An introductory course in commercial law, providing background for general
business. Topics dealt with are: the essentials of a contract, general contract law, sale
of goods, employment and agency, business associations, credit transactions.
Prereq: Third or fourth year standing; or permission of the Department.
Exclusion: COMM 4611
COMM 4101 (3CR)
ADVANCED ACCOUNTING I
This course concentrates on advanced accounting theory and relates it to the
business reality this theory reflects. Topics will include partnerships, government and
not-for-profit accounting, corporate liquidation and bankruptcies, price level and
current value accounting, trusts and estates, and standard setting.
Prereq: COMM 3121; or permission of the Department.
Exclusion: COMM 4121
COMM 4131 (3CR)
ADVANCED ACCOUNTING II
An introduction to business combinations, consolidated financial statements, joint
ventures, and accounting for transactions and operations conducted in foreign
currencies.
Prereq: COMM 3121; or permission of the Department.
COMM 4201 (3CR)
MARKETING STRATEGY
The course provides an in-depth treatment of how marketing strategy is formulated
and implemented. This capstone course in the marketing major integrates knowledge
obtained from other marketing courses, and selected courses such as finance, policy, and
management. The focus is on strategic decisions which have a long-term impact on the
organization and which are difficult and costly to reverse. The strategic decision making
process is supported by an external analysis (an analysis of the organization's
environment) and an internal (firm) analysis.
Prereq: Fourth year standing in Commerce Program, plus six credits in the 3200/4200
series; or permission of the Department.
COMM 4211 (3CR)
SERVICES AND NON-PROFIT MARKETING
This course provides an integrated perspective on how to improve customer
satisfaction in a society which has become increasingly demanding of service providers.
It emphasizes managing information flow, demand fluctuations, employees, and elements of
marketing strategy.
Prereq: COMM 3211; or permission of the Department.
Exclusion: COMM 3241
COMM 4231 (3CR)
MARKETING RESEARCH
Marketing management decisions often require the collection and processing of
information, either from primary or secondary sources. In this course, the marketing
research process problem definition, data collection, data analysis, and data
interpretation is applied to a current marketing issue. Emphasis is placed on basic
aspects of research methodology, particularly the survey approach. A group project
involving computer laboratory time is required.
Prereq: MATH 2321 or ECON 2701 and fourth year standing in the Commerce Programme, plus 6
credits in the 3200/4200 series; or permission of the Department.
Note: PSYC 2011 will not be considered as a prerequisite for this course. Counts as an
Economics elective for students taking a Bachelor of Commerce or a Major, Minor or
Honours in Economics.
Exclusion: COMM 3221
COMM 4241 (3CR)
CURRENT CHALLENGES IN MARKETING
This course addresses emerging issues in marketing decision-making. Topics may
include recent research related to buyer behaviour, multidimensional scaling for
positioning strategies, marketing mistakes and controversies, advertising research
issues, pricing policy issues, distribution problems, product development issues, and
social marketing approaches.
Prereq: Fourth year standing in Commerce Program, plus six credits in the 3200/4200
series; or permission of the Department.
COMM 4311 (3CR)
BUSINESS POLICY I
This course integrates the concepts and techniques developed in prior Commerce
courses. It introduces the student to strategic management and the perspective of the
senior manager of either a business or a non-profit organization. It examines the process
of strategy formulation and implementation including the following topics: strategic
planning, competitive advantage, business, government relations, and generic
strategies.
Prereq: COMM 2201, 2301, and 3501; or permission of the Department.
Note: This course is open only to Commerce students in their last year
of studies for a Commerce degree.
COMM 4321 (3CR)
BUSINESS POLICY II
Topics include the role of personal values in strategy, the organization's history
as a strategic constraint, the relationships between organizational structure and
strategy, strategic control, and managing strategic change.
Prereq: COMM 4311; or permission of the Department.
COMM 4331 (3CR)
MANAGEMENT OF ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE
A study of organizational change from two perspectives: planned change and
evolutionary change. In discussing planned change the focus is on the planning and
implementation process for introducing innovation, restructuring, continual learning, and
other types of organizational change. Topics include overcoming resistance to change and
embedding the desired change. In discussing evolutionary change the focus is on the
patterns of change in the cultures, structures, systems and processes in different types
of organizations over extended periods of time in response to management initiatives,
competitive pressures and changes in other organizational variables.
Prereq: COMM 3341; or permission of the Department.
COMM 4341 (3CR)
BUSINESS ETHICS
This course deals with principles and practices of business ethics, with particular
reference to Canada and North America. Issues investigated may include: the question of
moral and legal responsibilities of corporations, ethics in business (including the
various elements of ethics programmes such as codes of conduct, telephone hotlines,
training, the use of ethics officers and of ethics consultants), different control styles
(integrity vs compliance programmes), the problems associated with the prisoner's
dilemma, the existence of implicit moral theory in economics and finance, the theory of
the firm and agency theory, the problem of reputation, virtue ethics, ethical investment
theory and practice, and the modelling of ethical problems, mainly using game
theory.
Prereq: COMM 3501 or COMM 3411, ECON 1000 (or ECON 1001 and 1011); or permission
of the Department.
COMM 4441 (3CR)
MANAGEMENT OF TECHNOLOGY
An examination of theories of technological innovation and technology diffusion in
the industrial sector as background for a study of the strategic possibilities open to
the firm's senior management for shaping its product and process technology. Topics
include: invention and the commercialization of invention, organization of the R and D
function, protection of new technology, importation and adoption of technology new to the
firm, incremental innovation, shopfloor innovation and tinkering, and monitoring the
technological environment.
Prereq: COMM 3421; or permission of the Department.
COMM 4501 (3CR)
INVESTMENTS AND PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT
Topics include theories of security valuation, portfolio selection, stock markets
and economic efficiency, and capital market equilibrium. The behaviour of prices of
stocks, bonds, and money market instruments will be investigated. Derivative securities
will be introduced. Problems of evaluating the investment performance of individuals and
investment management institutions will be discussed.
Prereq: COMM 3501; or permission of the Department.
Note: Counts as an Economics elective for students taking a Bachelor of Commerce or a
Major, Minor or Honours in Economics.
COMM 4511 (3CR)
CAPITAL MARKETS AND FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
An examination of the functions of financial intermediaries operating in our
capital markets. Topics are selected from financial intermediation theory, capital
markets, security and financial market regulations, risk and return in financial markets,
and ethical considerations.
Prereq: COMM 3501; or permission of the Department.
Note: Counts as an Economics elective for students taking a Bachelor of Commerce or a
Major, Minor or Honours in Economics.
COMM 4521 (3CR)
CORPORATE FINANCE
Financial concepts and techniques applied to problems such as working capital
management, financial planning, capital budgeting, capital structure, cost of capital,
and mergers and acquisitions.
Prereq: COMM 3501; or permission of the Department.
Note: Counts as an Economics elective for students taking a Bachelor of Commerce or a
Major, Minor or Honours in Economics.
COMM 4800/4801 (6/3CR)
SPECIAL TOPICS IN BUSINESS
This course is devoted to business topics not covered by the other courses offered.
The course content, format and prerequisites will vary depending on the particular area
of business to be covered.
Prereq: Permission of the Department.
COMM 4950/4951 (6/3CR)
INDEPENDENT STUDY
This course is offered to students who wish to study in depth a subject introduced
in a previous course or a business area which is not currently covered by our present
course offerings. It usually involves independent study in a programme planned by the
student and approved by the Department; however, it is possible that some projects may
involve several participants working together in groups.
Prereq: Permission of the Department.
COMM 4990 (6CR)
HONOURS THESIS
This course requires a major paper on a business topic and is carried out in close
consultation with a thesis director.
Prereq: Permission of the Department.