As a foundational course in the MPA curriculum, this course will focus on theoretical and empirical analysis of decision making. The goals of the course are to introduce a variety of accepted theories in understanding decision making. The course seeks to help students familiarize themselves with decision making within organizations and collective choices with conflicting interests, as well as coordination and institutional solutions to problems related to collective choices. To help students think analytically about the ways decisions are made within organizations in the political, economic and security arena. The knowledge gained will be applied to several real-life cases in American foreign and security policies. Comparison will be made between America and China.

CILO-1: Identify major points for understanding of key management concepts and the decision-making processes for the organization. CILO-2: Locate and evaluate the ways decisions are made within organizations in the political, economic and security arena. CILO-3: Apply of quantitative and qualitative decision-making methods to identify short-term and long-term consequences of these decisions for the organization.