Course Descriptions

• MPA505 Professional Internship
• MPA507 Advanced Professional Internship
• MPA521 Canadian Government and Public Policy
• MPA523 Defence Decision Making
• MPA525 Policing Administration
• MPA527 Professional Ethics and Defence Management
• MPA529 Canadian Defence and Foreign Policy
• MPA537 Financial Decision Making
• MPA539 Economics of Defence
• MPA549 Economics of National Security
• MPA555 Management Information Systems for Defence Management
• MPA557 Strategic Management for Defence
• MPA559 Project Management
• MPA565 Conflict Analysis and Management
• MPA567 Managing and Resolving Violent Conflicts
• MPA569 Organizational Theory
• MPA571 Defence Technology: Strategy and Policies
• MPA573 Leading and Working in a Diverse Environment
• MPA575 Human Security: Theory and Practice
• MPA577 Interagency Coordination
• MPA579 Government Procurement
• MPA581 Decision and Policy Analysis
• MPA583 Issues in the Health of Military Personnel, Veterans and their Families
• PR500 Project
• TH500 Thesis

MPA505 Professional Internship

One elective credit awarded for professional experience.  The student applies to the chair for the credit with detailed description of five years or more experience after achieving a first degree.

Credit(s):

1

MPA507 Advanced Professional Internship

One elective credit awarded for professional experience.  The student applies to the chair for the credit with detailed description of ten years or more experience after achieving a first degree.

Credit(s):

1

MPA521 Canadian Government And Public Policy

This course analyses different theories of public policy-making as applied by the Canadian government in the pursuit of "rationality", and in the determination of the "public interest" for Canadian citizens. Theories of public policy making are ways of making sense of the structures, the processes and the people involved in deciding for the citizens. To explain the application of these theories is one purpose of this course. There is a substantive aspect to public policy-making, which is even more important than the procedural one. This course is designed to demonstrate this importance and its relevance to public policy-making in Canada.

DNDLearn

Credit(s):

1

MPA523 Defence Decision-making

This course examines the concepts that have been advanced from time to time to provide the structure for formulating and managing defence policy and commanding the Canadian Armed Forces.The main vehicles for this investigation are the studies and reports concerning the higher direction of national defence prepared between 1936 and 1992.

DNDLearn

Credit(s):

1

MPA525 Policing Administration

This course introduces students to the administration of policing and public safety in Canada. Topics covered include police reform, staffing, oversight, budgeting, legislated mandates and institutional structure across the three levels of government in Canada. Previous knowledge of policing or police management is not required; however, students would benefit from having taken MPA521 prior to enrolling in this course.

DNDLearn

Credit(s):

1

MPA527 Professional Ethics And Defence Management

This course is an examination of the military and ethical responsibilities of officers. Alternative ethical systems and norms of behaviour are evaluated. Moral conclusions as to the right, proper, and just decisions, and required military actions facing managerial morality problems are also drawn. The defence ethics programme and the conflict of interest philosophy are also two important subjects of the course, in keeping with the goals and ethical culture of the Canadian Forces.The approach will be multidisciplinary but the focus will be on the complexities of military operations from a legal perspective. Military professionalism, philosophical theories, and psychological perspectives are topics in the course. The aim is to assist the student in understanding the practical applications to military life of moral principles and ethical theories. The curriculum introduces opposing views on current controversial issues in order to incorporate debate as a useful instructional methodology for applying the military ethical doctrine to current practise within the Canadian Forces while respecting the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom.

DNDLearn

Credit(s):

1

MPA529 Canadian Defence And Foreign Policy

This course examines the development of Canadian defence policy and the factors that have helped mould and determine it from the Great War to the present. Such themes as threat perception, geopolitical considerations, alliance associations, governmental structures for decision making, personalities, force development, defence economics, the socio-military interface, and foreign and domestic policy concerns are part of the study. The course will be run using the specialized readings-seminar paper method.

DNDLearn

Credit(s):

1

MPA537 Financial Decision-making

This course introduces students to principles of financial decision-making within a corporation and government department. Topics included are: costing theory and analysis (including regression analysis), construction of income statements for a manufacturing concern, cost-volume-profit analysis including break even analysis, the budget cycle for a manufacturing concern, standard costs and variance analysis, fixed cost allocation including Activity Based Costing, Business Planning, discounted cash flow analysis, security valuation, the cost of capital, Life Cycle Costing, risk analysis in financial planning, special DND budgeting issues, and derivative securities and their use in risk management.

DNDLearn

Credit(s):

1

MPA539 Economics Of Defence

This course is concerned with the application of economic methods of reasoning to defence policy issues and to questions of defence resource allocation. Elementary ideas of micro-and macroeconomic analysis are reviewed and employed to address issues such as the appropriate level of defence expenditures and the appropriate distribution of defence budgets between manpower and equipment. Specific topics include the economics of alliances, arms races, arms control, budget distributions, weapons procurement, manpower planning, economic warfare, disarmament and conversion. Elementary economic concepts are employed to develop approaches to structuring complex problems of defence resource allocation involving risk and uncertainty. The course also examines the effect of defence activities on economic performance at the national, regional and industrial levels.

DNDLearn

Credit(s):

1

MPA549 Economics Of National Security

This course is concerned with the application of economics reasoning to national security policy issues and to questions of resource allocation toward national security and within government agencies for national security. Complex problems of national security resource allocation are addressed using game theoretic concepts of strategic analysis. The course reviews the fundamental concepts of economic analysis and then proceeds to apply them to demand side issues such as domestic security and democracy, regional and global security, and to supply side issues such as intelligence, enforcement, and legislation. Specific topics include street, food and health security, immigration, information and cyberspace, peacekeeping, intelligence, deterrence and preemption, domestic and international legislation.

DNDLearn

Credit(s):

1

MPA555 Management Information Systems For Defence Management

This course will focus on strategic issues involving the use of Information Systems/Information Technology (IS/IT). The course will focus on how the effective use and management of the Information Systems/Information Technology of a firm can help the firm meet its long-range goals and objectives. The course will help the student to develop a basic understanding of the concepts of IS/IT. It will then focus on how the external environment and the internal organizational environment combine to effect the choice and implementation of strategies and policies in the traditional IS/IT areas of: Management Information Systems, Decision Support Systems, Expert and Expert Support Systems, Information Systems Planning, and Information Systems Design and Development.

DNDLearn

Credit(s):

1

MPA557 Strategic Management For Defence

The course studies and analyzes environmental scanning, policy formulation, policy implementation, high command influence and control, environmental adaptation and management of change. The emphasis is on understanding the fundamental concepts as well as acquiring the ability to study and analyze complex managerial situations requiring strategic management thinking. Areas of study include: environmental scanning, critical resources, outsourcing, technology adoption, environmental adaptation, strategic planning, operational support, organizational design, crisis management and international management. The course uses case studies in both the public and private sectors. Particular attention is given to strategic management in the military context, and in the DND organization.

DNDLearn

Credit(s):

1

MPA559 Project Management

Addressing project management from a "management" perspective, this course examines the discipline from a defence perspective. Topics covered include requirement definition, project selection, organization, planning, scheduling, budgeting, control and termination. The course discusses the role of the project manager and his/her interaction with the defence management system. Specific project management methods and techniques, including computer software, negotiation approaches, risk and quality management and procurement procedures are investigated. Completed and on-going projects are studied.

DNDLearn

Credit(s):

1

MPA565 Conflict Analysis And Management

This course introduces the student to the area of Conflict Analysis and Management.The course will study conflict at three levels of resolution: Intrafirm, Inter-firm and International Conflict. Conflict Analysis and Management concepts will be studied in more depth from the point of view of qualitative and quantitative analysis. Quantitative analysis will include the systems theory and risk analysis and management perspectives. This will be followed by an examination of the different types and models prevalent in the area. Finally, various case studies will be used to highlight the important concepts which have been covered.

DNDLearn

Credit(s):

1

MPA567 Managing And Resolving Violent Conflicts

This course examines the causes and correlates of violent conflict, and applies this to the study of conflict resolution before, during and after armed and organized violence within and between states. The evolution of conflict resolution as a discipline from the 1950s to the present, and hanging patterns of violence in the 20th century highlight third party roles and coercive and collaborative strategies. These themes are then explored through three phases in the conflict cycle: previolence, violence, and post-violence. Comparative case studies of prevention, management, and post-conflict reconstruction are drawn from post-Cold War conflicts. The course assumes knowledge of basic conflict analysis tools and vocabulary, and requires wide reading about contemporary conflicts. It is strongly recommended that MPA565 Conflict Analysis and Management be taken before this course.

DNDLearn

Credit(s):

1

MPA569 Organizational Theory

Organizational theory is the study of how socioeconomic entities called organizations function and how they affect and are affected by the environment in which they operate. Organizational theory is a multi-disciplinary body of knowledge that draws on sociology, psychology, political science, and economics. It explains the origins, development, transformation, persistence, and decline of organizations that order today's life in a more and more complex and uncertain environment. This course attempts to explore core concepts in organizational theory and their inter-relationships. It examines current theories as well as the major known classical approaches about organizations. The main objectives are to understand why organizations exist, why organizations have the structure that they do, what is organizational structure; what are mechanisms of coordination, control, formalization, and centralization of power in organizations.

DNDLearn

Credit(s):

1

MPA571 Defence Technology: Strategies And Policies

This course discusses defence technology as a goods/service/ideology process by examining its relationships with international affairs, national policies and security, and with military and paramilitary doctrine, capability and performance in peace and war. Topics include: history of defence technology; civilian-military relations; the military industrial complex; cycles of development; contemporary use of defence technology; tools and trends of technology foresight, national defence and trade policies; defence planning, programming and budgeting; and resource strategies for war and peace in alliance, coalition, and conflict settings now and in the future. Topical technology security issues to be addressed include: smart weapons, standardization and interoperability, dual-use goods and services, and impacts of globalization.

DNDLearn

Credit(s):

1

MPA573 Leading and Working in a Diverse Environment

This course will examine leading and working a diverse and multicultural environment within three contexts: (1) domestic organizations, (2) global or multinational organizations, and (3) military organizations. Diversity and multiculturalism add to the complexity of organizational environments by increasing the number of perspectives, interaction patterns, and approaches to leadership and management. The course explores many of the questions and challenges facing today's leaders.

DNDLearn

Credit(s):

1

MPA575 Human Security: Theory and Practice

This course addresses the evolving global security environment in terms of existing and possible strategies, policies and actions for the demands and opportunities of a Human Security regime. Theories and practises from the fields of history, psychology, international relations, politics, economics, project management and field engineering will be used in the study of the ways and means that determine how much freedom and dignity individuals enjoy as they live, move and work. A course focus will be real-world cases of interest and importance to Canada.

DNDLearn

Credit(s):

1

MPA577 Interagency Coordination

Government structures are characterized by the existence of various agencies in the delivery of services as well as in the performance of some functions. The course first introduces government agencies as distinct organizations. The second part examines coordination or integration of different agencies with different functions and jurisdictions as responses to changing environments. The third part covers applications such as national security, emergency management and procurement.

DNDLearn

Credit(s):

1

MPA579 Government Procurement

Procurement amounts to a significant proportion of government expenditures, particularly in defence capital programs. After an introduction to the fundamentals of procurement, the course discusses various sourcing methods in procurement. The second part concentrates on procurement offsets. The third part covers contract design and contract management issues, from processes leading to contract award to risk management and to audits and litigation. The final part of the course introduces the legal framework, from competition, trade and contract laws to litigation and ethics.

DNDLearn

Credit(s):

1

MPA581 Decision and Policy Analysis

Analytic approaches to decision-making and policy formulation within and across public-sector organizations are considered. The course will begin with an overview of decision-making and the general characteristics of the organizational frameworks within which decisions and policy are made. Then, analytic techniques such as multi-criteria decision analysis techniques, plural evaluation methods (e.g. voting), and cost-benefit analysis will be covered as well as some qualitative techniques. Particular emphasis is put on the process of analysis and its effect on decision and policy quality. Finally, systems analysis and policy formulation in multi-organization environments will be introduced.

DNDLearn

Credit(s):

1

MPA583 Issues in the Health of Military Personnel, Veterans and their Families

Students are exposed to health issues associated with military experience which also includes both veterans and military families. As a weekly webinar, the course will include presentations from Canadian specialists who will contextualize military mental and physical health needs and introduce theoretical and methodological approaches to conducting applied health research among this population.

DNDLearn

Credit(s):

1

PR500 Project

The project is worth two (2) elective credits.  The project title and scope will normally be approved by the Chair after the student has completed three or more core courses.

Credit(s):

2

TH500 Thesis

The thesis is worth six (6) elective credits.  The thesis title, scope and supervisor(s) will normally be approved by the Chair after the student has completed three or more core courses.

Credit(s):

6