MBA

This course helps you to understand and practice the marketing management process from the perspective of facts-based decision making and not that of sheer opinions-based decision making. Using marketing management and marketing research concepts, tools and easy-to-use spreadsheet modelling software, you will: get a hands-on experience with the process of marketing management; and focus on the analysis of structured (quantitative) marketing data. The Marketing Engineering for Excel (ME>XL) software add-in and the accompanying case studies (which include datasets) allow you to focus on the complexities and challenges of the marketing management decision-making process without having to directly deal with complex statistical models.

This course concentrates on the economic foundations of management by developing tools to analyze key issues of the industry (microeconomics) and general economic environment (macroeconomics) of a company. The first part, microeconomics, analyzes consumer behavior, producer pricing and production decisions under different market structures. The second part, macroeconomics, studies the operation of the entire economy, analyzing topics such as the determination of aggregate output, employment, inflation, interest rates, exchange rates and other macro variables.

This course introduces students to predictive and prescriptive analytics using tools of decision sciences and statistics. Participants will learn to select key information from a problem formulation, develop mathematical/statistical models, and assess goodness of their solution using Microsoft Excel. Topics covered include forecasting, decision analysis, and business optimization. It is a practical course that uses real world examples to illustrate how to apply quantitative techniques to draw useful managerial insight.

The course seeks to provide students with a broad introduction to the need for external accounting systems, the principles explicit and implicit within such systems, and the strengths and weaknesses in such systems. The course discusses the concepts and tools needed to understand and apply accounting information in optimizing managerial decisions, corporate planning and control. It focuses on the application of cost management, pricing, customer profitability analysis, budgeting, amongst others, for effective decision making. Key concepts and methods of accounting are discussed by focusing on the reporting of the financial position and financial performance of business organisations, the analysis of the financial statements produced by business organisations and the use of accounting information by management for planning, decision making and control purposes.

This course provides a well-balanced understanding of the underlying theory and its most important practical applications that allows managers to take financial decisions regarding the operating, investing, and financing activities of the firm. The course begins with an introduction of the financial landscape. It then examines how corporations create value through capital allocation. Specifically, it focuses on capital budgeting, valuation analysis and financing. Particular emphasis is placed upon the understanding of analytical techniques that provide numerical input to the decision-making process. Finally, the course discusses some key financial functions of MS Excel.

Production and Operations management can be defined broadly as the process steps that fulfil the production and delivery of “goods”, where “goods” include both material products and intangible services that offer some utility to the end consumer and the overall process subsumes all stages required to transform a product from a rough idea in a brainstorming meeting to the end customer offering. This course focuses on managerial decisions in production and operations and their interrelationships with the other functional areas of the firm. Major areas of study include the design of productive systems, strategic planning, and operations planning and control. Specific topics cover the areas of process and job design, facility planning, capacity planning, distribution planning, inventory management and production planning and control.

As the internal and the external environment of firms are in constant flux, managers need to sharpen their strategic skills. Strategy is the set of objectives and policies that set to define how a firm positions itself to gain competitive advantage and increase returns for its owner and stakeholders. Two questions are of importance, then: “What business should we participate in” and “How should we compete?” In answering these questions, the external environment and the internal firm resources and capabilities take a central role. We also examine strategic choices at the business unit, corporate, and network level. Finally, the course examines strategies in different industries and contexts (mature, new economy, global). Through case studies and assignments, you will learn to use tools for analyzing, creating, and communicating strategies.

Firms nowadays are presented with complex problems which require strong systems and design thinking skills and competences. Moreover, the speed of contemporary business transformations dictates a more active role of the workforce towards enabling and co-creating firms’ future. In this environment, employees strive for the skills but also the tools to inquire complex problems and design organisationally desirable solutions. The current course comprises a unique introduction to business inquiry methodologies that would allow our students to prepare and take active role in solving business problems and devising future opportunities.

Supply chain management comprises of the strategic, regional, and global perspective of procurement and logistics operations aiming at formulating new frameworks and perspectives to achieve organizational and sector wide advantages. The course aims to provide up-to-date knowledge on supply chain management practices in an international context and enable students to discern the evolution of supply chain management and its strategic contributions. Supply chain management is also the study of the production systems and their influence on supply chain strategies, leading to ever more complex global networks. End-to-end supply chain visibility is a challenge that can be overcome thanks to technology. Yet the integration of ever more powerful technological platforms pose challenges of their own. Sustainability principles are increasingly integrated into supply chain decisions. Developed economies rely on supply chains to enable their service economy and deliver more value to their customers.

This course explores the challenges and opportunities arising from digital disruption and transformation, aiming to equip leaders with strategic insights for navigating the digital era. Inspired by Mark Andreesen’s dictum that “software is eating the world,” the course acknowledges that no industry is immune to technological shifts. It addresses the uncertainties surrounding the implications of these shifts for business models, organizational structures, and managerial practices. The curriculum advances from examining the external technological environment, with a particular focus on digital disruption, to internal organizational responses. Key topics include digital customer experience and IT infrastructure as critical elements of digital transformation. One overarching issue centers on the alignment of technological investments with strategic business priorities. Emphasizing strategic agility, the course concludes with frameworks to sustain long-term innovation as a countermeasure to disruption. The practice of management as we know it is the product of the industrial era adapted for the “knowledge economy”. Today’s radically different technological paradigm demands a new model of management. Re-discovering management is the ultimate key to effective digital strategies.

Seaborne transportation is a crucial catalyst for world trade and economic growth. Globalization, increased competition, and rapid technological changes have resulted in lower transportation costs, making shipping even more relevant and important for today’s global economy. The shipping industry however is characterized by its cyclicality and capital intensiveness and as a result, stakeholders need to adopt a prudent and diligent approach. The course exposes the participants to the industry’s macroeconomic and microeconomic forces, the economic and regulatory environment whilst it also analyses different capital sources that can be employed by shipping companies in order to diversify their capital structure and maximize shareholders value. Real-life case studies are being used throughout the course, enhancing participants’ practical understanding of key shipping and ship-financing concepts and structures.