Business Administration

This course develops a comprehensive overview of modern globalization processes, their characteristics, and their implications for corporate performance. The ultimate objective of this course is to provide students with an interpretative framework to analyze how different companies –both transnational and domestic - can approach the risks and opportunities that globalization entails and deal with the strategic tradeoffs they face in a global context. This course is designed to develop an in-depth understanding of modern globalization processes and their implications for corporate strategies. The first part introduces modern globalization and its characteristics in light of the concurrent evolution of globalization and localization trends. It looks at the emerging geography of production and labor, introducing the concept of technological change as the key enabling process of the global economy. The second part of the course examines the key actors involved, namely companies confronting daily the opportunities and risks of doing (or not) business in the global market. The course addresses all major strategic options for business development in an interdependent and open economy, including location decisions, knowledge generation, and management strategies and human capital management practices. These different strategic options are analyzed through the lenses of conceptual arguments, empirical evidences, and evidences from real world experience. The course recommend students have a general background in international business and management at the undergraduate level as a prerequisite.

This course examines the strategic partnership between high growth start-ups and venture capital. It investigates how venture capitalists perceive the worthiness of an idea, and covers some of the best ideas from the top early-stage investment practices. The first part of the course covers analytic frameworks on the underlying logics in the startup and venture capital ecosystem. The second part is a series of thought experiments, wherein ideas are crafted and evaluated across different business possibilities. The course demystifies the real-world startup and venture capital practices, by thinking analytically on some of its key features. As an outcome, such frameworks are geared to help enable students to make insightful conversations with practitioners from startups or venture capital firms in the future.

Europe encompasses the world’s largest and most complicated market. Recent events, particularly those following the ongoing economic crisis on the continent, raise profound questions about the future of Europe. This course focuses on present and future business issues facing the entire continent. Under this focus, the course examines the following questions: Should a “European” management style be developed instead of the national practices that frequently characterize companies originating in different European nations? How and under what circumstances should the European Union expand to Turkey, Ukraine, and other countries in the East? What has been the impact of the Treaty of Lisbon, in effect since 2009, on European economic, political, and social issues? In order to provide essential background and context for these issues, the course also reviews key events in modern European History. The course utilizes a variety of approaches, including small-group study, lectures, and case-study analysis, to develop a comprehensive understanding of European business. On virtual excursions to different districts of Berlin, the course studies how European and German history have influenced the economic development of this magnificent international capital and the course investigates the impact Berlin has in turn had on European business management. The course also features guest speakers on different topics in business and society in the European context.

This course examines what entrepreneurship is, how to understand entrepreneurship, how to prepare for the process of entrepreneurship, what difficulties one will encounter in the process of entrepreneurship, and who can help one in entrepreneurship.

This course provides students with an introduction to the basic concepts, methods, and practices of good accounting. Beginning with a consideration of accounting as an information system, students explore the structure of the double-entry bookkeeping system, the periodic measurement of profit by businesses, and the preparation of the statement of financial position. Students also tackle important topics like the problem of accounting for groups of companies and basic techniques for preparing group accounts. Students engage with the preparation of the three most important financial statements: the income statement, balance sheet, and the statement of cash flow. Through the active application of the content and the use of real-world examples, students understand how investors and others use financial statements and market information to assess a company’s investment potential.

This course is designed for students who are interested in launching, growing, or investing in early-stage companies. The course reviews the different sources of funding available to entrepreneurs and the key metrics considered by investors when assessing a new business. It covers important finance principles such as business planning, financial statement analysis, and startup valuation. Students develop a business plan and pitch to industry experts at the end of the course. The course is for students who are broadly interested in finance and entrepreneurship and does not require any prior background in accounting.

This course examines what is creativity; what is entrepreneurship; and why do they matter. In this course, students will identify, analyze and propose a solution to a meaningful unsolved problem in the world for an identified market segment. The course runs in an experiential mode, and you will form multidisciplinary teams to tackle their chosen problem, guided by entrepreneurship mentors and UNSW alumni who are running their own startup. Practical tools and protocols will be introduced for critically developing solution concepts, performing competitive analyses, building mindsets, skills, creativity and problem-solving, motivating and developing others, networking, building effective cross-disciplinary teams, designing experiments to validate concepts and rapid prototyping. Students will then learn pitching and visual and graphic design skills, learning how to communicate influentially.

This course covers global wine economics and the economy of sparkling wines and champagne. Topics include production potential, shipments and sales, strategies and economic models, marketing strategy and packaging, and the future of the industry.