Business Administration

This course seeks to provide a platform for critical rethinking of the role of business in creating both business value and social value. Porter's “Shared Value Creation” is used as a broad framework to look into the building blocks of creating a win-win situation where economic success and societal benefits co-exist through innovative thinking and solutions. The courses examines how to design innovative businesses that can respond to increasing demands for a fairer and better society, a greener environment and greater job satisfaction, whilst reducing costs, building customer loyalty, attracting and retaining talents, thus creating long-lasting value. Assessment: preparation, attendance, and participation; individual written assignments; group project; group debate.

This course examines the critical issues facing organizations in simultaneously managing their human resources at home and abroad. It focuses on the connection between corporate strategies and the effective management of human resources across countries. Key topics include local responsiveness, global integration, social architecture, global talent, and global leadership. The course uses a combination of lectures, class discussions, and case analyses.

The course covers various aspects of the changing international business environment, and their impact upon business operations and strategy. It gives students an appreciation of the business difficulties faced; the variety of factors influencing the choices and compromises that have to be made in international businesses, and the implications of those for the future viability and effectiveness of the organizations concerned.

Google, eBay and Amazon have one thing in common: their business is providing a platform that facilitates users’ interaction. The success and failure of these business models depend to a large degree on the number of people using the platform and the “network effects” between them. Understanding networked businesses, their unique management challenges and competitive dynamics is crucial for students interested in a career in any such industry. Platform businesses comprise a large and rapidly growing share of the world economy. Such businesses in the computer, consumer electronics, media and internet sector comprise the heart of the so-called “New Economy.” Network effects are at the core of a series of improbable success stories, such as the intense growth of the smartphone-based car service Uber, the enormous user numbers of the Chinese auctioning site Taobao, and the massive advertising revenue that Facebook realized in recent years. Platform businesses face distinctive management challenges, which differ from those found in traditional manufacturing and service industries. Familiar rules for marketing and strategy may not apply. Pricing strategies for example follow different rules and platform providers often price their products and services below cost – or even given them away for free. Traditional barriers to entry no longer hold. Many of the industries gravitate towards “winner-take-all” competition. They have room for only few large players outperforming all of their competitors, as the spectacular success stories of Facebook, Amazon, and Google show. The course introduces concepts and frameworks to analyze platform business models and provides a foundation for strategic decision making in them. Using the Harvard Business School case study method, students discuss real-life cases, their successes, failures and options for the future. After completing the course, students are able to systematically analyze different networked businesses and evaluate the economic, technological and public policy context for the development of such businesses.