Business Administration

This course analyses the basic concepts associated with competing theoretical perspectives on the nature of the firm and analysis of market coordination. It develops an awareness of how recent advances in the theory of Industrial Organization relate to previously dominant perspectives in the field. Students develop an understanding of how different approaches to Industrial Organization have been applied at the level of specific firms, particular industries, and with regard to concrete policy initiatives. Students learn to outline, evaluate, and illustrate the contributions of transaction cost economics, resource-based theories of the firm, and evolutionary approaches to Industrial Organization; evaluate and illustrate accounts of the market order which highlight the role of social rules, relationships, and conventions in the functioning of competitive processes; and demonstrate the policy relevance of recent theoretical advances in Industrial Organization by evaluating the promotion of quasi-market structures in sectors such as broadcasting.

This course provides the key concepts, processes and methods of marketing research, and how to apply those tools to solve real-life business problems. The course covers the technical aspects of marketing research (both qualitative and quantitative research methods) through lectures and discusses real life applications using various articles and cases. An important element of this course is a marketing research project where students identify and solve a real business problem using marketing research methods.

Students will participate in business plans writing and critiques and enjoy vivid interactions with entrepreneurs and guest speakers for experience sharing and collaboration potentials. What would it take to turn a business idea into a venture? What can we gain from a classroom setting, and link it to real-world practices? Through team projects, invited talks, role plays, and various kinds of activities, students find answers to these questions and learn to become successful entrepreneurs. The major deliverable from this class is your business plan and a small scale launch of your planned business.