Business Administration

This course equips students with the tools and the knowledge required to understand, analyze, and manage the creation, development, and exploitation of innovation within companies. The course consists of three parts. Part one discusses industry dynamics of technological innovation, topics include sources of innovation, types and patterns of innovation, S-curves and diffusion of innovation, and network effects and platform markets. Part two discusses technology commercialization strategy and protection, topics include profiting from innovation; protecting innovation through Patents; and Trademarks, Copyrights, and trade secrets. The third part of the course discusses managing the innovation process, topics include selecting innovation projects, managing the R&D portfolio, organizing for innovation, managing new product development teams, and managing the new product development process.

This course introduces business communication skills. It looks at the standard practices for communicating within and across business sectors. It covers the fundamentals of business writing, including memoranda, email, business letters, and discuss how to be persuasive and engaging in these writings. Additionally, we explore oral presentation as it exists in different professional contexts and settings.

The course examines the principles of enterprise operation and management based on the principles of economics. It focuses on the general principles of management, production, supply, and marketing of enterprise operations, human resources, production, accounting, strategic design and execution, management tools, etc. The course also combines the basic principles of management with the experience of successful companies and relevant successful business cases, and analyzes corporate development and growth. The course format includes discussion, company site visits, and guest lectures delivered by entrepreneurs.

This course provides students with a comprehensive overview of this fast-growing market from the perspective of the investor, management team/entrepreneur, and fund manager – and concludes with an external assessment of the benefits (and failings) of private equity). In terms of how the course is taught, this course combines both a theoretical academic understanding of the industry with the practical vocational aspects to provide some of the skills required to work within the industry, taught by someone who is a partner at a private equity focused investment banking firm, has invested in PE deals and who has been backed as a manager in a start-up. Overall, the course provides students with vital knowledge to be able to understand how private equity interacts with other alternative and mainstream asset classes and offers context relevant to those considering careers in investment banking, asset management, accountancy, and private equity. It also provides an insight into different types of private equity (e.g. venture and growth capital) to address the relevance for start-ups and early stage businesses.

This course introduces the central traditions in organization and leadership studies by covering the basic set of concepts and perspectives needed to analyze and understand organizational phenomena and make sense of challenges managers and workers might face. The following theoretical themes (among others) are included: motivation, culture, control, leadership, and organizational design. Furthermore, the course seeks to develop analytical (problem-identifying) and decision making (problem-solving) skills required to manage complex situations, as well as train students in argumentation and presentation skills. An important pedagogical idea of the course is to make sure that theories are applied to organizational practice. Case studies are the main tool to accomplish this. In order to address the complexity of organizational issues, various perspectives are adopted when organizational practice is discussed, and emphasis is put on reflective usage of theories.