Business Administration

To develop creative future business leaders with global perspectives and integrity, this course provides students with a practical and comprehensive understanding of the management of the multinational corporations (MNCs). In this course, students will (1) learn about international business strategy and organization, and (2) develop the ability to deal with the various problems in managing business operations internationally. By taking this course, students will gain the fundamental knowledge of international management, and develop their global perspective to become a future ethical business leader in the global marketplace.

The overall aim of this subject is to establish the foundations of innovation and entrepreneurship, and use tools such as design thinking and lean startup strategy to create values. Students will acquire a broad overview of principles, theories, and practice of innovation and entrepreneurship, together with an understanding of key tools, skills, and attitudes required to operate in an entrepreneurial environment. On successful completion of this subject students should be able to:

•   Explain the range, scope and complexity of the issues and problems related to the strategic management of technology, innovation and entrepreneurship

•   Analyze and evaluate various approaches to managing innovation and entrepreneurship, in both startup and mature organizations

•   Apply major innovation theories and entrepreneurial tools (e.g., design thinking, lean startup strategy, open innovation) to the analysis of case studies

•   Explain the innovative and entrepreneurial evolution and phenomena taking place today

The banking industry is changing widely and consistently. Technology is playing an increasing role in the financial services industry, offering new opportunities to make new competitors - namely FinTechs and BigTechs - enter the financial services market, empowering existing players and threatening the way incumbents’ business models are changing. The course exposes students to this fast-growing intersection between technology and finance, under a double perspective: disruption versus evolution. Also covering the juncture of modern technology and banking. The curriculum is organized by vertical-product areas that are the spectrum of concepts driving innovations of the principal financial intermediation functions. They are also those that are most active and most prone to innovation through start-ups: money and payments, lending, saving, and investment. For each area, the course analyzes the marketplace, the incumbents, the new business cases, and strategies of the incoming technology-driven players with an emphasis on the underlying economics, technology applied, and the way competition is changing its features. Students develop a theoretical and practical understanding of the forces transforming the banking and financial services industry at an international level.

This course introduces the concepts of financial accounting and its underlying assumptions. It studies basic accounting procedures including transaction recording in journals and ledgers and preparation and analysis of financial statements. It covers the principles of double-entry bookkeeping, interpretation of financial statements, issues raised by corporate regulation, and the use of management information for decision making. Topics include accounting and information for decision making; basic financial statements; the accounting cycle, capturing economic events, and reporting financial results; accounting for merchandising activities; financial assets; inventories and cost of goods sold; plant assets and depreciation; liabilities and stockholders' equity; income and changes in retained earnings; statement of cash flows; and financial statement analysis. Text: John J. Wild, Winston Kwok, Ken W. Shaw, and Barbara Chiappetta, PRINCIPLES OF FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING. Assessment: attendance and participation, assignments, midterm test, group project, final exam.

This course offers a practical study of spreadsheet tools for the automation of tasks and data lifecycle management. Topics include: an introduction to the use of spreadsheets; structure of a spreadsheet-- book, sheets, and cells; working with cells and sheets; formula and references; tables and pivot tables; data visualization.