Business Administration

This course on leadership and followership addresses the challenge of having and following a sense of direction that is anchored in why an organization exists in the first place and for whom and what its products serve. It draws on the three perspectives of authentic, pioneering and legacy leadership to explore opportunities for leadership to have a constructive impact both on oneself and one’s own, and those beyond the boundaries of one’s own sphere. The course encourages a deeper understanding of leadership and leading/following dynamics by stimulating students' own reflections. The teaching format is interactive, and students are expected to actively participate in all elements of the course, including interactive lectures, classroom or small-group discussions, case work and workshops. Students are expected to be familiar with the material in standard leadership textbooks, such as: DuBrin, Andrew J. PRINCIPLES OF LEADERSHIP; Northouse, Peter G. LEADERSHIP – THEORY AND PRACTICE; Yukl, Gary LEADERSHIP IN ORGANIZATIONS; Bass, Bernard M. & Ruth Bass, THE BASS HANDBOOK OF LEADERSHIP; THEORY, RESEARCH & MANAGERIAL APPLICATIONS.

The course provides an overview of the knowledge, theories, and skills related to corporate marketing. The course covers the need to strengthen corporate marketing management in the process of developing a socialist market economy; analysis of the marketing environment; purchase behavior of the market; integrated marketing decisions; basic procedures, methods, and strategies of marketing activities; and marketing management problems.

Asset managers play an important role within the economy – facilitating effective saving for individuals and institutions, making financial markets more efficient, and allocating capital to firms and entrepreneurs. This course provides an overview of this process from the industry perspective, providing the knowledge and skills needed to manage assets. It introduces the analysis and valuation of securities in the major asset classes, and examines the investment process and how managers construct portfolios which add value for their clients, in theory and in practice.

This course offers an introduction to marketing. The course aims to introduce key concepts in marketing; enable students to become conversational in marketing and foster an understanding of how firms employ various marketing strategies. It educates on the tools/methods to make decisions in complex marketing situations.

The class goes through main aspects of asset management. It covers a variety of asset classes and also goes over Modern Portfolio Theory. It is a comprehensive course on investing in different securities and accessing different investor profiles and risk preferences. It also dives into security selections, security timing, diversification, and rebalancing. This course represents a broad study of the financial markets. Topics include mutual funds, hedge funds, private equity funds, pension funds, regulatory agencies, investment fund trading strategies, ownership structure and fund manager performance assessment. This course prepares students for other advanced finance courses in investments. Students are expected to have working knowledge of algebra, statistics, and Microsoft Excel. References: Zvi Bodie, Alex Kane and Alan J. Marcus, INVESTMENTS; John C. Hull, RISK MANAGEMENT AND FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS. Suggested readings include The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Economist, etc. 

This course exposes students to developing innovative and entrepreneurial responses to complex problems. The course reviews recently established theories of entrepreneurship and innovation at individual, organizational, and institutional levels in emerging economy contexts.  Time is spent analyzing local, regional, and global issues facing entrepreneurs and organizations/institutions supporting entrepreneurship and innovation, with a special focus on issues related to food and agricultural sectors. Some prior field experience in emerging economies constitutes an advantage for the students in implementing the course activities.

The course covers the nature, scope, and role of the marketing in business practice. It includes a study of marketing concepts, as well as developing and implementing effective marketing plans.