Business Administration

This course gives students insights into the dynamics and effective leadership and management of teams within organizations. It provides students with the knowledge, skills, and analytical capabilities needed to practice teamwork in modern organizations and to lead teams to achieve successful outcomes. It explores the nature of teamwork in terms of how individuals effectively build agreement to shared goals and courses of action and facilitate organizational movement toward the achievement of these goals. In particular, it highlights theory and research that accounts for the characteristics, issues, and contexts of teams. Students make note of individual differences that contribute to team behavior and examine the situations that determine the salience of these differences. 

This course examines the major issues related to brands, which can be products, services or institutions. It covers topics such as the impact of technological and digital changes, modern marketing and communication terminology, the intercultural strategies for global branding, and how to engage with consumer groups. The course examines key aspects of popular culture, such as mass media advertising, transmedia advertising, social media trends, and the cultural background of a country. It is divided into two sections. The first section focuses on the fundamental concepts of branding, marketing, advertising, and popular culture studies. The second section focuses on different topics and case studies, including the Barcelona brand before and after the Olympics, the Madrid Olympics and World Cup candidacy case. It also looks at FC Barcelona as a Spanish soccer ambassador, Spanish fashion design with Zara and Custo Barcelona, the new cooking and Mediterranean diet era, and new professional representatives in brands such as influencers and new storytelling.  

The course addresses a selected collection of themes that are crucial for the creation and development of a startup, among which one can find group behavior and performance, leadership, motivation, and interpersonal influence, storytelling, gamification and design thinking. Through a series of interactive classes, lectures and exercises, students develop competencies in organizational design, human resources management, leadership, and organizational behavior in the context of an internal or external new venture.

Organizations operate in an increasingly complex environment, where change is a constant feature of business life. As generative AI (GenAI) reshapes industries and transforms the way people work, understanding how to manage change and digital transformation becomes increasingly critical. While GenAI offers unparalleled opportunities to enhance efficiency and productivity, it also presents complex challenges for management. Taking a multidisciplinary, social science-based approach, this course equips students with the necessary leadership and change management skills to implement successful digital transformation projects. The course blends theory with hands-on learning, using case studies and an interactive simulation game, where students will apply their knowledge by making strategic decisions. Additionally, students gain practical experience through a real-life GenAI-focused consultancy project.

This course provides an in-depth understanding of the principles and practices of brand management, with a focus on building and managing strong brand identities in various contexts. Students explore the strategic and tactical aspects of brand management, including brand positioning, brand equity, brand extension, brand communication, and brand performance measurement. The course also covers the latest trends and issues in brand management, such as digital branding, brand storytelling, and brand sustainability. 

This curse is about the recent and quickly emerging trends of voluntary and mandatory reporting on sustainability issues. It develops knowledge and understanding of the history, theory, and practice of environmental, social, and sustainability accounting and deals with concepts such as accountability and stakeholders. The course provides students with a critical appreciation of the relevance and role of sustainability accounting and reporting in contemporary society as the world transitions to net zero carbon emissions and aims to further the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. The course critically examines current and emerging practices in corporate settings including voluntary practices, how well stakeholders’ information needs are met, mandatory requirements, and greenwashing issues. 

In this course, students learn how organizations meet customer needs through effective planning, production, and service delivery; and designing, improving, and overseeing processes that transform resources into valuable products and services. Students gain a solid foundation in the principles and practices of Operations Management, with a focus on key concepts such as process design, quality control, supply chain management, and lean operations. Students learn the strategies used by successful organizations to streamline operations, reduce costs, and maximize value. Topics include case studies, simulations, and practical problem-solving scenarios. 

The course delivers the concepts and models underlying the modern analysis and pricing of financial derivatives. The philosophy of the course is to first provide the firm foundations for understanding derivatives in general. The required technical tools are explained carefully, allowing students to learn the language and to be able to converse with derivatives professionals. Once the tools are in place, those same tools can then be applied to any derivative. Special emphasis is put on those derivatives that shape the modern world. Students should feel comfortable with calculus, probability, and statistics at the intermediate undergraduate level before taking this course.