Business Administration

This course instructs on how corporate finance is being practiced in Japanese corporations. The history and status of corporate finance in Japan will be presented, focusing on the uniqueness of Japanese management from a financial management perspective.

Knowledge of corporate finance is not required; the basics of financial management will be explained in each session. Each session consists of two parts.

The first part of the session addresses the history and status of corporate finance in Japan, such as the history of Japanese stock market, banking systems, how Japanese people behave with regards to asset management, etc.

The second part of the session provides a lecture on the basics of financial management, including various finance theories, e.g. Free Cash Flow, Time value of money, Discounted Cash Flow, Net Present Value, WACC, etc.  Students will be given opportunities to discuss various topics about contemporary finance such as the latest trend of the capital market, M&A etc. For the students who have already studied corporate finance prior to their arrival in Japan, this second part may be a repetition of what they have learned. However, it would aid in the understanding of what is discussed in the first part of the session.

This course is to help students better understand why people make certain financial choices in a way that systematically contradicts theoretical expectations. More specifically, this course is particularly interested in exploring examples of where conventional theory in finance does not hold and markets appearing to be acting "irrationally." Consequently, this course guides students through the development of the field of behavioral finance from the early ground-breaking work of psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky in the 1970s-1980s, to the extensive field that it is today, where the course covers a range of topics relating to seemingly irrational financial behavior, including spending, investing, trading, retirement planning, wellbeing, and public policy. 

One of the greatest challenges for today’s global managers involved in transnational Post-Merger Integrations (PMI), is to be able to build and manage a highly effective team. Since today’s teams cross cultural boundaries, this involves building competencies that simultaneously ensure success across numerous cultural environments and enable accelerated performance through collaborative skills. The new breed of global managers must be prepared to work in a new team environment. Critical to forming and managing effective teams is an understanding and mastery of cross-cultural competence.
This interactive course builds individual and team competencies required for working, managing, and leading across cultures and geographies in the context of transnational Post-Merger Integrations. This course is aimed at demonstrating the impact of culture on communication, building relationships, business culture, and management styles, providing participants with the necessary knowledge, mindset, and skills for more effective multicultural teamwork.

This course introduces a basic understanding of what leadership actually is and how that understanding depends on time and context. Students take a closer look at what enables individuals to lead in an entrepreneurial way and why an entrepreneurial mindset is more than ever important among today’s leaders. The European Commission developed a reference framework (“EntreComp”) to establish an understanding of entrepreneurship as a competence that results in social, cultural, or financial value for others. The basic idea of this framework is that the necessary skills and attitudes can be learned and applied by anyone. However, the outcome in practice regarding entrepreneurial diversity looks different. Women and ethnic minorities, for instance, remain significantly underrepresented in startup ecosystems worldwide. The course touches upon the causes and discusses possible solutions. It also emphasizes learning about the diversity of the Berlin startup ecosystem; to this end, guests from local startups and impact communities visit or are visited. Through participation in the course, students gain a basic understanding of entrepreneurial leadership in its diversity with a focus on Berlin and Europe. Integrated work with historical and modern role models help students adopt a critical perspective on good leadership. Moreover, students have the opportunity to reflect on and develop their own (entrepreneurial) leadership skills. For this purpose, the course is designed to be highly interactive and relies on innovative teaching methods.

A special session is a full day leadership coaching with horses (physical contact is voluntary!). Such an approach is relatively new to university education but is gaining popularity in Human Resources (HR) and leadership development. The beauty of equine interaction is that horses are not biased. They do not judge a person by status, gender, or skin color, but respond only to personal radiance when deciding whether or not to follow a human being. This way, students experience the value of diversity in leadership and ultimately learn about the importance of trustworthiness and communication. By receiving very honest individual feedback, students have the opportunity to further develop their personal leadership identity and skills.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale program. The course is intended for advanced level students only. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. This course provides theoretical concepts and managerial tools to (a) understand and analyze the main models underlying organizational behavior and people management; (b) develop and increase critical skills in decision making through the analysis of the impact of theories; c) identify problem solving approaches through discussion of case studies. Furthermore, this course intends to develop and practice teamwork skills by examining complex situations, identifying common action plans, and coming up with solution during projects. The course consists of three main subjects. The first subject is on the individual in organizations. Topics in this section include: individual differences: personalities and skills; definition of personality; the big five model; the most relevant personality traits; personality assessment; the nature and relationship of values, attitudes, moods, and emotions; job satisfaction and potential consequences; motivation at work, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation; why people act the way they act, motivational theories; and goal setting, performance assessment, compensation, and career management as motivational tools. The second subject is on group and team processes. Topics in this section include: work groups; different kinds of work teams and the 5-stage development model; team characteristics and effectiveness; how to measure team effectiveness; team dysfunctional processes; and virtual teams. The last subject is on power, politics, and conflicts. Topics in this section include: sources of individual formal and informal power; politics as the exercise of power in organizations; conflict in organizations; sources of conflict in organizations; Pondy's model of organizational conflict; and tactics to handle conflict in organizations.

The course provides students with a framework for understanding and analyzing the key issues involved in developing marketing strategy and conducting marketing operations on an international scale. At the heart of the course is the tension between standardization and adaptation and implications for the marketing mix.

This course covers marketing strategies and tactics that are used by firms that engage in marketing their products/services on the Internet and/or mobile device. This course uses a combination of lectures, discussions, and projects. The purpose is to provide an overview for better understanding of the challenges and opportunities businesses have while trying to promote their products/service online. The assignments of this class are about developing a marketing plan for an existed brand, showing the advantages and the ways to approach the goal.

This course offers a study of consumer decision-making processes. Topics include: consumer behavior; external factors to consumer behavior; internal factors to consumer behavior; types of purchase and decision-making processes; consumer society.

This course covers what companies do, how they compete against each other, and the relationship between companies and the societies where they exist. Coming from an international perspective, the course focuses mostly on questions of strategy and organization, rather than issues or activities related to leadership, psychology, operations management, finance, or accounting. 

The course aims to: (1) Build a fundamental understanding of business and management in English, and (2) Apply and expand that understanding through discussions about real-world examples. 

This course is aimed at students interested in starting their own business who want to learn different aspects of business management. It is also suited to those involved in corporate entrepreneurship or in improving competitive positioning and transforming corporations towards value-creation. The course instructs on the essential skills needed to start and manage a successful new business venture.
 

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:
- Evaluate the necessary qualities and characteristics of a successful entrepreneurial profile.
- Recognize and determine the steps necessary to open and operate a small business enterprise.
- Identify the marketing, financial, leadership and other competencies needed by an entrepreneur.
- Use information, projections, logic and critical thinking to recognize an opportunity and solve small business problems in a multicultural, ethical and legal environment.
- Develop and present a business plan for a business in Japan or another country.

The course is delivered through a combination of lectures, class discussions, and presentations.