Curriculum

A comprehensive online introduction to quantitative analysis for business, designed for incoming business students and applicable to a variety of settings where understanding the analysis of quantitative information is important. Underlying a business setting is a full introductory course that covers the standard topics addressed in an introductory business statistics text. Includes tests to assess learners' mastery of content; the assessment data are synthesised for course or program administrators to reveal not only how individual learners performed but how the entire group performed in each segment of the assessment tests, thus facilitating the systematic diagnosis of learners' strengths and weaknesses in quantitative analysis.

Introduces financial accounting in a management context. Students are encouraged to apply their learning throughout the course by using the many practice problems included. Includes pre-and post-test assessments. Through a separate interface, professors can access individual student scores as well as track their use of the product. Also incorporates a comprehensive glossary and help section. Learning objectives include understanding (1) basic financial accounting terms and concepts; (2) the financial statements--balance sheet, income statement, statement of cash flows--that firms use to describe their businesses; (3) the approach used to construct the financial statements; and (4) some simple ratios that capture key elements of firm performance. Subjects covered: Balance sheets, Cash flow statements, Financial ratios, Income statements

Ideal for an introductory finance course for incoming business students. This online course is designed to help students understand the basic principles of Corporate Finance, the essential tools for financial analysis, and introductory models and frameworks used in corporate financial decision making. The course presumes that students possess a working knowledge of financial accounting. To assess student strengths and weaknesses, the course includes pre and post-assessment tests, and professors can easily track progress and see exam results. Narrated animations and numerous exercises help students grasp difficult concepts quickly. It covers ratio analysis, cash cycle, pro forma forecasting, financial statement analysis, capital structure, time value of money, project valuation, WACC (weighted average cost of capital), DCF (discounted cash flow) analysis, CAPM (capital asset pricing model), valuation, and sensitivity analysis. Subjects covered: Capital structure, Financial ratios, Financial statements, Forecasting, Rates of return, Return on investment,

This online course reviews functionality in Excel 2007 to create and leverage spreadsheet models to analyse both simple and complex business problems. Topics include: introduction to excel functionality, using functions, IF statements, sensitivity analysis, pivot tables, carting importing data and using more complex excel functionality including Solver and Monte Carlo simulation. The course is ideal for helping students understand how to design and structure spreadsheets to maximize benefit in solving business problems. Narrated animations, videos, and numerous "do it yourself" exercises help students grasp difficult concepts quickly.

Mathematics for Management reviews the key mathematics concepts students should be familiar with in order to solve quantitative problems in the MBA curriculum. This course is designed to level the playing field among incoming MBA students, regardless of prior professional or academic background. Mathematics concepts are organized into five separate sections: Algebra, Calculus, Statistics, Probability, and Finance

Provides a comprehensive treatment of basic statistical concepts for managers. Topics covered include elementary probability theory as a tool for modeling uncertainty in business, time series, categorical data, random variables and their distributions, variability and regression models. The emphasis is on understanding the concepts and their application. The course will also introduce and apply advanced tools to managerial decision problems with the objective of enhancing the decision making capabilities. The course will cover optimization (finding ‘what’s best’ from the available options), simulations (trying ‘what if’ in uncertain environment turns out to be different from expected) and decision analysis (deciding the ‘what now’ in the sense of what we should do given the information we had in the past).

Introduces generally accepted accounting principles and concepts along with the preparation and analysis of financial statements. The course will cover EBITDA, Revenue and expense recognition, Mergers and Acquisitions, forecasting financial statements and credit analysis. It will strengthen the understanding of the financial statements and helps to understand the state of a firm’s financial condition so that realistic valuations can be made for investment, lending and mergers and acquisitions purposes.

The objective of this course is to introduce the core principles of microeconomics, to develop theories to help organize their thinking about both firm-level and market-level issues, and to apply these principles and theories in several case studies. The topics covered in this course include the economics of competitive market, market efficiency and economic surplus, government intervention in competitive markets, firm decision-making in different market situations and game theory and strategic thinking.  The focus will be on fundamental economic principles that can be used by managers to think about business problems, including those inside the firm (relating to the problem of administering the firm’s resources in the most cost effective way) and those outside the firm (relating to broader market and government forces that can affect the behavior of firms.)

In this course, we will understand the process by which consumers and firms make decisions and the way in which they interact in markets thereby affecting the national and the global economy. The business environment has much to do with the types of strategies that are feasible and the efficiency with which firms can operate. Therefore, understanding both the national and international economic environment is crucial to making informed business decisions. The course will explore how “shocks” affect aggregate economic conditions nationally and globally, and the implications that follow for firms.

This course develops tools for deciding which investments a firm should make (capital budgeting and valuation) and how these investments should be financed (financial structure). We will start with evaluating investments and capital budgeting. We will consider in-depth the standard discounted cash flow (DCF) approach, which involves (I) forecasting the expected future cash flows of an investment and (ii) discounting these cash flows at a rate commensurate with their risk. Understanding and quantifying risks will be discussed in detail. We will also discuss valuation of securities and capital structure, decisions and provide a basic understanding of capital markets.

This course focuses on how to understand better the nature and dynamics of interpersonal behavior related to organisational performance and effectiveness by providing an introduction to theory and research in behavioural sciences. Topics include motivation, social perception, interpersonal influence, group decision making, commitment and leadership. The course will aim to helpmanagers organize and motivate human capital of a firm, execute strategic change through knowledge of competitive decision-making, reward system, social network analysis and team building. We will be covering fundamentals to motivate employees, increase productivity, enhance well-being and satisfaction, facilitate team effectiveness, negotiating techniques, how to influence others and create a work environment that supports these goals.

This course addresses the importance of companies being market-driven and customer-focused. Specifically, this course seeks to develop your skills in applying the analytic perspectives, decision tools, and concepts of marketing to the following decisions segmentation and positioning (assessing market potential, analyzing customer behavior, focusing resources on specific customer populations and against specific competitors), product offering (including the breadth of the product line, features, quality level, and customer service), pricing (capturing the value created for the customer) and distribution.

This course focuses on the competitive strategy of the firm, examining issues central to its long and short term competitive position. Students are placed in the role of key decision makers and asked to address questions related to the creation or reinforcement of competitive advantage. The initial focus is on industry analysis and competitive advantage as it derives from the firm's strategic investments. We look at how strategy differs in global contexts, the role of mergers and acquisitions and the logic of resource allocation in the diversified firm to enhance competitive advantage in each market. We continue by addressing the development of firm-specific capabilities, including the role of knowledge that contributes to a firm’s competitive advantage. We also examine the process through which strategic decisions are made and implemented.

Examines some of the basic principles of managing the production of goods or services and studies some useful tools. The course emphasises on tools and principles that is equally useful in service and manufacturing sectors. We will look into many aspects of operations management, including supply chain management, project management, quality/process improvement, decision sciences and doing business globally. It also provides quantitative techniques which can be used to solve real world problems.

This course examines the use of financial techniques to increase firm valuation and emphasises the linkage between strategy and finance and operational implications of financing and investment decisions made by senior management. We will bring real-world and academic experience to the classroom to review the latest techniques for analysing and valuing financial decisions. Specifically, the course will cover, among other subjects, techniques, and concepts related to real options and mergers & acquisitions decisions for strategic value creation. Through lectures, cases, discussions, and a review of current research results, we explore important questions and help find farsighted answers as to what investments we should make, what should be divested, and the impact financing strategy can have on value creation.

This course will provide the participants with a background of global financial markets and will also examine the issues related to raising capital and financing strategies followed by firms at different stages of their life cycles. These decisions will be looked at from the perspectives of corporations issuing the securities as well as the financial intermediaries (e.g., investment banks) facilitating such transactions and investors interested in buying such securities. A wide range of capital market transactions will be examined including IPOs, Secondary offerings, bank debt, public and private debt securities as well as other complex financing instruments which combine financing with risk management strategy.

This course aims to provide essential marketing and cross-functional skills in developing products and services for business and consumer markets by: providing current tools and methods of analysis for product/service related marketing decisions; and practicing skills in applying these tools and methods to make strategic and tactical new product decisions from a marketing and cross-functional perspective. The course takes a decision-oriented perspective in presenting relevant concepts and tools, demonstrating their application to managerial analysis and decision-making, and providing participants near “hands-on” experience in applying these skills in business situations. To achieve these objectives, the courses uses a mixture of readings, lectures, and case analyses, and two “learning-by-doing” team projects involving an application of conjoint analysis and a new product or service development project.

Price is the only element of the marketing mix that produces revenue; all other elements represent costs. Consequently, setting prices is a critical managerial decision. For both strategic and tactical reasons, managers review prices more often than any other element of the marketing mix. It is reported that managers also often make mistakes in their pricing decisions: Pricing is too cost-oriented, pricing decision did not consider likely consumer response, pricing decision failed to anticipate competitive reaction, new price encourages cannibalization of existing product line, pricing is not consistent with product position, and pricing is not responsive to market changes. Knowledge of pricing is useful for those pursuing careers in marketing, and finance. This course provides an opportunity for the participants to develop a systematic framework for assessing and formulating pricing strategies. Pricing decisions are affected by economic, marketing, organisational, and psychological factors, and must be made within a prescribed legal framework. Each of these presents an interesting aspect of the pricing problem. The course revolves around understanding how one may go about making effective pricing decisions while keeping in mind these factors. To achieve this objective, we will learn appropriate concepts, methods, and explore new approaches for formulating pricing strategy and pricing tactics. Upon completion of this course, participants will gain a solid understanding of current pricing practices in technology, manufacturing and service industries, learn state-of-the-art frameworks for analyzing pricing decisions, and master the essential techniques for making profitable pricing decisions. The course will use a combination of lectures, case discussions, and exercises. Assignments will be in the form of readings from the text, case preparation for class discussion, problem sets, and case write ups.

This course helps you develop skills and gain experience in formulating and implementing a marketing strategy in a hyper-competitive environment. Along with lectures and case discussions, the course will use a competitive business simulation, and the participants will specifically focus on issues such as the selection of which businesses and segments to compete in, developing new products, allocating resources across businesses and market segments, pricing, advertising, sales force allocation, and sizing decisions, as well as other significant strategic issues facing today’s managers. The course also provides an excellent opportunity to integrate learning from courses in other areas in the PGPMAX curriculum such as Finance, Operations, and Strategy while also providing important learning for effective team-work.

Examines the theory and practice of creating and managing different types of strategic alliances, such as mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, licensing agreements, buyer-supplier partnerships, and consortia. Takes a wide view of the process of forming alliances and focuses on the negotiation and evolution of the alliance. It will give you the tools needed to overcome many of the obstacles inherent in new-market expansion or new-product development, and you will learn how to establish a global strategic position with limited time and resources. This course will help you identify key qualities to look for in alliance partners and will give you the tools to manage an alliance once it is formed. This course also defines how firms become strong strategic partners.

Multi-business corporations are prominent in the economy, yet the logic behind their success or failure – corporate strategy – remains unclear. In addition, a principal mode for implementing corporate strategy, mergers and acquisitions (M&As), has had a mixed record of success. This course begins with explaining the nature and logic of corporate strategy – how firms and senior managers make decisions on scope, and how it is distinct from business level strategy. The issue of why firms diversify, relatedness and unrelatedness in diversification, and understanding the principles that underlie successful diversification make up the first part of the course. The second part of the course focuses on mergers and acquisitions, which research shows only succeed about half of the time. It provides a deep understanding factor explaining differential success and how managers can develop more successful growth strategies.

The programme will focus on skills to implement effective negotiation strategy and reach more satisfactory outcomes. It will examine how strategic alliances, global competition, licensing agreements, and the use of teams have all changed the face of negotiations today - and how managers who stay on top of these changes get results. During the program, you will plan, negotiate, receive feedback, and discuss negotiation strategy in a collaborative learning environment. Working one-on-one and in teams, you will negotiate deals, resolve disputes, make decisions in competitive environments, and receive specific feedback regarding your negotiating strengths. This program will teach you how to use negotiation strategy to prepare for and carry out successful negotiations within your company and across corporate and cultural boundaries

Focuses on using innovation as a strategic tool to gain competitive advantage and sustainable lead over competitors. The course will cover how to evaluate and develop opportunities within the firm and externally, how to seek and strategize resources, how to grow and sustain the new venture and how to communicate exactly how the envisaged Change or Innovation is aligned with those aspects of the corporate strategy that will maximize chances of success in your particular organisation or business unit. Half the module will cover entrepreneurship related topics like creating a business plan, raising venture capital etc.

The course will help the participants to reflect on leadership styles and approaches appropriate to their motivations, aspirations, roles and the context of a global organisation. Provides leadership insights to students through guided group and one-on-one workshops, interactive seminars and discussions with leaders. Examines the challenges faced by senior management teams in managing human capital as a strategic asset. The course explores strategies for developing empowered and collaborative work cultures that meet the immediate and future needs of globally successful organisations.

Examines the anatomy of leadership in modern organisations, highlighting the ethical, social and sustainability challenges facing global corporate leaders within their organisations and from the ever rapidly changing global business environment. In this course we will tie concrete organisational situations to essential theories and principles of effective management. The topics will include elements of corporate governance, inclusive growth, environmental sensitivity, green technology and sustainable enterprise.

This course focuses on how to understand better the nature and dynamics of interpersonal behavior related to organisational performance and effectiveness by providing an introduction to theory and research in behavioural sciences. Topics include motivation, social perception, interpersonal influence, group decision making, commitment and leadership. The course will aim to help managers organize and motivate human capital of a firm, execute strategic change through knowledge of competitive decision-making, reward system, social network analysis and team building. We will be covering fundamentals to motivate employees, increase productivity, enhance well-being and satisfaction, facilitate team effectiveness, negotiating techniques, how to influence others and create a work environment that supports these goals.

This course examines managerial decision-making as it relates to both the internal measurement and organisation of a firm's activities and the firm's relationship with its external environment.  The focus will be on how managers can use quantitative data (including accounting numbers) and other related information in decision-making, planning, and control.  The primary focus of our discussions will focus on economic fundamentals for managerial decision-making. 

Globalization and the technological developments of the digital age have created exciting new opportunities for managers who seek growth and profits by accessing resources and serving markets worldwide. At the same time, managing across cultures and nations in a world where multinationals are not always viewed in a positive light poses its own challenges. This course presents a framework for understanding and addressing issues about the political, economic, social, technological and cultural forces shaping the global business environment. It provides a deep understanding of global strategic management and strategic choices faced by managers entering and competing in global markets. Also focuses on the strategic and organisational challenges involved in managing activities across borders in an increasingly interconnected world. As well, it covers the cultural, personal and career challenges of multinational managers.

Leadership certainly cannot be learned in a classroom. However, what this course will attempt to do is help participants craft their leadership journeys going forward, using some fundamental but practical ideas around leading organisations, leading teams and leading self. The course will not only introduce some theoretical foundations of leadership thinking and research, but also help participants understand their own leadership traits and strengths and launch the process of transforming themselves into better leaders. A combination of readings, case discussions, interactive workshops, guest lectures, and team problem-solving will create an interesting balance of both classroom and experiential learning environments in this course.

The course will address issues that top corporate leaders need to know including their ethical responsibilities. Ethical challenges, responsibilities will be explored under several scenarios. The second half of the course will further examine the various communication strategies that top management need to be aware of while communicating to all stakeholders including board of directors, media.