Executive MBA

Principles of Economics has elements of macroeconomics, international economics, and microeconomics. It focuses on integrating economic theory and applied statistics to help learners determine how a technology or knowledge organization can achieve its objectives or goals most efficiently, subject to constraints imposed by uncertainty. Economic theory provides the basic framework for the analysis of optimal managerial decision-making.

Financial and Managerial Accounting will teach learners about financial accounting, its application to corporate financial reporting, and the managerial objectives of financial reports. This course is oriented to the end users of financial accounting data rather than the people preparing the data. Financial and Managerial Accounting also examines the use and preparation of cost and other data for management planning, decision-making, and control. Emphasis is placed on the diverse contexts (e.g. product costing, pricing, product emphasis, and performance evaluation) in which managers use accounting information.

Principles of Finance is designed to introduce learners to the underlying financial concepts and investment decisions of technology companies. The framework begins with basic definitions, tools, and procedures. It then proceeds to the challenge of financially structuring a technology company through its life cycle stages, and concludes with the process of identifying and analyzing business opportunities that maximize the value of the firm. Learners will be introduced to concepts such as the time value of money, capital budgeting, forecasting cash flows and the use and limitations of cash flow techniques, financial risk, market risk, product development risk, the impact of risk on returns, as well as specialized topics such as foreign exchange, leasing, mergers and acquisitions.

Business Strategy is a top-level look at the development of strategy in an uncertain environment, including an examination of corporate governance, the political environment of business, business policy, business ethics, corporate positioning, key strategic marketing, operations, systems and financing decisions, and key strategic alliances. Developed using extensive business intelligence and analysis, a good strategy ensures that a steady stream of the right new product categories incorporating the right technologies will be offered to the right markets with the right allies over time.

Business and e-Business Process Planning is an examination of the operational and informational processes required to support the business strategy, including discussions of ecommerce, knowledge management, and executive information systems (EIS). A business process integrates four elements to execute ongoing organizational tasks: people, operating procedures, information, and technology. This course begins with a high-level examination of the major business processes. It then elaborates on principles of effective enterprise integration planning and process planning, including subjects associated with executive information systems, knowledge management, e-commerce, quality management, time-based competition, the reengineering movement, and management information systems. In particular, the course focuses on answering the questions "why, when and how" should a firm transform itself into an e-business company.

Organizational Behaviour and Design begins with the study of individual characteristics such as needs, motives, behavioural style, and attitudes. The course then moves on to group dynamics such as norms, status hierarchies, and social influence. Important areas of study will include values and ethics of both managers and the firm, and managing change and innovation. The content will review how forces at the individual, group, and organizational level combine to help or hinder organizational effectiveness. All factors considered - the course then addresses the issue of organizational design at a high level. Organizational Behaviour and Design relies on theoretical contributions from the behavioural sciences (psychology, sociology, and anthropology), and places a strong emphasis on managerial analysis and decision-making.

Managing New Product Development is designed to help managers conceive, develop, and launch successful new products. Innovation and new product development are important activities in almost every industry. However, the fast pace and volatile competitive circumstances prevailing in the Information Technology and Telecommunication industries make successful management of technological innovation a matter of survival. This course introduces managerial frameworks, processes, and tools that have been helpful in introducing successful new products under competitive circumstances.

International Business is an in-depth course which covers the conception, development, implementation and management of international strategies in the global economy. The course combines analytical tools and frameworks with findings from international business research and current conditions in the global business environment. The primary motivation for this approach is to provide students with opportunities to apply their analytical skills to real world business issues faced by the top management teams of international organizations.

Technology Marketing Management focuses on the product-level next-quarter set of decisions, as strategic marketing decisions are examined in the Business Strategy course. Using a more precise analysis of customer segments and competitor plans, the Technology Marketing Management course develops product marketing plans comprising decisions about target segments, objectives, positioning, product, place/partner, pricing, promotion and implementation. The course concludes with a forecast of net marketing contribution (i.e. profit) and a critique of the work of Geoffrey Moore.

IT for e-Business Management covers the very practical issue of how to implement an e-business plan. Specifically, this course will look at basic IT definitions and building blocks pertinent to e-business, and progress to a discussion of optimal enterprise-wide IT systems architecture and applications software. It will conclude with a discussion of how to overcome the barriers to achieving optimal configuration and performance results.

Human Resource Management introduces learners to topics such as: the strategic role of human resources; matching organizational structure with strategy; locating, interviewing, hiring, motivating, appraising, retaining, releasing employees; career development, training and appraisals; workforce diversity, human rights, pay equity, union-management relations; reengineering; organizational learning; and managing cross-cultural differences. Leadership and teamwork are also vital topics. Time will be spent discussing the components of effective leadership and what a manager can do to build a high-performance department.

Integration Seminar is the capstone section of the EMBA program. In this seminar learners will study, analyze, and debate complex cases pertaining to all dimensions of managing an organization. The learner is expected to incorporate knowledge gained from all previous courses to develop an appropriate strategy for the organization in question, and then delve into the most critical managerial issues exposed in the case.