First semester

Running for two blocks of eight weeks between September and December, courses in the first semester focus on (a.o.) strategy, marketing, research methods, organisational behaviour and accounting.

Entrepreneurial Challenge

The programme starts in an informal environment away from the school that allows participants to get to know one another. The opening module explores entrepreneurship and has a specific focus on how to identify opportunities and business development. Students will function as a team of advisers to real entrepreneurs as they seek to get their business ideas started. 

Corporate Governance, Law and Ethics

Corporate governance addresses the issues surrounding decision making by senior executives and the effects these decisions can have on corporations and their many stakeholders. This separation of decision making and exposure to its consequences creates agency problems. The legal and ethical consequences of conflicts of interest are explored, as is how business ethics practices can contribute to the societal performance of corporations. Students will form teams to make presentations as part of this course.

Strategic Management and Renewal

Strategic management plays a crucial role for businesses in their pursuit of sustained competitive advantage. The impact of globalisation, deregulation, environmental concerns and rapid technological change mean that companies in every business sector are having to rethink their strategies and explore new ways of creating value. This course addresses the key challenges facing businesses today and provides students with an understanding of strategic management and the importance of matching strategy to organisational resources. On this course, students will develop academic papers as part of team assignments.

Marketing

This course provides an overview of the most important concepts in the field of marketing and includes: Consumer Behaviour, Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning. Key questions will be addressed, such as: what is marketing and how does it work? How can companies gain competitive advantage using marketing? Participants will also explore and discuss theoretical marketing concepts through the study of academic papers. 

Accounting

Referred to as the language of business, accounting is the means by which all business activities can be measured. The course covers the fundamentals of accounting and explains the various ways financial and non-financial information is collected and communicated to decision makers. The differences between management accounting (used to aid in internal planning and control) and financial accounting (designed primarily to assist investors and creditors) are explored.

International Business Strategy

Multiple factors such as globalisation and the internet have changed the international business landscape. Product life cycles are shorter and competition for market share and profits has intensified. For managers to be effective, they must be able to respond swiftly to market changes. The International Business Strategy course addresses these challenges. Case-based problem solving provide you as future managers the skills and knowledge that will enable you to successfully develop and maintain competitive advantage in international markets.

Research Methods

Covering both qualitative and quantitative research, this course will provide an overview and enable practical application of the methods and techniques most frequently used in management The qualitative research part focuses on the collection and analyses of qualitative data, specifically interview data. The quantitative research part covers the collection and analyses of quantitative data.

Organizational Behavior

Consisting of sessions held across both blocks in the first semester, students will learn the theories behind group processes and group dynamics. Themes include group formation and social processes such as group control and its impact on group effectiveness. Integrated into this module are experiential learning opportunities with an emphasis on leadership and cross-cultural awareness in teams.  
 ​