Second Semester

Running from January to June, the second semester consists of one 4-week block and two 8-week blocks.

Parallel to the courses listed below students will have the opportunity to take on a consultancy role and offer solutions to the real-life management problems faced by a company. Towards the end of the semester students will be introduced to the research topics available for the development of their individual thesis.

Business and Society 

Exploring the complex issues surrounding organisational stakeholders and the interaction between companies, governments, institutions and civil society, this course provides insight on normative, strategic, institutional and communications issues from a global perspective and reflects on the ethical implications.

Managerial Decision Making and Negotiation 

Based on academic insights, students will come to understand how people make decisions in business. Through workshops, participants will learn how to apply this knowledge and in doing so have the edge in business negotiations. 

Corporate Finance 

Designed to acquaint students with the key concepts in capital budgeting and capital structures, the first part of the course deals with the investment risk and return decisions businesses must face. The second part of the course discusses debt to equity ratios and the optimal factors surrounding them. 

Innovation and Market Orientation 

Presented in this course is core knowledge about innovation strategy and innovation development. It includes discussion on aspects such as open, disruptive, and business model innovation. Special attention is given to market orientation as a source or inhibitor of innovation. 

Human Resource Management 

Two central themes in human resource management are addressed in this course: 1) how to think systematically and strategically about the management of human assets, and 2) how to achieve competitive advantage through the successful implementation of human resource policies. 

Management Science 

Analytical modelling of business problems facing marketing, finance, production, and logistics managers is the focus here and includes models used in Decision Support Systems. Students will come away with an understanding of how these concepts can be of practical value in solving a wide range of business problems. 

Operations and Supply Chain 

Factors including globalisation, outsourcing, product proliferation and the rapid development of IT make the management of manufacturing and service processes a complex and challenging task. This course focuses on the systematic planning, design and operation of business processes that ensure the effective delivery of goods and services. 

Internal organization 

This course focuses on the study of organisations. It presents some of the fundamental theoretical perspectives – including resource dependence theory and institutional theory – that affect the internal structure of organisations. 

Consultancy Project 

In this module, students working in teams will receive an invitation to analyse a very real problem faced by a company. Based on their analysis, students will develop potential solutions over a three-month period and present their findings to senior managers from the organisation. 

Research Clinics and Thesis

As part of the process of developing their own thesis, students will work in teams to explore specific areas of research as defined by an experienced member of the RSM faculty who serves as coach. Students will have the opportunity to formulate their own research questions and answer them from a number of management perspectives. The output of this course is a thesis proposal.