Single Degree Option

The purpose of this course is to provide students with an advanced understanding of the institutions of the global economy and how those institutions impact the competitive fortunes of companies. More specifically, the course will expose students to advanced topics in political risk analysis, domestic political analysis, international institutions, and economic development. In addition, students will be expected to be able to integrate this knowledge into the competitive positioning of an individual firm. Pedagogically, the course will demand considerable background reading and will focus on acquiring key tools, concepts, and methodologies. Moreover, students will be expected to create a comprehensive initial political and economic size up of the countries and/or industries that they will study in their time abroad. The course is intended to be foundational for the program and is required for all students.

3 credits; core course

Ultimately, international business is conducted with and through people from various cultures. Self-awareness and understanding one's approach to decision making and problem solving is a crucial step in developing the skills needed to work successfully in different cultural settings and/or with people from different cultural backgrounds. Cultural differences, if not understood, can be significant barriers to both personal effectiveness and the implementation and success of a business venture.

This course is concerned with implementation issues. A basic premise of the course is that it is possible and desirable to develop both the intellectual understanding and behavioral skills necessary to address the management problems arising from the interaction of people from different cultures in work settings. A further assumption is that the understanding and skills developed can be generalized and transferred from one situation to another.

The course is intended to develop, to the extent possible, an appreciation of what it is like to work with people from other cultures and to work in other countries. The sessions are intended both to develop an appreciation of issues that may arise, and to contribute to the development of the knowledge and skills needed to lead and work effectively when interacting with people from other cultures or living in other cultural environments. The course is divided into three major sections: culture as a concept and management issue; establishing relationships, operating and leading in other cultures and competing with integrity.

3 credits; core course

Most influential companies are global. Few companies who aspire to superior profitability are able to do so within the bounds of a single country market. For an increasing number of businesses, competing internationally is no longer an option. Moreover, the actions of non-North American multinationals means that competitive activity must have a strong defensive element as well.

Success in international markets is not a matter of luck, but of skill and persistence. Developing proficiency in international strategy translates into competitive advantage, defined as superior long run return on invested capital. Building competence in this area means understanding, at a sophisticated level, how companies succeed in the most demanding competitive arenas, which are usually found beyond their borders.

This course focuses on management issues associated with the growth and operation of a multinational enterprise (MNE). It covers market entry, subsidiary and head office perspectives on management, alliances, and the competitive advantage of the MNE relative to the single-country firm. Students will be expected to integrate ideas from other courses with the core theory of this one when conducting an analysis of the global strategy of a MNE.

The approach we will take in this course is practical and problem-oriented. It is intended to enable you to acquire proficiency at strategy formulation and implementation in an international context. The course will do this by developing and applying concepts, analytical frameworks, and intuition to the strategic issues that face real-world multinational corporations, regardless of their industry.

3 credits; core course

Global virtual teams (GVT) have become an essential part of how multinational organizations organize to meet the needs of the globalized marketplace. Members of GVT must collaborate to complete interdependent work across cultural, geographical, and time differences. Working in GVT creates several challenges including differences in cultural values, expectations for behaviour, and communication preferences. To meet and overcome these challenges, GVT members need to learn about the ways to work effectively across their differences and distance so as to become high-performing teams. Accordingly, this course will foster team members’ self-awareness, enhance their ability to sustain high-performing project teams, and develop their virtual collaboration skills. Overall, this course will provide students with foundational knowledge and practical skills necessary to embrace the benefits of GVT while overcoming their challenges. These skills will serve as a foundation for team projects in the MIB program as well as being a foundation for future GVT leader effectiveness.

3 credits; core course

All major companies deal with global markets either directly (sales) or indirectly (suppliers). The purpose of this course will be to expose students to the different sociocultural, economic, and geopolitical environments in which global marketing strategies and programs are formulated and implemented. It will also help them develop management skills and perspectives that are crucial for planning and expanding activities in global markets.

Students will evaluate the cumulative impact of changes in these environments on marketing opportunities and threats. As well, the course will help students to develop relevant management skills, sensitivities and perspectives that are crucial for planning and expanding activities in global markets.

The primary focus throughout the course will be that of the marketing manager and her or his role in directing or launching global marketing activities. In preparing the required individual assignment and team project for this course, students will take the perspective of the marketing manager and assume her or his role in directing or launching global marketing activities.

3 credits; elective course

This course focuses on the financial issues that managers confront in an international setting and develops a framework for evaluating the many opportunities, costs, and risks associated with multinational operations. The course employs cases extensively to provide students with a detailed and analytic look at investment and financial decisions undertaken by multinational firms. Topics covered include the behavior and determination of exchange rates; relationships among inflation, interest rates and exchange rates; foreign exchange and derivatives markets; management of international investment portfolios; corporate exchange exposure; hedging exchange risk; and cross-border valuation.

3 credits; elective course

This course considers the operations management challenges of organizations with some aspect of global reach in their value chain. While the course is structured around core operations management principles, students will gain an international perspective with respect to supply chain management; project management; quality management; and, service and manufacturing operations. Particular attention will be paid to aspects of culture, language, time and dateline management, and relationship management with suppliers, customers, employees and governing bodies.

Specific topics include:

• Global Project Management
• International Supply Chain Management
• Implementing a global operating system (e.g. TPS or Lean)
• Quality Management across borders;

3 credits; elective course

In this course, we focus on the region of “East Asia”, which includes: Japan, North Korea, South Korea, China, Taiwan, Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, the Philippines, and Timor-Leste. These countries/regions will be covered to varying degrees depending on, among other factors, the importance of their economies in the world and the availability of reliable information.

East Asia, sustaining more than four decades of rapid growth, has emerged as an economic force comparable in significance to North America and the Europe Union. Hundreds of millions of Asian inhabitants have been lifted out of abject poverty, a growing mass of middle-class Asian consumers have been added to the world economy, and a dynamic breed of Asian companies have joined the league of multinationals.

3 credits; elective course

Every organization launches projects regularly for the following purposes;Expanding or improving their current Product or Services. Reducing the costs of their current Product or Services.Executing projects effectively and efficiently is key to the survival of an organization. Organizations these days don't just want dedicated Project Managers; they want all employees to be able to participate, lead and govern a project. Throughout this course, you will be shown how to manage and participate in the two most popular projects: Traditional and Agile. You will then apply these skills throughout the course in the form of class discussions, simulations and assessments.

This course gives you an opportunity to:

• Increase your self-awareness as a purpose-driven individual
• Develop a deeper understanding of and appreciation for the complexity of problems and solutions facing society
• Learn a broad variety of skills and tools that will help you develop and execute an agenda for social change from within and outside established organizations
• Understand the power of design thinking and innovation
• Design multi-stakeholder and multi-dimensional value propositions for socially innovative solutions

This course is an intensive program on financial modeling. During the course, participants will learn to create well-designed, functional and dynamic financial models. The course material includes model design, logic, construction, financial concepts, best practices and accounting treatment.

This course is designed to provide you with an understanding and appreciation of the role of a sales manager operating in a global context. Topics are covered from the perspective of both a sales manager and a sales person. Specific topics include managing the interplay between the marketing and selling functions, setting and evaluating sales strategy on both a global and local scale, appreciating the cultural differences that impact global sales management, managing the day to day sales functions including recruitment, training, compensation and performance management as well as, the evaluation and control of global selling methodologies and activities.

The world is flat; Globalization has happened…At least part of it has.

The key objective of this course is to take strategic topics in Operations Management and apply a global perspective to their consideration and execution. As other markets around the world become more accessible, management in all firms are faced with international issues associated with their strategies and day-to-day decisions.

While many view operations management as a factory- or plant-based discipline, all organizations in all industries apply operations principles as part of their daily activities. Ultimately, Operations is the execution of strategy, where the goals of the firm are brought to life. We will cover a range of these companies and in our discussions, and analyze their problems, decisions and strategies.

Negotiation involves resolving differences, reaching agreements, and managing conflict between individuals, groups, organizations, and even nations. These are essential activities in the world of management. Indeed, such expertise is now considered a core competency for executives and leaders. Excellent negotiation abilities are crucial in both the private and public sectors, in managerial decision-making, in inter-organization negotiations, in labour-management conflict, in mergers and acquisitions, and a host of other commercial and political interactions and transactions.

It is therefore essential to develop or refine the skills and understanding to negotiate and to manage conflict effectively. It is possible to become an excellent negotiator and conflict manager without taking a course in the subject, but individuals who develop negotiation skills entirely on their own are quite rare. More importantly, they have become professional in their behaviour through extensive experience (i.e., practice). In other words, they, too, have learned to be highly effective negotiators. Often, they have learned from others. Moreover, they have learned not just from their successes but also their mistakes. One purpose of this course is to help you avoid the mistakes that can be made in negotiations, and the course will provide opportunities for you to learn from your mistakes in the low-cost environment of our classroom. Another purpose of the course is to place negotiation behaviour into a broader theoretical context to allow you to analyze your past actions and future negotiation strategies more systematically.

Negotiation involves resolving differences, reaching agreements, and managing conflict between individuals, groups, organizations, and even nations. These are essential activities in the world of management. Indeed, such expertise is now considered a core competency for executives and leaders. Excellent negotiation abilities are crucial in both the private and public sectors, in managerial decision-making, in inter-organization negotiations, in labour-management conflict, in mergers and acquisitions, and a host of other commercial and political interactions and transactions.

It is therefore essential to develop or refine the skills and understanding to negotiate and to manage conflict effectively. It is possible to become an excellent negotiator and conflict manager without taking a course in the subject, but individuals who develop negotiation skills entirely on their own are quite rare. More importantly, they have become professional in their behaviour through extensive experience (i.e., practice). In other words, they, too, have learned to be highly effective negotiators. Often, they have learned from others. Moreover, they have learned not just from their successes but also their mistakes. One purpose of this course is to help you avoid the mistakes that can be made in negotiations, and the course will provide opportunities for you to learn from your mistakes in the low-cost environment of our classroom. Another purpose of the course is to place negotiation behaviour into a broader theoretical context to allow you to analyze your past actions and future negotiation strategies more systematically.

Negotiation involves resolving differences, reaching agreements, and managing conflict between individuals, groups, organizations, and even nations. These are essential activities in the world of management. Indeed, such expertise is now considered a core competency for executives and leaders. Excellent negotiation abilities are crucial in both the private and public sectors, in managerial decision-making, in inter-organization negotiations, in labour-management conflict, in mergers and acquisitions, and a host of other commercial and political interactions and transactions.

It is therefore essential to develop or refine the skills and understanding to negotiate and to manage conflict effectively. It is possible to become an excellent negotiator and conflict manager without taking a course in the subject, but individuals who develop negotiation skills entirely on their own are quite rare. More importantly, they have become professional in their behaviour through extensive experience (i.e., practice). In other words, they, too, have learned to be highly effective negotiators. Often, they have learned from others. Moreover, they have learned not just from their successes but also their mistakes. One purpose of this course is to help you avoid the mistakes that can be made in negotiations, and the course will provide opportunities for you to learn from your mistakes in the low-cost environment of our classroom. Another purpose of the course is to place negotiation behaviour into a broader theoretical context to allow you to analyze your past actions and future negotiation strategies more systematically.

The Business Consulting Project (BCP) provides Participants with a unique opportunity to research and analyse a business challenge as part of a cross-cultural and geographically dispersed self-directed work team. The BCP allows participants to develop expertise on a specific business issue, sector, and geographic location. The Project will also allow Participants to integrate learning across the MIB curriculum by applying business concepts to practical business challenge.

The Business Consulting Project is a team based, team-directed project conducted with the guidance of a Project Advisor. Project Advisors are managers who are industry or skill set experts in the sector of your project, and who have substantial Team Project supervisory experience.