Program Structure
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1. The Manager and the Organization
The first subject of program structure is Organization Behavior. The purpose of this course is to enable students to develop analytical and management skills based on the science of organizational behavior. This course focuses primarily on decision-making processes and the development of systems and scientific thinking (evidence-based management) about themes (knowledge and practices) drawn mainly from industrial and organizational psychology. The skills acquired in organizational psychosociology will also enable students to manage their work teams and other management processes effectively. At this level of study, the focus will be on “macro” themes (e.g. structure and culture).
This course introduces students to the key issues in human resources management (HRM) and the importance of strategically managing human capital to contribute to the success and growth of the organization.
Specifically, the course aims to provide students with the basic knowledge and tools needed to carry out the main HRM functions, including workforce and succession planning, staffing, training and development, compensation, performance and career management, and occupational health and safety. Labour relations topics are also addressed in relation to strategies and implementation of HRM functions.
This course covers a variety of themes, including human resources planning, staffing, training and development, performance and career management, compensation, occupational health and safety, and diversity management. It helps students to draw connections among those themes for the purpose of analyzing and resolving HRM and labour relations issues.
This course enables students to deepen their knowledge of the environmental factors influencing the strategic dynamics of businesses and industries economically, politically, socially, ecologically and culturally.
Examining issues from a national, international and global perspective, students develop their knowledge and know-how in strategic intelligence gathering and evaluation of the various dimensions of the corporate environment. They are also invited to develop a critical mindset in analyzing the relationship between the organization and its environment.
Specifically, the course enables students to: develop a holistic understanding of the dynamics of the actors operating along the various dimensions of an organization’s environment, an industrial sector or an institution; know the processes involved in the management of socio-economic problems of strategic interest, corporate social and environmental responsibility and the issues that concern them; conceptualize the organization’s environment in an open, dynamic way from the perspective of a globalized economy; apply an effective methodology for gathering information, analyzing and making strategic and responsible decisions.
2. Commercial and financial management
The objective of the course is to introduce the basic principles and concepts of financial and accounting management from a practical managerial perspective. In addition to familiarizing themselves with theory, students will practise proposing realistic solutions to concrete problems.
This course begins with the objectives of corporate financial management and their impact on key financial decisions and business value. It goes on to cover how capital markets allocate capital and how they serve to direct funds to projects that maximize business value. The course also discusses the various sources of business financing, the cost of capital, and the influence of financing decisions on business value. It covers the relationship between return on investment and risk and investment decisions.
This course will provide leaders with an opportunity to learn the fundamental principles of managerial finance. Finance is an interesting and exciting area of study, which is rapidly changing and evolving. The financial markets are constantly innovating products to keep pace with the rapid expansion and globalization of the world’s economics. As an executive, an understanding of finance is critical in studying principles of acquisition and allocation of financial resources, and in focusing on how to create wealth for the owners of companies.
This course has a very practical real world approach, and will focus on three fundamental decisions of your business:
(i) an investment decision;
(ii) a financing decision; and
(iii) a business decision.
Students will start the unit through the basics of financial maths and the time value of money. This will lead to valuing financial assets such as bonds and shares. You will also learn how a financial manager evaluates a project with consideration of the cost of funding the project and its taxation implications, and evaluation of investment risk. The optimal capital structure and dividend payout policy are also discussed in this unit. Last but not least, making business decisions is also considered in this unit.
This course introduces students to the key decisions and responsibilities of a marketing manager in both for-profit and not-for- profit companies and organizations. Its goal is to help them acquire the practical and theoretical knowledge of market management needed to master a systematic, rigorous analytical approach to managing transactions between organizations, their clients and their partners.
By the end of this course, students will be able to: define the concept of marketing, the nature of marketing and transaction management in the current context of organizations and companies producing consumer or industrial goods or services; make a diagnosis based on relevant marketing information; develop and present an efficient, effective marketing plan by identifying the business opportunity, the objectives, the core strategies (supply, demand and competition), the marketing mix strategies (design of competitive offer) and the market entry of a product (good or service) in a conventional and digital marketing context; critically evaluate the various decision-making models in marketing and be able to put them to good use; understand and take into account social and ethical issues in the marketing process.
3. Managing the production of goods and services
By the end of the course, students will be able to: detect process dysfunctions quickly; make an operational diagnosis using reliable, relevant data; propose innovative, sustainable solutions and countermeasures; evaluate proposed solutions; develop reflexes and skills to channel the creative energy of employees towards agile development of the organization’s processes.
Organizations must create value every day in order to satisfy their customers. The goods and/or services offered are the result of a set of processes (transformation, support, management) that must:
(i) be consistent and flawlessly executed
(ii) adapt quickly and continuously to turbulent environments
(iii) be an ongoing source of learning.
Innovation and continuous improvement of all processes foster alignment with an organization’s strategy and thus ensure its competitiveness and sustainability, while generating synergy with employees and technology. This is the mission of operations management. Course themes: alignment between the organization’s strategy, its processes and their performance; the organization as a network of mutually supporting and strengthening processes; process dysfunctions; approaches to operational diagnostics.
The overall objective of this course is to introduce students to the main quantitative technologies, developed by the operations research field, that are used to provide decision support to managers in various organizational settings. These technologies are largely applied in the context of planning and managing both the operations and the resources of organizations and companies that produce goods and services.
In the present course, the technologies that will be presented are the following:
1) linear programming
2) numerical simulation
3) waiting line models
4) distribution and network models
Emphasis will be placed on how to formulate decisional problems and how the different technologies can be used to perform numerical analysis that are meaningful in a decision support context. Various examples, appearing in the management of operations, logistics and human resources, will be used to demonstrate how the various technologies are applicable in practical settings.
The course focuses on the issues raised by the introduction of information technology (IT) in organizations and the use of technological applications. It also aims to raise students’ awareness of the importance of information technology for facilitating the organization’s decision-making processes and builds an understanding of the issues underlying new business technologies.
By the end of this course, students will have learned the various phases of analysis, evaluation and selection of technology projects. Several topics will be covered in this course, including the value of information and IT innovation, the definition and characteristics of IT in organizations, information systems and IT portfolio management.
4. Strategic management
The purpose of this course is to enable decision makers and managers in businesses and organizations in the private and public sectors to identify and understand the impact of key macroeconomic variables on the decisions and financial situations of households, businesses and organizations, as well as the economic environment in which they operate. It also aims to introduce participants to, and familiarize them with, the institutional concepts, actors and factors underlying aggregate economic performance in the international contexts.
The primary goal of the course is to introduce students to the strategic options available to firms. It will draw upon skills acquired through various courses to determine actions that lead to the short-term survival and long-term success of the organization, requiring decisions of strategic importance that affect the whole firm.
At the end of the course, the student will understand and be able to apply these concepts in contemplating strategic actions: The importance of strategy to the firm and to its success; How resources create value and their effective use; Economies resulting from scale, scope and learning; The different aspects of business strategy: strategic groups, segmentation, and differentiation; Various approaches to performance measurement, how to apply them, and implications for strategy.
The purpose of this course is to give students an opportunity to apply a number of strategic concepts such as shareholder return, cost configuration and market strategy and to incorporate functional policies (marketing, production, finance) in the overall strategy of the company.
By the end of this course, students will in particular be able to: adopt a holistic perspective on business problems; make decisions in an uncertain context and take responsibility for their choices; collaborate with the various functional units of the company; understand the need for medium-range planning; assess the difficulty of maintaining a strategic course.
The course is centred on a simulation of general business policy. Through the simulation, students will be faced with the complexity of decision making at the branch level, with the result that their knowledge will no longer be abstract and fragmented but internalized and holistic. It also provides an opportunity to test other interpersonal skills such as dealing with difficult professional relationships, teamwork, leadership and negotiating.
5. Integration activities
The integrative project is designed to assist Executive MBA students in identifying and solving a business problem based on a design science approach. The purpose of this document is to provide students with guidelines on the preparation of the project.
Business Project equips professionals to address contemporary challenges through research and applying knowledge developed in earlier subjects of study. This student-centered subject provides close supervision of research and analytical practices to enhance skill development and capacity to engage with problems confronting organizations, taking account of contexts and multiple stakeholders. Students will have scope to focus on issues that are of particular concern to organizations or interest for their careers.
The objective of this project is to enable students to put into practice the approaches and concepts covered in the first four modules. Participants will be asked to choose a problem that has arisen in their workplace and produce a report with a practical action plan.
The purpose of this seminar is to enable students to develop the key skills for pursuing the career of an MBA and achieving the objectives of a manager and project coordinator. It is based on the work of the Groupe de recherche sur les stratégies d’exécution (GRÈS) and the Performex action-research programme for executives.
This seminar presents the five implementation drivers: reason, emotions, projects, immediate action and integrity in a manager’s implementation strategies. It shows how each driver prompts a specific implementation strategy:
(1) a strategy for programming results;
(2) a strategy for engaging in implementation;
(3) a strategy for ensuring accountability in implementation projects;
(4) a strategy for immediate action in emergencies;
(5) a strategy for ensuring integrity in pursuing objectives. It identifies 25 best implementation practices.
This seminar highlights how a manager exercises leadership through integral implementation and orchestration of all these strategies and drivers.
This introductory course in project management is intended for master’s level students (excluding those enrolled in the Master’s Programme in Project Management). Students are introduced to a comprehensive conceptual framework for analyzing the management of a project, the project life cycle, and the main phases of the cycle for different types of projects.
The course also presents the main concepts, approaches, methods and techniques used in the project management process from design to completion. Finally, the course addresses the issue of project evaluation and the main causes of project success or failure.