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This is the list of Seminars offered for the E-learning program. You can click on each seminar title to see the details.
Active Investment Management
Even a cursory glance at The Wall Street Journal reveals a bewildering collection of securities, markets, and financial institutions. Although it may appear so, the current financial environment is not chaotic: There is a rhyme and reason behind the vast array of financial instruments and the markets in which they trade.
Active Investment Managers take in on faith that markets are not always efficient and that, at least occassionally, bargains are to be found in security markets. This course examines the activities of these Innovative Investment Managers and attempts to answer the following questions:
- How valuable is the ability to time markets.
- How might we test whether we actually have the ability to time markets.
- How can we evaluate our performance if we engage in both market timing and security selection?
Corporate Entrepreneurship for Competitive Advantage
The term “Entrepreneurial” has been around for 2 centuries, having been introduced in the eighteenth century by Richard Cantillon. Cantillon believed that the primary role of entrepreneurs was to bear Risk. The definition of an entrepreneur and of entrepreneurism has evolved in many different and occasionally contradictory ways. Others, including Joseph Schumpeter, have associated the terms with innovation. Obviously, both definitions focus on the functional economic role by entrepreneurial activity. This course is an intensive exploration of the concept of Entrepreneurship. It will consider, and practice the application of, a number of tools and techniques that support the process of creating and building an entrepreneurial thinking throughout the organization to enhance corporate Competitive advantage. The course will essentially explore the entrepreneurial process from a range of perspectives:
• Concepts of entrepreneurship
• Opportunities, creativity and innovation
• Entrepreneurial leadership and teams
• Resources and funding
• Building a winning Business plan
• Growth, problems and exit
Corporate Finance
This course describes the theory and practice of finance. It’s true that managers learn from experience on how to cope with routine problems, but the best managers are also able to respond rapidly to change. This requires a sound knowledge of current financial theory. Throughout the course we use sound financial theory to solve practical everyday business problems which we face as managers; not just as financial managers but also managers from other corporate functions. It is centered on looking at ways to deal with the financial decisions facing today’s corporations. Good financial theory helps us understand "how" businesses function.
Corporate Valuations - Measuring and Managing Value
The premise of the course is simple: Companies thrive when they create real economic value for their shareholders. Companies create value by investing capital at rates of Return that exceed their cost of capital. This applies equally to U.S., European, and Asian companies. It applies equally to mature manufacturing companies and high-growth internet companies. Only the implementation details are different. When companies forget these simple truths, consequences are evident; hostile takeovers in the Untied States in the 1980s, the collapse of the bubble economy in Japan in the 1990s, the broad Southeast Asian crises in 1998, and the persistent slow growth and high unemployment in Europe. While the underlying drivers of these events can be traced to a number of factors – most often inappropriate government policies or structural deficiencies – the lack of focus on value creation by managers is a key link in the chain leading to economic malaise or crises. This course attempts to clarify the field of Valuation and the linkages between strategy and finance. It is evident that clear thinking about valuation and skill in using valuation to guide business decisions are prerequisites for success in today’s competitive environment. Value needs to be understood clearly by CEOs, business managers, and financial managers alike. Too often, valuation has been left to experts. It has been viewed as a specialized discipline, rather than as an important tool for running the business better. The course simplifies valuation by providing step-by-step guidance on how to do it well. It provides valuation frameworks which are brought to life with detailed case studies that highlight the practical judgments involved in developing and using valuations. Most significantly, it discusses how to use “creating value principles” to make decisions about course of action for a company.
Current Issues in Marketing
Business is continually becoming more competitive and the world much smaller. To remain profitable, businessmen continually need to implement innovative interpretations of traditional commerce theory. This course attempts to provide those innovative interpretations for the field of Marketing. Current research articles and Cases are used to provide a current interpretation of the traditional marketing concepts. The course is designed to be beneficial to not only experienced marketers looking to update their knowledge base, but also to the novice interested in understanding the basic theory of marketing in the context of today's ever changing business environment.
Dynamic Strategic Management
Strategic Management is the process of making and implementing strategic decisions in an ever-changing environment. Because corporate strategy is relevant to all types of organizations the developing field of strategic management is both broad and diverse. This course has been written on the premise that the concepts discussed and the ideas analyzed are applicable to all types of organization, be they manufacturing or service driven. Strategic management and decision making affect all parts of the organization. It is concerned with matching the organization to the environment in which it operates, focusing on the threats and opportunities that exist or may exist in the future in order to position the business appropriately, and assessing the capabilities of the organization and the availability of resources within the organization. An appreciation of the process by which strategic decisions are made is fundamental to understanding how and why such decisions are arrived at. We are all too familiar with the strategic plan that ends up as a mere document on the Chief Executive's shelf - 'Good intentions do not translate into good strategies'. It is necessary for management to think through what needs to be done, when, by whom and using which resources, to achieve what objectives. The course seeks to be thought provoking and to develop your knowledge of organizational policy by evaluating the conceptual framework of strategic management and by integrating this academic awareness with the real world of corporate strategy in practice.
e-Commerce – Legal, Business and Tax Issues
Electronic Commerce is about doing business electronically through the Internet. It is based on the electronic processing and transmission of data including the latest technological advancements of transmitting text, graphics, sound and video. Conducting business in cyberspace is no longer limited to big companies; it is now readily accessible to almost everyone with basic computer equipment and access to telecommunication service. Increasingly, the Internet is becoming the tool of choice for researching and obtaining information; on-line education (such as this program); on-line business transactions including banking, investment trading, shopping, etc. The enormous effect of Internet on society can be as powerful as the invention of telephone or television in history. Driven by the Internet revolution, E-commerce is dramatically expanding and undergoing radical changes. E-commerce is paving the way for a new global electronic marketplace. It presents policymakers and tax authorities with new and difficult challenges on how these business transactions conducted in cyberspace should be taxed. Several significant events have occurred in the past year relating to Internet taxation. While dealing with the uncertainties and legal complexities, there also exists tax saving opportunities. Business professionals must understand the transformation of traditional process that can lead to best practices, possibilities and pitfalls in e-business and electronic commerce.
This course is divided into three segments dealing with 1) the business aspects, 2) the legal implications and 3) the taxation issues, relating to electronic commerce.
Effective Brand Management
In today’s tumultuous corporate environment, brand builders face extreme pressure to deliver short-term profits and, at the same time, to enhance long term Shareholder value. Pressures to perform in the short-term are accentuated by the misperception that current earnings predict future earnings. As a result, managers are strongly incentivized to deliver on current earnings, and since brand building often results in a short-term net expense, there is a tendency to reduce support of brand development. What can be done to continue to build brand assets in the face of this short-term mindset, as well as hostile business environment? There are several imperatives. The first imperative is to develop brand-building programs that are cost-efficient as well as effective and credible. Firms no longer have the luxury of funding ineffective or marginal brand-building programs. The second imperative is to create a brand-driven culture, so that the pressure to reduce brand building will be addressed and the responsibility of building brands becomes everyone’s job, rather than solely the domain of marketing. And the third imperative is to create a set of brand metrics to measure the impact of the brand strategies. This course will help any brand strategist to better understand the basics of harnessing the organization to build brands by providing a much needed emphasis to organize and live the brand. In addition to providing new perspectives, concepts and tools to help brand builders engage their organization, there will also be a sharing of a new way to look at the brand – the brand-customer relationship.
Effective International Joint Venture Management
This Course outlines the practical steps and the intellectual choices that must be made in forming an international Joint venture. It also offers many recommendations as to its successful management, so that it works, with satisfaction to its partners, no matter what their capital participation. This course is a must for all those involved in or contemplating international partnerships. The documentary core contains the following, in additional to various ancillary agreements:
- The Letter of Intent – which is the general economic vision of the proposed transaction
- The Joint Venture Agreement – which is the constitution between the parties?
- The Shareholders; Agreement – which is a bill of rights, a declaration of shareholder privileges.
- The Articles of Incorporation – which are as the rules of a parliament, the guidelines of how business is conducted internally?
Ethics in Business
This course discusses the nature and significance of ethical standards and identifies four kinds of moral principles for resolving ethical dilemmas in business. It then encourages candidates to apply the resulting theory to specific issues such as the ethics of markets and prices (free markets, Marxist criticisms, the mixed economy, various forms of competition); environmental and consumer issues (pollution, depletable resources, conservation, consumer protection, advertising ethics); and employee issues (job discrimination, employee rights and obligations, affirmative action, a firm's duties to its employees). The course aims to 1) introduce ethical concepts that are relevant to resolving moral issues in business, 2) develop the reasoning and analytical skills needed to apply ethical concepts to business decisions, 3) identify the moral issues involved in the management of specific problem areas in business, and 4) examine the social and natural environments within which moral issues in business arise. Topics covered include ethics and business, ethical principles in business, the business system, ethics in the marketplace, ethics and the environment, the ethics of consumer production and marketing, the ethics of job discrimination, and the individual in the organization. This course should be of benefit to anyone in business.
Global Estate and Succession Planning
Most individuals will go to great lengths to take care of their family – family holidays, education for the kids, perhaps a car and new house for the spouse. And yet, a recent Consumer Reports survey has shown that nearly three-quarters of primary wage earners do not have wills, let alone a global estate plan. An alarming statistic. How will our family survive after our death? Now is the time to develop and implement a global estate planning strategy. This course looks at the global estate planning process from the perspective of the individual. It discusses the increasing concern individuals have for protecting their assets and the relationship between estate planning and financial planning. It examines the processes for determining an individual’s assets which need to be protected, details the various tools available for the international estate planner and discusses the application of these tools as part of an effective global estate planning strategy. It looks at the international legal issues which need to be considered in any global estate planning strategy and concludes by commenting on those peculiarities in global estate planning uniquely relevant to individuals – in particular the interpretation of trusts in civil and common law jurisdictions.
International Management
Companies today confront an increasing array of choices; of markets, of locations for value adding activities, and of modes of crossing borders. This course focuses on the international dimensions of strategy and organization, and provides a framework for formulating strategies in an increasingly complex world economy, and for making those strategies work effectively. The first section of the course provides the basic frameworks for understanding competitiveness in international business at the level of the industry, location, and firm. These frameworks identify the opportunities presented in a dynamic global environment. But taking advantages of those opportunities faces enormous managerial challenges, and the second section of the course focuses on using and deepening those analytical tools in the context of specific problems and contexts. The goal of this course is to provide the foundations for taking effective action in the multi-faceted world of international business.
International Marketing I
The course provides a thorough coverage international marketing, with subject emphasis on the planning and strategic problems confronting companies that market across cultural boundaries. The use of the Internet as a tool of international marketing is stressed throughout the course. Internet-related problems are designed to familiarize the candidate with the power of the Internet in his or her research, to illustrate data available on the Internet, and to challenge the candidate to solve problems using the Internet. Many of the examples, illustrations, and exhibits found in the course materials can be explored in more detail by accessing the Web addresses that are included. Current, relevant corporate examples are used to stimulate interest and increase understanding of the ideas, concepts and strategies presented in emphasizing the importance of understanding cultural uniqueness and relevant business practices and strategies when marketing across borders.
International Marketing II
This course is designed to provide participants with an analytical decisionoriented framework for the development and implementation of global marketing programs. Consequently, after completing this course, you should be able to analyze, select and evaluate the appropriate conceptual frameworks for approaching the five main management decisions connected with the global marketing process – whether to internationalize, deciding on which markets to enter, deciding how to enter the foreign market, designing the global marketing program and implementing and coordinating the global marketing program.
Managing the Innovation Process
This course approaches "managing the innovation process" through five levels of analysis: individual, team, Network, organizational, and industrial. At each level of analysis, particular attention is given to the conditions under which innovation processes succeed and fail. The course materials consist of a mixture of book chapters, journal articles, and cases, and an online forum will be used for further discussion of the required readings outside of class. The primary goal of the course is to expose students to a variety of perspectives on innovation, while building on past work experiences and preparing for work experiences in the future.
International Organizational Behavior
This course is designed to prepare a scholar / manager to critically examine the theories and practices of cross-cultural management. Three major cross-cultural models of behaviors are emphasized. Motivation models of behavior are examined and their effectiveness considered using this foundation of cross-cultural models. The role of cognitive dissonance in bringing about lasting change in organizations is explored. There will be a significant discussion of international team-building. Finally, the scholar / manager will solidify the understanding of theory through experiential learning, using actual cross-cultural cases and incidents.
International Taxation
The objective of this introductory course is to try to develop a sense of the “flavor” of international tax. International tax is an extremely broad, challenging, important, and exciting field. The growing importance of international tax is matched by its difficulty. International tax rules are often the most technically difficult provisions of a country’s tax system. Rules such as thin capitalization rules, controlled foreign corporation rules, the indirect foreign tax credit, and rules for dealing with foreign exchange gains and losses are noted for their technical complexity. Tax advisers, tax officials and business executives working in the international arena must not only understand the international tax rules of their own country, but must also have an understanding of the tax laws of the other countries involved in a transaction and any tax treaties between the countries. The challenge is exacerbated by the pace of change in the rules governing international tax. These changes include new treaties, amendments to countries’ international tax legislation and administrative practice, and new commercial developments such as new financial products and electronic commerce.
This course provides a simple explanation of the basic international tax law principles. It outlines the most important facts about International Taxation from not only a European and a US point of view, but from the perspective of other countries as well. Key issues covered in this unique course are: Sources and Terms of International Tax Law, Double Taxation and its elimination, Double Taxation Treaties, US and European Tax Law and much more.
Introduction to Accounting and Finance Principles
The course is an introduction to terminology, concepts, problem solving, and techniques in accounting and finance. Important areas to be discussed include understanding financial statements, basic analysis of financial statements, budgeting, working capital management, capital budgeting, long-term Debt, Equity funding, and working capital management. The course has 4 primary objectives:
- To instill a basic understanding of accounting and finance terminology and concepts.
- To develop skills necessary to complete problem solving exercises using basic accounting and finance skills.
- To review how accounting and finance functions interact with the management team.
- To develop an understanding of the application of accounting and finance principles to decision-making situations in a business environment.
Multicultural Management
In this course participants will explore the interplay of international business practices and differing national cultures. In particular, participants will learn to apply concepts from the disciplines of cultural anthropology and sociology to specific problems and situations encountered in international business. Using case studies, and simulation exercises, participants will practice applying cultural insights to business dilemmas in the fields of marketing, negotiations, Human Resources, business communications, organizational structure and management. The goals of this seminar are to enable participants to:
1. Demonstrate an understanding of the conceptual frameworks from sociology, anthropology and industrial psychology which help explain the phenomena of “cultural conflict” and “culture shock”.
2. Demonstrate a systematic appreciation of the concept of culture with reference to specific examples from several of the leading global economies, such as China, the USA, France, Italy, Germany, Japan, Mexico, India, and Brazil.
3. Demonstrate an understanding of the need for linguistic proficiency and linguistic sensitivity in international business, with particular attention to the dichotomy between explicit and implicit communications, to the relationship between language formality and social context, and to the use or misuse of slang, humor and conversational taboos.
4. Demonstrate a knowledge of, and ability to recognize, the range and variety of nonverbal cues and communications used by different cultures, with reference in particular to use of gestures, facial expressions, dress, posture, proxemics and haptics.
5. Design human development and executive training programs intended to minimize culture shock and maximize the benefits of expatriate postings.
6. Utilize the concepts of cultural dimensions to improve the hiring, motivation, leadership and assessment of executives in positions with international aspects.
Offshore Financial Centers
What does the word “offshore” mean? What is a 'Tax Haven'? Words can mean different things to different people. The concept of the Tax haven is an old and very outdated concept. Its usage betrays a fundamental failure to understand the 'offshore' world. This course examines the “offshore” world. It details the “rules” governing offshore business; looks at the US and European perspectives on “offshore” trade and commerce as well those of countries situated in the Middle East and Asia; it looks at “money laundering” and international banking rules; it discusses the various types of offshore entities; surveys numerous offshore jurisdictions and finally describes in detail how the “offshore” philosophy can be legitimately utilized to increase the benefits of international trade and commerce. This course is a must for those involved in international business.
Academic Research Methodology
The philosophy that guided the development of this course is twofold. First, research involves a process of activities rather than the application of isolated, unrelated concepts and ideas. Educators practice research following a general sequence of procedures – from the initial identification of a research problem to the final report of research. This means that understanding the sequence of flow of activities is central in inquiry. Thus, the course begins with specific modules devoted to each step in the process of research and the inclusion of concepts and ideas within this process.
Second, the researcher today needs a large toolbox or approaches to study the complex issues in our society. No longer can we, as researchers, use only experiments or surveys to address our research problems. Researchers in this new century – whether conducting research or reading research to self-inform – need to know about both Quantitative and Qualitative approaches to inquiry and to have an in-depth understanding of the multiple research designs and procedures used in our studies today. Throughout the steps in the process or research, you will be introduced to both quantitative and qualitative approaches to examine each step and learn about their differences and similarities in application.
This course will also introduce you to eight distinct quantitative and qualitative research designs or procedures that comprise the repertoire of the researcher today
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