Executive MBA Global Business

Corporate Social Responsibility

The place of social responsibility in business has been discussed for many centuries through the lenses of religious, cultural and political belief. More recently, engagement with corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become a key issue in the private, public and third sectors.

This module will cover:

• What is corporate social responsibility?
• For what social impacts (if any) should companies be held responsible?
• How can companies learn to anticipate and better manage challenges to their social, environmental and ethical performance?

You will be equipped with a comprehensive understanding of the social responsibilities of a modern business organisation, learning how to address the complex issues of CSR in a systematic way.

Learning outcomes:

• Context and introduction to Corporate Governance and CSR
• CSR in practice: why should corporations behave responsibly?
• CSR and Consumers
• CSR and Employees
• CSR and Investors
• CSR and Communities
• CSR and the Supply Chain
• The future of CSR

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Financial Markets and Instruments

This course in corporate finance and financial markets will provide a basis for investment and financing analysis and decisions, and a foundation for a more in-depth study of the subject for the students who wish to go on and specialise in finance in their MBA. The course comprises three complementary parts -first focusing on capital budgeting and investment decisions; the second focussing on financing instruments and markets; and the third deriving the weighted average cost of capital used for discounting and valuation purposes.

Gain knowledge on the role of finance in business: to help understand the nature of available financial instruments and determinants of the prices of marketable securities; to be able to appraise investment projects. This is all set within a contemporary financial markets context.

Learning outcomes:

• Role of finance in the firm: savings and investments; securities markets v’s intermediaries; financial managers; primary, secondary and OTC markets.
• Investment appraisal: the net present value rule and alternative decision criteria
• Valuation of income streams: present values, annuities, perpetuities,
• Pricing of bonds-the importance of credit risk and time to maturity
• Valuation of equities: the dividend discount model and its derivations
• Risk and return: portfolio diversification and the capital asset pricing model
• Deriving and using WACC in valuation

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Digital Technologies and Business Innovation

We are in the middle of an information revolution! Over the last decade we have witnessed a dramatic reduction in the costs of creating, transmission and consuming information along with the development of novel solutions to manage information. This emergence of technology based information management has not only changed the firm environment as we knew it, but even altered the rules of competition in the market.

To thrive in an environment which is increasingly hyper-competitive and uncertain managers need to be on top of the latest and greatest in information management theory and practice. Managers need to first understand and then unlock the competitive advantage that technology can bring to their business.

Learning outcomes:

• IT as a foundation for execution in dynamic environments
• Emerging digital trends: How prepared are you?
• Intelligent Exploiter
• Knowledge Management
• How ready is your digital business model?
• Managing digital innovation
• SIG presentations & way forward
• Future of information and how well prepared are you?

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Business in the Global Economy

This module will provide a practical understanding of the tools and language used by economists to analyse individual and organisational behaviour (microeconomics), and the functioning of economies and networks of economies as a whole (macroeconomics). This in turn is intended to give you an appreciation of the relevance to business of economic thinking, news about the economy, and high-level policy debates.

Learning outcomes:

• Understand the main market forces of demand and supply and related concepts and tools used for analysing markets
• Understand how these concepts are used to think systematically about aggregate economic growth and fluctuations, inflation and unemployment
• Understand why different countries are at different stages of economic development
• Understand contemporary debates about the role of fiscal policy, monetary policy, supply side, and trade and exchange rate policy in regulating economies
• Understand how the ethical, moral and legal/ regulatory norms of a society affect the way individuals, firms and markets make economic decision
• Understand the tension between efficiency and equity, and the role of fairness and altruism in economic decisions.

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Principles of Marketing

This course provides a sound knowledge of the basics, so that by the end, you will be able to analyse a business situation from a marketing viewpoint. You should feel confident in discussing marketing issues with colleagues, and you will be prepared to continue with more detailed study of the subject at a more advanced level if you wish.

The course aims to:

• expose you to both traditional and still powerful - ideas, and to newer techniques and concepts.
• demonstrate the usefulness of marketing knowledge and concepts in analysing and developing markets and products within the context of the whole business operation.
• show how marketers need to be aware of their responsibilities to customers
  more than shareholders and the ethics of their campaigns..

Learning outcomes:

• What marketing is and is not; its status as a discipline. Scope and new directions. The new Marketing. Marketing ethical code of conduct
• Consumer behaviour
• New method in the collection and analysis of marketing information
• Creating a value proposition; features and benefits
• Communicating in a digital age; Ethical Standards of the Advertising Standards Authority.

Find out more about the Executive MBA