Electives

MIB students share many of the electives with IESEG’s MSc students. The MSc in Management is a 2 year master program for students who have already finished their Bachelor of Business Administration. To see the course catalogue for the MSc program, please go to http://international.ieseg.fr/international/course-catalogue/ (click on either Semester 1 or Semester 2)

Examples of electives:

Challenges and Tactics in IT Driven Change

This course focuses on the managerial challenges of managing IT-led change processes. The emphasis is on the middle-management level and the upward and downward challenges they face when implementing IT-led change. The course draws on research on organizational theory, organizational behaviour and on research on IT in organizations to address two core challenges in IT-related change: making change happen and making change visible

Prerequisites: students should have a basic understanding of management concepts. Furthermore knowledge about the use of technology in organization will be helpful but not mandatory.
Decisions and Leadership

Decision makers should understand how decisions can be taken in organization. Despite cognitive and affective biases, the leaders of tomorrow need to question the rationality of decisions taken inside their company. This lecture aims at giving means of shaping or influencing the process and the substance of the strategic decisions. Experiences, observation of the real world and role game will help to give sense to the concepts.

At the end of the course, the student should be able to:
• Identify, understand and manage the models of decision making process,
• Question his/her vision, value, will as a potential leader in company.
Firm Valuation-Theory and Practice

The objective of this course is to provide students with a solid background in the valution of companies. After an introduction to valuation techniques (cash flows, dividends, multiples) and key concepts in valuation (free cash flows, economic value added, discount rate, etc.), students learn how to determine the value of a company. This course makes use of real-world data, spreadsheet examples or case studies and focuses on the tasks of financial analysts. At the end of the course, students are expected to build their own valuation model in Excel and apply it to an existing company.

At the end of the course, the student should be able to:
• Understand basic valuation models;
• Find and use data for determining the value of companies;
• Build a simple spreadsheet valuation model.

Prerequisites: Introductory course in corporate finance.
Globalization Opportunities Risks and Challenges

This course focuses on the impact of globalization on goods, labor and financial markets. We will analyze a range of questions that is controversially discussed in the literature. Do only countries fall prey to financial market crises that had structural vulnerabilities in the run-up to the crisis or do crises occur without any relation to economic fundamentals? Are large current account imbalances sustainable in a globalized world? Can they provoke serious macroeconomic turmoil that spreads over international markets? Does globalization lead to a reduction in the inflation rate owing to the increase in global competition? And is the often-heard argument true that globalization leads to an increase in unemployment in the industrialized world?

At the end of the course, the student should be able to:

• understand the role of international financial markets and be able to assess the risks and opportunities associated with the international integration of financial markets
• analyze the reasons for vulnerabilities for financial crises and be able to differentiate between different explanations for financial imbalances and crises
• understand the role of the U.S twin deficit and the role of large emerging markets such as China for international markets
• analyze the impact of the globalization process on key macroeconomic aggregates such as inflation and unemployment, assess their explanatory power and compare them to competing ideas and theories,
• understand the working of the international monetary system
• analyze the economic consequences of the integration of emerging markets like China and India into the world economy.

Prerequisites: Students who sign up for this course should be familiar with basic microeconomic and macroeconomic theories and concepts. They should also be interested in current economic policy issues and problems. Students should be willing, and able, to study academic texts on their own and use them as a complementary source of information.
Import-Export Selling and Negotiation in an International Context

The course will present the basic notions and characteristics used in the import-export business. It must be emphasized that this course is taught as an interactive course, i. e. class participation is essential.

Basic concepts covered during the course are:

• Cultural factors
• Approach of foreign markets
• Basics of international trade
• Principal tools for conducting an import export activity
• International transportation and freight rules, financial aspects, customs policies
• General import export expertise

At the end of the course, the student should be able to:

• Understand how import export businesses are set up.
• Design and master an appropriate import export strategy for a firm.
• Analyze reasons of success/ failure in this field of activity.
International Dimensions of Consumer Behavior

The consumer's decision process is first introduced and covered in some detail. This is followed by the psychological, social, and cultural influences on consumer behaviour, and how these relate to the decision making process. Next, dimensions on how national and cultural borders impact management and their international perspectives are analyzed. Finally, several ethical dilemmas are discussed. To give an actual perspective on the topics, several examples are examined and daily workshops are held.

At the end of the course, the student should be able to demonstrate a sound theoretical and practical understanding of the following:

Knowledge Based Objectives:

• The consumer decision making process
• The range of psychological influences on consumer behaviour
• The social process that influence consumer behaviour
• The factors that affect decisions involving consumer behaviours in other countries

Skills-Based Objectives:

• Critically apply consumers behaviour theory to problems in marketing
• Effectively use of the international dimension on consumer behaviour to problems in international marketing/business

The course is also designated to continue developing students' skill in critical reading of journal articles and reports writing (through a written assessment). Interpersonal skills are emphasized through teamwork in the workshops.

Prerequisites: Students who sign up for this course should have at least basic knowledge of the key concepts of marketing. They should be willing to accept and understand culture from different perspectives and points of view. Also, students should be able to understand the applicability of consumer behavior concepts in daily business at domestic and international markets. It is imperative that they are willing, and able, to study (and then analyse) academic literature on their own as to prepare reports and conceptual mental maps of them. The ability to ask critical questions and to pursue independent work is essential for success in this course.
International Enterprise Project Management

The need for flexibility and responsiveness is a key challenge for today organisations and companies in a global world. How can complex organisations react timely in front of a moving environment, with changing competitors and customers? How can each element or individual in this organisation react with the same discipline? The International Enterprise Project Management approach is one answer to this challenge. Using industry-standard templates and methodologies, the course will provide students with operational tools and organisation principles that are needed to manage cross-functional projects, especially in the Business Process Re-engineering area.

The course will allow students to understand & apply the project management methodology & discipline, which is key to success in most compartments of companies and organisations. The course is illustrated by real-life projects in which the instructor is involved personally at IBM.

At the end of the course, the student should be able to:

• Manage Project in an international environment
• Master the "nine pillars,” Communication Mgt, Time & Schedule Mgt, Team Mgt, Cost Mgt, Contract Mgt, Scope & change Mgt, Issue & problem Mgt, Risk Mgt, Documentation Mgt.
International Project Management

The “Project management” can be defined as a technique which ensures progress toward objectives, proper deployment of human and strategic resources. A project is an extraordinary activity, aiming to introduce innovation inside the organization. An organization can learn from the projects new managerial tools for the business system. New sectors of the economy are learning from the project techniques the way to improve their goals.

The project management can be useful for:

• Change management.
• Developing the integration between functions and business units.
• Team building.
• Introducing planning and budgeting.

The course’s aim is to help the students to understand the tools of project management.

Particularly the main contents will be:

• Projects and Project Management: Definitions, Characteristics, actual scenarios.
• WBS, OBS, RAM and GANTT: the tools of project management.
• Project and Team Organization.
• Influence, Matrix and Dedicated Project Organizations, Alignment of Task.
• The Risk Management: planning and operating management.
• The Project Leader’s Competencies. And the social relations in a project.

The objective of the course is to introduce advanced methods of project management in international contexts.

The course aims to deploy the project management not only regarding the technical instruments, but also the managerial and organizational philosophy of the learning organization.

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

• Understand the major approaches and related methodologies for structures’ design.
• Build inter-functional teams is one of the most peculiar aspects of the project. In this part the student will analyze the principles and the objectives of the project management. The first step is the work breakdown structure (WBS), a technique to understand the activities enclosed in a project. This desegregation of the job permits to evaluate the complexity of the project and helps the definition of the hierarchical structure of the projects (WBO). The introduction of the Milestones of the projects is a way to introduce the concept of the projects’ checkpoints. Finally, the time required (Gantt) and the resources evaluation (Project’s budget) complete the planning of a project.
• Organize project team, considering the individual e social implication of the team working. The team building is another key-point of the Project management. The aim of this section is to introduce the leadership process, the empowerment, the communication, the integration procedures and the relations between the members of a group. Conflicts’ management is a natural conclusion of this section.
Managing Consultancy

This module will provide an overview of the consultancy industry growing extensively due to globalisation resulting in generalisation of management practices, outsourcing and downsizing phenomenon. Stakeholders such as large companies and Small to Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) clients, government, public bodies or even academia are involved in the consultancy interaction which will be approached on a twofold view: consultancy as a process; tendering, sites visiting, contracting, selection, analysing and agreeing on the scope of the intervention, implementing and measuring the outputs; and consultancy as a relationship; trust, power, ethics, knowledge sharing, collaborating, listening, creating a relationship. The module will then focus on cost and non-cost barriers of such interactions, and how you can take part and manage a consultancy interaction as a provider or a user.

At the end of the course, the student should be able to:

• Recognise key consultancy elements
• Discuss consultancy structures
• Create linkages with previous modules
• Critically appraise structural factors in consultancy management and development
Retail Merchandising and Sales Promotion

This course examines the importance of the atmospherics and visual merchandising and describes how a retail store image is conveyed to consumers.

At the end of the course, the student should be able to:
• Acquire an appreciation of, and be able to employ suitable techniques to evaluate aspects of the merchandising techniques, the customer service and the promotional mix in the store (In terms of information).
• Understand and apply merchandising and promotion theory to retail stores (In terms of comprehension).
• Produce an appropriate, effective and co-ordinated merchandising, customer service and promotional plan.
• Learn how to produce a report and presentations of an appropriate graduate standard level concerning merchandising, customer service and store sales promotions (In terms of application(s).

Prerequisites: Students who sign up for this course should have at least basic knowledge of the key concepts of "Introduction to Marketing" since basic concepts about positioning or communications are reviewed. Students should like "to go shopping" or at least enjoy the shopping world. This course requires to work in a group project, many times with students from different backgrounds, cultures, and countries, so it is imperative to be responsible, cooperative, and respectful.
Risk Management

The objective of this course is to introduce students to different concepts and strategies related to corporate risk management. The first part of the course will focus on mathematical, statistical and financial tools that could be used to evaluate risky situations. The second part of the course deals with the most used strategies to manage risk.

At the end of the course, the student should be able to :

• Understand and evaluate risky situations
• Measure properly risk and know how to deal with it
Sport and Event Marketing

The course content will be relatively dynamic and fluid dependant upon topical developments and the needs and interests of class participants.

However, the core course contents will generally touch on the following areas:

• The Special Nature of Sport and Event Marketing
• The Marketing Management Process in Sport and Events
• Sport Consumer Behaviour
• The Role of Research in Sport Marketing
• Market Segmentation
• The Sport Product
• Pricing Strategies
• Promotions and Public Relations
• Distribution and Facilities
• Sponsorship
• Specific Event Management Issues

The principle aim of this course is to facilitate the appreciation and understanding of the dynamic and increasingly complex world of sport and event marketing. This is done by considering the marketing of sports and the structure and marketing of events to provide students with an opportunity to sharpen their skills in an industry that many are keen to enter. The focus is importantly two-fold, firstly to consider the marketing of actual sports, sporting bodies and general events and secondly to consider the marketing through sport and events, that is, those organisations, such as sponsors, governments and other groups that use sport and events as a way of facilitating their marketing objectives.

At the end of the course, the student should be able to:

• Develop marketing strategy for sporting organisations and events, including sponsors
• Specify, analyse and select markets for specific sport and event offerings
• Prepare, communicate and justify marketing mixes for sport and/or events-based organisations
• Examine applications of sport and event marketing in the relevant industry
• Demonstrate a sound understanding of the similarities and differences in sport-based and non-sport-based marketing activities, including knowledge of the additional components of the sport marketing mix

Prerequisites: While it is not compulsory for students to have completed any particular units in marketing before attempting this course, it is recommended that a basic knowledge of marketing principles, including but not limited to, the concepts of the marketing mix, positioning, segmentation, consumer behaviour, branding and marketing research would be advantageous in extracting maximum value from undertaking this course.
Structures and Behaviors in International Contexts

The introduction’s aim is to help all students to understand the basic tools of organizational design. So the first lesson implies the general definition of organization, including some consideration about the peculiarity of the international contest.

The org-chart technique is the basic tool of the course. By following the program the student will be introduced to the theory of the organizational structuring: basic, functional and departmental structures. These are the so called hierarchical structures, since the integration model they normally use is based on the hierarchical relation between the actors. This traditional approach to the organization is attenuated by using different model based on the mutual adjustment, the negotiation between the actors, the common culture.Using these tools we create the non hierarchical organization, by which the most important examples are the Project Manager Model, the Product Manager Model and the Matrix.

At the end of the course the students will be introduced to the newest concept of the reticular organizations or Net-organizations. This innovative idea of organization seems to be an efficient answer to the request coming from the enterprises which have to face the crisis periods.

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

• Understand the major approaches and related methodologies for structures’ design in international complex contexts.
• Describe hierarchical and non-hierarchical tools.
• Comprehend the characteristics of PM Structure, PjM Structure and Matrix.
• Understand the zero based review technique.
• Understand the integration systems and their affect on the organizational structures.
• Describe the concept of differentiation & integration.
• Describe a reticular connection in organization.
• Comprehend the elements of the N-organization.

Other possible electives (as well as examples of electives from previous years) can be found cross-listed with the electives for the MSC program, http://international.ieseg.fr/programmes/course-catalogue/

Electives

Examples of electives:

Programmes

Focus