This module aims to explore how microeconomic analytical tools can be applied to business practices. The module focuses on analyzing the functioning of markets, the economic behavior of firms and other economic agents and their economic/managerial implications through a selected set of topics that are motivated by real-world observations of business operations. Topics to be covered include: fundamental market forces and welfare issues, consumer and firm behaviour in various market structures, uncertainty and behavioural economics, pricing strategies with market power, game theory and competitive strategies with applications, and issues of market failure including externality, public goods, and information asymmetry.

The purpose of this Module is to provide students with the necessary tools and economic framework to better understand and analyse macroeconomics issues such as economic growth, unemployment, inflation, business cycles, government budget, trade deficit/surplus, and the measures and policies adopted by government and international institutions to cope with them. Undoubtedly, macroeconomics at both the domestic and international levels will have impact on the business decision and strategies for product innovation, market expansion, and investment. This module emphasize application of the macroeconomic models and analytical framework to real life macroeconomic events in the global economy.

This course focuses on the work of top management in business organisations. The primary perspective adopted is that of the general manager at the head of a business entity the corporation, business, division, or plants whose main responsibility is the overall success of his or her organisation. The course concentrates on the skills and actions required of the general manager for the development, communication and implementation of strategic organisational choices in the context of complex business situations. Two related areas make up the core of the course. The first, strategy formulation, address the goals and objectives of the course, and the means by which these goals and objectives are to be achieved. The second area, strategy implementation, concentrates on how the general manager deploys the organisation’s resources to implement, control and improve the formulated strategy. In order to capture the pragmatic, action oriented nature of the general managers’ task and the complexity of the environment in which he or she operates, part of the course is taught through the case method. In addition, students will be exposed to a range of practitioner or theoretical readings on the subject.

This course introduces students to the basics of laws and legal reasoning, particularly in the context of business. Topics covered under this course include the role of law and international organizations in business, sources of international and domestic law, classification of law, dispute resolution, conflicts of law and contract law. Students will be able to understand the legal risks involved when entering into contracts with parties from another jurisdiction and the different ways they can seek redress when the other party defaults.  

The course aims to provide participants with the basic theoretical knowledge, skills, and sensitivities that will help them deal effectively with key management issues and challenges in today’s global business environment. We intend to explore the major issues and challenges facing companies with worldwide operations as seen by the managers themselves. The questions addressed include:

1. Why do firm globalise?
2. What are the various demands of operating in a global environment?
3. What are the operating tasks involved in implementing multidimensional global strategies?
4. What is the nature of the general management challenge involved in managing a complex organisation in a rapidly evolving global environment?

Each of these areas poses the multidisciplinary issues that are the hallmark of the general manager’s job. The course will offer plenty of opportunities for students to: bring their diverse perspectives and experiences; solve complex business problems; and build on the knowledge acquired in several previous functional courses.

This course studies the evolution of the Asia-Pacific business environment in the context of industrialization and modernization. It presents the patterns of economic development and political and social change, while emphasizing the economic, political and social institutions of the region.

The course begins with the principles of international trade, foreign direct investment, and exchange rates. It then examines how institutions such as the State and markets interact to shape optimal corporate strategy.
The course then proceeds to thematic country studies, which emphasize the development and evolution of economic, social, and political institutions in the context of particular Asia-Pacific countries.

The aim of this course is to help students develop a strong conceptual foundation for managing technological innovation. It introduces concepts and frameworks for analysing how firms can create, commercialise and capture value from technology based products and services.

The course is not just for those who want to become technopreneurs or technology managers. It also covers commercialising technology, how to manage innovation within a corporation, or how to protect an invention you might someday want to commercialise. The focus is on management rather than the specific details of any particular technology, i.e. this is not a “technical” or engineering course. This is also not a course on Information Technology, although some of our examples come from the IT industry.

In addition to environment impact, Business Sustainability is now seen through the lens of Social (Labour and Human Rights), Anti-Corruption and Corporate Social Responsibility practices. These components are recognized as fundamental to business strategy and execution. C-Suites, Boards of Directors, your organization/teams look to you as an individual and as a leader in doing it right, ever time, in all your interactions with internal and external stakeholders. This course seeks to provide a platform for sustainability oriented professionals to understand and implement a business strategy towards achieving a triple bottom line – through Environment, Social and Governance (“ESG”) actions. You will understand what you can do to drive and embed sustainability within your organization – established corporations, start-up ventures, consulting firms, for profit, not for profit, SMEs etc. You can take the knowledge and skills that will be shared during this course and use it as a platform for ethical decision making and risk management. Under the CA Components, the Final Test will be replaced with two MCQ Quizzes (midterm and end term) with a total mark of 40% (20% each). The other two components remain unchanged.

Family firms are the dominant type of publicly traded firms everywhere around the world. As such, family firms play an important role in all economies, but especially so in Asian economies, where large family firms often constitute a large part of the private sector. Large Asian family firms – the focus of this course – are often organized into corporate groups. This type of organization has lost its attractiveness in many parts of the developed world, but continues to be important in most emerging economies. In many ways, the Asian family firm defies the wisdom of strategic management. Its demise continues to be predicted, but does not appear imminent. This course provides students the opportunity to develop deep skills and understanding of the strategy and governance of family firms, and focuses in particular on strategic issues faced by family firms in Asia. Topics include characteristics, strengths and weaknesses of family ownership and management, the governance of family businesses, and how to sustain the legacy of family business. The knowledge obtained from this course is essential to doing business intelligently with family firms in Asia and globally.

Venture capital and other sources of private equity play a critical role in the founding and development of new enterprises. Over the past 25 years, there has been an enormous surge in the financial resources allocated to venture capital. This course covers all major aspects of starting and operating a venture capital firm and the role venture capital firms play in the startup ecosystem. It will cover fund raising, sourcing & screening investments, managing investments, exiting investments, strategy for the venture capital firm itself, and public policy.

Venture capital is a core factor of the current entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystems around the world. Understanding its functioning is thus important for all students interested in entrepreneurship and innovation, whether their goal is to work in startups, established firms, finance, public policy, or elsewhere.

Major technological innovations and inventions like Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, 3D printing and Robotics are maturing to the point where the way we work and the way we live will be changed forever, just like businesses today cannot function effectively without the internet, email and the mobile phone. It is imperative that business leaders must keep pace with these waves of change in order to survive and prosper in this new business environment. This course will focus on addressing the challenges of the digital firm.

This module retraces the emergence of artificial intelligence, connected devices, blockchain and quantum computing and analyzes their role in the data economy. A variety of corporate case studies and industry examples will shed light on the transformation of existing business models through technology and the creation of new services along global data supply chains. Data valuation models and the importance of trust in information sharing and cross-border digital trade will be discussed. The module will examine the risks of emerging technologies and derive governance and policy implications.

Entrepreneurs must understand the business structure which best suits their business plans. Similarly, managers must appreciate the liabilities and decision-making mechanisms in the business structure they manage. This module will equip entrepreneurs and managers with the legal fundamentals to propel them in their start-up journeys or new management roles. Through case studies, participants will gain insights into real-life corporate tussles, and acquire skills to navigate their way effectively through different stakeholder relationships. This module will also give participants a headstart in new developments e.g. new laws in Singapore (which commenced on 30 July 2020) that affect management actions.

Entrepreneurs face several challenges in identifying opportunities and venture building. Operating in an environment of risk and uncertainty, they must seek relevant human and financial resources and are confronted daily with complex management decisions. This course thus teaches various strategic perspectives and tools implemented to navigate the entrepreneurial ecology to approach success.

Adapting to the ongoing digitization of the economy, and of society in general, is arguably the most challenging transformation every business is currently facing. Digital technologies have become the core of almost every industry. Rapidly advancing technologies and digital trends, changing customer behaviours, and disruptive competitors are making it increasingly difficult for organisations to drive sustainable and profitable growth. CEOs report that many of their digital transformation efforts fail and our research is showing that up to 70% of organisations failed to exceed their return on digital investment goals. Leaders are well aware of the need to transform but are desperately in need of direction as to how to change and even where change is required. This specific course will focus on execution of digital strategy in the “real world” and equip students with some of the tools to be kept in mind in this rapidly changing paradigm.

In an ideal world, managers could reliably make optimal business decisions, with sufficient time and information to support their case. Unfortunately, important strategic and business decision-making often happens without ample time or complete information, increasing the risk of suboptimal outcomes. This course focuses on teaching the essential consulting tools that are required to effectively address business decisions through a holistic synthesis of different functional frameworks. Many of these frameworks and perspectives will be equally valuable to corporate managers, who may take on ‘internal consultant’ tasks or roles in their future tenure.

This module aims to provide students with the required knowledge and skills in the study of executive leadership from a strategic choice perspective, or more concisely, strategic leadership, which focuses on the top executives who have overall responsibility for an organisation; their characteristics, what they do, how they do it, and particularly, how they affect organisational outcomes. The module emphasises the central role of strategy and leadership in organisational outcomes. It focuses on the top leadership level in an organisation that exerts the most influence on its strategy through their behaviours and decisions.

The technology and business landscapes are evolving as fast as at any point in the last 20 years with advances in machine learning, supply chain and the internet of things, robotics and automation, marketing technologies, and experience technologies such as VR/AR/XR. This course will challenge students to explore how digital is really changing businesses, customers’ expectations, business models and the role of leaders. The course will balance the technological and cultural approaches to transformation. Through hands-on experiments with technology, data and business models, learners will take a fresh look at the transformation of big global and Asian companies.