Thursday, November 13, 2008

Registering for module 9 electives

Today students had the option to start registering for their module 9 electives. Students are required to take 2.5 units of course weighting over the course of module 9, which basically translates into 5 courses. However, students may only take as many as 7 courses. In addition they are not allowed to take more than 2 courses per block and no auditing of courses is permitted due to past experiences (i.e. they don't want to taking to many resulting in the student failing and auditing doesn't require the same level of commitment on the part of the student which affect the other students who are actually registered in the course)

Here are the courses and their blocks:

Jan 12-30 Block A:
  • MBA 823 Corporate Valuation & Mergers and Acquisitions (instructor: Bill Cannon) (Finance)
  • MBA 832 Marketing Strategy (instructor: Ken Wong) (Marketing & Sales)
  • MBA 871 Financing of New Ventures (instructor: Elspeth Murray) (New Ventures)
  • MBA 882 Strategic Leadership (instructor: Tina Dacin) (Consulting & Project Management)

Feb 2-20 Block B:

  • MBA 826 Risk Management (instructor: Louis Gagnon) (Finance)
  • MBA 881 Global Strategy (instructor: Doug Reid) (Consulting & Project Management)

Feb 23-13 Block C:

  • MBA 824 Investments (instructor: Sean Cleary) (Finance)
  • MBA 873 Services Management (instructor: Barry Cross) (Consulting & Project Management)
  • MBA 833 Advanced Topics in Marketing (instructor: Michael Darling) (Marketing & Sales)

Mar 16 - April 3 Block D:

  • MBA 835 Consumer Research (instructor: Peter Dacin) (Marketing & Sales)
  • MBA 872 Managing Innovation (instructor: Lib Gibson) (New Ventures)
  • MBA 828 International Finance (instructor: TBC) (Finance)

April 6-24 Block E:

  • MBA 825 Corporate Financing and Capital Budgeting Decisions (instructor: Alex Faserak) (Finance)
  • MBA 844 Project Management (instructor: Kathryn Brohman) (Consulting & Project Management)
  • MBA 870 Marketing of New Ventures (instructor: Rob Woyzbun) (New Ventures)
  • MBA 837 Sales Management (instructor: Shannon Goodspeed) (Marketing & Sales)

Entire Module Courses:

  • MBA 890 New Venture Project (instructor: Shai Dubey) (New Ventures)
  • MBA 891 Consulting Project (instructor: Barry Cross) (Consulting & Project Management)
  • Students can also participate in the "TriColour Venture Fund", but must take the associated New Venture courses to qualify.

Here are the actual course descriptions:

Queen’s MBA Elective Course Descriptions
Winter/Spring 2009


Finance

MBAS 823: Corporate Valuation & Mergers and Acquisitions
Topics covered in this course include: introduction to stock valuation; real economic income and risk; security valuation in efficient capital markets; the CAPM, leverage policy and valuation; dividend policy and valuation (including the Gordon model); discounted-cash-flow-(DCF)-based valuation models; the fundamental securities analyst's common stock valuation model; valuing private and public companies; share valuation; share-exchange merger valuation; and divestiture valuation analysis.

MBAS 824: Investments
The purpose of this course is to examine valuation, risk assessment, and strategic management of financial assets, as well as the markets in which these assets trade. The major focus of the course will be on practical applications, with frequent reference to capital markets. An understanding of the underlying theory will make this approach meaningful. The course assignments involve hands-on investment decisions, designed to make you use the concepts in the real world.

MBAS 825: Corporate Financing & Capital Budgeting Decisions
Topics covered in this course include: bank credit policies and assessment; the choice and implementation of corporate financing policies; bank credit assessment; preferred shares and convertible securities; corporate financing decisions; optimal debt and dividend policies; strategic aspects of capital budgeting and cost of capital estimation; project analysis; optimal investment decision rules; hurdle rate estimation; capital budgeting procedures; & hurdle rate determination.

MBAS 826: Risk Management
This course offers you a unique opportunity to learn about derivatives and their applications as risk management and yield enhancement tools for financial institutions and non-financial corporations. We develop the key relationships of derivatives valuation (the cost-of-carry model, risk neutral valuation, binomial trees, and the Black-Scholes model). We analyze standard derivative instruments (futures, forwards, FRA’s, swaps, stock options) as well as more recent ones such as exotic options and credit derivatives. We explore best practices in the area of market and credit risk management and address topical issues pertaining to the use of derivatives, including capital requirements for regulated financial institutions and strategic issues associated with corporate risk management.

MBA 838: International Finance

Topics covered in this course include: multinational corporations; international trade; exchange rates; balance of payments; foreign exchange market; parity conditions; currency futures & options; international portfolio investments; currency swaps; Euromarkets; hedge funds; translation & transaction exposure; economic exposure; and cross-border valuation.

Marketing

MBAS 832: Marketing Strategy
This course has a simple objective: to help you (and your company) make money. Specifically, we work off the philosophy that we make money by creating value for customers; we keep making money by sustaining or enhancing that value over time; and we lose making money when we cease creating value. In keeping with that philosophy, the course begins by examining how marketing can create, destroy or lose customer value. We’ll then explore the central organizing paradigm - a framework entitled “Mission Critical Marketing”[1] (MCM). In the process, we’ll touch on each of the four variables that define profitability: price, cost, market share and market size. We’ll dedicate another class to a methodology called “market profiling”. Two final classes are directed at “sustaining and enhancing customer value over time”

MBAS 833: Advanced Topics in Marketing
This course is designed to provide students with a view of complex contemporary marketing situations and the solutions that marketing leaders have designed for these situations. The course builds on top of the knowledge gained during the Marketing Strategy course (MBAS 832). Advanced marketing topics are hard to define per se; however, in today’s increasingly complex business environment marketing can be viewed in many different ways. The underlying philosophy of this course is that marketing connects the organization to the marketplace. A second pivotal assumption is that there is no neutral ground and that all marketing activities either contribute positively or negatively to the development of business, the protection of business or the brand equity. The third theme element is the rapidly changing nature of marketing. [Prerequisite MBAS 832]

MBAS 835: Consumer Research
This course deals with various aspects of the collection and use of consumer/customer information for the purpose of making marketing decisions. This course provides you with skills to use information to translate conceptual understanding into specific operational plans. Using market data, this course requires you to take marketing information and develop specific marketing-based interpretations in various decision contexts. [Prerequisite MBAS 832]

MBAS 837: Sales Management
This course will introduce students to the fundamentals of sales management by developing the key skills, behaviors, and strategies necessary to succeed in sales. Specific issues include prospecting, the pre-approach, the approach, the presentation, the trial close, determining objections, meeting objections, closing the sale, and following up.

Entrepreneurship & Innovation

MBAS 870: Financing of New Ventures
This course will focus on the practical and real issues associated with the funding of an early stage company. The objective of the course is to provide students with the knowledge, skills and tools to strategize, plan and execute a funding strategy for an early stage technology or biotechnology company. Both the entrepreneurial start-up and the investor perspectives are explored in order to fully appreciate the dynamics, tensions and issues associated with funding early stage enterprises. The course content is based on the assumption that a mix of theory and contemporary practice provides the most insightful information, relevant facts and helpful pedagogy in studying early stage financing with all its temporal nuance and historic mystery. A series of guest speakers, each expert practitioners in their respective fields, has been organized to provide the students with a mix of real-world exercises, simulations, and briefings.

MBAS 871: Marketing of New Ventures
This course will focus on the unique marketing strategy and marketing management challenges faced by technology start-ups. The objective of this course is to provide students with the knowledge, skills and tools to prepare them for marketing management within a technology-driven new venture. Our definition of new venture includes new business ventures within existing or mature organizations as well as “start-up” new enterprises. Our definition of success is “sustainable” enterprises – not “get rich quick” or liquidity events favouring founders or VC’s. The course content is based on the premise that new venture marketing is a unique yet familiar subset of big “M” marketing as practiced by mature, proven enterprises. The course will be divided in two topic areas. Part 1: New Venture Crash Avoidance: Strategies for Reducing Risk and Getting to Market Part 2 will focus on New Venture Marketing Planning and Management: Unique Considerations and Techniques.

MBAS 872: Managing Innovation
This course will explore such topics as: individual vs. group creativity, innovation inspired by research; innovation inspired by the customer; sustaining product innovation; disruptive Innovation; and the innovative organization.

Consulting & Project Management

MBAS 881: Global Strategy
Most influential companies are global. Few companies who aspire to superior profitability are able to do so within the bounds of a single country market. For an increasing number of businesses, competing internationally is no longer an option. Moreover, the actions of non-North American multinationals means that today more than ever, competitive activity must have a strong defensive element as well.

Success in international markets is not a matter of luck, but of skill and persistence. Developing proficiency in international strategy translates into competitive advantage. Building competence in this area means understanding, at a sophisticated level, how companies succeed in the most demanding competitive arenas, which are usually found beyond their borders.
The approach we will take in this course is practical and problem-oriented. It is intended to enable you to acquire proficiency at strategy formulation and implementation in an international context. The course will do this by developing and applying concepts, analytical frameworks, and intuition to the strategic issues that face real-world multinational corporations, regardless of their industry.

MBAS 882: Strategic Leadership
This is a management skills course that is designed to enhance professional effectiveness, career development (promotions, salary, and job satisfaction), and quality of life in general. Through a variety of readings, self-assessments, videos, simulations, learning logs, and class assignments, you will develop a wide range of ideas, tools, and best practices that will help you bring out the best in yourself, others, and your organizations.

MBAS 873: Services Management
Students will develop a general management perspective of the typical service business for those looking to take leadership roles in a service organization or consult for those companies. Students will understand the systems and processes necessary in creating service breakthroughs, with a key focus on the involvement of a customer in a service, employee & customer loyalty, and their role in the service profit chain.

MBAS 844: Project Management
The purpose of this course is present the basic foundation concepts in project management to fulfill the Project Management Institute educational requirement for PMP certification. The course content is designed into five specific modules: a) Initiating the project, b) Planning the project, c) Completing the core functions, d). Facilitating the project, and e) Closing the project

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