MBA Tracks

Data, information, knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom continuum. Forms and sources of knowledge. Types of best practices. Knowledge market: the players, dynamics, and pathologies. Theories and principles of knowledge management. Perspectives of knowledge management. Steps in the knowledge management process: knowledge generation, knowledge codification, knowledge transfer. Organisational enablers for sharing and managing knowledge: management, information and technology.

Approaches to implementing knowledge management. Application examples with focus on people-process-technology issues: enterprise knowledge portals, communities of practice, after action reviews, knowledge café, benchmarking and best practices, organisational learning, and incentive programmes. Success stories and lessons learnt from industry. Roles, responsibilities and competencies of KM professionals.

This course introduces students’ issues on energy, natural resources, and environment, and focuses on how they are related to the international political economy and security. The topics we will discuss include (but are not limited to): What is energy security? What are the political and economic consequences of resource production? What are the economic and political factors that affect a country’s decision to develop nuclear energy and/or renewable energy? How does environmental change affect a country’s internal and external security? What efforts does the international society make to manage climate change and environment issues? We will be covering a wide range of issues on energy and environment, including energy resources, renewable resources, climate change, food, water, natural disasters, environmental quality, and nuclear issues, and will discuss how each issue is linked to the international/domestic politics, economy, or security.

This course is designed to help students understand government and politics in Southeast Asia in an era of globalization and uncertainty. It examines state-society relationships, the nature of government and how a government manages its plural society and deals with socio-political issues. The course also examines various theoretical approaches in political science which explain power relationships and causes of conflict and instability with special reference to Southeast Asia. It focuses on the means by which a government legitimizes itself and deals with the problems that it faces. “New” essential political forces such as civil society and major issues such as ethnic and religious tension/conflicts; corruption, and violent oppositions are also discussed.

Although the course covers 11 countries in Southeast Asia, specific examples are taken from the five original ASEAN states (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines) and two mainland Southeast Asian states (Myanmar and Vietnam). Nevertheless, other Southeast Asian countries will also be included in the discussion when relevant.

Since the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997-98, several similar but less severe crises have also erupted in some emerging economies like Brazil, Argentina, Russia, and so on. These events have spurred multilateral institutions (eg, Asian Development Bank, Bank for International Settlements, IMF, World Bank, etc), MNCs, international investment banks, and national governments to develop more rigorous early-warning systems to anticipate such economic crises in countries where they have invested in or lent to. Failing to monitor this kind of crises would entail extremely high cost for international investors and lenders. Recognizing this, country-risk monitoring and crisis-forecasting have become a more sophisticated and elevated management function in these international and national organizations, the importance of which is further underscored by the eruptions of the 2008-09 global economic crisis and the 2010-16 Euro-zone sovereign debt crisis, which ironically had originated from developed, mature economies.

This course aims to introduce students to the concepts, methods and practical applications of country risk assessment and crisis prediction. It takes an interdisciplinary approach to combine the tools of political, economic and financial risk analyses from both the qualitative and quantitative perspectives (while statistical proficiency is not a prerequisite for this course, the lectures, reading materials and case studies are heavily data-driven).

The course will also incorporate real-life, retrospective crises as case studies to help students gain an in-depth understanding of the ingredients that lead to the success or failure of country-risk monitoring and crisis-forecasting.

This course will discuss regional and global financial crisis regarding the causes, policy responses and their impacts, including the theories and approaches behind them. The Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2007-2009 surprised many regarding how it could happen and start from and originate in the most advanced economy. Also why it became contagious and why it caused devastating impacts to many economies as well as how these developments ultimately lead to the great recession with still further devastating impacts.

Meanwhile many studies have demonstrated that financial crisis has always been part and partial of the market economy. Financial crisis could occur in a single economy, but it could also develop into a contagion to become regional or even global as the world experiencing.

The students will be introduced to relevant concepts and theories as well as policies related to the crisis and crisis management. Practical cases of regional and multilateral cooperation to address crises and to mitigate the adverse impacts, as well as to avoid their repeat will be discussed. Regional and global crises from the Asian Financial Crisis 1997/98, the Global Financial Crisis 2007/08, the European Financial Crisis and its aftermath including the most recent development of the US-China trade and economics tensions and their implications will be discussed.

In one of the earliest known treatises devoted to the conduct of war, Sun Tzu argued that strategists should “deeply  ponder” the effects of military leaders’ temperament and emotions on military effectiveness (The Art of War, pp. 114-115). Almost everything that happens in war, Carl von Clausewitz maintains, is “through the hidden process of intuitive judgment.” (On War, VI/8, 389 italics in original) At its best, this ability allows war leaders to achieve stunning successes. At its worst, it is a source of misperceptions and catastrophic defeats. How do war leaders really make decisions? Why do they make sensible choices that help achieve military effectiveness in some cases, yet misjudge the odds and make the wrong decisions in others? The goal of this class is to examine the influence of war leaders’ cognition on military effectiveness. We examine how research on the psychology of judgment and choice can shed light on generalship; and, in turn, how the study of human cognition is enriched by asking questions that are unique to the political and strategic experience of war.

The objective of this course is to provide students with an understanding of the strategies, concepts, and methodologies to make an organization more sustainable and socially responsible in its operations. Topics covered in the course include, business strategies for sustainability, framework for implementing sustainable business practices, design for environment/sustainability, life cycle analysis, standards for measurement of CO2 emissions, stakeholder engagement, GRI reporting standards, circular economy and remanufacturing, sustainable supply chains and sustainable sourcing, policies for controlling carbon emissions, sustainable transportation, energy management, sustainability in agriculture and food supply chains, and socially responsible operations. The course will also attempt to address contentious issues in corporate sustainability.

This course has three distinct segments. The first segment provides an introduction to climate science. The second segment provides tools and financial models for assessing and incorporating climate risks in financial investment decisions. The final segment covers sustainable finance. This segment introduces green bonds and green finance as well as provides tools and methodologies for sustainable investing. The focus of this segment is on both bonds/loans and equity instruments that meet the guidelines developed by various agencies to address climate change challenges. This segment of the course will take perspectives of the issuer of the instrument, the investor, as well as the regulators.

Corporate sustainability involves business strategies to create long-term financial value through measurable societal impact. The focus of this course will be on both preparing and interpreting sustainability and integrated reports. This course covers some of the key existing standards used for environmental, social and governance (ESG) such as Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI), Integrated Reporting (IR) and Sustainability Reporting Standards Board (SASB).

This course addresses energy challenges and scenarios, we are well advised to be aware of, as we look for sustainable development perspectives.

Through a series of six seminars, experienced energy experts of ERI@N explain major changes, energy transition scenarios and advancing key technologies:

• climate emergency, decarbonization, shift to low-carbon electricity,
• renewable energies, distributed energy resources, smart grids,
• transformations in energy market and business models,
• digitalization and AI to support intelligent energy management.

This course aims to help students understand frameworks and tools that can help them to innovate and design solutions with sustainability considerations. Sustainable design refers to designing solutions that consider its impacts on the environment and society. In this course, we will discuss design thinking, systems thinking, and concepts related to frugal innovation, which helps organizations to develop creative and user-relevant ideas that enable them to meet user needs, while considering constraints and environmental & social impacts. The class pedagogy will be interactive, using case studies, videos, hands-on exercises, small group and class-wide discussions.

With greater focus and attention on grand societal and environmental challenges among all stakeholders and customers, there is greater opportunity for companies to develop and market products that are more environmentally friendly and manufactured & distributed in a socially responsible manner. At the same time, companies run the risk of being accused of greenwashing if the green manufacturing and sourcing strategies are not implemented properly. How should companies use the challenge as an opportunity and develop their marketing and communications strategy accordingly? This course will address these issues.

Entrepreneurship is at the heart of value creation in the economy.  While there is a growing emphasis on idea creation, there is little formal understanding offered in management programs about how to evaluate, invest in, nurture, and manage new start-ups.  Moreover, there is also a lack of understanding of holistic tools to evaluate new ventures not just from a financial perspective but more strategically through concepts and frameworks learnt in the entire management program.

This course will provide an introduction for participants into the business dynamics involved within the more than US$1 trillion global Biomedical Healthcare industry. Prior scientific knowledge is not required, and all technical terms will be explained during the course. The emphasis throughout the course is on providing participants with a framework of knowledge to understand the trends within the industry – especially in the way that it affects Pharmabio and Medical Device companies like: Pfizer, Amgen, Medtronic, and J&J.

Participants will learn about how technologies are changing the way which drugs and medical devices are being developed, manufactured, and marketed. Due to the limited time available for the course, areas like: agrobio business and renewable energies will not be covered as part of the prescribed course content. However, if there is interest, there will be a special topics seminar where topics that are interesting for the participants of the course will be discussed.

The Bootcamp is based on highly interactive format using presentations and case discussions touching upon different interfaces of the life sciences industry. It will allow you to appreciate unique strategies being developed by the firms to face challenges in terms of competition, regulations, intellectual property issues etc. before bringing new medicines and medical devices to the market. Project work will involve the study and analysis of leading companies within the biomedical industry.

The Competitive Strategy module deals with the challenges managers face in seeking to achieve their organisation’s mission in the face of changing, uncertain and ambiguous environmental and competitive conditions, while aligning and deploying their internal assets, capabilities and people to optimal effect. This complex task requires a sophisticated blend of analytical, synthetic and behavioural insights, which are developed in this module.

The objective of this course is to provide students with an understanding of the strategies, concepts and methodologies to make an organization more sustainable and socially responsible in its operations. Topics covered in the course include, business strategies for sustainability, framework for implementing sustainable business practices, design for environment/sustainability, life cycle analysis, standards for measurement of CO2 emissions, stakeholder engagement, GRI reporting standards, circular economy and remanufacturing, sustainable supply chains and sustainable sourcing, policies for controlling carbon emissions, sustainable transportation, energy management, sustainability in agriculture and food supply chains, and socially responsible operations. The course will also attempt to address contentious issues in corporate sustainability.

This course is designed to help students develop strong conceptual foundations for understanding technology and innovations. It is important to recognize the different types of technology innovations and the role that they play in organizations and society. Innovations drive growth and can also address societal challenges. But are successful innovations largely a result of serendipity? The likelihood of innovation success can be increased with a systematic approach that encompasses organizational innovation strategies and innovation processes for identifying, creating, and commercializing technology innovations. The course will introduce concepts and frameworks in key areas such as design thinking, product/service commercialization and diffusion, and diversifying from the initial innovation to a broader portfolio. The class pedagogy will be interactive, using case studies, videos, hands-on exercises, small group and class-wide discussions. The class will be helpful for students who are, or aspire to be managers involved in innovations in a large organization, or entrepreneurs leveraging an innovative technology.

This course will teach students the science and art of transformations. It addresses the five main steps an institution is to take to increase the chances of a successful transformation.

A critical skill for successful managers is the ability to make good decisions.  Throughout their post-MBA careers, future managers will be involved in strategic and business decision-making. Often, they will make (or support) important decisions without having sufficient time or information that is required.  Sometimes, managers could make sub-optimal decisions if they are unable to analytically zoom into the key decision issues that may be cross-functional, or apply business tools needed for robust decision-making.  Furthermore, cognitive biases of managers could also steer decision-making in the wrong direction.  On the other hand, effective managers who leverage analytical thinking, key data and business frameworks are more likely to make sound decisions.  Such managers are also less likely to rely on “gut feel” and “hearsay,” or be swayed by biases while making decisions. This course teaches participants how to apply analytical tools such as business frameworks for strategic decision-making.

This course follows from the course B8021 Analytics for Decision Making and looks at more advanced techniques of analytics. This course will examine in greater depths machine-learning based tools that can be applied to the modern organization for business planning and market research opportunities.

Similar to B8021, this course equips participants with the knowledge and skills, to investigate existing business operational data to continually develop innovative business insights and new solutions for managerial decisions. Participants will be exposed to various data modeling techniques using real-life business data that will allow them to provide useful predictions such as supply and demand forecast, pricing and profitability forecast, consumer trend analysis and the likes.

This course systematically introduces the process of developing a strong business analytic case starting from the exploration of the data context to finally obtaining the explanatory or predictive results. The students will learn how to ask the right questions and how to draw inferences from the data by using the appropriate statistical and data mining tools. Overall, the course will enable students to approach business problems data-analytically, envision data-mining opportunities in organizations, and also follow up on ideas or opportunities that present themselves.

Why are some emerging markets more successful than the others? What factors drive the potential risks and rewards in these markets? Are the goals of the government different from that of private investors?

We will begin by studying the GDP components. Students will see that a country that is trade driven needs to adjust its currency policy to the changes in the global economy. We will also study what makes consumption as a sustainable engine of growth and under what conditions can investment bring more harm than good to a country.

With a good understanding of key economic indicators, we will move on to various frameworks to understand government policies: their motivation (in theory), transmission and limitations (in reality). Students will learn how a country's investment opportunities and potential GDP are driven by its labor force and productivity. In turn, the level of productivity can be affected by a confluence of monetary, fiscal, currency and regulatory policies. In contrast to developed countries, we need to treat emerging economies differently because they are at the phase where their political goals and legal structures are still in transition, where their financial and government institutions are not yet fully formed, and where consumer spending behavior as well as markets availability are evolving rapidly. Such events create increased risks and possibly higher returns.

This class will make use of case studies of key emerging economies to apply the frameworks and discuss the critical but often overlooked nuances. Emerging Market countries include South Africa, India, China, Brazil and Saudi Arabia. We will connect their recent history to contemporary issues as we discuss the appropriate investment vehicles.

Finally, we will have a concluding lecture for students to continue their education with the ability to download data from the Federal Reserve and to use a data visualization software for data mining.

Private equity (PE) has transitioned from being an alternative asset to becoming a key component of all large investment portfolios.  This course is meant to provide a broad overview of the asset class.

Students with an interest in businesses and in investments will find this course a useful introduction to private equity.  The course aims to provide a wide-ranging introduction to the various parts of the industry through lectures, readings, case discussions and case analyses.  Participants will learn about the entire PE ecosystem and understand the opportunities available in the sector across the spectrum, and the bbackground and skills needed to be successful in the various areas of the industry.  They will get a flavor for the life of a PE professional that could help them assess whether they have the aptitude and the inclination for a career in private equity and how they could prepare for it.

The objective of this course is to study corporate M&As and restructurings and the strategic, valuation, financial, governance and other issues related to these activities. The course is case-study based. The cases to be discussed in the course include those involving mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buyouts/management buyouts, divestitures, spin offs and privatizations.

This course provides fundamental tools for credit risk modelling and evaluation by data analytic techniques. This includes stochastic modelling techniques and statistical approaches to data mining based on decision trees, logistic regression and neural networks.

Course concepts are illustrated by R and Python codes applied to credit rating and scoring. 

This course follows from the course B8021 Analytics for Decision Making and looks at more advanced techniques of analytics. This course will examine in greater depths machine-learning based tools that can be applied to the modern organization for business planning and market research opportunities.

Similar to B8021, this course equips participants with the knowledge and skills, to investigate existing business operational data to continually develop innovative business insights and new solutions for managerial decisions. Participants will be exposed to various data modeling techniques using real-life business data that will allow them to provide useful predictions such as supply and demand forecast, pricing and profitability forecast, consumer trend analysis and the likes.

This course systematically introduces the process of developing a strong business analytic case starting from the exploration of the data context to finally obtaining the explanatory or predictive results. The students will learn how to ask the right questions and how to draw inferences from the data by using the appropriate statistical and data mining tools. Overall, the course will enable students to approach business problems data-analytically, envision data-mining opportunities in organizations, and also follow up on ideas or opportunities that present themselves.

Technological advancement renders both opportunity and shortfall for business organisation. The difference lies on the business leaders’ perspectives and understanding on technologies. Appreciation of analytics and machine learning can often turn the shortfall into opportunity and transforms a business. In this age of Artificial intelligence (AI), the speed for human to catch up with technology is often the key for a business to stay relevant. This course introduces the concept of analytics with machine learning and how can business embed and embrace them in its operation. 

This course will walk you through different types of analytics and machine learning deployed in major sectors, enabling data-driven strategies for the given organisation. You will learn about the current state of the art of machine learning development and create an AI prototype, enabling you to appreciate how artificial “intelligence” is derived from human intelligence.

The aim of this course is to provide you with a broad understanding on how to use machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) technology to solve enterprise problems or to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of enterprise processes. This course will equip you with different machine learning and AI models such as Regression, Decision Tree, and Neural Network using AI cloud base such as Google Colab. Non-coding AI platforms, such as Weka, will be another important part of this course.

This is an introductory course designed for those who are interested to learn how to manage data, conduct business analytics programmatically, create Artificial intelligence (AI) models to automate business processes, and create predictive model to increase profitability or returns. It is also oriented to enhance your technical skillset.

The aim is to provide you with a broad understanding on how to manage data, the process of preparing data for analysis, basics of analytics, using AI to automate financial analysis process, and generate accounting reports.

This course will equip you with the ability to write customized solutions to make informed business decisions, integrate statistical libraries for data analysis, and create AI models to automate accounting and financial process. It will also provide you with hands-on practice to hone your coding skills and develop coding solutions in a team.

You will use R and Python language as the medium of learning because it is one of the most in-demand coding language and its user-friendly syntax is well suited for beginners. You will also use modern development tools to turn information into insights, including Keras’ Deep Learning model, Google Brain TensorFlow, Hadoop, Spark, and Amazon Web Service (AWS).

A full understanding and appreciation of cybersecurity and blockchain is critical to any business in this era of hyper-connected digital economy. With greater collaboration, come greater risks, and every business moving out of silos into the ocean of data-driven applications is facing the challenges thereof.

This course will introduce you to the cybersecurity landscape of the current computing ecosystem, enabling glimpses into computer security, network security, application security, cloud security, and security of critical infrastructure.

It will also present to you the fundamentals of Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, to illustrate the core principles of immutability, consistency, attribution, authenticity, and automation, which enable the modern fabric of decentralized applications.

This course covers essential concepts of machine learning and various supervised and unsupervised learning algorithms, such as Support Vector Machines (SVM), K-Nearest Neighbour (K-NN) classifiers, decision tree, K-means clustering, hierarchical clustering etc.

This course also discusses their applications and their weaknesses.

The aim of this course is to provide you with a broad understanding on how to use deep learning and contemporary Artificial intelligence (AI) to solve complex business problems and improve business process efficiency and effectiveness. It will include advance AI technology like Convolution Neural Network, Generative Adversarial Network, and Recurrent Neural Network, such as Long-Short-Term-Memory.

This course will include high-level applications such as creating chatbots using Snatchbot. Deep learning libraries will be used together with Python, such as Google Brain Tensor Flow and Keras.

Lean operations refer to the broad managerial approaches that focus on the elimination of waste in all forms coupled with smooth, efficient flow of materials and information throughout the value chain to obtain faster customer response, higher quality and lower inventory/costs.

The use of these approaches will be facilitated by the increasing computing capability within the organization coupled with greater sharing of data between different functions/entities in the organization as well as the emergence of analytics-based decision making.

Lean operations represents the next frontier of competition that will distinguish the winners and losers in the marketplace.

The main objectives of this course are for you to gain:

• An appreciation of the key principles/approaches of lean operations, including waste elimination, increased speed and response, improved quality, and reduced costs
• An understanding of the methodologies, tools, and techniques necessary for analysing, implementing, managing, and continuously improving lean operations in both manufacturing and service industries.

This course provides fundamental tools for credit risk modelling and evaluation by data analytic techniques. This includes stochastic modelling techniques and statistical approaches to data mining based on decision trees, logistic regression and neural networks.

Course concepts are illustrated by R and Python codes applied to credit rating and scoring.

This course is designed for executives with some degree of marketing and branding knowledge/experience. However, the range of concepts and materials we will be using should provide a challenging experience even for those of you who have marketing/ branding backgrounds. The overall focus will be how branding and brands fit into the overall management structure, and how it drives value for businesses.

Digital marketing will dominate the way companies communicate with and sell to consumers (and other businesses). The course covers the principles and practices of digital marketing and how digital channels are used to build brands in conjunction with an effective content marketing strategy. The course examines how digital marketing can build or break influence, be used as a research and customer service tool, and hence equips students with tools and strategies to design and evaluate digital marketing campaigns for brands, to explore changing customer needs and gain consumer insights.

The module will look beyond the traditional campaign model to longer-term relationships, growth hacking strategies and omni-channel approaches and explore how these are being built around deep customer data and insights. Participants will be encouraged to build and try things for themselves as well as learn to use tools to explore existing campaigns, trends and competitor activities. They will explore and propose a digital strategy for a company, product or brand of their choice based on these insights.

Integrated Marketing Communications (or ‘IMC’) has been a popular ‘buzz phrase’ since the fragmentation of marketing communications budgets and the proliferation of communication channels. IMC essentially looks at different ways for companies to communicate about their brand, in an integrated fashion. Yet IMC is much misunderstood and is rarely successfully implemented. The core of IMC is that everything a company does, and sometimes what it does not do, can send a powerful brand message. The emphasis of this course will be on understanding target customer motivations, crafting effective and creative messages, making efficient use of media, and understanding metrics. By the end of this course, students should not only be familiar with a large body of advertising knowledge but should also be able to apply this information to create and effective advertising strategies and tactics.

This course will give students the opportunity to learn about how new technologies are changing consumer behavior and marketing, and how this will impact the future of business, marketing and brand building.

Developments in augmented reality, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and robotics will create a “smarter world” in the future. Ever-increasing amounts and forms of data will be analyzed and fused into new interactive tools that affect how companies and brands build relationships with customers. Major themes will focus on the near- and medium-term impacts of these technologies on marketing and brand development.

This is a week-long intensive class held in Singapore. This class is a joint-class for Waseda Business School students and NTU-Waseda Double MBA Program students. In this course, students will learn by their own eyes and ears, strategic and organizational challenges of Japanese companies operated in Asia. In addition to the learning in the class room, students will visit Japanese companies in Singapore to learn actual management issues of these companies through interacting with their executives.

Entrepreneurship is at the heart of value creation in the economy.  While there is a growing emphasis on idea creation, there is little formal understanding offered in management programs about how to evaluate, invest in, nurture, and manage new start-ups.  Moreover, there is also a lack of understanding of holistic tools to evaluate new ventures not just from a financial perspective but more strategically through concepts and frameworks learnt in the entire management program.

The goals of the course are (i) to provide an understanding and appreciation of key challenges in supply chain analytics and key drivers of supply chain performance, and (ii) to expose students to techniques and strategies used to optimize supply chain decisions and to anticipate or explain supply chain phenomena. This course will cover both strategic as well as operational issues in supply chain and logistics management. Topics covered include strategic principles in supply chain management,  supply chain coordination,  supply chain and logistics systems design, forecasting and inventory management,  transportation,  and warehousing management. Contemporary trends and practices in supply chain management will be highlighted.

This course will provide an introduction for participants into the business dynamics involved within the more than US$1 trillion global Biomedical Healthcare industry. Prior scientific knowledge is not required, and all technical terms will be explained during the course. The emphasis throughout the course is on providing participants with a framework of knowledge to understand the trends within the industry – especially in the way that it affects Pharmabio and Medical Device companies like: Pfizer, Amgen, Medtronic, and J&J.

Participants will learn about how technologies are changing the way which drugs and medical devices are being developed, manufactured, and marketed. Due to the limited time available for the course, areas like: agrobio business and renewable energies will not be covered as part of the prescribed course content. However, if there is interest, there will be a special topics seminar where topics that are interesting for the participants of the course will be discussed.

The Bootcamp is based on highly interactive format using presentations and case discussions touching upon different interfaces of the life sciences industry. It will allow you to appreciate unique strategies being developed by the firms to face challenges in terms of competition, regulations, intellectual property issues etc. before bringing new medicines and medical devices to the market. Project work will involve the study and analysis of leading companies within the biomedical industry.

This course shed a light on the lesser-known empirical "Contents" business consists of Publishing, Radio, TV, Film, Music, Game, Anime and also Sports Entertainment. This business often happens in the personal-relational/managements' whimsical/non-theorised field. However, the students will come to realize, even if partially, their management knowledge/analytical mind/organised behavior are sufficiently effective to thrive in this industry. Whole story and examples used in this class are strictly confidential only in this class. This opportunity will be very rare for students to access the actual creative industry's story and the precious analytical methodology to create contents. This provided story/experience will also be beneficial especially for the students who aim to work into C business in the future. Students who are not necessarily good at English would be also welcomed. Lecture/Interactive discussion ratio will be around 80:20.