Innovation Residency

The Entrepreneurship and Innovation Immersion fosters the development of an entrepreneurial mindset and gives students grounded understanding of how to identify and evaluate business opportunities. An engaging, true-to-life business simulation serves as an evolving "case" where students experience the opportunities and challenges in the day-to-day decisions and competitive worlds of the entrepreneur and of the general manager. Students strengthen their understanding of how to create a new business through product innovation and management; develop a strong working knowledge of strategic marketing analysis and planning; enhance and test their capacities for teamwork and for leadership; and appreciate the "hands-on" learning experience in business opportunity identification, market analysis, strategy development, collaborative planning, management under conditions of uncertainty, and financial decision making. Always a highlight in the EMBA learning experience, the residency is designed to integrate student knowledge of marketing, finance, accounting, and leadership.

Semester Three

• Strategic Management examines the economic principles essential for the formulation and evaluation of strategy including industry analysis, strategic positioning, and the boundaries of the firm. The course also addresses the capacity of executive leadership to create and communicate a clear vision and direction for a company's future.
• Operations Management for World Class Competitiveness explores the basic principles and strategic use of managing the production and distribution of goods and services. This course positions operations as an important tool for achieving strategic leadership through competitive advantage. The managerial integration of OM functions with corporate strategy is essential for improving business processes.
• Information Technology as a Strategic Tool examines the critical linkage among an organization’s business, culture, and information technology strategies. With information technology as a key component of strategic and operational success, the course provides essential knowledge and frameworks for enhancing the IT role in innovation, change, and continuous organizational learning.
• Leadership Accountability and the Legal Implications highlights the full meaning of leadership accountability and the challenges leaders face in the rapidly changing global world. The course explores the political, social, ethical, and global environments in which American organizations and businesses operate, and the implications for today’s leaders. Topics include creating and maintaining affiliate relationships and joint ventures, as well as prohibitions on anti-competitive behavior, protection of intellectual property, operating within a regulated environment, securities law, and the potential complexities at intersection between legal and ethical decision making.

Semester Four

• Elective course options: Students choose to further their knowledge with the elective of their choice. Elective options vary with cohorts. Recent options have included courses in finance or entrepreneurism. The smaller class environment in electives allows for deeper concentrated study and interaction with the program’s faculty.

Innovation and Entrepreneurship explores the creative, entrepreneurial, and managerial processes involved in moving from a concept to the development of a new business, and provides students hands-on opportunities to understand both the process and the people angles in assessing ideas, exploiting opportunities, and converting a dream into a high-growth business. This elective emphasizes key skills in nurturing a climate of innovation; it covers issues such as organization form, funding sources, the start-up team, and the product launch – topics relevant for start-ups, as well as new business groups within an existing organization. Students identify real opportunities for high-growth potential new enterprises, develop a business plan, and present their plans to a panel of potential investors and/or to relevant senior managers.

OR 

Advanced Topics in Finance builds on the previous finance courses in the program to delve deeply into critical topics such as valuation, enterprise risk management, securities and investments, regulatory frameworks, and corporate governance – timely, emerging financial issues in the global marketplace. This elective is designed to blend theory with practical application through the examination of real-life cases, offering materials, SEC internet research, prospectuses, and scholarly commentary. Team projects strengthen the development of financial analysis, group process, and individual influence skills.

• Leadership, Strategy and Human Resources focuses on the leader as a catalyst in developing high-performance, market-based cultures and as a human resources strategist in marshalling the workforce toward productive ends. The course examines ideas and tools for building, bonding, and linking the workforce to the organization's mission. Topics include strategies and best practices for identifying, recruiting, and retaining talent; developing and coaching subordinates; appraising and rewarding performance; and delegating effectively to balance control and risk.
• Global Initiatives in Management explores key contemporary international business issues for managers and for organizations in today’s global economy. The complex inter-relationship and impact of political, economic, social, cultural, and technological factors are studied, together with the challenges of strategy and execution in global and multi-national companies. The International Residency is concurrent with this course.

The International Residency provides students with a powerful international learning experience and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for growth as a global citizen and as an emerging leader in the increasingly global economy. Students visit major cities that are acknowledged centers of international business abroad; meet with high-level industry, government, and social sector leaders for an “insider’s view” of country-based and multi-national organizations; and engage while abroad in career-enhancing projects for their current organizations or industries. The result is deep and grounded understanding of the international business practices, political realities, leadership opportunities and challenges, and social and cultural sensitivities at the heart of today’s global marketplace. Past residencies have included study in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, and a number of cities in Germany.

• Integrated Business Strategies - Capstone Course explores the critical factors involved in enterprise leadership and effective strategic decision making, and integrates the business disciplines into a framework for effective planning and action. Students use cases and projects to test their knowledge and skills as informed managers and their capacities and courage as inspired leaders in a competitive global environment.
   

                                                            EMBA students in Tiananmen Square