Core Modules

Managing People and Organizations

This course examines the most important topics of management in the context of today’s contemporary global business environment. It analyzes the major theories and models in areas of organizational culture, group dynamics, individual behavior and motivation, decision making, leadership, power and politics, change management, and ethics and corporate social responsibility at graduate level. It places particular emphasis on the use of theory to analyze and generate solutions to dilemmas likely to confront managers today and in the future.

Statistics for Executives

This course provides students with an appreciation of the applications of advanced statistical analytical tools to business decision contexts. The course places strong emphasis on the development of a clear theoretical understanding as well as the application of various statistical analytical tools. It also develops students’ abilities to access and critically interpret statistics and evaluate business information for managerial decision making. The course covers the areas of advanced inferential statistics, analysis of variance, and regression and correlation analysis, time series analyses, and Bayesian statistics and decision making techniques.

Operations & Enterprise Management

This course discusses the issues related to the operation of production and service sector companies. This is a comprehensive course in operation process design, planning, and control. The course contextualizes operations management by arguing that the goals to which any high quality operation must aspire are the goals of profitability and sustainable business practices. The course examines and analyzes operations within the context of the interactions within both the functional areas of an organization and its supply chain network.

Marketing Management

Marketing is a key managerial decision-making area relating the organization to its changing markets, organization structure, and buyer behavior. The course builds the most important concepts of marketing management in a systematic way emphasizing practical applications and the role of marketing in the overall strategy of the firm from discussing various selling techniques and distribution channels through analyzing competitors and developing sustainable marketing strategy to managing marketing services and international markets.

Finance and Accounting for Managers

This subject provides a master’s level introduction to accounting for MBA students. The subject is divided into two parts. The first part covers analyses from the area of Financial Accounting and it discusses the structures, purpose and content of financial statements; as well as how to extract useful information from them to evaluate a firm. The second part of the course deals with topics from Management Accounting, and analyses cost concepts, product costing techniques and other managerial accounting processes that generate information for managerial decisions.

Managerial Economics

This course utilizes the advanced theory of the firm and other major economic themes to provide students with an insight into managerial decision making. It outlines the economic forces that influence corporate strategy, enabling participants to acquire a range of skills and expertise expected of corporate managers with market power. The subject emphasizes not only the correct application of the managerial decision-making tools, but also the evaluation of various economic issues with normative recommendations to improve business outcomes.

Corporate Finance

This is a comprehensive course to discuss all major areas of financial management. It provides participants with tools and techniques used in financial decision making, analysis and problem solving. The course material is concerned with the investment and financing decisions of the firm. It provides a basis for subsequent integrative management courses. It also examines the key areas of financial decision making such as risk and diversification, financing, capital structure and dividend policy, and financial planning.

Global Strategy and Competitiveness

Strategy and Competitiveness is the capstone course in the MBA program and it provides an understanding of the contemporary global business environment and how businesses can formulate appropriate organizational strategies, and it discusses all major topics if Strategic Management. Based on the previous courses the students have taken, a variety of strategic options relevant to organizations in the region is explored. Emphasis is placed on the inevitability of changes in the global environment and on the need for strategic management. This course can only be taken after the other 7 core courses have been completed.

Innovation & Entrepreneurship Concentration Modules

Leadership and Innovation

Successful implementation of new business strategies and innovations is dependent on executives who know how to understand innovation and lead organizational change. This course provides participants with the critical insights and tools they need to successfully manage innovation and avert the pitfalls associated with traditional approaches to managing change. The program introduces participants to proven tools and techniques for encouraging innovation, a new analytical model of the leadership process, and a unique framework for analyzing the change process from three perspectives: strategic, political, and cultural.

Planning and Starting a New Business

This course is designed for students interested in forming their own venture or who may have a role promoting new initiatives within existing organizations. The aim of the course is to examine the criteria for success of a new business (e.g., personal, market, technical) and business plan development and its relationship to securing the necessary resources for the new venture. The course will draw heavily for illustration and illumination on a range of case studies from high-impact technology ventures.

Entrepreneurial Marketing

This is a case course on entrepreneurial marketing that covers key issues such as planning the business, tools and techniques for planning, and anticipating customer adaptations. The course covers marketing topics relevant to new businesses, and examines the special requirements of entrepreneurs. It is a comprehensive course in entrepreneurial marketing that prepares students for the decisions they face when they set up new businesses.

Product Design and Development

This course presents a set of product development techniques aimed at bringing together the marketing, design, and manufacturing functions of the enterprise. It addresses issues such as identifying customer needs, designing for manufacturing, prototyping, and industrial design. It examines a collection of methods that guide teams in developing new products and uses examples drawn from industrial practice to illustrate each step. Emphasis will be on tools and techniques that draw together members of cross-functional teams to make sound development decisions.

Strategic Management Concentration Modules

Strategic HR Management and Leadership

This subject introduces students to the theory and practices needed to manage a human resource strategy of an organization. It establishes the nature and function of the various components of typical strategic human resource management (HRM) practices, and exposes students to the skills of HRM through structured exercises. It also considers the future direction and strategic application of HRM within the UAE and overseas. It introduces the strategic elements of HRM necessary for organizations to develop and have sustainable growth

Corporate Governance

This subject examines corporate governance systems by which business corporations are directed and controlled, and how these may contribute to sustainable enterprise. Issues considered include the implications of the separation of ownership and control, contrasting institutional systems of governance, competing theoretical explanations, the mechanisms of governance, the increasing significance of capital markets and the internationalization of finance and regulation. The subject employs a stakeholder management perspective to analyze organizational strategies, values and operations that facilitate the development of sustainable, high-performing organizations, as well as enabling a balance between enterprise, society and the ecosphere. The subject focuses on how organizations develop a ‘license to operate and grow’ through their relations with employees, wider society and the natural environment, developing skills in critical analysis, risk evaluation and management, scenario planning and stakeholder dialogue.

Strategic Marketing Management

This course covers the concepts and theories of creating and implementing a marketing strategy and offers a focus on the strategic planning process and marketing’s cross/inter-functional relationships. It discusses the major corporate strategy decisions and their marketing implications, and it presents all major elements of strategic marketing from market opportunity analysis through the design and implementation of marketing strategies to the strategic management of mature and declining markets. This is a comprehensive marketing strategy course.

Supply Chain Management

This subject introduces a dynamic, revitalized organization function presently enjoying a worldwide revival as a key element of competitive advantage. This subject introduces a range of sophisticated concepts of purchasing and materials management at graduate level. Relevant to the private, public or nonprofit sectors, this subject covers a wide range of supply chain management activities including formation and management of strategic alliances, buyer selection and management, global sourcing, ethics in contracting situations and applications of information technology in supply chain management.