Master in Management

The objective of the course is to provide you with hands-on experience in financial statement analysis. You will be exposed to general tools of financial analysis, theoretical concepts, and practical valuation issues. By the end of the course, students should be comfortable with using firms' financial statements to develop an understanding of their performance and to establish a basis for making reasonable valuation estimates. 
Please note that this is not a course on “forensic accounting.” We will focus on accounting issues so that we can “cleanse” the financial statements before we carry out any analysis. While the primary emphasis will be on the analysis of public companies, many tools and techniques utilized are relevant to private enterprise financial analysis as well.

In this course you will be exposed to a comprehensive financial statement analysis and valuation framework that integrates strategy, financial reporting, financial analysis and valuation, and the application of this framework to fundamental analysis. 

Two main topics will be covered:
•    Reporting strategy analysis: assessing a firm's value proposition and identifying key value drivers and risks; evaluating the degree to which a firm's accounting policies capture the underlying business reality; assessing a firm's earnings quality; making accounting adjustments to eliminate management biases.
•    Performance analysis and valuation: evaluating current performance and its future sustainability, making forecasts of future profitability and risk, and valuing businesses using earnings and book value data. 

Next, the course applies the above framework to a variety of business valuation contexts.

After finishing the course, you will understand:
•    How to read and analyze financial statements
•    How to value companies
•    How to effectively communicate your ideas and their impact on value to your internal colleagues, financial executives, external clients, etc.

The current debate on what constitutes sustainable economic behavior by corporates has prompted many firms to redefine their purpose, strategic objectives, performance evaluation metrics, and compensation schemes. Firms’ stakeholders, including regulators, policymakers, and capital providers increasingly demand financial information about the environmental and social externalities and impacts of firms’ economic activities. In response to this demand, corporate reporting practices are evolving rapidly to capture not only traditional (financial) drivers of value creation in firms but also to reflect on the extent to which firms’ economic activities impact the environment and society in a sustainable way. 
Given these changing perspectives on business, the focus of this course is on how firms can design internal accounting systems and adopt external corporate reporting strategies to address environmental and social challenges as they redefine their business models to incorporate sustainability factors.

In this course you will learn how to improve the quality of business decisions with the help of analytical models and data. In particular, you will learn in a hands-on manner how to (i) accurately quantify the economics, risks, and other relevant KPIs for business decisions; (ii) better understand the sensitivity of your decisions and KPIs to various uncertainties and inputs; and (iii) ultimately, optimize your decisions to improve economics and reduce risks.

This is a workshop where you can explore, practice and refine your personal storytelling. You will learn by doing and watching others do it. You will develop your own style in crafting and telling stories and this will contribute to your self-development. Authentic stories lead you to discover new aspects of who you are, what you care about, what you aspire to, what you decide upon. Stories also create bonds with their audience, be it colleagues, partners, friends, family or everyone in between. They have an impact on others and are essential to leadership.

To enhance your ability to craft and share stories that matter to you and engage people around you, the course will:
•    Make you reflect and reclaim the significance of your experiences to enrich your stories,
•    Use creative writing techniques to structure clear, concise and impactful narratives,
•    Adopt acting techniques (voice, breathing, diction, gestures...) to enhance your presence and deliver your stories on stage with confidence and impact,
•    Harness the power of storytelling to build, motivate and lead teams and communities.

This class shows how to use game theory to give an analytic treatment of business and consulting problems. The target audience is students who were intrigued by the game theory topics in Prices and Markets and would like to get deeper into such analytic methods. More generally, this class is tailored towards those of you who have an interest in understanding the strategic questions behind competition from a managerial perspective.

As in Prices and Markets, the objective is to elucidate managerial decision-making rather than to learn tools for their own sake.

We will touch on issues such as:
• Is being stronger always good?
• How can you affect your rival’s actions?
• What is the value of a credible commitment?
• How can you signal your quality/talent to potential employers?

We will include applications to financial markets and the financial crisis.

This mini-elective takes place over two days where we will use simulations and role plays to experience Agile. It will include discussions with guest speakers with knowledge of Agile organisations. The purpose is to better understand what Agile is, how it works and how we can make it work in different kinds of environments.

In an increasingly complex competitive landscape, companies are adopting entrepreneurial practices to innovate and counter disruption. The Corporate Entrepreneurship course addresses practical steps large firms have taken to become more entrepreneurial in innovation and growth.
Through case study discussions, guest speaker interactions, and practical activities, students will examine best practices and tools to tackle innovation challenges in large firms. Students will apply course content by developing an innovation project proposal for a company, culminating in a final presentation.
This course is indispensable for those interested in new business development, innovation management, organizational transformation, and related professions. Join this course to learn to complement existing practices with innovation and drive entrepreneurial success in corporate environments.

When times are good, anyone can lead a business. But turning around a failing business requires special skills – which are relevant to regular business practice as well as the turnaround industry. This course addresses the reasons why companies slide into decline and the mechanics of executing a successful turnaround in such a way that shareholder value can be preserved through the ups and downs of the business cycle. Using case studies and guest speakers, the course covers: the turnaround profession; typical stages of a turnaround; “special situations” investment vehicles; legal and financial issues; marketing and operational issues; change management and HR; and communication with stakeholders.

How can an entrepreneurial idea be converted into an up-and-running, revenue-generating business? This course is for anyone interested in the answer to this question, regardless of whether or not they have a definite plan to build a business from scratch. It draws on case studies, experiences of guest-speakers and a final group project – complete with a pitch to a real panel of angel investors–to give students a blueprint for starting a new venture. By the end, students will be able to develop a concept, design a compelling business model, recruit a team and embark with confidence on their entrepreneurial journey.

Even though the course was originally motivated by the phenomenal growth of the private equity industry over the past two decades, the recent financial turmoil has given it additional relevance: will the private equity industry become a role model for the "new" financial markets of tomorrow or will it face dramatic changes as well? The course attempts to provide a balanced overview of the private equity landscape and covers the entire spectrum from early to late stage investing, with a focus on recent developments and industry specific discussions. Using mainly the case method and industry speakers, it addresses the mechanisms and principles of private equity deals that are common across the various private equity types and highlights the most important differences.

Are you interested in becoming an entrepreneur but are discouraged by the lack of a startup idea or the high failure rate of new ventures? Consider becoming the CEO of an existing business through Entrepreneurship through Acquisition (ETA). Search Funds (SFs) are a popular route in ETA, enabling young entrepreneurs (oftentimes, in their 20s) and investors to identify and acquire profitable, privately held SMEs lacking a succession plan. This approach has consistently outperformed other investments, with SFs achieving an IRR >30 %  and a MOIC > 4X, surpassing the top quartile of Venture Capital and Private Equity funds. Moreover, acquiring an existing business typically leads to higher success rates than starting one from scratch. Through case studies, research-based teaching, and guest speakers, students gain practical insights into how to find, manage, and ultimately sell a company, securing significant returns for themselves and their investor. 

The transition to a green economy requires massive investments in clean energy and CO2 capture. As a result, green capex is becoming one of the dominant drivers of infrastructure investment on a global scale. More specifically, investments in variable renewable energy (VRE) are a cornerstone of climate policy in many parts of the world.  VRE investment is a global megatrend. 
Four of the most important (inter-related) building blocks of the energy transition are:
•    Variable Renewable Energy (VRE), i.e., wind, PV…
•    Green Electrification (“Power-to X”)
•    Storage (short-term and long-term)
•    Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) and Direct air capture (DAC)

The course will focus on: 
•    the economics of energy markets and more specifically renewable energy (wind, solar, green H2, BES, DAC…) 
•    the financing and the valuation of VRE projects as well as any other projects related to the energy transition such as short-term and long-term storage, and DAC
•    the investment in VRE and the disinvestment (phase-out) of high emitting assets, i.e., stranded assets (coal….)

The course exclusive (and somewhat narrow) focus on economics and finance issues will appeal to participants who are keen to develop their finance skills and who are eager to grasp the economics of green investments (and their financing) and their role in the transition to a green economy. 
As a finance elective, it is (somewhat) quantitative in nature.  However, the course requires little knowledge of finance beyond the basic finance principles discussed in the finance cores (NPV, IRR, WACC…).

This course focuses on fintech and financial innovation. The goal of the course is to develop an understanding of fintech: how it started, how it has developed and how it is expected to develop. We will look at fintech both as a threat (“disruption”) to traditional players – banks, financial institutions, asset managers – and as an opportunity for both existing players and new players. We will analyze how new players have created a new industry, and how the existing players have tried to oppose them. The goal is to identify how new ideas have been implemented and successfully operationalized and how what it takes to succeed. The course will provide the participants with the major insights and a set of tools of analysis. Then, participants will be asked to apply this knowledge coming up with a new “disruptive” idea. 
The course is targeted to participants who are interested in having a broader strategic understanding of fintech and financial innovation, as well as to participants who want start a new venture and want to get an exposure to what has made it possible for some players to be successful. 
The course is based on cases. Each concept will be directly applied in a real case situation. Each case is meant to provide a real life example of successful disruption and innovation. Participants will be required to identify the main drivers of success, distinguishing first and second order effects. 
The goal is to provide the participants with a set of tools that allow them: 
1) to be able to assess innovation and disruption and successfully profit from it. 
2) to evaluate new ventures and see their real opportunity value. 
3) to develop a framework that helps to come up with new projects exploiting hitherto untapped opportunities. 
Students are expected to work on a project in groups to craft and present a business plan of how to disrupt the existing operations of financial market, utilizing various technologies, and to challenge the incumbents throughout the finance industry.

This course provides a comprehensive exploration of investment and asset management, covering their real-world applications, with a special focus on how technology and social trends are reshaping the asset management landscape. We will examine traditional investment strategies alongside emerging approaches, preparing students to navigate the rapidly evolving world of finance.

This course aims to equip students with the knowledge and skills to critically evaluate investment theories and apply them to real-world scenarios beyond a textbook treatment (no textbook is required). By engaging with current market issues and debates, you should develop the ability to make informed investment decisions and navigate the asset management industry effectively. We will use a variety of approaches to explore these concepts: Excel calculations, data visualizations, composing Twitter threads, creating videos, listening to technical podcasts, presenting in class, classroom lectures and discussions, and numerical problem sets. Each student is expected to contribute regularly to classroom discussions.

Students will develop the skills to analyse and communicate complex investment concepts, applying them to current market issues and personal financial decisions. By the end of the course, you will be equipped to evaluate a wide range of investment strategies and products, from traditional stocks and bonds to cryptocurrencies and ESG investments, using the language and tools of investment professionals. The course serves as a foundation for later electives like fixed income/credit markets, alternative investments (such as hedge funds, private equity, private credit), and other more specialized courses in P4 and P5.

The Sustainable Finance elective considers how providers of capital, such as institutional investors, asset managers and banks, integrate climate change and other environmental as well as social issues into their investment and lending decisions and how they interact with real economy businesses.  We examine both the channels through which different types of sustainable finance activity can have real world impact, as well as the financial implications for both providers of capital and real economy businesses. The course covers broad themes, from the basics of net zero and decarbonisation for both real economy businesses and financial sector firms, to developments in sustainability reporting and ESG ratings. We also focus in on (1) sustainable investing by large institutional investors such as pension funds and sovereign wealth funds (2) the asset management industry and sustainable investment products (mutual funds and ETFs) aimed at retail investors, and (3) sustainable debt financing, such as green and sustainability linked bonds and loans. 

Brands are among the most valuable assets of a company. Too often however, marketing decisions regarding product policy, pricing, advertising or distribution are made in isolation without considering their impact on brand equity. In this course, we will examine marketing strategy from a branding perspective, and address the most important issues involved in building strong brands and in maximizing the value of existing brands.

By the end of the course, you will be able to master the following skills:
1. Understanding when and why brands create value. We will draw on consumer psychology to understand how consumers perceive, evaluate, and respond to brands. This will help us understand why branding creates value, both for the consumer and for the firm. We will also study the metrics that should be used to measure the return on branding.
2.Create a plan to build a strong brand. We will address the strategies and tactics involved in building brand equity. We will study the concept of brand identity and study how a brand’s identity can be decoded to provide guidance for communication with creative teams. We will also examine how brand elements (name, logo), of the marketing mix, and of secondary associations (e.g., celebrity endorsers, country of origin) can be integrated to create a memorable and meaningful brand identity.
3. Design strategies for maximizing the value of mature brands. We will study strategies for fighting private labels, first-mover advantage, product line mix and merchandising decisions, brand architecture decisions (corporate & umbrella brands), brand extension decisions, and global branding strategies. We will also study the most important techniques that managers can use to measure brand equity itself, and the factors creating brand equity (brand awareness and brand image.

Building on cutting-edge economics and marketing research, and organisational and strategic insights on the role of status and style in consumer behaviours and business decisions, this course is designed to provide and hone critical thinking and managerial skills related to planning and executing effective luxury and premium strategies. Students will gain hands-on experience and understanding on the economics of global luxury and fashion markets.

"The fundamental concept in social science is Power, in the same sense that Energy is the fundamental concept in physics... The laws of social dynamics are laws which can only be stated in terms of power.” — Bertrand Russell

“With great Power, comes great responsibility” — Uncle Ben (Stan Lee)

Power is one of the most fundamental concepts in the social sciences. Throughout history, people have been fascinated by power. From philosophers, to politicians, to even comic book writers, people have observed that regardless of whether you have a desire or disdain for it, power plays a pivotal role in societies and organizations. The purpose of this course is to help you (i) understand, (ii) analyse, and (iii) harness power. The psychology of power is intricate. Both anecdotal evidence and decades of research have shown that power can dramatically impact the way we think, feel and behave — in ways we do not expect. This course will illuminate the intrapersonal, psychophysiological, and interpersonal effects of power. Through understanding the psychology of power, you will learn practical and useful political skills that will help you navigate and manage power dynamics in organizations. These skills will allow you to lead  effectively especially when you are at the start of your career trajectory.

In a world driven by constant interaction and connectivity, the ability to understand oneself and navigate social dynamics effectively is paramount. This course delves deep into the realms of intra- and interpersonal awareness, guiding participants on a transformative journey toward self-discovery, empathy, and meaningful connections with others. Through experiential learning, reflective exercises, and engaging discussions, students will cultivate the foundational skills necessary for personal growth, professional success, and enriched relationships.

Developing intra- and interpersonal awareness is essentially about understanding the psychological and social dynamics that underlie our personal reactions to others and the complex world we live in. Its central purpose is to enhance participants’ ability to lead themselves and their relationships mindfully, effectively, and responsibly in a range of personal and professional contexts. This course rests on a theoretical foundation of social science research on a range of topics, including, for example, motivations, the self and identities, interpersonal attribution, emotional intelligence, and conflict resolution. However, the primary course materials encompass not just theories, but also your own questions and experiences. Our class time involves a significant reflective component, both individual and with others. It is best suited for those who have the curiosity and open-mindedness to delve into the deeper forces that drive their and others’ emotions and behaviours.

This course will focus on understanding the strategic issues that executives face in cross-border settings. The term “global strategy” refers to a company managing its geographic scope and cross-country linkages so as to leverage existing competitive advantages and/or create new advantages. In other words, global strategy is fundamentally about how well a company creates value across borders.
Learning Objectives:
1.    Develop a strong grasp of the key issues facing executives responsible for global strategy.
2.    Build an understanding of major analytical tools and learn to apply them in live situations.
3.    Learn about best practice in specific areas: global competition, alliances, and innovation.

During three days you will develop the strategy of a solar manufacturer that has aggressive growth aspirations. You will work through class and homework exercises as though they were the consultants advising the client. The course has been structured to closely simulate a structured consulting environment and will include team presentations in every class and a half-hour Steering Committee meeting with each student team (consisting of five students).
You will begin the course by being presented with the client issue at hand and be asked to draft a work plan on how they would tackle the work. This will include laying out key hypotheses, determining an approach to test them, and putting together a work plan.  

Using assigned readings and analytical methods taught in class, you will analyse local and global supply-demand dynamics, utilizing supply curves and other methods to understand the associated implications for the client. These exercises will test your analytical skills but more importantly motivate you to understand the perspective of the client(s). In addition, you will need to prepare elevator pitches for most classes (which consist of providing a senior client an update on how the project is going in ~1 minute or less).

Are you committed to employing your skills to make a real contribution to society? Do you wonder how business can best serve as a tool to address social and environmental issues of our time? Are you keen to engage in nuanced conversations about the complexities in defining, evaluating and managing impact? If you answered yes to one or more questions, this course (previously called “Strategy & Investing for Impact”) should be of interest to you. 
We will focus on the opportunities for as well as challenges in employing business as a force for good. Our case discussions will include investigating how businesses can benefit from key sustainability trends but also examine how business can make the most positive impact towards really addressing society’s grand challenges. We will thus take the perspective of business leaders seeking social or environmental impact as a primary goal rather than only as an objective secondary to making money. The central question we will explore is: if a business leader is truly passionate about sustainable development, what are the most effective approaches to help them translate this passion into real societal impact?

Technology and innovation affect every domain of business, changing the face of industries at an accelerating pace. Yet few leaders accurately understand these patterns, leading to failures that undermine companies, projects, and careers. In this course, we will explore the fundamental questions of technology and innovation in order to provide students with the foundations to create and capture value in the changing technology environment.

Businesses of the future will operate very differently from those of today.  Whether we consider the tech giants like Google and Amazon, or unicorn startups like (Transfer)Wise and Instacart, or legacy firms like Capital One and Luis Vuitton, or consulting firms like McKinsey and BCG, data and analytics are front and center of any management decisions.

That said, automating a mess gives you an automatic mess. Despite the hype, the reality is that many businesses still struggle to understand how to use analytics correctly to deliver value. Why? One reason is too much emphasis on methodology and techniques, ignoring the fact that human influence and experience still play a critical role. To truly build future-ready strategies and operations, business leaders must “understand” analytics processes and learn how to integrate intuition with data and analytics to answer the “why” question and make a smart decision, even if they do not know how to “do” analytics.

This is precisely what this course is about. Our aim is not to turn you into a data scientist, but to develop your skills and insights for conceptualizing analytics strategies and decision processes to understand why a strategy does or does not work. Specifically, you will learn strategic applications of analytics such as A/B testing to evaluate the real impact of business opportunities so that you can decide which strategies to implement and which to drop. Instead of delving into specific techniques or models, we will learn how to interpret, evaluate, and communicate analytics strategies so that you can lead your organization to make effective and successful business decisions. Our ultimate goal is to make analytics work to drive real business impact, and establish the confidence that you can collaborate with, challenge, or guide data engineering and analytics teams.

Deep learning (DL) is one of the most exciting and profound technology developments of our lifetimes. It is a revolutionary force reshaping industries, redefining competitive landscapes, and unlocking unprecedented opportunities for innovation. As future business leaders, it is important to understand how to use deep learning to transform businesses and create exciting new products/services. This course is designed to demystify Deep Learning. In this class, we focus on the key concepts that underlie DL. The focus will be on building and implementing a DL model as it is the only way to develop a visceral (not just intellectual) understanding of how this stuff works. We hope to empower students to engage confidently with technical teams by speaking their language in order to drive innovation.