Certificate The Innovative Mindset & Advanced Business Skills

• Effective Communications

Effective risk management is an integral part of an efficient and successful organization. Risk Management cuts across all disciplines within an organization. It does not take place at the functional level, or the business unit level, but throughout the organization. It identifies and treats all serious risks across an organization in a coordinated way. Risk Management allows the firm to achieve its strategic objectives, and is focused on maximizing the firm’s value, rather than avoiding adverse consequences. Risk Management requires the firm to identify opportunities for gain and exposures to unexpected loss. The firm must then assess the potential consequences, and plan to finance the consequences of an adverse event if it happens. This course is designed to introduce the risk management process in the context of general corporate management. Each step in the process will be reviewed in detail, including setting the risk management context, identification of risk, measurement and analysis of potential impact, and appropriate treatment techniques. Risk financing options will be discussed in the context of global insurance and alternative capital markets.

• Design-Thinking & Innovation Management

This course will first start by a first understanding of the “what”, the “why” and the “how” of design thinking: What is design thinking? Why are companies interested? How is it implemented? How can a d.leader use design thinking in a company? (at an individual, project and company level). The professor will invite participants to interpret design thinking as a culture through the PPP framework: people, place, process. Key topics will be covered, such as: ethnographic research, ideation, experiential prototypes, storytelling. Then we will focus on one process of design thinking (HBR, T. Brown), from inspiration, with ethnographic research to implementation, with storytelling.

• e-Leadership: enabling technology & disruptive strategy
• Business Modeling to Business Plan

This highly-interactive course is delivered in a workshop format and covers the design, research, development and presentation of a professional business plan. Course topics include: the innovation method, lean start-up and evidence-based entrepreneurship methodologies as well as key topics like feasibility studies, business modeling, value propositions, revenue models, market analysis and the marketing plan, financial planning, strategy, pitching a business and presenting a business plan. Participants will develop and workshop a business plan in class either individually or in groups. This course is particularly recommended for participants who intend to develop a business plan as part of their professional project.

• Elective Study Trip – China (Shanghai & Suzhou)
• The Capstone Project (CAP)

The Capstone Project (CAP) is a structured and concentrated in time (approximately 2 months from start to finish) application of MBA skills, with clearly-defined deadlines, which takes the form of a strategic company audit. The audit will be performed in teams of up to 3 participants. After a thorough strategic audit using a wide array of MBA skills, tools, concepts and frameworks, each team will have to make strategic and prioritized recommendations for a plan of action for the company being analyzed. In addition to the MBA skills, this project requires the application of project management skills, critical thinking, synthesis and executive level writing skills. All groups will submit a final written report; in addition, a final presentation will be made of the audit and recommendations to the entire cohort in front of a jury.