College of Graduate Study in Management at Khon Kaen University
900 763 Technology Management
Introduction to technology management, technology life cycle, process for technology innovation and integration between strategy on technology and business, including planning and forecasting, technology transferring and application to exploit benefit from technology in order to gain competitive advantage.
Marketing Strategy
Effective strategy is a necessity whenever there is competition. Strategy has been a topic of study for centuries, and the basic principles remain essentially unchanged. This course examines the basics of classic military and other strategies and applies the concepts in cases of marketing problems companies are facing today. Cases focus on some of the world’s biggest companies facing some of the world’s biggest competitive opportunities and threats. We also examine problems of small companies that are fighting for supremacy in a world where suppliers are under ever-intensifying pressure to cut costs while increasing product quality and service. In addition to case study, students compete with each other managing simulated global companies, focusing on finding and keeping competitive advantage in a changing world.
Operations Management
This course will introduce basic concepts and practices of operations management in service industries as well as manufacturing sectors. Topics include business processes, inventory management, and quality control. In the course, we will discuss questions such as: Why is BPR (Business Process Reengineering) so important? How can we manage inventory in an efficient way? What are the applications of statistical process control? The course is not only for operations managers but also for general managers who need to revamp business processes to establish competitive advantage.
ICS , Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy
[Term 2] Accounting & Business Valuation (K. Koga) (2008/Term 1&2 (Fall&Winter))
This course is aimed at MBA candidates who expect at some point in their careers to use financial statements to evaluate the performance of a company and the value of a business. The objective of the course is to provide hands-on experience in financial statement analysis. By the end of the course, you will be able to read firms’ financial statements and also understand how a financial statement can be used to do “fundamental analysis” and equity valuation.
How can we translate “sustainable competitive advantage” into accounting numbers? How about the concepts of “cost leadership” and “core competence”? The course focus is not on the details of accounting rules, but on interpreting strategy from profitability, efficiency, financial health, stability, and so on.
Course Structure
In this course students will be exposed to a comprehensive financial statement analysis and valuation framework that integrates accounting, financial analysis, and valuation.
The first half of the course develops financial statement analysis and an accounting-based valuation framework that integrates accounting numbers and corporate strategy. This will help students understand how strategy is reflected in financial numbers.
In the second half of the course, the fundamental analysis framework will be applied in a variety of business contexts, such as the following:
(1) Valuation of diversification strategy
(2) Valuation of M&A and divestiture
(3) Financial reporting strategy
(4) Financial policies, such as stock repurchase and dividend policy
Teaching Method
The early part of the course will be slide oriented with accounting data. From the midpoint, some cases will be used. Students are expected to analyze financial statement information and prepare case studies thoroughly.
ICS , Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy
[Term 2] Organizational Capability (K. Kusunoki) (2008/Term 1&2 (Fall&Winter))
Organizational Capability is positioned as an extension of the Competitive Strategy course with an aim to provide students with an integrative understanding of how to gain and sustain competitive advantage. Organizational Capability is well paired with Competitive Strategy as they are two sides of the same coin. Both courses are concerned with gaining and sustaining competitive advantage. The two courses, however, differ in perspective. Competitive Strategy is fundamentally a matter of effective positioning that differentiates a firm from competitors, and is based on a sophisticated understanding of external factors, such as industrial structure.
On the other hand, the perspective of Organizational Capability focuses on internal contexts of competitive advantage. Effective positioning alone is not sufficient to gain and sustain competitive advantage. There are two main routes to competitive advantage: SP (Strategic Positioning) and OC (Organizational Capability), and this course focuses on the latter route.
With these issues in mind, the course will push you to understand how a firm can fully exploit the potential advantage of differentiated strategic positioning. Theoretical aspects of the course are based on recent developments in the capability- (or resource)-based view of the firm. Since knowledge is the crucial ingredient for firm-specific, costly-to-imitate organizational capabilities, the course has substantial linkage to Knowledge Management.
Students who will take this elective course should recognize that this course is not about specific skills and tools for strategy formulation and implementation, but about a perspective to deepen understanding of strategy and competitive advantage. The capability side of competitive strategy is a new and emerging arena of strategy thinking, relative to the positioning-based strategy taught in Competitive Strategy. Different from positioning-based strategy, there are no common, well-developed concepts and frameworks for analyzing organizational capability like Five Force, Value Chain, and so forth. Furthermore, the idea of organizational capability mainly focuses on intangible aspects of competitive advantage, which are difficult to express as fully explicit knowledge. Nevertheless, I believe that Organizational Capability will provide tangible power as a useful heuristic to cultivate more comprehensive understanding of how and why a company can gain and sustain competitive advantage.
Teaching Method
The sessions are primarily case-based. Some cases will be discussed in the traditional manner of case discussion. Given the emerging nature of capability-based strategy, however, some sessions will use cases as supplements or illustrations for interactive lectures. The course will include one presentation session from groups of students.
Since there are no “standard” textbooks on capability-based strategy, this course will not use a particular textbook. Instead, the course uses some chapters from the following book as reading materials:
Saloner, G., Shepard A., & Podolny, J. (2001). Strategic management. New York: John Wiley
& Sons.
Since the course will directly touch only some chapters from the book, copies of the selected chapters to be used in the class will be included in the course binder. However, I strongly recommend that students buy this book because it is very good at creating a bridge between the capability view and positioning view of strategy. In addition, I will deliver some readings in the classroom that will be helpful as supplements to the topics and issues covered in this course.
ECON6032
International Trade and Finance
General Information
The first part of the course covers the pure theory of international trade. Topics include: strategic trade theories and trade policies, comparative advantage, factor-price equalization, gains from trade, tariff and quota, factor mobility, and multi-lateral trade agreements. The second part of the course covers the theory of international finance. Topics include: the balance of payments, exchange rate regimes, currency crises, and the international capital market.
Extra Information
This course is not open to students who have taken ECON6008.
Full-time MBA
The University of Hong Kong (HKU) and its unique MBA Programme is a major participant in, and contributor to, the business culture of Hong Kong and Mainland China.
MBA students today demand an approach that can set them up for success both regionally and across a wider world; a learning experience that bestows upon them a first-class education, real-world experience, and a deep understanding of international business, and cultural differences and nuances. Our MBA Programme is specifically designed to produce those outcomes. The Asia-Pacific and China focus gives our students a unique advantage to build their career in the region and beyond.
Learn business where the business is
Mainland Chinese come to HKU to look at their country from the outside, and to learn the business methodologies of the West; while overseas students get to experience China and Asia firsthand. Both are able to relate their knowledge to a global playing field.
Diversity is key
Our location in a city with such a rich business and entrepreneurial heritage is an immense advantage for students.
Not surprisingly, Hong Kong has become a magnet for MBA students from all over the world. A significant percentage of our student body is from overseas and the PRC, which, combined with local students, produces an exciting and stimulating mix of backgrounds. Our professors are all distinguished in their fields and come from different countries, creating a truly international experience.
Partnerships
The unique partnerships with world-renowned business schools such as London Business School and Columbia Business School offer our students unmatched opportunities in terms of educational experience and networking. Our existing partnership with Fudan University in China further complements the overall experience.
International Operations Management (EKM 3302)
Managing manufacturing and service operations across political boundaries is a challenge for companies seeking a global presence. As companies shift their manufacturing facilities around the globe, it is important that students appreciate the potential advantage and pitfalls of manufacturing outside the country. Conducting business overseas requires responding to the vicissitudes of foreign markets such as cultural, language, economic, and political differences. This courses objectives are to gain an appreciation of the key ingredients for successful management of global operations, to develop an understanding of the reasons for the oft-observed lack of integration of a firm’s marketing and operations strategies and to learn an approach for combating this problem, to show how effective global operations can lower cost, increase flexibility, improve responsiveness to customer requirements, and provide a firm with a competitive advantage, and to develop students’ analytical and communication skills through the use of business cases.
International Business (EKM 3501)
This course deals with business functions in an international perspective. The course examines various concepts of international business, contingent international environment, international business strategies and their operations. It also addresses global issues and describes concepts relevant to international businessman, regardless of the extent of their international involvement. Dynamic strategy is also incorporated to provide a sustainable competitive advantage that enables organization to anticipate, respond, and adapt to the complexity and rapid change of the international business landscape. The course objectives are to enhance understanding of international perspectives for business activities, and to develop critical concepts for international business facing global competition.
Human Resource Management (EKM 2410)
This course discusses all aspects of managing human resource as a primary source of sustainable competitive advantage. It provides an understanding of HRM concepts, methods, and techniques with particular focus on HRM functions as business partners in strategic decision-making process and its implementation. All functions of HRM such as planning, recruitment and selection, training and development, career management, performance appraisal, compensation management, HR audit are discussed from strategic and technical perspectives. Two primary learning objectives of this course are: (1) to provide participants with an in-depth knowledge of effective HRM concepts, methods, and techniques, and (2) to give an appreciation of learning the role of HRM in developing sustainable competitive advantage, especially in executing strategies and facilitating the process of change or organization transformation.