Postgraduate Courses
EMBA
Kellogg-HKUST Executive MBA Program
The following courses are restricted to Kellogg-HKUST EMBA students only. All courses are graded HP/P/LP/U/Y.
- EMBA 5010Frameworks for Strategic Analysis[1-1-0:2]DescriptionExplores economic principles of business strategy and develops an analytic framework for identifying and evaluating alternative strategies.Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.Apply the concepts of value creation, capture and added value to make strategic decisions.
- 2.Use conceptual tools (e.g. Porters 5 Forces) to analyze an industry.
- 3.Identify and articulate sources of competitive advantage.
- EMBA 5020Analytical Approach to Uncertainty[1-1-0:2]DescriptionIntroduces fundamental probabilistic concepts that enable managers to make critical business decisions in the face of uncertainty.Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.Apply tools of probability theory (e.g. decision trees) to help conceptualize and solve decision problems involving risk.
- 2.Articulate qualitative principles of decision-making, such as the “flaw of averages”.
- 3.Use spreadsheet models to represent and solve managerial decision problems.
- EMBA 5030Accounting: Financial Reports, Control and Analysis[1-0-0:1]DescriptionThis course provides an overview of the two major areas in accounting: financial accounting and managerial accounting.Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.Conduct basic financial statement analysis.
- 2.Identify how the three financial statements interrelate.
- 3.Interpret data in financial accounts in order to make business decisions.
- EMBA 5040Marketing Management[1-0-0:1]DescriptionIntroduces the importance of companies being market-driven and customer-focused and presents current theories and practices of marketing management.Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.Develop a marketing strategy and a marketing mix that delivers it.
- 2.Apply frameworks (e.g. segmentation) to analyze marketing problems.
- EMBA 5060Leadership and Organizations[1-0-0:1]DescriptionFocuses on the skills and ideas behind effective leadership: working well with teams, utilizing your personal and organizational resources, making difficult but critical decisions, and negotiating well, all with a broad, multifaceted outlook.Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.Apply team-building approaches to create trust, shared vision and reduce interpersonal friction.
- 2.Negotiate roles on a team.
- 3.Identify common decision biases and use this awareness to improve their own decision-making.
- EMBA 5070Statistical Decision Analysis[1-0-0:1]DescriptionExplores the use of sample data for purposes of estimating, predicting, forecasting, and decision-making.Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.Construct and interpret Confidence Intervals.
- 2.Formulate and test hypotheses.
- 3.Apply multiple regression analysis to make business decisions.
- EMBA 5080Managerial Finance[1-0-0:1]DescriptionIntroduces the basic techniques of finance. Topics include discounting techniques and applications; evaluation of capital expenditures; firm valuation; and the implication of financing decisions for shareholder value creation.Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.Assess the desirability and value of corporate assets, investment projects and acquisition targets.
- 2.Evaluate investment decisions.
- 3.Estimate the cost of capital.
- 4.Value a company using discounted cashflow valuation.
- EMBA 5090Leadership and Decision Making[1-0-0:1]DescriptionThis course provides an introduction to leadership and a managerial overview of the science of decision making. Successful organizations excel by the quality of their offerings and services in the marketplace. Internally, leaders and managers distinguish themselves by the quality of their decisions. Quality decision making is a competence that can be acquired and a discipline that should be practiced. This course offers an overview of leadership concepts and practice and a proven framework including cases for effective decision making.Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.Develop leadership skills and knowledge
- 2.Improve ability to lead the team in making the best decisions to achieve organizational goals
- 3.Provide a decision-making framework tested by many practical situations
- 4.Develop ability to articulate, defend decisions, and position for successful implementation
- 5.Learn the most effective leadership styles in leading the team to make the best decisions
- EMBA 5110Operations Management[1-0-0:1]DescriptionExamines the basic principles and useful tools of managing the production of goods or services. Emphasizes tools and principles that are equally useful in service and manufacturing sectors.Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.Design an operations approach that fits company strategy.
- 2.Analyze and evaluate an operational process.
- 3.Apply principles of lean operations and supply chain management.
- EMBA 5120Accounting for Management Planning and Control[0.5-0-0:0.5]DescriptionDetails the use of financial information in management. Topics include profitability and performance measurement and activity-based management and decision support.Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.Conduct breakeven analysis, identifying cost drivers (e.g. Activity Based Costing).
- 2.Create a balanced scorecard to manage their business.
- 3.Use management accounting principles to manage their business through capital and operational budgeting decisions.
- EMBA 5150Negotiation[1-0-0:1]DescriptionDevelops negotiation and dispute resolution skills through simulations set in dyads, groups, and multilateral contexts within and between organizations and across cultures.Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.Apply the central concepts of negotiation (e.g. Win-Win, BATNA, ZOPA).
- 2.Design an overall strategic plan for a negotiation.
- 3.Apply cross-cultural negotiation to resolve conflicts.
- EMBA 5160Strategic Marketing Decisions[1-0-0:1]DescriptionExamines topics of new product development, marketing resource allocation, and competitive strategy. Concepts are reinforced by playing MARKSTRT, a simulation game.Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.Apply marketing principles to make dynamic marketing decisions.
- 2.Communicate their marketing thinking through a strong marketing plan.
- EMBA 5170Law and the Corporate Manager[1-0-0:1]DescriptionStudies the legal environment in which business organizations operate. Topics include rights of shareholders, director's and officer's liability, mergers, acquisitions, takeovers and securities regulation.Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.Apply basic legal concepts to their businesses.
- 2.Recognize when and how to use in-house and external counsel.
- EMBA 5190Foundations for Strategy Formulation[1-0-0:1]DescriptionExplores economic principles essential for the formulation and evaluation of strategy. Topics include industry analysis, strategic positioning and the boundaries of the firm.Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.Analyze how industries change and can be changed by companies.
- 2.Analyze the steps that organizations should take in order to be more successful as they navigate growth and change.
- 3.Identify which activities should be done by the firm and which should be outsourced.
- EMBA 5320Deal Making in China and Asia[1-0-0:1]DescriptionThe course offers participants the opportunity to strategize and be the decision maker in practical, real-world business situations throughout the Asia Pacific region, including China and India, which illustrate successful and unsuccessful deal-making strategies in Asia.Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.Craft deals through negotiations focused on a value-creating process.
- 2.Understand the domestic strategic objectives of the key players in China and Asia.
- 3.Formulate and apply practical, deal-making strategies to real-world transactions.
- EMBA 5400Crisis Management[1-0-0:1]DescriptionExplores crisis management from the point of view of managers and consultants. Understands the motivations and strategic capabilities of stakeholders, and the importance of value-based management in preventing and managing corporate crises.Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.Scan their business practices for reputational, political and regulatory risks.
- 2.Design reputation management strategies and processes.
- 3.Develop approaches for managing stakeholders, public opinion, media relations and public officials.
- EMBA 5420Macroeconomics[1-0-0:1]DescriptionThe purpose of this course is to provide a framework for addressing issues about the global economic environment. It will then apply the framework to understanding the global economy. It will introduce important insights in the labor, money and foreign exchange markets.Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.Identify the frameworks and tools of macroeconomics.
- 2.Apply these frameworks and tools to current global macroeconomic issues.
- EMBA 5460Understanding Consumers[1-0-0:1]DescriptionThis course will give participants an appreciation of how getting inside the mind of the consumer enables the marketing manager to design better effective marketing strategies, with a particular emphasis on effective communication tactics. This course provides both a micro and macro perspective on the factors influencing a customer.Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.Develop effective managerial marketing strategies.
- 2.Examine the theory and research concerning the psychology of the consumer, with the goal of understanding how marketing managers can use these ideas.
- 3.Assess the appropriate use of consumer behavior concepts, logical development of conclusions and implications.
- EMBA 5580Digital Marketing[0.5-0-0:0.5]DescriptionThe objectives of this course are to 1) provide participants with an understanding of the impact of digital and social networks on customer behavior and marketing strategies 2) share conceptual frameworks and analytical tools for formulating and implementing marketing strategies 3) help participants understand best practices in digital marketing through cases, exercises and examples.Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.Generate customer insights and understand customer motives.
- 2.Accelerate marketing execution through Agile Marketing.
- 3.Apply Artificial Intelligence in marketing.
- EMBA 5590International Growth[0.5-0-0:0.5]DescriptionThe why and the how of corporate international growth will be analyzed throughout the course. In a world fixated by "globalization", the most fundamental questions for companies planning and managing their overseas growth will be examined. Successes and failures will be discussed in order to understand what management teams must do to get international growth right.Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.Manage international growth in the era of scale insurgency.
- 2.Plan and assess a company’s international growth plan for likelihood of success.
- 3.Connect the actions of growth with the talent and organization models.
- EMBA 5620Private Equity in Asia[0.5-0-0:0.5]DescriptionProvides an overview of private equity, underwriting methods and various details in structuring. Focus will be put on the Asian market. The course is taught by the head of an Asian private equity platform.Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.Acquire a general understanding of private equity origination, due intelligence approach, deal structuring and valuation methods.
- 2.Identify potential sources of value in private, public, and closely-held firms.
- 3.Conduct venture capital and private equity transactions applying analytical framework and tools.
- EMBA 5630Managerial Finance II[1-0-0:1]Prerequisite(s)EMBA 5080DescriptionThe course deals with firm valuation and the implication of financing decisions for shareholder value creation. Topics covered include sources of financing and the process of raising capital, capital structure, firm valuation, leverage and cost of capital, and cash distribution policy.Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.Assess the optimum capital structure for a company.
- 2.Value a company using discounted cashflow valuation.
- 3.Apply principles of valuation to make value creating decisions in PE and M&A situations.
- EMBA 5640Strategic Decisions in Operations[1-0-0:1]DescriptionThe goal of the course is to understand how strategic decisions in operations impact the performance of the firm. The key will be to understand the link between operations configurations, the customer experience, and the financial performance of the firm.Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.Design an operational strategy linking operations, financials and the customer experience.
- 2.Assess the attractiveness of a firm’s operating system.
- 3.Evaluate whether to build or buy supply chain competences.
- EMBA 5660Capstone[1-0-0:1]DescriptionThis course is intended as a capstone for students' Executive MBA experience. Students will develop an integrated understanding of business planning and strategy and test strategies in a competitive environment.Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.Integrate their accumulated knowledge to analyze how different topics fit together in a C-level perspective.
- 2.Formulate a company strategy and execute it through multiple complex tactical decisions.
- EMBA 5680Microeconomics[1-0-0:1]DescriptionThe course will focus on the economic forces that determine the extent to which businesses can capture the value that they create.Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.Construct a fact-based, logically grounded analysis of a competitive market that will allow them to make educated conjectures about the likely path of prices in that market.
- 2.Identify the categories of cost relevant for critical business decisions.
- 3.Construct models of how government interactions shape the determination of prices and the distribution of value in competitive markets.
- 4.Make profit maximizing pricing decisions based on cost and demand fundamentals.
- EMBA 5690Applied Mergers and Acquisitions[0.5-0-0:0.5]DescriptionApplied Mergers and Acquisitions is designed to prepare executives to succeed as members of an M&A project team. It takes the perspective of a company involved in M&A, not investment bankers or private equity.Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.Generate merger and acquisition plan to achieve corporate strategy.
- 2.Identify and mitigate the weaknesses of businesses and to bolster their combined strengths.
- 3.Identify commercial terms dynamics in negotiation.
- EMBA 5700Strategic Human Resources Management[0.5-0-0:0.5]DescriptionMost organizations declare their employees to be among their most valuable assets, yet an examination of their systems and practices show inconsistencies in the management of this valuable asset. This course is designed to provide a basic understanding of five key challenges that general managers face in managing their human resources.Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.Explain, compare, and apply basic HRM concepts and techniques.
- 2.Critically analyze current HRM issues affecting organizations as well as defend feasible, well-thought-out solutions.
- 3.Develop fundamental knowledge, skills, and attitudes associated with the HRM profession.
- EMBA 5710Leading a Global Company[1-0-0:1]DescriptionThe focus of this class is to provide a thorough understanding of what is involved in leading a global company. Through a combination of lectures, cases and readings, the class will discuss and debate the key ingredients required to establish and manage a global company.Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.Apply the critical leadership foundation “bricks” to their own leadership role.
- 2.Design management processes critical to running a global company.
- 3.Apply the principles of Values-Based Management to their future leadership development plan.
- EMBA 5720Value Investing[1-0-0:1]DescriptionThis course will systematically present the fundamental tenets of value investing: search; valuation; and the construction of a portfolio. It will also introduce the styles of famous value investors and discuss the basic similarities and differences between them. The course is intended for 'active' investors who are willing and able to devote significant amount of time to continually research, select and monitor stocks.Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.Identify the fundamental philosophy, style and tools of value investing.
- 2.Apply concepts in Accounting, Microeconomics and Corporate Finance to analyze companies and their stocks.
- 3.Demonstrate research report writing and presentation skills.
- EMBA 5740New Venture Discovery[1-0-0:1]DescriptionThe course focuses on the 'customer discovery' process, often referred to as "Phase Zero" in the innovation process. This is perhaps the most important moment in the life of a business. This is designed to help participants identify opportunities and then improve the quality of their ideas, whether they want to pursue an entrepreneurial path or innovate inside an existing firm.Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.Identify the process of translating problems into viable products or services.
- 2.Articulate a proposed solution in the form of a value proposition.
- 3.Develop a rigorous set of hypotheses to test with customers.
- 4.Implement the process of “customer development”, being evidence, not assumption-driven.
- 5.Develop human-centered research and design techniques.
- 6.Construct business model and prototype (using the Business Model Canvas).
- 7.Effectively articulate a business model and offer to key constituents.
- EMBA 5760Managing Emerging Technologies[1-0-0:1]DescriptionThis course provides a managerial overview of new technological innovations such as Internet of Things, big data analytics, AI, FinTech, blockchain, and cryptocurrencies. We will go through the technological foundation of these new developments and how they connect with each other to transform businesses. The course will conclude with practical advice on how to strategically utilize and manage these new technological innovations.Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.Identify the properties and trends of emerging technologies.
- 2.Compare and contrast different data analytic techniques, AI, and their strategic or managerial values.
- 3.Characterize the FinTech landscape and opportunities and related technology development.
- 4.Explain the key features of blockchain and its design principles.
- 5.Compare and contrast the purposes of blockchain payment transactions and smart contracts.
- 6.Characterize initial coin offering (ICO) and its business and social values.
- EMBA 6000Special Topics[0.5-2 credit(s)]DescriptionThe course intends to explore an array of emerging business topics which business students should be made aware of. Students may repeat the course for credit as long as the topics covered are different.Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- 1.Demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of the concepts and theories on each special topic.
- 2.Apply the frameworks from class to real life by communicating complex ideas related to the topic in professional and other settings.
- 3.Develop an interest and appreciation of the intricacies in new emerging business topics.
