By the end of this course, students will be able to do the following:
Leadership:
• Appreciate the value of experience and action-based learning that integrates understanding of major leadership paradigms and leadership theories from an inter-disciplinary perspective
• Engage analytical, problem-solving & reasoning skills to critically appraise various theories and perspectives of leadership
• Apply the various leadership traits and behavior as well as different leadership style such as charismatic & transformational leadership, principles of stewardship & servant leadership, collaborative, authentic leadership and other such recent leadership approaches in a VUCA world
• Appreciate being open-minded & sensitive to individual differences and embrace uncertainties
• Understand how leaders can set or influence the ethical tone by applying Kohlberg’s model of moral development
• Learn more about leadership through their group project work, class activities, readings, etc.
Teams and Groups:
• Understand major theories and perspectives of group dynamics and group leadership
• Learn more about teamwork processes through working on a real-life group project with an industry or community partner
• Throughout the group project students will learn to collaborate and employ innovative skills in using their expertise, knowledge to contribute to the needs of the partnering industry or community based organization
• Understand different methods of communication and appreciate how to effectively communicate and manage conflict, if any, and learn to overcome challenges within their respective group as well as with their respective external stakeholders
• Develop a detailed work schedule and strategies among teams, and understand how to form, lead and manage work teams
• Acquire some level of resilience through self-directed and group-directed learning that includes embracing uncertainties, overcoming challenges, etc.
Academic and Professional Capabilities:
• Understand and gain qualitative fieldwork skills such as how to conduct interviews and carry out a needs analysis or survey in an ethical manner
• Formalizing report writing with integrity and honesty
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
• Understand the implications of the Internet, mobile and information technological advances on the traditional dynamics of business, commerce and marketing and their impact on product, pricing, distribution channels and on advertising
• Understand the differences and similarities in online consumer behaviour with respect to traditional offline consumer behaviour and how increasing consumer control is changing the marketing landscape
• Understand state of the art academic research in the area of digital marketing, and how it can be practically applied in the Internet and mobile worlds
• Analyse and assess technological advances in digital media and how they affect our decisions as Marketing Managers
• Formulate and persuasively communicate rigorous and practical solutions to commonly faced online marketing problems across industries
• Understand how to integrate online marketing into an overall marketing strategy
• Understand commonly used quantitative techniques to evaluate digital marketing Return on Investment (ROI) for various online customer acquisition tools (e.g. paid search and SEO) and engagement channels (e.g. social media) to best engage with target audiences and achieve your marketing objectives
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
• Demonstrate a deep understanding of the key concepts in Strategic Management in Digital Media and Entertainment E-Commerce Ecosystem (DMEEE).
• Identify key learning and experiences from the real-life strategic business challenge proposed by Mediacorp.
• Explain how changes in the DMEEE could lead to new high-growth opportunities for Singapore.
• Explain how the differences in the consumer consumption of digital media, entertainment and e-commerce for Asians and non-Asians will impact the digital strategy in DMEEE
• Identify and analyze potential strategic business opportunities in Asia.
• Develop an innovative digital strategy to compete in DMEEE in Asia
Students will be trained in Six Sigma to the level of Greenbelt and will achieve certification of their Green Belt
status by SMU. After taking this course, students will achieve the following learning outcomes (LOs).
Be able to:
• LO1: Answer questions about Lean and Six Sigma approaches to process improvement, including DMAIC (Design, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control), related change and project management, as well as organizational deployment
• LO2: Analyze and solve problems in the context of process improvement
• LO3: Collaborate effectively with team and client to manage process improvement projects
• LO4: Communicate effectively in the context of process improvement
• LO5: Plan and act for personal growth and development
• LO6: Persevere and recover quickly in the face of disruptions and challenges
The SMU-X course “Business Consulting” is jointly offered by SMU and the University of St.Gallen. It is designed to allow students to translate classroom knowledge into professional experience. It is a unique opportunity to learn more about consulting services and apply theoretical knowledge to a real business project. The core focus of this class rests on a group work built around a real-world business project offered by one of our corporate partners. For each session, we are collaborating with more than ten different corporate partners, with each student group benefiting from an exclusive relationship to their own corporate partner. The corporate projects cover different industries and different topics. Students are invited to share their preferences with which corporate partner (and thereby in which industry or on what topic focus) they wish to work and gain experience. This SMU-X course is a combination of advanced in-class learning, AI-powered project work, and practical interaction with the business world via project work and guest lecturers who work/have worked with major consultancy companies such as McKinsey, BCG, or Bain. The lectures introduce the world of consulting by teaching the basic steps and tools used during the consulting process. You will learn how consultants frame, analyse and solve problems. You will experience how they use software, artificial intelligence, and how they present their solutions to their clients. You will obtain tools and frameworks to reduce complexity and structure a project. Several mini cases, mi-cro workshops, and lived situations with your corporate partner will help you to develop an understanding of how to approach a business project and manage the relationship with your corporate partner as a client. Guest lectures will provide you with industry insights and hands-on experiences about the day-to-day business of a consultant.The unique opportunity to explore, learn, and directly apply competencies in a real-life, multidisciplinary, team-based consulting experience with a company/organization is the distinguishing feature of this course. You will be working in teams for (large) corporations or smaller startups, acting as student consultants working on real challenges the organisations presently face. The solutions you develop will be presented to the senior management of the companies. In previous semesters, our corporate partners included Bentley (Automotive), DBS (banking), Adidas (sports apparel), Dell (IT hardware), WWF (wildlife NGO), Nestlé (nutrition), SingPost (logistics), Lufthansa (airline), Capita-Land (real estate), Sygnum (fintech), Lazada (e-commerce), and many more.
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
• Formulate a clear-cut description of the problem a client wishes to address
• Frame the problem, break it down into sub-problems, and identify interdependencies
• Analyse the formulated problem by using an appropriate problem-solving approach
• Simulate possible solutions with AI-enabled techniques
• Present and communicate their results to the clients
• Work in a multi-national and/or multi-cultural team, appreciating specific strengths of each team member
• Interact with corporate representatives on a professional level
• Prepare a proposal that persuades a potential client to adopt it
• Understand how consultants use their expertise to win engagements
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
• Formulate a clear-cut description of the problem a client wishes to address
• Frame the problem, break it down into sub-problems, and identify interdependencies
• Analyse the formulated problem by using an appropriate problem-solving approach
• Present and communicate their results to the clients
• Work in a multi-national and/or multi-cultural team, appreciating specific strength of each team member
• Interact with corporate representatives on a professional level
• Prepare a proposal that persuades a potential client to adopt it
• Understand how consultants use their expertise to win engagements
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
• Explain and examine the idea generation processes involved in new product development.
• Create and evaluate new ideas that tap into market opportunities.
• Create, analyse, and evaluate the financial potential and risk of their ideas.
• Develop a flair for effectively presenting their ideas.
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
• Reach strategic decisions via research, analysis, thought and informed judgment.
• Create, analyze, and apply basic forms of consumer research.
• Demonstrate basic market segmentation, target audience profiling, and brand positioning skills.
• Create a basic advertising strategy statement, creative brief and positioning statement.
• Analyze and discuss the communication strengths and weaknesses of major media and the concept of a “media neutral” approach.
• Evaluate, present, and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of various advertising strategies and plans in a professional manner
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
• Reach strategic decisions via research, analysis, thought and informed judgment.
• Create, analyze, and apply basic forms of consumer research.
• Demonstrate basic market segmentation, target audience profiling, and brand positioning skills.
• Create a basic advertising strategy statement, creative brief and positioning statement.
• Analyze and discuss the communication strengths and weaknesses of major media and the concept of a “media neutral” approach.
• Evaluate, present, and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of various advertising strategies and plans in a professional manner
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
• To develop an understanding and appreciation of the key theoretical concepts and tools in the domain of services,
• To enhance decision-making skills related to multiple facets of marketing services.
• Analyze how consumers form service expectations
• Enumerate the issues in creating the service product
• Create appropriate communication strategies for marketing services
• Analyze various pricing strategies
• Explain the different distribution methods
• Examine the design of service processes
• Devise strategies to balance demand and capacity
• Create an appropriate strategy for managing service providers