The purpose of this course is to introduce the basic concepts of statistics through illustrative use of statistical methods for solving applied problems. Emphasis will be placed on statistical reasoning, rather than derivation of theoretical details. Students will learn to solve common statistical problems using statistical software. This course is designed for students who wish to pursue a non-quantitative major at SMU. Students who intend to pursue a quantitative major should take its companion course, COR-STAT1203 Foundational Statistics for Data Analysis (B).
- Define, collect, organize, and visualize data.
- Understand basic probability concepts (such as joint probability, marginal probability, and conditional probability).
- Understand various probability distributions (including discrete and continuous distributions).
- Construct and interpret point and interval estimates.
- Conduct one-sample and two-sample hypothesis tests.
- Conduct simple linear regression analysis.
This course provides a comprehensive understanding of the principles and practices of creating an inclusive green economy (IGE). Students can gain insight into the economic principles of green economies, which strive for a balance of economic growth, environmental sustainability, and social equity, ultimately leading to long-term sustainable economic growth. The course explores ideas that examine the interconnected relationship between people and the environment in economic processes. In the context of the SMU-XO course, students will be afforded the opportunity to engage in hands-on projects facilitated by our project partners. These projects are centered on sustainable development and the green economy, necessitating students to rigorously analyze, deliberate, and contribute to the formulation of sustainable economic policies and strategies.
This course aims to help students:
- Justify and elucidate the core concepts behind establishing an inclusive green economy in contrast to conventional business practices. • Recognize the essential conditions for transitioning national economies to greener models and outline the primary opportunities and challenges in crucial sectors.
- Elaborate on the significance, value, and structure of Green Economy indicator frameworks and their correlation with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Additionally, analyze the process of prioritizing and selecting indicators and their integration into a national Green Economy monitoring framework.
- Justify the need for greater utilization of green fiscal policy and outline the various fiscal instruments that can be used to promote positive economic, social, and environmental outcomes. Emphasize the main opportunities and challenges in the energy, transport, and waste management sectors.
- Comprehend the potential impact and fundamental principles of sustainable finance, and underscore the relevance of sustainability considerations for key actors in the financial system. Describe different sustainable finance products, such as bonds and loans, that could offer the necessary capital to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
- Comprehend the evolution of legal and governance frameworks supporting the trade and green economy interface. Identify perceived challenges and potential opportunities related to trade in the transition to a green economy and highlight sectoral case studies of green trade in action.
The development of new digital technologies has fundamentally changed how consumers interact with brands and each other. Marketing is no longer about pushing a sales message to a potential buyer. Businesses have to enable conversations with consumers to engage prospects with relevant content that will lead to positive actions for commercial impact. To be effective, marketers need to employ a rigorous and holistic marketing methodology across both traditional and new-emerging techniques.
This course will provide students with the relevant knowledge, perspectives, and practical skills required to develop marketing strategies that leverage the opportunities inherent on digital platforms, including social media and consumer-to-consumer social interactions. The emphasis of this course is on understanding the various digital platforms available, how to build social marketing strategies, and how to track their effectiveness. The course utilizes applicable theory, empirical analysis, and practical examples to develop the key learning points. The class format will include a combination of lectures, case study discussions, and guest speakers with relevant industry experience.
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
- 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
Many of the environmental and social impacts of products, services and systems are determined at the design stage. This SMU-X course teaches students to design for sustainability, using systemic, circular, regenerative and behavioural design approaches to cocreate solutions with industry or community partners. Working on a live design brief, student teams will map systems and stakeholders, uncover user insights, ideate, prototype and test concepts, and translate them into viable sustainable business designs. Along the way, students will build practical design capabilities (design research, systems mapping, co-design, prototyping and behavioural design) while contributing to more liveable, inclusive and sustainable communities.
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- Map complex sustainability challenges using systemic design tools (e.g., systems maps, stakeholder maps, life-cycle thinking) and reframe them as design opportunities.
- Apply human-centred and participatory co-design methods to uncover user and stakeholder insights.
- Prototype and test sustainable products, services or systems using circular, regenerative and behavioural design principles.
- Translate validated design concepts into sustainable business designs that create economic, environmental and social value.
- Collaborate in multidisciplinary design teams to co-create and present solutions with a real client.
The Capstone course allows students to apply a cross-disciplinary approach while considering both business model architecture and the formulation of business solutions. It prepares students for the complex business environment of today by emphasising the application of academic knowledge accumulated from a range of prior core courses to solving real world problems.
The course develops in students an ability to: strategically position the client and its challenge within an environmental context; appropriately scope the challenge of the client; develop and execute a workplan to address the challenge; and develop solutions by establishing a fact-base through directed primary and secondary research, drawing out relevant insights through analytic review, and engaging in abstract idea generation. The course exposes students to the uncertainties and ambiguity that exists within real-world business landscapes and organisational environments of industry clients, as well as, the challenges with engaging busy business executives and convincing them and their organisation of innovative solutions that have been devised by the students that address the client’s real-world challenges.
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- Assess a business problem and/or opportunity from the current business environment, including new and untapped markets
- Design interdisciplinary solutions to address the business challenge or future opportunities by considering strategy, marketing, operations, organization, finance, and communication
- Reason critically through the solution process with appropriate modes of analysis
- Describe the solution's implementation plans and processes with regard to the firm's existing strategy, market, and organization
- Apply a variety of approaches to engage with busy business executives to obtain guidance and information, as well as, secure their buy-in to your ideas