Global Online MBA - The Program

IE Ethics Code

Online tools workshop

Careers & professional development

Teambuilding

Communication for success

Building high performance teams

Leader vision

Leading through emotions

Financial reporting and analysis

This course introduces corporate financial reporting from a global perspective. Its primary objective is to prepare students to read, analyze and interpret financial statements and it focuses on the use of accounting as a tool for decision-making with analytical, creative and critical thinking.

The course is organized in three main parts. The first part is devoted to the fundamentals, introducing the key concepts and principles behind the accounting system and the financial statements. It also includes an appreciation of the influence of the institutional context (IFRS and local GAAPs). The second block focuses on how companies report financial information regarding specific transactions, such as sales or investments. The emphasis is on managers’ financial reporting decisions and how these decisions influence the data available in the financial statements. The last part offers a broad overview of how different stakeholders (e.g., analysts and lenders) use financial statements for decision-making. The approach goes beyond the fundamental ratio analysis and analysis of the statement of cash flows by considering other elements such as pro forma measures, the influence of the environment in which financial statements are prepared, and the ethical implications of accounting decisions.

The course uses a combination of lectures, multimedia materials, independent readings, exercises and case discussions. While the exercises give the opportunity to practice the technical concepts, the cases aim to integrate the knowledge acquired and apply it in a real context.

Economic environment and country economic analysis

The course will cover the most important economic theories and concepts that relate to the macroeconomic and microeconomic environment of businesses. At the end of the course, students will comprehend these concepts and tools of economic analysis, have a more formal vision of why and how different economic policies, such as labor, fiscal, monetary or trade policies operate and will assess the implications of different macroeconomic contexts in different countries. As the course is taught using the case method, with real data of different countries, students will learn to interpret economic reality from an applied and critical perspective at the same time.

Leading people and teams

In this course, participants will develop their analytical skills with respect to individual, interpersonal and group dynamics. The course will highlight the importance of developing key leadership competencies like leading change, inspiring action, aligning resources, motivating, persuading, giving feedback, facilitating creativity and complex problem solving within virtual, globally distributed teams, and building a sustainable organizational culture. The course will also facilitate self-awareness and career management of the participants. Participants will learn by applying concepts and frameworks to case situations and by engaging in self-assessment, simulations, in-depth discussions, and group exercises.

Strategy

This course examines why some firms perform better than others. The course will introduce the main concepts, theoretical frameworks and analytical tools that will allow participants to understand how firms gain and sustain a competitive advantage, as well as the key elements of a successful strategy execution. Through an in-depth discussion of cases and articles, participants will familiarize with challenging strategic decisions. The final aim of this course goes beyond a simple application of the theoretical tools and frameworks. Its main objective is to instill a strategic mindset that will enable participants to derive a deep understanding of how to shape firm competitive behavior in order to enhance performance in different contexts.

Data analytics for decision making

In corporate settings, managerial decision-making cannot rely on intuition alone. As there are often vast amounts of data sources available, professionals need to effectively communicate the structure of customer reasoning, defend it to adversarial challenge and efficiently present information to key stakeholders. As a manager, it is also important to make sense of uncertain business situations in which there is incomplete information, as well as be able to evaluate the preferences of experts and colleagues and use state-of-the-art business software to provide analytical support to reasoning.

The course is multi-disciplinary in nature and links to a number of other areas, including finance, operations management and marketing and accounting through the choice of practical cases, thus adding an analytical dimension to the teaching of these areas.

Management accounting

The need of economic information for making decisions is crucial in organizations. The role of management accounting is to provide managers with the useful information they need for different aspects of their daily management, both in the short and long-run. For that purpose, we will focus on the main source of information related to cost estimation. We will review the different behaviors of costs to understand the relevance for decisions like launching products or services, cost reduction, pricing, income statement calculation or analyzing customer profitability analysis.

Negotiation

Teambuilding II

Creativity & Ideation

Networking

Data analytics for decision making

In corporate settings, managerial decision-making cannot rely on intuition alone. As there are often vast amounts of data sources available, professionals need to effectively communicate the structure of customer reasoning, defend it to adversarial challenge and efficiently present information to key stakeholders. As a manager, it is also important to make sense of uncertain business situations in which there is incomplete information, as well as be able to evaluate the preferences of experts and colleagues and use state-of-the-art business software to provide analytical support to reasoning.

The course is multi-disciplinary in nature and links to a number of other areas, including finance, operations management and marketing and accounting through the choice of practical cases, thus adding an analytical dimension to the teaching of these areas.

Non-market strategy

Business operates in both a market and a nonmarket environment, the latter being the space where the formal and informal rules governing market competition are set and enforced. Successful corporate strategy aligns the firm’s capabilities with the demands of both its market and nonmarket environment. This course equips students with tools to systematically analyze and manage the political, regulatory, societal, cultural, and natural factors that constitute business’ nonmarket environment. Participants learn how to analyze and proactively manage the nonmarket environment through integrated market- and nonmarket strategies.

Marketing management

In a changing and increasingly competitive environment, marketing becomes the core of companies. Despite the changes that occur in the market, the marketing process does not change. This process consists of identifying the needs and desires of consumers, evaluating the competitive environment, selecting the most appropriate target audience and offering a relevant value proposal, developing a customized marketing strategy and implementing it correctly. To ensure the success of the marketing strategy it is essential to know the models and tools that allow us to understand and meet the needs of consumers better than competitors in order to be able to offer appropriate products and services, at an appropriate price, available through the best distribution channels and communicated in a way that motivates the action and get satisfied and loyal customers.

Corporate finance

This introductory finance course covers fundamental concepts in corporate finance. The goal is to give you a set of tools and analytical frameworks. The emphasis will be put on financial decision making. The course is based on real life examples. More especifically, the course will cover: how to analyze investment decisions in a company; how to estimate the cost of capital of a company, popular criteria for decision making as NPV and IRR, how to think about financing decisions and capital structure, dividend policies.

Creating value through operations

Operations are transformation processes that add value to organizations, both of physical products (manufacturing) and of services. In this course, students will learn about the interaction of operations management with the rest of the functional areas of the organization and with the economy as a whole. Students will gain insights and specific skills on key operational areas such as system and process analysis and design, quality and inventory management, planning and project management. Emphasis will be made on global operations, on the impact of innovation on product life cycles, operations automation, and lean processes, and on environmental and sustainability aspects of operations.

Start-up Creation

The course provides the student an experience to grasp and develop key mindsets, knowledge, and tools that enable them to align personal aspirations, skills, and experiences with the identification and development of startup opportunities. Students will understand in a practical way how the Lean Startup methodology is key to design business models and reach to a Product-Market fit. As team and financing are essential aspects in the startup success, students will recognize potential team issues and develop leadership skills to manage a startup team, as well as comprehend key financing sources for start-ups and scale-ups by taking into account both entrepreneurs and investors’ perspectives.

Corporate entrepreneurship

The course provides the student an understanding of the corporate entrepreneurship paradox -finding the right balance between the core business and the new businesses-, and the role of the intrapreneur within a corporate culture. Corporations are facing multiple threads and continuous changes in the market, that’s why analyzing the sources of corporate innovation and how it generates transformation at the local and global level is mandatory. Students will have the chance to design and develop a corporate innovation project to experience and understand the challenges involved.

Digital Transformation

Digital Transformation course is designed to equip students to confidently help conceive, lead and execute digital transformation initiatives. The course main goal is to prepare today’s manager to absorb, digest and understand the evolution of digital technologies, and to draw conclusions about the impact and the potential effects of such technologies within industries, companies and individuals. Achieving competitive advantage is not just about having the technology; it also takes attitudinal changes, extensive redefinition of roles and functions, training, etc. The course will develop a culture of attention towards digital technologies by looking and discussing real examples and cases across different industries. We will develop a set of knowledge and expertise about the digital world that are required for general managers. We will examine the application of digital technologies for different purposes, including their implications for communications, business processes, and services.

Digital marketing, social, mobile and analytics

Technology, especially internet and connectivity, have led in recent years to a series of tools that allow the development and management of huge information and contact networks. These networks facilitate companies to develop marketing plans adapted to the entire decision-making process of the consumer who does not distinguish between the on and the off. Marketing of search engine, social networks, E-Commerce, mobile marketing, analytics and data management are some of the digital marketing tools that should be fully integrated with the rest of the actions in order to make up the marketing plan to collaborate efficiently and with the best ROI for the companies.

Managing people in organizations

This course teaches general managers how to attain high organizational performance by effectively managing people. The sessions explore all the relevant aspects of managing people at work such as recruitment and selection, talent and leadership development, reward systems and incentives, performance management, people analytics and downsizing. The course emphasizes that these employment practices need to fit the organization’s competitive strategy and increase financial performance. Finally, it provides students with knowledge of the latest trends and issues in people management.

Global supply chain management (GSCM)

Operations happen in complex distributed networks in interaction with other organizations. This is known as supply chain management, and this course is designed to provide students with an understanding on how global supply chain management works, how it connects with the company strategy and how it can be a source of competitive advantage. The course covers logistic elements of transportation, warehousing and related information technology; design of networks, with emphasis on global settings including elements of risk and vulnerability; sustainability of corporate Social Responsibility aspects; as well as governance aspects of inter-organizational relations.

Advanced corporate finance

This advanced course deepens the concepts covered in corporate finance. The emphasis will be put on valuation techniques that will be covered in depth and on comparing the different methodologies. The course will be based on real life examples. In particular, after taking this course, students are expected to be ready to analyze companies at a professional level.

Management control

Based on the previous knowledge of Management Accounting, in Management Control we devote the time to learn about two main topics. First, analyzing the impact of control in the organizational structure (and the other way round). Once this is clarified, we focus on getting a deeper understanding of one key are in organizations: “performance evaluation”. This is benchmarking the actuals vs. the targeted in order to assess efficiency and effectiveness at the different levels of the organization. For this analysis, we study the budgeting process, the traditional accounting measures and finally the strategic control through Balanced Scorecard.

Non-market strategy

Business operates in both a market and a nonmarket environment, the latter being the space where the formal and informal rules governing market competition are set and enforced. Successful corporate strategy aligns the firm’s capabilities with the demands of both its market and nonmarket environment. This course equips students with tools to systematically analyze and manage the political, regulatory, societal, cultural, and natural factors that constitute business’ nonmarket environment. Participants learn how to analyze and proactively manage the nonmarket environment through integrated market- and nonmarket strategies.

Entrepreneurial Venturing Coaching

Learn how start-up venturing works. Identify and validate market opportunities, and acquire insights into keen entrepreneurial methodologies. Obtain a solid foundation in the financial and the managerial side of start-ups.

Networking

Personal branding

Influence & persuasion

Change management