Master of Science in Business Management

Programme Structure

Core Courses

ACCT 7060 Business Accounting (3 units)

This course stresses the systematic generation and analytical use of accounting information from the perspective of business management. Accounting information aid managers in critical business activities like operational planning, performance evaluation, governance controls, and regulation compliance. This course will cover topics of financial accounting and management accounting. Financial accounting topics include the accounting cycle and financial statements for external reporting. Management accounting topics include activity-based costing, relevant costing, capital budgeting, and investment decisions.

BUSD 7060 Evidence-Based Management and Research Methods (3 units)

This course aims to give students the necessary analytical tools and research methods which are both commonly used in the business world and applicable when students carry out the MScBM Capstone Business Project, with a strong emphasis on the notion of evidence-based management. Evidence-based management (EBMgt) is the systematic, evidence-informed practice of management, incorporating scientific knowledge in the content and process of making decisions. It serves as a conceptual foundation for students to develop their capstone projects to resolve real-world problems. In addition, students will learn how to scientifically design the research project, how to collect and analyze qualitative and quantitative data, how to interpret data, and how to develop evidence-based solutions and recommendations.

ECON 7015 Business Economics in the Digital Era (3 units)

The course introduces economic theory necessary for sound business decision making, and enable students to evaluate the business environment as well as the effects of the latest wave of innovations and technology breakthrough in digital economy for making favorable business decisions.

Upon finishing the course, students are expected to apply economic models for business analysis and decision making, and to project the potential changes and evolvement in business environment. In order to enable students to keep abreast of the latest market environment, application of the business economics knowledge that addresses specifically the issues in the digital era under big data, blockchain and innovation environment would be covered.

FIN 7940 Corporate Finance and Governance (3 units)

This course introduces the basic concepts and techniques in making investment and financing decisions. It enables students to evaluate some basic investment options, understand how corporations finance their investments, and appreciate different capital structure. It also covers the basic concept on corporate governance.

MGNT 7780 Managing People and Organization (3 units)

While attributes for good leaders are numerous, strategic management and people management are two key capabilities required of successful leaders. Strategic management involves provision of overall directions to organizations, specifications of organizational objectives, development of policies and plans to achieve these objectives and allocation of resources to implement the plans. To this end, it is the people in the organizations who perform. Organizations are in fact complex organisms consisting of inter-relationships and processes. Because of this complexity, it is not easy to visualize why the people in organizations are performing in particular ways. Individuals’ performance at and commitment to organizations, both in separation and in aggregate, at the end affect the readiness and effectiveness of organizations to achieve their strategic objectives.

This Course is therefore aimed at outlining the journey along which business managers work from strategic analysis, strategy formulation to strategy implementation through people, both in groups or individuals, and also providing a framework to explain why and how the desirable individual outcomes (i.e. performance and commitment) are achieved through improving different organizational mechanisms, team mechanisms, individual mechanisms and individual characteristics, which in turn help the organizations achieve their strategic objectives. The students will have a better understanding of the organizations and teams they are working at and the behaviors of the people with whom they interact. They will know how the designs and operations of the organizations and the teams within as well as how the behaviors and interactions of individuals will all ultimately affect work performance and individual commitment, which are required if organizations are to achieve their strategic objectives. The trend of thought in designing this course follows that organizations develop their strategic positions and corresponding strategies and that organizational and team mechanisms and characteristics affect individuals’ deliverables which in return affect organizational capabilities to implement the desired strategies. The classes are highly interactive and intensive and students will work on both group and individual projects which require continuous self-reflection and contemplation of abstract concepts, both of which are essential to the development of higher-level management skills.

MKT 7080 Managing Marketing (3 units)

The objective of this course is enable students to develop a disciplined approach to the analysis of market situations and decision making. The orientation is managerial and real life applications will be emphasized. Taking a holistic view, emphasis is on the entire marketing program and the global environment in which it operates so that students can develop the skills required to make optimal marketing decisions.

Required Courses

BUSD 7021-2 MScBM Capstone Business Project (3 units)

This Project is a concluding, integrative exercise in which students are required to apply their knowledge and skills learned in previous courses to working on a real-life business case for either a profit-seeking or a nonprofit organization. The chosen organization can be of any size, business nature and stage of business development. Yet, it must be an international, preferably be engaged in China-related businesses / operations, organization in the form of import-export trading, licensing, franchising, joint venturing, consortium, a subsidiary and / or the parent company.

This case is a laboratory for students to apply their learning to real-world strategic problems. Specifically, students are required to have a good understanding of the chosen organization, identify the key strategic issue(s) facing the organization, conduct a thorough internal and external (including international) analysis using appropriate theoretical models and make recommendations taking into consideration the cost implications, feasibilities and all stakeholders. In the real business world, there are times that professionals face “can’t fix” problems. Students are expected to anticipate these problems and prepare the “second best” plans with emergent strategies. It is an exercise in managing task-focused relationships among team members, client managers and the faculty supervisors. It gives students a chance to define issues, to gather relevant data from a variety of sources, to do insightful analysis as well as to develop creative and feasible solutions. It also provides opportunities for students to learn about an organization, an industry and/or a field of management that is of long-term interest to the members of the project team.

Seminars hosted by researchers and/or practitioners with good amount of experience will be organized and students are required to attend as this forms an important part of learning. Students, working in groups of 3 -5, will be assessed according to the depth and width of their analysis, the appropriateness, feasibility, and cost-effectiveness of their recommendations and the implications on implementation and stakeholders.

BUS 7470 Business Field Study (3 units)

This field study enables students to visit a location of timely business value. The location is to be decided by the Programme Director with due consultation with PMC members and student representatives. The location may be any city/country in the world. Provided with highlights of the chosen location, its business environment, and background of the firms/organisations to be visited, participating students are required to produce both group and individual reports.

Elective Courses

BUS 7060 Business Law and Corporate Governance (3 units)

This course aims to provide students with an understanding of the legal framework related to the Hong Kong legal system, contract law and corporate governance. Related laws and regulations such as case law, the Sale of Goods Ordinance, Control of Exemption Clauses Ordinance, Companies Ordinance, the Securities and Futures Ordinance, the Listing Rules, the Code of Best Practice, and the Takeover Code will be covered. Other topics include the HK legislative process, the doctrine of judicial precedent, contract law: formation, validity, performance, and remedies for breach of contract, corporate governance: mergers and acquisitions; shareholders’ residual powers; protection of minority shareholders; types of directors; directors’ appointment, rotation, disqualification and removal; board of directors’ composition, meetings and duties; monitoring the board of directors; interests of other stakeholders such as individual and institutional shareholders, creditors and employees.

BUS 7440 Entrepreneurship Development (3 units)

The scope of this course covers corporate and individual entrepreneurship, in particular, new venture creation. The entrepreneurial process, namely, from idea generation to the formation of a start-up company with successful venture capital funding and management team in place will be examined. A special attention will be paid to the critical elements of entrepreneurial activities including, but not limited to, business plan development, venture team building, business model development, business feasibility, resource allocation, and the valuation of ventures. Students will be exposed to the latest and standard international practices of the venture capital industry as well as to the regional variations of the Asean countries. Finally, selected cases and key lessons learned from China entrepreneurial development in the past 20 years will be critically examined in the course as part of the development and the shaping of the entrepreneurial orientation of students.

ECON 7075 Global Sustainable Investing & ESG Integration in Asia Pacific (3 units)

In this course, Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) impacts on risk and return of investment will be identified. Different ESG investment approaches and strategies will be addressed and an understanding of ESG integration will be provided on how ESG will be embedded in the investment process and in valuation models. Sustainable Investing across asset classes will be discussed and different ESG Reporting standards will be assessed.

Students that finish the course will be prepared for the “Certified ESG Analyst (CESGA)” certification by EFFAS (The European Federation of Financial Analysts Societies).

HRM 7640 Human Resources Analytics (3 units)

Human Resource Analytics is a process to discover patterns in data and turn data into insights and actionable recommendations by making use of statistical techniques, computer programming skills and human resource (HR) domain knowledge. HR is changing to be more data-driven. HR managers and practitioners are required to make evidence-based decisions by identifying and quantifying key people drivers to explain HR issues, predict trends and inform decision-making. Human resource analytics is an essential skill for making better strategic HR decisions.

This course aims to develop students’ knowledge, skills, and ability to diagnose, analyze, evaluate, predict, and make decisions using various HR and organization data and metrics. Students will learn various methods and techniques to collect data, hypothesize models and conduct analysis using statistical software to evaluate HR issues, make predictions and give evidence-based recommendations. Future development on human resource analytics will also be discussed.

MGNT 7320 Leadership Theories and Development (3 units)

Due to constant changes in the market, a corporation often needs to restructure itself in order to remain its own compatibility and success. At the same time, the corporate leader has a vital role in developing the organization to its next level of success. Leadership is a process of influence in which one enlists the assistance and support of others in achieving a planned goal. Thus, for a company to successfully implement any organizational change initiative, it is a must that effective leadership is developed and in place in order to get the job done. This course helps to increase the knowledge of the students on how leadership can be developed and its role in organizational development. The first part of this course includes various leadership theories approaches, models and skill sets. For the organizational development part, students will gain understanding on important determinants, key components, and success factors of an effective organization developmental process.

MGNT 7340 Lessons from Strategic Failures and Critical Thinking for Managers (3 units)

One key element of a successful business manager is the ability to draw lessons from failure and investigate the patterns of errors. This course examines failed business strategies that looked lucrative on the drawing board yet failed miserably in the real-world setting, and highlights the importance of critical thinking in the process of strategy forming.

We will apply a case study method and enquire the topic of failure on two levels. First, we will take a macro view and assess “failure” events from the strategic angle. The events appear to be isolated incidents, but upon closer examination reveal common themes such as poor liquidity management, runaway financial-leverage and disregard of regulatory parameters.

In the second part, we will shift the focus to individual actions in strategy delivery. Several established economic theories assume that people are rational decision makers. A growing body of research has however exposed flaws in this long-held assumption and highlights the role of cognitive deficiencies in strategic failure. We will explore how psychological factors like biased receptions of market signals impact the execution of business strategy, and conclude with a discussion on the role of critical thinking in shaping effective corporate strategies.

MGNT 7810 Business Negotiation (3 units)

It is difficult to imagine a day in our lives going by without a negotiation taking place. We negotiate constantly with many types of people, including employers, customers, co-workers, landlords, parents, significant others, friends, service providers, and other students. Some of these negotiations, such as negotiating with a friend over what movie we will see tonight, are trivial; other negotiations, such as negotiating a job offer, can have profound influences on our personal and professional lives. Despite the fact that we constantly negotiate, many of us haven’t taken the time to think deeply about what determines success in negotiation.

This course focuses on developing your negotiating skills and making you a more confident negotiator. By the conclusion of this course, you will have improved your ability to diagnose negotiation situations, strategize and plan upcoming negotiations, and engage in more fruitful negotiations, even in situations where you are dealing with difficult negotiation partners. Because negotiating agreements is as much art as science, learning in this course will take place mainly by doing experiential exercises, and research on negotiations will be used to supplement this learning. You will be placed into numerous realistic negotiation settings, and you will need to prepare for, participate in, and analyze your negotiations.

MKT 7100 Management of Integrated Marketing Communications (3 units)

The aim of this course is to provide students with the knowledge and skills needed to analyse and solve marketing communication problems at a strategic level, taking into account its impact on the firm as well as society in general.

MKT 7750 Branding Strategies in the Digital Age (3 units)

Building a strong and enduring “brand” is becoming a top priority for many enterprises regardless of the nature and size of the businesses. Indeed, the brand is the most valuable asset of any organization since it is the ultimate differentiator that leads to customer loyalty. In other words, a company with a distinctive and robust brand will never have to compete on price alone, thus allowing it to maintain a healthy profit margin. This has awakened many senior executives to realize that branding is more than a marketing concept; it is, in fact, also a financial concept.
This course will examine all the fundamental branding principles and explore how to build a leading brand in the digital age and during uncertain times, including post-COVID-19 and the New Normal. Disruptive factors such as technology development, big data deployment, and the proliferation of social media and e-commerce have changed how we do business. Yet, the value of the brand has not diminished. On the contrary, corporations with distinctive, consistent, and relevant brands are more likely to acquire and retain profitable customers. Digital marketing will be thoroughly examined as it has become an inseparable part of brand-building these days.
On the other hand, with consumers expressing their escalating concern on environmental and social issues in our society, ESG has become a key topic on the corporate agenda on how to prosper a business sustainably. Hence, responsible corporations are now building brands not only on ideas but ideals. A holistic brand is much more than offering good products and services; it should stand for specific important values that contribute to a better world. Relevant cases and examples will be referenced across Asia and the world to allow the participants to draw valuable and practical insights into building their brands according to a global standard in this new era.
Finally, the concept of branding can be applied at a personal, corporate, and social level. As such, this course will bring tremendous value to the participants with any background and business focus. In a nutshell, this course aims to bridge the academic and business worlds and equip senior executives with a complete understanding of building and managing an enduring brand in an increasingly complex and sophisticated business environment.

Remarks: Elective courses will be offered subject to the availability of teaching resources and the number of student enrolments, while the course registration will depend on the availability of places.