On-campus and international electives

Understanding corporate strategy requires both an understanding of what organisations can do strategically and what individuals need to do to be effective in making strategy happen.

You’ll look at 4 key issues:

• Cognitive processes and the mind of the chief executive
• The logic of business models and the fit between business models and strategic thinking
• Social networks and corporate strategy
• Managerial action, politics and strategy implementation.

This module is designed to:

• Help you understand the economic contribution that advertising can make to an organisation and the extent to which advertising can provide companies with a substantive source of differentiation
• Demonstrate what advertising communications can achieve for a company and its offerings, both in the short and long term
• Explain the influence of branding and how advertising can contribute to building brands
• Through this module, you’ll be able to:
• Evaluate what advertising can achieve and has achieved for a given organisation
• Understand what brands are and why branding is so important
• Explore how organisations can create effective advertising
• Critically evaluate advertising campaigns against the stated objectives
• Understand the importance of advertising in achieving differentiation, namely establishing perceived quality.

Gain knowledge and practical tools for the management of innovation and entrepreneurship, which are crucial organisational processes bringing new products, services and technology from a mind or a lab to the market.

Innovation and entrepreneurship are multidisciplinary activities involving strategy, R&D, marketing and project management. In practice, managers face a number of complex issues simultaneously.

Through this module, you’ll be able to:

• Understand new product development processes
• Grasp the different aspects of technology management
• Determine the distinguishing characteristics of innovative organisations
• Explore issues regarding the launch and post-launch phases of marketing campaigns supporting new products and services
• Understand how to launch and finance a high-growth, innovative business.

This module explores how you make decisions, how others may make them, and how you can make better and more effective choices with those around you.

This elective focuses on you, your decision-making, and how you can make more valuable decisions. You will learn about the 2 crucial elements of effective decisions: the quality of decisions and a commitment to making them work.

This module will give you:

• A better understanding of your current way of thinking and how you approach problems
• A deeper understanding of how others make decisions and how you can influence both the process, quality and output of group decisions
• An understanding of how organisational culture, structure and nationality brings new challenges to approaches to decision-making
• Through this module, you’ll be able to:
• Cultivate intuitive judgemental and decision-making skills
• Use a wide range of performance media for business problem-solving.

There is a current revolution in marketing, sales and customer service. Many would say that it is IT-led. To be competitive, organisations need systems that:

• Provide better information on markets and customers
• Enable the proactive and targeted use of the most cost-effective media
• Support competitive sales, marketing and customer service processes across extended enterprises

In business, all marketing, sales and customer service managers are being called on to explain how they plan to leverage IT, and many are becoming involved in related projects.

IT directors and managers are being tasked with developing and implementing CRM system strategies. The major consultancies and systems houses are actively recruiting in this area, and there is already a skills shortage.

This practical elective is essential for all MBAs planning a career in marketing, sales, consultancy or business systems.

Through this module, you’ll be able to:

• Understand the business and marketing theories that underpin CRM
• Demonstrate how the selection of different CRM systems can both support and shape different customer-focused strategies
• Identify the leading types of CRM systems available and understand the critical differences between them
• Recognise the factors that determine successful implementation of CRM programmes.

This intensive tour is designed for you to experience the challenges and opportunities presented by sustainability. Businesses are facing pressures from a variety of stakeholders – shareholders, customers, regulators, suppliers and their communities – to address the economic, environmental and social impacts of their business activities. Creating sustainable businesses and economies is one of the more pressing and urgent problems facing the world today. The aim of this module is to equip you with a comprehensive understanding of the responsibilities of a modern business organisation in relation to sustainability.

Energy transformation to renewable sources, reduction in carbon emissions and environmental pollution, water conservation, reforestation are critical areas that businesses need to address to become sustainable. The study tour will provide students an invaluable opportunity to understand  sustainability challenges and opportunities through site visits of ongoing clean energy and other sustainability projects. You will also examine the challenges and requirements of building sustainable products and sustainable supply chains across a wide range of contexts with a focus on the practical application to real-world business situations. This module provides you with frameworks and practical examples on how to address the complex issues of sustainability in a systematic way.

You will focus on how the business opportunities in these cities can be approached from the perspective of economic, environmental and social sustainability, linking it with concepts such as Corporate Social Responsibility, Shared Value or Impact Investment.

The program includes field trips, visits and lectures by industry leaders and city officials. You will explore a number of topics including clean energy, circular economy, urban transportation and carbon reduction strategies.

We will also practice what we preach in this module. In order to reduce the carbon emissions for this study tour we will travel (where possible) by train or ferry to all destinations. You will also maintain a record of our daily carbon footprint during the trip.

Key themes include:

• Identifying sustainable business strategies
• The future of sustainable cities
• An overview of the business opportunities to promote sustainability in cities
• The role of social enterprises and alternate organizational forms in promoting sustainability
• The role of market, state and civil society actors in promoting sustainability.

South Korea is known for being home to huge tech companies however it is also a vibrant home for startups and disruptive technologies. In recent years, South Korea has become the most innovative country in the world. Thanks to massive support by the Korean government and private investment activities, the Korean startup ecosystem is emerging as one of the world's most promising ecosystems for tech start-ups.

You will observe firsthand the South Korean high-tech industry and learn how entrepreneurs generate new ideas, assemble teams, start up new ventures and create successful innovative companies across multiple sectors. You will attend workshops and company visits and conduct field research on designated themes to collect primary data to use in your syndicate assignments.

The aims of this module are to expose you to a vibrant technological environment.  You will be able to explore the technological ecosystem in the different stages of business growth and development including insights not only of the entrepreneurs but also venture capitalists, government offices, technology incubators and established technology companies. You will be able to reflect on the way South Korea’s culture, environment and strategy create centres of innovation and get deeper insight of entrepreneurial challenges. You will be encouraged to reflect on the role of business and ethics in leading change and economic growth. Your ability to evaluate innovation projects and entrepreneurial ventures can benefit from understanding the implications of a geo-political context in much higher resolution than by reading news only.

The International Symposium enables you to learn about the management, finance and cultural issues facing businesses within the Gulf Region, and Dubai in particular.

This elective pulls together the theoretical learning of the core and elective courses into the business environment, providing examples of how business operates within different cultures, the regulations and issues facing start-ups as well as the broader socio-economic issues. The module will explore different business sectors such as professional services, finance, manufacturing and property.

Learning outcomes

• Use the knowledge gained to influence your own organisations in decisions regarding the region
• Understand the issues facing business within the Gulf region
• Understand the underlying reasons for success and failure of companies within the region
• Understand the socio-economic issues facing regional economies
• Be able to investigate the importance of specific industries to the region and how they will perform in the future
• Understand the importance of the region to the economic wellbeing of the broader world economy
• Realise the extent and limitations of business potential within the region
• Understand the issues facing businesses setting up and operating within the region
• Contribute to your own organisation in setting up and operating elements of their business within the region report.

The Bayes MBA London Symposium looks at the economic drivers of the City as a commercial hub and its influence in international business.

The elective will use our unique location and network to create insights into how business is conducted and impacts the UK, European and the global economy.

The objectives of the module are to:

• learn about the financial, technological, socio-economic and cultural business environment of London
• gain insights into the operating strategies and processes of a variety of sectors and organisations
• apply MBA learning and skills in a reflective context to real business challenges.

The module will mix Faculty, senior industry executives and commentators with small group site visits arranged through Bayes' unique network of contacts with companies and organisations.

You will benefit from interacting with MBA students from other Global Business Schools who have been invited to join the event.

Learning outcomes

• have an understanding of the drivers of the London economy and its significance within international business context
• know how businesses succeed within London within a variety of sectors and use this knowledge to inform decision-making within the students own organisations
• Reflect upon the economic environment that supports business success.

This elective will allow you to apply your knowledge in several of the core MBA subjects to a number of strategic, financial, operational and marketing challenges. You will be able to study and investigate the various operating models of many different kinds of organisations in entertainment sector including global resorts, and entrepreneurs with a variety or corporate structures and financial backing.  You will be able to study the location’s marketing and branding and the ways in which competitors seek to differentiate through value, service and operating propositions, strategies and segments. You will undertake the evaluation of brand identity, brand experience and brand equity in their assessment of strategic marketing effectiveness as different strategic, operational and marketing choices made by resort operators to deliver customer value and organisational performance.

Resorts or locations which allow at least 3 businesses to be actively compared may be considered as a suitable location for the Strategic Marketing elective.  One sample location might be Las Vegas where several resort operators are offering strongly differentiated products under the location brand to a market of more than 40m visitors per annum.

The aims of the elective are to:

• Boost your strategic thinking about role of brands in a competitive landscape
• Gain insights into drivers of customer value, behaviour and choice, and how alignment of different stakeholders, such as employees and partners is necessary to deliver differentiated value propositions in branded customer experiences
• Become familiar with the application of world class marketing metrics in customer experience management and organisational performance
• Understand the financial drivers and challenges in the hospitality industry
• Reflect on the issues of CSR and sustainability.

Learning outcomes

• Witness the application of the principles of strategic marketing to business practice
• Understand and make use of relevant marketing metrics
• Reflect upon the role of technology in service management.

This elective will allow you to sharpen your knowledge at the intersection of strategy, digital technology, innovation, entrepreneurship and policy

The elective will take place in Silicon Valley, the alma mater of digital ventures, a hot bed for innovation and the most influential place for entrepreneurship in the world. Silicon Valley is one of the engines of growth for the US economy, building revolutionary platforms for interconnected communities, instantly accessible knowledge and frictionless commerce.

The aims of the elective are to:

1.  boost students understanding of the latest trends in digital strategy, digital business models, digital innovation, digital entrepreneurship

2.  gain insights into the role of venture capital, business angels and other funding options to boost entrepreneurial growth

3.   understand the role of policies and of the business ecosystem in fostering innovation and entrepreneurship

4. get exposure to (best) practices in innovation and innovation management

Learning outcomes

• Have a deep knowledge of the mechanisms at the intersection of digital strategy, digital business models, digital innovation, digital entrepreneurship and the wider business ecosystem
• Know how businesses succeed within Silicon Valley within a variety of sectors and use this knowledge to inform decision-making within the students own organisations
• Reflect upon the economic environment that supports business success