Advanced Master in

Innovation & Strategic Management 

Courses & Fact Sheets

TERM 0 (no credits)

Introduction to Finance - Refresher (Mathias Schmit)

The pre-requisite 12h course aims at introducing the prerequisite of the Corporate Finance course: understanding financial statements of a company, P&L : what does it reveal (or not !), uses and pitfalls of financial ratios, introduction to cash-flow statement.

Math & Business Statistics - Refresher (Marjorie Gassner, Vincenzo Verardi)

The pre-requisite 12h course in mathematics and statistics aims to give students the mathematical and statistical tools that may come in handy when dealing with other courses in the program.

The mathematics part will go through the essentials about functions mainly of one, but also of several variables, including the central concept of derivative. The statistical part will concentrate on univariate and bivariate descriptive statistics.

TERM 1

Design Thinking & Entrepreneurship, Benjamin Beeckmas.

The course will introduce the students to the process of developing an entrepreneurial idea – from finding the idea to pitching it to sponsors. It will be based on a set of recent methodologies and tools used in the matter, mainly:

  • Effectuation
  • Design thinking
  • Opportunity Assessment canvas
  • Lean start up
  • Business model canvas

Marketing Bootcamp, Sandra Rothenberger.

Marketing is the core of an operating business. In this course, students examine how the digital age is revolutionizing the world of marketing by shifting the balance of power from firms to consumers, the establishment of a customer-centric approach with a focus on value co-creation.

Financial Management, Mathias Schmit.

This course will mainly deal with project/corporate valuation and capital budgeting decisions. It will not only develop the understanding of the fundamental concepts of finance but will also provide students with the tools to apply the knowledge in practical situations.

Strategy Diagnostic, Bruno Wattenbergh

Coaching and Personal Development, Martine George.

Combination of individual and group coaching sessions on individual development, carrier goals, communication and values.

TERM 2

Project Management, Frederic Hoffman.

The overall philosophy for this course is to provide the students with a structured setting in which they can familiarize themselves with the most important ideas in project management and how it contributes in supporting an organization to achieve its mission and strategic objectives.

The main goal for the course is for the students to learn how to apply these concepts in their own, or in their future job settings.

Strategy Implementation, Arnaud Devleeschauwer.

The course focuses on the development and implementation of concrete business tactics following the determination of an ambitious strategy at corporate or business entity level.

It will allow the students to understand, thanks to concrete examples, how economic notions related to consumer, firm and human behaviour can be translated into real-world settings to optimize the firm’s journey to successful strategy implementation.

Leading & Living Innovation, John Metselaar.

Innovation is so much more than generating creative ideas. The aim of the course is to understand what innovation is and what it’s not, why it needs to play such a pivotal role for companies, and how to go about it.

Students will study what is required today to Lead Innovation - what capabilities need to be put in place and will learn to look at criticality of connecting the innovation strategy seamlessly with the company’s purpose and priorities – and how this field of friction can play out in the board room.

Entrepreneurship, Olivier Witmeur.
 
The main goal of this course is to explore how entrepreneurs think and act. Participants will discover new components of the ‘entrepreneur toolbox’ and understand how and why it complements the traditional ‘manager toolbox’.
 
The course covers topics such as:
  • The entrepreneurial process
  • Entrepreneurial motivation
  • Skills
  • Behaviour and profiles
  • Entrepreneurial finance
  • Business planning
and so on.
Data Science for Business, Martine George.
 
In this course, students will examine how data analysis technologies can be used to improve decision-making. They will study the fundamental principles and techniques of data science, and examine real-world examples and cases to place data science techniques in context, to develop data-analytic thinking, and to illustrate that proper application is as much an art as it is a science.
Negotiation Skills, Avi Goldstein.
 
This Creative Negotiation Skills course will introduce participants to a systematic approach to problem-solving negotiation based on methodology developed at the Harvard Negotiation Project. Through an experiential and participatory process revolving around role plays, exercises and case studies - paired with active debriefs and discussions - the course will build participants' understanding of key negotiation dynamics, foster awareness of their own habits and assumptions, and strengthen their potential to be creative innovators, strategists, and managers.

 

TERM 3

Digital Innovation, Alex Papanastassiou.
 
Innovating thanks to digital technologies remains a process based on some important invariants like:
  • ie
  • building a solid information systems infrastructure
  • having strong change leadership capabilities
  • good project management
etc.
 
The course will NOT focus on the technologies gadgets, and the rapidly changing hype aspects of digital, but definitely on how to transform an organisation thanks to the digital opportunities.
Sustainability transformation, Bernard Mathieu.
 
The course will introduce the rationale behind the required transformation of our economy and society:
  • main sustainability challenges of our times,
  • existing gap between our production and consumption models and sustainable practices,
  • political objectives.
 
It will explain the main concepts, jargon and existing frameworks related to sustainability and confront participants to cases of large, medium and small companies and organizations which are adapting their business strategies to key sustainability issues.
Critical Thinking, Luc de Brabandere.
 
The course gives the students the necessary tools to think critically about the digital world.  Throughout the course, the student will discover how to conduct a rigorous and critical thought process through an induction/deduction model.
 
They will understand the importance of words and will have the ability to define them properly, which plays a fundamental role in philosophy.
 
In the end, the student will acquire the necessary skills to take advantage of this model in a digital world and learn to respond creatively to new business challenges.
 
 
Organizational Behaviour and Leadership, Claudia Toma.
 
Drawing from fields including management, sociology, economics, and psychology, Organizational Behaviour provides a foundation for the effective management of people.
 
This course is about understanding how people in organizations behave, react, and interpret events.
 
It is organized in three parts:
  • individual processes (traits, emotions, motivation),
  • interpersonal processes (power, communication, leadership)
  • and organizational processes (culture, organizational change).

TERM 4

Social Innovation & Business Ethics, Marek Hudon.
 
The goals of the course are understand core business ethics & social innovation concepts and issues, present key challenges faced in social innovation, discuss the relevance of social innovation concerns in the management of (for-profit and non-profit) companies, understand how to apply business ethics frameworks to practical cases.
Consulting Skills & preparation for the capstone project, Yannick Grecourt.
 
 
ENTREPRENEURSHIP - Growing Entrepreneurial Ventures, Olivier Witmeur and Bruno Wattenbergh.
 
Entrepreneurship does not end with the start of the new venture. On the contrary, it is all about execution and the successful development of the activities over time.
 
This course focuses on the management of so-called ‘scale-up’s’, i.e. companies with ambitious growth or hyper-growth targets. Therefore, they must deal very fast with critical challenges that cover all dimensions of management: strategy, organisational design, finance…
ENTREPRENEURSHIP - Financial Analysis, Jean Fossion.
 

The course develops the students ‘capabilities to conduct critical financial statements analysis and to use them to benchmark financial performance and as a basis for business planning and financial decision making.

The aim of the course is also to develop their understanding of a typical acquisition process and related documents, of a range of financial transactions and of the main valuation methods.

STRATEGY - International Strategy, Luv Mittal.
 

By the end of the course, students will gain skills in the following areas:

  • Global Perspective: ability to critically assess an issue considering economic, legal, regulatory and cultural factors relevant to strategic decision-making in an international context;
  • Strategic Analysis & Decision-Making: display critical thinking through a combination of qualitative and quantitative skills;
  • Leadership and Team Spirit: demonstrate the ability to synthesize divergent team views and steer them in the right direction, showing both effective leadership and interpersonal skills;
  • Communication: deliver and prepare professional quality documents.
STRATEGY - Advanced Strategy, Jean Pierre Bizet.
 

The course will both deepen students’ understanding of strategy core concepts and broaden their knowledge via introduction to new ones.

Sessions will focus to the following themes:

  • Cognitive biases in strategy and execution
  • Systems-thinking
  • the Internet and platform-based networks
  • International expansion strategy
  • Disruption in service businesses
  • Strategy and Governance
  • Diversification
  • Corporate multi-business strategy

TERM 5

Capstone project

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