The Curriculum#
Accounting
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International Accounting and Financial Statement Analysis
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Budgeting and Controlling
Finance and Economics
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Corporate Finance
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International Financial Risk Management
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Microeconomics of Competitiveness (Harvard Business School Course)
Strategy and Operations
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Strategic Management
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Project Management
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Supply Chain Management
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Managing Technology and Innovations
Marketing
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Marketing Management
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International Marketing
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Strategic Marketing and Planning
IT and Web Applications
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Managing Information Systems
International Management
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Intercultural and Ethical Issues in International Business
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Managing People and Organisations
International Business
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International Negotiation
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Introduction to International Business
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Legal Environment of International Business
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Global Business Operations
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Global Trade Relations
Business Research and Analysis
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Research Methodology for International Managers I
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Research Methodology for International Managers II
Foreign Language Modules - French / Chinese
Final Management Project
#GGSB reserves the right to vary the structure and curriculum
Modules Descriptions
Marketing
Sub-module: Marketing Management
The Marketing Management sub-module forms part of the Marketing module.
In this module students will learn to apply the basic concepts, practices and principles of marketing. They
will understand the role of marketing in the company and its relation with the other functions. Students will learn
how effective marketing based on an understanding of customer’s needs creates value for customers and
therefore profits for the company.
In addition to introducing marketing and consumer behaviour, this module will also cover topics like market
intelligence and analysis, segmentation, targeting and positioning, the Marketing Mix (4 Ps or 7Ps), products
and services, B-to-C and B-to-B marketing. It will also briefly cover New Product Development and Product Life
Cycles, as well as price, distribution and communication strategies.
Sub-module: International Marketing
International Marketing sub-module forms part of the Marketing module.
In this module students build on the basic principles of marketing from the marketing management module and learn to apply the concepts, practices and principles of marketing in an international context. In addition to introducing international marketing and the global marketplace, this module also covers global competitive analysis and strategy, international markets entry strategies and expansion, the international consumer, international market research, the international marketing mix, and the challenges of managing the marketing mix internationally.
It also evokes global products and branding decisions, and briefly discusses international pricing, distribution channels, and global communication strategies.
Accounting
Sub-module: International Accounting and Financial Statement Analysis
The International Accounting and Finance Statement Analysis sub-module forms part of the Accounting module.
This module is an introduction to accounting and financial reporting in a multinational environment. Accounting information, in the form of financial statements, is used for planning, control and decision making. This module looks at the analysis of accounts and financial information from the point of view of the users (manager and investor) rather than the preparer (accountant) of information and emphasises the international dimension of financial reporting.
Some of the topics covered include the Balance Sheet, Inventory Valuation Methods, Income Statement (P&L), ratios (financial analysis), cash flow statements, international accounting (Sarbannes-Oxley), and ethics in accounting.
Sub-module: Budgeting and Controlling
The budgeting and controlling sub-module forms part of the Accounting module.
This module is dedicated to internal decision makers who need to plan, control, co-ordinate and analyse where and how revenues, costs and profits are created in the company, and who need to compare profits according to different scenarios. This module trains students to distinguish between the basic cost categories (fixed/variable, product/period, actual/ forecast, direct/indirect), to use marginal costing concepts in problem solving, to calculate profit/volume equations to determine breakeven, safety index and operating leverage, and to appreciate the importance of indirect costs (overheads).
The module also elaborates on the role of the budget and how to prepare its various components (budgeted P&L, cash budget, budgeted balance sheet). Students are taught about the role of reporting in managing organisations and the balanced scorecard approach to implement strategy and measure corporate performance.
Finance and Economics
Sub-module: Corporate Finance
The Corporate Finance sub-module forms part of the Finance and Economics module.
The course addresses the basic principles of corporate finance: the role of finance in corporations, the financing cycle and the conditions of value creation; compounding, discounting, the net present value; and investment decisions (cash-flow forecasts and investment selection criteria: NPV, IRR,…).
This module also focuses on the key financing decisions: the financing resources of corporations (equity and financial debt); equity financing (how to raise money by issuing equity), estimation of the cost of equity, debt financing (main types of debt, how to issue debt, calculation of the cost of debt), and the weighted average cost of capital.
Sub-module: International Financial Risk Management
The International Financial Risk Management submodule forms part of the Finance and Economics module.
This module begins by explaining why international finance is different from purely domestic finance. In addition to basic corporate finance problems such as financing, investment etc., when a corporation decides to turn international, it is also required to cope with floating exchange rates.
The course on International Financial Risk Management describes how financial managers operate to protect or maximise the value of the firm in the current volatile global environment. Topics include the exposure of the corporation to foreign exchange risk, the foreign
exchange market, the foundations of the international monetary system, the currency derivatives, hedging policies, risk reporting, and accountancy questions raised by international financial management.
Sub-module: Microeconomics of Competitiveness(Harvard Business School Course)
The Microeconomics of Competitiveness sub-module forms part of the Finance and Economics module.
This module explores the determinants of national and regional competitiveness from a bottom-up, microeconomic perspective. The module probes the ultimate determinants of a nation’s or region’s productivity, rooted in the strategies and operating practices of locally-based firms, the vitality of clusters, and the quality of the business environment in which competition takes place.
This module examines both advanced and developing economies and addresses the competitiveness of
nations, sub-national units such as states or provinces, and particular clusters. The module also examines the role that economic coordination among neighboring countries plays in competitiveness. The module is concerned not only with government policy but also with the roles that firms, industry associations, universities, and other institutions play in competitiveness policy, but also the organisational structures, institutional structures, and change processes required for sustained improvements in competitiveness.
IT and Web Applications
Sub-module: Managing Information Systems
The Managing Information Systems sub-module forms part of the IT and Web Application module.
The intent of this module is to provide students with an introduction to the key concepts and principles needed for the effective deployment, use, and management of Information Technology in organisations.
International Management
Sub-module: Intercultural and Ethical Issues in International Business
Intercultural and Ethical Issues in International Business sub-module forms part of the International Management
module.
This module aims to discuss a variety of intercultural and ethical issues that international managers encounter. The first part of the module encourages students to critique the essentialist national and corporate culture paradigms and offers dynamic paradigms for cultural sense-making. This part of the module also encourages reflections on perceptual biases, stereotypes, intercultural communication, discrimination, and ethical value judgments.
The second half of the module focuses more on the basic concepts and logic of business ethics; legality and morality, the cultural dimension in ethical issues in business, and Corporate Social Responsibility.
Additionally, it focuses on contemporary macro level themes and issues in the subject like sustainability in its various meanings. It also discusses the stakeholder theory, micro level ethical issues in business and leading
approaches to moral philosophy.
Sub-module: Managing People and Organisation
The Managing People and Organisation sub-module forms part of the International Management module.
This module explores the various dimensions to managing people and organisations. It adopts a critical perspective to the experience of work in national and international organisations. It addresses topics such as motivation, decision making, and team working; as well as processes such as recruitment, mobility management, and the learning organisation within the wider challenges faced in managing organisations dispersed across multiple national contexts.
International Business
Sub-module: International Negotiation
The International Negotiation sub-module forms part of the International Business module.
The objectives of this module are to develop the understanding of the main concepts of negotiation as well as the participants’ basic negotiation skills. The international dimension is covered through readings, exercises, preparation and role play of an international negotiation case in a cross-cultural group.
Sub-module: Introduction to International Business
The Introduction to International Business sub-module forms part of the International Business module.
The objective of this module is to help students understand the general environment of international business. Through discussion of cases, the module aims to improve the student’s ability to identify and resolve business problems related to the international environment and to become intelligent consumers of business news.
Sub-module: Legal Environment of International Business
The Legal Environment of International Business submodule forms part of the International Business module.
Sub-module: Global Business Operations
The Global Business Operations sub-module forms part of the International Business module.
This module examines the strategies available to global companies for successful operations abroad. It focuses on the opportunities and risks for companies investing in business operations in both developed countries and in emerging economies, particularly where this concerns foreign direct investment.
Sub-module: Global Trade Relations
The Global Trade Relations sub-module forms part of the International Business module.
This module presents the international trading environment and the relations between developed and emerging economies at a macroeconomic level with a focus on regional trade blocs.
Strategic and Operations
Sub-module: Strategic Management
The Strategic Management sub-module forms part of the Strategy and Operations module.
This module addresses the following question: what makes the firm successful? Success is defined in
this context in terms of creating shareholder value over the long-term. The strategy of a firm is the set of decisions it makes concerning how it will achieve superior performance, and therefore create value for its shareholders.
The course will present the tools and techniques for formulating successful strategies, by analysing industries, sources of profitability available to firms, and designing the strategies to access these sources of profitability. It looks at strategy as a link between the firm and its industry environment.
A central topic of the course is the analysis of industry structure and the strategies for building competitive advantage for superior profitability. The course is concerned not just with analysis but with decisions. Therefore, it concentrates on discussions on industries and individual companies. Students are asked to analyse industries and structures and positions, and make decisions concerning key issues and indicate how these decisions may be implemented.
Sub-module: Project Management
The Project Management sub-module forms part of the Strategy and Operations module.
The objective of this module is introduce, to students, the basic tools and methodology for Project Management in
order to make them familiar with the best practices in Project Management.
The module covers topics like micro and macro- planning (Gantt, PERT and the Work Breakdown Structure), planning and resource allocations, project monitoring and risk (resource and time constrains, managing project evolution, identifying hazard and managing risk), and also personnel management and project closing (management approaches within project cycles, closing and archiving projects).
Sub-module: Supply Chain Management
The Supply Chain Management sub-module forms part of the Strategy and Operations module.
This module looks in greater depth at one key specific area of doing business on a global scale: the organisation of logistics and the analysis of value in the supply chain.
Sub-module: Managing Technology and Innovations
The Managing Technology and Innovations sub-module forms part of the Strategy and Operations module.
This module begins with generating a general understanding of how innovations should be taken into account in business and corporate strategies, and progressively zooms in on the market level, and on the question of how firms can make market successes out of innovation ideas. It covers the basic concepts of innovation and competitive dynamics, business models, the involvement of customers in the New Product Development process, and new product acceptance and diffusion.
Foreign Language
Foreign language skills are an asset in the international environment, therefore a foreign language module is an integral part of the programme for all students. Non- French speakers will study French and non-Mandarin speakers will study Chinese.
This module will be taught over the period of 9 months covering 72 contact hours.
The International Management Project
Upon completion of the academic taught part, students will begin writing their final management project under the supervision of a tutor from Grenoble Graduate School of Business. Grading of final management projects will be made by faculty members of Grenoble Graduate School of Business.
The project should be 20,000 words long and involve both library and field research. The project will investigate a particular research question that is business oriented and international in context. The dissertation can be done in parallel with full-time employment or in an internship.
Business Research and Analysis
Sub-module:
Research Methodology for International Managers I /
Research Methodology for International Managers II
This module is divided into two parts and runs over two semesters. The first part of the module covers the basics of research methodology for future international managers. In semester 2 the module focuses more on data collection, data analysis, and the final write up of the Final Management Project.
Topics to be covered in Semester 1 include choosing a research question, conducting literature review, generating hypotheses, operationalising constructs, interviews, questionnaire design, and collecting survey data.
In semester 2 the following topics will be covered: descriptive statistics, probability, inferential statistics, bivariate and multivariate statistics, and finally, combining findings from quantitative and qualitative research to write the Final Management Project Report.
*GGSB reserves the right to vary the curriculum and duration.
