Note: This course starts with a multi-day, on-campus Residency in late Aug./early Sept. and continues online thereafter.
Knowledge-driven organizations increasingly dominate the economy. What are their attributes? What vision and strategy guides their development? How are they designed? What are the jobs necessary for this new workplace? This course has been designed to give students a grounding that will be important for their future working career. It will focus on how the global economy and all its subsequent ramifications has evolved from a predominantly industrial base to one based on knowledge. The Foundations course will begin by giving students a historical perspective as to how the "knowledge" economy specifically came about. We will be using historical and economic data and models which offer a clear understanding as to how the global economy and organizations evolved into their current state-where value is produced by knowledge and ideas significantly more than the earlier industrial processes and operations. The course will then present detailed and comprehensive treatments of how societies, organizations and individual lives have been changed due to this great shift in the factors of production. The course will also focus on how networks, communities and practices work and have evolved to focus more on knowledge production and transfer than on the more industrial factors of production such as land, labor and capital. In addition, the course will examine the critical role of intangibles such as culture, trust and missions in the workings of organizations in this new era. Insights from anthropology, psychology and sociology as well as economics will be incorporated into the course curriculum. A complex and comprehensive case study on NASA and their knowledge operations will be one of the key learning tools for this course as it proceeds.
IMGT5300PS
The hedge fund industry has continued to grow after the financial crisis, and hedge funds are increasingly important as an investable asset class for institutional investors as well as wealthy individuals. This course will cover hedge funds from the point of view of portfolio managers and investors. We will analyze a number of hedge fund trading strategies, including fixed income arbitrage, global macro, and various equities strategies, with a strong focus on quantitative strategies. We distinguish hedge fund managers from other asset managers, and discuss issues such as fees and incentives, liquidity, performance evaluation, and risk management. We also discuss career development in the hedge fund context.
KNOWLEDGE PROCESSES, PRACTICES & GOVERNANCE
In economic literature, scholars classify factors of production into three major categories: labor, or human services, capital, or manmade means of production, and land, or natural resources. As the complexity and knowledge intensity of industries engaged in manufacturing and service delivery have increased, knowledge has emerged as the fourth factor of production. According to Peter Drucker, the recognized founder of modern management, knowledge is the primary economic resource that allows workers to manipulate ideas, problem solve, and innovate—land, labor, and capital are becoming restraints rather than driving forces of the economy. This course examines the knowledge processes, practices, and governance mechanisms that activate knowledge to drive performance, innovation, continuous improvement, and create competitive advantage. We kick-off by reading Robert Grant’s article on the knowledge-based view of the firm. Grant, an economist and professor of strategic management at Georgetown University, describes how firms integrate, combine, and coordinate individual and firm knowledge to produce goods and services. After this theoretical introduction, students will learn and apply a series of models and frameworks that address how to capture and disseminate critical knowledge to people performing productive work. For example, Business Model and Value Proposition Design (Alexander Osterwalder), Jobs-To-Be-Done Framework (Clayton Christensen), Operational Model Design, (Cambell and Blenko), and Knowledge Jam (Katrina Pugh). After building a business model, the focus will shift to practical methods to operationalize knowledge to make it productive. Students will learn how to create a technology architecture, identify strategies to enable findability, adopt an adaptive leadership approach to business transformation, and propose a disciplined knowledge governance program. The course culminates with the design of a transformational project that integrates the concepts and models presented in this course. Students will create a project charter and work plan to guide the transformation from traditional ways of working to processes and practices that fully leverage knowledge.
Digital natives ‘built upon an algorithm’ are profoundly changing the structure of entire industries (e.g.: Google/Advertising, Redfin/Real Estate, Netflix/Entertainment). C-suite executives now view analytics as a strategic priority and investing in acquiring data, data scientists and analytical technologies. The goal of this course is to enable you to develop a pragmatic, executive level understanding of business analytics, data science and business intelligence as well as the critical management skills needed for success in this field. Through readings, assignments, lectures, guest speakers (previous guests include executives from Google, UPS, Microsoft, McKinsey, NY City, World Economic Forum) and class discussion, students learn why and how organizations are ‘competing on analytics’ to improve decision making and optimize performance. Case examples (e.g.: Disney, Arsenal F.C., Unilever, Caterpillar, USAA, Zillow, Target, UPS) highlight the ways firms are building business strategies around sophisticated analytical capabilities. Students learn how organizations use analytics to innovate and create new digital products and services. They also study how analytics is profoundly transforming the way businesses operate. Rather than “relying on their gut” when pricing products, understanding customers, maintaining inventory, or hiring talent, managers increasingly rely on data analytics and process optimization to improve efficiency, manage risk, enhance profitability, and deliver superior results. An analytical sophistication framework (descriptive, predictive, prescriptive, autonomous) illustrates how different management challenges require specific types of solutions. A key executive challenge for these organizations is to prioritize investments in data, expertise, and technology as part of a cohesive strategy that optimizes results. Using a real organization, students learn how to apply the DELTA+ model to assess an organization’s analytical capabilities and devise a roadmap to build a robust, analytical capability. While not a statistics or programming course, students will gain insight into the different types of quantitative techniques (e.g., optimization, NLP, forecasting, simulation, neural nets, Bayesian, regression, genetic algorithms) as well technologies/tools for business intelligence, modeling, machine learning, and AI (e.g., SAS, Tableau, Spark, Excel, MATLAB, PowerBI, Oracle Analytics) and languages (Pyth
Prerequisites: student expected to be mathematically mature and familiar with probability and statistics, arbitrage pricing theory, and stochastic processes. The course will introduce the notions of financial risk management, review the structure of the markets and the contracts traded, introduce risk measures such as VaR, PFE and EE, overview regulation of financial markets, and study a number of risk management failures. After successfully completing the course, the student will understand the basics of computing parametric VaR, historical VaR, Monte Carlo VaR, cedit exposures and CVA and the issues and computations associated with managing market risk and credit risk. The student will be familiar with the different categories of financial risk, current regulatory practices, and the events of financial crises, especially the most recent one.
This course provides a comprehensive set of financial management tools for nonprofit professionals, including managers and staff, whether they oversee financial statements and reporting or need to translate financial statements and reporting across stakeholders. This course emphasizes the requirements for nonprofits in recording and budgeting the financials to support the organization’s mission. Additionally, the course will provide students with the ability to analyze financial statements and answer financial questions typically asked by stakeholders such as the governing board, donors, the public, beneficiaries, media, and regulators. Finally, the course will identify the risks and opportunities found in an organization's financial information to increase the public's confidence in and understanding of the organization's mission and operations.
As digital media increasingly drives the field of strategic communication, leading successful communication efforts also require a platform specific, evidence-based strategic approach. Leaders must know how to use a broad and rapidly changing mix of digital media platforms and tools to connect their message with the right audience. To that end, this course covers major topics in digital media and communication, such as content strategy, digital experience, channel planning, online reputation management, programmatic marketing, audience targeting, artificial intelligence and more. Through in-class lectures, discussion, case studies, guest speakers, group projects and individual writing assignments, students in this course will be introduced to strategic decision-making and communications planning for social media, mobile, digital advertising, search, email, digital out-of-home and interactive media (video, radio, podcasts). Students will also gain an in-depth understanding of how to integrate digital strategies and tactics with traditional communication efforts.
As digital media increasingly drives the field of strategic communication, leading successful communication efforts also require a platform specific, evidence-based strategic approach. Leaders must know how to use a broad and rapidly changing mix of digital media platforms and tools to connect their message with the right audience. To that end, this course covers major topics in digital media and communication, such as content strategy, digital experience, channel planning, online reputation management, programmatic marketing, audience targeting, artificial intelligence and more. Through in-class lectures, discussion, case studies, guest speakers, group projects and individual writing assignments, students in this course will be introduced to strategic decision-making and communications planning for social media, mobile, digital advertising, search, email, digital out-of-home and interactive media (video, radio, podcasts). Students will also gain an in-depth understanding of how to integrate digital strategies and tactics with traditional communication efforts.
As digital media increasingly drives the field of strategic communication, leading successful communication efforts also require a platform specific, evidence-based strategic approach. Leaders must know how to use a broad and rapidly changing mix of digital media platforms and tools to connect their message with the right audience. To that end, this course covers major topics in digital media and communication, such as content strategy, digital experience, channel planning, online reputation management, programmatic marketing, audience targeting, artificial intelligence and more. Through in-class lectures, discussion, case studies, guest speakers, group projects and individual writing assignments, students in this course will be introduced to strategic decision-making and communications planning for social media, mobile, digital advertising, search, email, digital out-of-home and interactive media (video, radio, podcasts). Students will also gain an in-depth understanding of how to integrate digital strategies and tactics with traditional communication efforts.
This course covers the major steps in the investigation, assessment and remediation of contaminated sites. The course will introduce the student to the multidisciplinary aspects of environmental remediation, an important background for any environmental career, such as an environmental consultant, a corporate remediation manager or a government regulator. Management and remediation of contaminated sites is an important consideration in sustainable regional development, since failure to control contamination usually yields an ever increasing area of impact, with greater environmental and societal costs. Using US EPA Superfund guidance as a framework, the course will explore the major steps in identifying a site, establishing the degree of contamination, identifying the likely ecological and human receptors, and selecting and implementing a remedial action. The Superfund process has been extensively developed through more than 30 years of legislature and agency guidance, and now provides a robust approach for pollution assessment and remediation. Contaminated sites typically involve a broad spectrum of contaminants across at least two media, including soils, sediments, groundwater, surface water, and air. This course examines the main steps involved in environmental investigation and remediation primarily from a technical perspective, although legal aspects will be incorporated at the major decision points in the process. In particular, the course will focus on the main environmental sampling and analytical techniques needed to conduct a remedial investigation, and cover some of the main remedial engineering considerations for the successful selection and implementation of a remedy. Students will be assigned one of several completed Superfund sites to track the application of the Superfund process to a real world example as the class proceeds, providing a regular link between theory and application.
Prerequisites: comfortable with algebra, calculus, probability, statistics, and stochastic calculus. The course covers the fundamentals of fixed income portfolio management. Its goal is to help the students develop concepts and tools for valuation and hedging of fixed income securities within a fixed set of parameters. There will be an emphasis on understanding how an investment professional manages a portfolio given a budget and a set of limits.
OVERVIEW: The IKNS Capstone represents the culmination of learning throughout the IKNS program in which students master business-critical concepts in data, analytics, people, networks, integration, and strategy. Working individually and in small teams, students design and deliver a project for a capstone sponsor seeking IKNS expertise to help solve a real-world problem within the sponsor’s organization. Using what they have learned from across the curriculum, students apply IKNS frameworks and use both qualitative and quantitative research to develop a written business report, oral presentation. and a final product for the sponsor including but not limited to a roadmap, strategic plan, white paper, or minimum viable product (MVP). The Capstone provides a final testing ground for students to apply their learning to real organizational needs and also become familiar with consultative approaches. During this course, students collaborate to complete an assignment specified by their Capstone project sponsor. At the conclusion of the Capstone, students provide a report and a strong integrated presentation to the sponsoring organization. Project activity begins at the end of August, with concrete individual and team assignments during the course culminating in a final report and oral presentation delivered in December. CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES: The course first provides an overview of the strategic value of institutional and project knowledge when properly managed, shared and applied, or leveraged to support decision making. Next, a system’s view and analysis of knowledge management (KM) is introduced as critical to business success because of the strategic value of knowledge assets. The knowledge management “system” as used in this course comprises all the organizational elements that go into formulating a knowledge management strategy and its related implementation programs. Such system is made up of a defined KM strategy, appropriate information technology (IT) tools, processes, teams and leadership engagements, implementation programs delivery, institutional learning, lessons learned, knowledge sharing and transfer methodologies. Further, students will learn how to conduct a n organizational KM needs assessment, define institutional KM drivers, strategy formulation and knowledge sharing protocols. Students will also acquire skills for developing robust knowledge management practices and programs that support business objectives, enable project succes
TBA
This course covers the technical and non-technical aspects of Carbon Utilization and Storage (CCUS), one of our most important and achievable tools to mitigate climate change. The course begins by presenting our global energy needs and the environmental motivation for CCUS and its natural analogues. Students will review the basic concepts and methods involved in CO2 capture, trapping, and monitoring, as well as established methods for modeling the fate of CO2in the subsurface. Students will then consider the needs and implications of CO2 capture from industrial sources (power plants) and directly from ambient air and examine current examples from around the world. This course will go on to discuss integrating CCUS with renewable energy sources (negative emission) and ocean storage options. Students will think through the challenges associated with CCUS, including the transportation of CO2to storage locations, regulations and incentives, and the public view and acceptance of this technology. The course will end with a discussion of where to go from here to find pathways to a carbon neutral future. At the conclusion of this course, each student will have gained a practical understanding of the potential for CCUS solutions to mitigate climate change and gain experience in presenting related technical and non-technical information to their peers. This will critically inform decision making and hone communication skills for future careers in fossil and renewable energy generation, power distribution, manufacturing, environmental policy, and scientific outreach.