MSIM - Responsible Management and Climate Action

MSIM Courses

MGT 500 Leadership Development through Action

The Responsible Leadership Development program is the cornerstone of the MS in International Management. This seminar was designed in consultation with experts in leadership development, and executive coaches who work with leaders of Fortune 100 companies. The Leadership Development through Action Learning seminar begins in the fall semester with a one-week leadership seminar entitled “Leadership, Story Telling, and the Golden Rule.” While the world is facing unprecedented challenges with widening inequality, economic uncertainty and climate breakdown, powerful and impactful new leadership stories are emerging in business, governments and civil society. The Leadership Development through Action Learning culminates with the delivery and presentation of the Learning e-portfolio. There will be individual and team leadership experiences throughout the academic year.

MGT 510 International Management

The goal of this course is to familiarize managers with the field of international business, management and operations. In this course, students will review, critically consider, and discuss a variety of contemporary issues within international management, including how today’s managers are challenged to also act as Geopolitical Executive Officers (GEO). During this novel seminar students explore and learn about different managerial practices in different continents around the globe.

MGT 511 Digital Transformation Strategies

The goal of this course is to familiarize students with digital transformation and digitalization in dynamic organizations based on an interdisciplinary mix of models and techniques. How are organizations responding to the innovation and adaptation challenge? During this seminar, students will learn from important global players and expert professors about the different models that organizations are embracing to strategically address the digitalization opportunity. Students make practical use of their knowledge and learning from previous courses including digital marketing, organizational design, and financial management, by working in teams to conceptualize and implement a digital transformation strategy.

MGT 525 Innovation and Project Management

The objective of this course is to give a solid base and strength in managing from simple projects to complex ones. The focus will be on fostering and managing innovation in start-ups, large enterprises, international organizations, governments, or social businesses. This course introduces students to frameworks, cases and articles discussing where ideas come from, how an innovation ecosystem is created, principles of lean-hypothesis for launching new products, services and ventures.

MGT 530 Challenges in the New Global Marketplace

This course focuses on the development and implementation of a marketing strategy for a company. As such, the marketing strategy of a company is grounded on a deep analysis of the business environment in which it operates and a thorough understanding of the consumers and their ways of processing information. The course, provides students with the most relevant aspects of the marketing process giving an outline of the main decisions the company needs to focus on when dealing with the marketing plan preparation.

MGT 531 Global Issues and Responsible Leadership

This course focuses on the responsible leadership of the individual in the context of Corporate Social Responsibility and the United Nations 2030 Agenda. How are global managers preparing their companies to be sustainable for 2030 and beyond? Through examples and guidance from both the business and the NGO world, we will explore what is discussed at strategy tables and how organizations are constantly revisiting their value chains to ensure long term success. Students will be challenged to think critically, strategically, creatively, collaboratively, and compassionately. With this self-knowledge, students will be able to apply the mechanisms by which to successfully engage in social and global issues as individuals and as leaders of organizations.

MGT 535 International Business Economics

This course illustrates how economic analysis can help to guide the successful decision making of managers. In particular, this seminar will challenge some of the most deeply rooted beliefs of the old economy and introduce some of the tenets of the new economy of the 21st century. It will allow students to understand and critically engage with basic principles of mainstream economics, on one hand, and explore new paradigms, on the other hand. In particular, there will be a strong focus on the circular economy.

MGT 538 Reporting with Purpose

This course focuses on the interaction between reporting and corporate transformation. Corporate reporting used to be limited to annual financial reports describing past performance in combination with quarterly earnings updates for shareholders. Currently, most companies provide far more than financial updates, either because of legal requirements or voluntarily. Shareholders, but also many other stakeholders, want a better understanding of a company’s purpose and progress towards a more sustainable future, based on a clear narrative and relevant metrics. This is particularly true for companies planning to transform their business in response to climate change and other major social and environmental challenges. Transforming a company typically requires a change in the product or service offered, but also a change in the way a company operates (internal transformation) and how it relates to the outside world (external transformation). Furthermore, with intangibles such as corporate reputation and intellectual and human capital often representing 80% or more of enterprise value, non-financial metrics become increasingly important to capture the essence of a company’s competitive edge and long-term value. This course explores the role of integrated reporting, and how the reporting process both reflects and reinforces corporate transformation by building alignment and trust with both internal and external stakeholders. Key topics that will be discussed are materiality analysis, business transformation metrics, target setting, statement of purpose, ESG standards and raters, and sustainable finance.

MGT 545 Managerial Finance

This course examines the principles and practices of integrated frameworks for strategic financial decision-making. Attention is given to managerial financial decisions in a global market setting concerning such questions as how to obtain an adequate supply of capital and credit, and how to evaluate alternative sources of funds and their costs. Topics include the management of assets and liabilities, working capital management, capital budgeting, equity versus debt financing, capital structure, and financial forecasting.

MGT 550 Innovation and Design Thinking

This course emphasizes Design Thinking, an innovation approach that constantly focuses on customer needs and leads to solving problems and developing new ideas. Similar agile approaches are also considered: Lean Start-Up, Prototyping, Value Proposition Design, or the combination of Design Thinking with Data Analytics or System Thinking. In an interdisciplinary team, students learn to recognize the latent needs and expectations of various stakeholders. From these expectations, as many ideas as possible are generated, implemented, tested and refined in order to ultimately arrive at innovative solutions that offer real added value.

MGT 554 Organization Evolution and Design

This course examines the discipline and the art of organizational design with a focus on designing for purpose, responsiveness and collaboration. Sustainable success of organizations is heavily influenced by the extent to which the organizational structure and culture enable the execution of the chosen strategy. Organization Design & Development (OD) is the art of designing and implementing the right structure, and to develop and foster the appropriate culture. This interactive course is designed to provide students with a carefully selected set of frameworks and tools to align organizational structure and culture with strategy. Through case work, students will practice tools and methods to understand and cope with the wider complexity of organizational design and development.

MGT 562 Responsible Sales Strategies

In this course, the students explore the characteristics of responsible and high-performing sales managers, and get ideas on how to boost the sales team’s success and drive the organization's revenue through the role as a sales manager whether in a business-to-business (B2B) or a business-to-consumer (B2C) setting. Students will develop the skills they need to lead a sales team and drive revenue. They will learn to strengthen their personal leadership coaching, train their team colleague, and create a championship culture. This Responsible Sales Strategies course will challenge students to consider and try approaches and techniques proven in many industries and inspire them to consistently attain high performance in sales through responsible managerial approaches.

MGT 604 Capstone Learning ePortfolio

This course provides students with the opportunity to build the framework for their e-portfolios and to begin the process of being active self-observers and responsible learners. Students will learn to critically assess their academic and professional work, their leadership effectiveness, their emotional and cultural intelligence development, and the skills and knowledge gained during their practical experience. This continuous assessment of learning requires thoughtful and regular reflection by the student on their learning experiences so as to make connections among different courses, academic and professional experiences, and to adjust their learning goals and experiences accordingly. e-Portfolios are effective learning tools because they support the student's own knowledge construction, make otherwise invisible aspects of the learning process visible, and place agency in the hands of students, which fosters the student's motivation.

Responsible Management and Climate Action

MGT 563 Responsible Management & Climate Action

Students will work with a faculty advisor on a self-directed course of study that combines online study and classroom seminars. Students will be able to choose a specialization within Climate Action. The academic learning will be linked with experiential learning opportunities, including, international organizations, NGO, company visits practitioner’s workshops, interviews with experts in the field and other opportunities for networking, mentoring and conversations. Students will also visit the UN in Geneva at least once a month to join global conferences, seminars, and workshops and learn under the supervision of a UN coach.

MGT 602 Practical Experience-Climate Action

Working with UN Project Teams: Students will work on an applied project/internship mandated by a team at a UN agency that includes working between Lugano and Geneva for a period of approximately 6 weeks. In addition to an agreed upon deliverable to the UN, students will be required to write up a final report on the field study and practical experience that discusses how the Climate Action course work informs their final project and how the experience functions as a capstone to the entire MSIM experience.