The Alba MBA with Shipping

Creativity and innovation are career and business imperatives in the fluid and highly competitive economy of the 21st century. The explosion of creative industries in recent decades have turned innovation into a critical success factor in any form of work that involves the imagination, aesthetics, emotion, invention, or/and problem solving. With the advent of the knowledge economy, creativity has also become a cardinal aspect of managerial jobs. Creative problem solving, creative responses to contextual variability, improvisation, and the ability to generate original and bold ideas are defining elements of career success. This course provides students with the knowledge, skills and insights for discovering and practicing creativity in organizations, groups, and one's own career. The fourfold structure of the course entails: (a) cutting-edge knowledge about such topics as developing creative capabilities, managing creative people,  crafting creative work environments, and turning creative ideas into winning innovations; (b) concrete insight on practice through over 100 mini cases, examples and illustrations of creative accomplishment and innovation in business and society; (c) valuable "insider insight" about selected creative industries through direct interaction with guest speakers of notable creative achievement; and (d) practical application and the opportunity to act creatively during the course through brief interactive exercises and a major creative group assignment.

This course concentrates on the economic fundamentals of management by developing tools and thinking frameworks to analyze the structure and the evolution of the industry and the macroeconomic environment of a company. The course employs classical economic as well as game theoretic methodology to study the operation of markets in allocating resources as well as the markets’ impact on managerial decision making. Topics under consideration include consumer and business behavior, their interaction in competitive and non-competitive markets, the impact of market structure in the company’s managerial decision making and strategies, and the economics of platforms. Furthermore, the course develops thinking frameworks and methods to help participants understand the macroeconomic environment within which businesses operate, and also to identify channels through which this environment influences their managerial decision making.

The overall objective of the course is to help us develop business and financial ethics leadership praxis and actionable knowledge, i.e., action that creates wealth in such a way that makes ourselves, our organizations, and the world better. This course takes a management methods approach to business and financial ethics and social responsibility. The course focuses on methods managers can use individually and together in addressing ethics and social responsibility issues and in helping to build and maintain ethical and socially responsible organizations in various types of environments and realities. Methods considered include ethics leadership, change, reasoning, dialogue, persuasion, governance, due process, negotiating, incentive, training, social movement, alternative institution building, top-down and bottom-up compliance code and win-lose forcing methods, and ethics crisis management and turnaround methods. In addition to learning about the methods, students are invited to reflect upon what types of institutional citizens we would like to be and what types of ethical and socially responsible organizations we would like to help create in our various types of environments and realities. Case studies from Europe, Asia, and North America are considered.

This course aims to enhance your quantitative and problem structuring skills, with emphasis placed on the process of action-oriented decision making.  It also aims to equip you with specific skills in the areas of data analysis, risk evaluation, project evaluation and forecasting. You will be exposed to advanced decision support tools and you are expected to reach "end-user" level of modelling competence. This means that you should be in a position to deal with messy real-life problems that require some action, recognize the areas where business analysis can add value, select appropriate types of analyses and tools and apply them in order to make informed decision.

The aim of the workshop is to provide participants with a fulfilling and lively event, in order to introduce them to the importance of teamwork.  By taking part in planned outdoor activities and exercises and through mutual support, the team enables itself to overcome difficulties and built strong bonds.  Furthermore, this process will result into the formation of the groups that participants are going to work with during their studies.

The course explores the ‘art’ of financial accounting / financial reporting.  In particular, the goal of the course is to provide the knowledge and skills required for the understanding and use of financial accounting information for decision making.  Some of the topics covered during the course include: the role and importance of financial reporting, the role of the main players in the accounting communication process, including the management, auditors and stakeholders, the effects of the use of different accounting methods and estimates on the financial statements and the subsequent impact on decision making, ways of analysing, interpreting and evaluating financial statements.  During the course, extensive reference is made to the annual reports of various companies, as well as to accounting scandals (e.g. ENRON), for the facilitation of knowledge and understanding.

The purpose of this course is to build critical reading, writing and presentation skills to enable participants communicate effectively. After completing this course, its participants will be able to prepare different types of documents, searching and evaluating evidence adopting a critical approach in reading and writing. Moreover, this course provides students with the presentation skills to build presence, authority, and a newfound ability to captivate the audience. They will empower the content and their stage presence by discovering different presentation styles but most importantly identifying their own. A special feature of this course is that participants will have the opportunity to experience the tools presented through an interactive methodology.

In teams, students will compete for profit and market share in a virtual muesli industry, over several business cycles. Students will manage raw materials, production, marketing, sales, accounting and competitive strategy. They will produce financial statements and other management reports that will help them improve their decisions and business performance over the following business cycles. In other words, during this simulation game, students will experience end-to-end management: from inbound logistics to sales, and from low level operations to executive decision making. The main objective of the course is to demonstrate how businesses can achieve integration and control via well defined processes and information systems. How seamless and reliable access to real time information provides end-to-end visibility to critical business operations and supports continuous improvement. Another objective of the course is to recapitulate all the core MBA subjects through an integrative and applied experience. This simulation game is an intensive, actionable and tremendously fun learning experience aimed at consolidating some critical skills of the MBA curriculum. The game is based on a special version of the SAP ERP software, developed at HEC Montreal and supported by SAP AG. During the course, the necessary training will be provided on the following modules: materials management, production planning, sales and distribution, financial accounting, cost accounting, and business intelligence.

The course provides an overview of the core areas of organizational theory and organizational behavior with a special emphasis on topics related to organizational structures, culture and values, employee motivation, teamwork, and the management of change in organizations. It will help participants understand the complex relations between individuals, organizations, and the external environment. Particular emphasis is placed on the effective functioning of organizations in dynamic environments, where strategic and operational agility have emerged as essential capabilities for organizations to survive and prosper. Through case studies, videos, discussion, and a simulation game, students will have the opportunity to exercise their critical thinking and develop management skills by applying related concepts and theories to a broad range of challenges relevant to the everyday life in organizations.

Seaborne transportation is a crucial catalyst for world trade and economic growth. Globalization, increased competition and rapid technological changes have resulted in lower transportation costs, making shipping even more relevant and important for today’s global economy. The shipping industry however is characterized by its cyclicality and capital intensiveness and as a result, stakeholders need to adopt a prudent and diligent approach. This course exposes you to the industry’s macroeconomic and microeconomic forces, the economic and regulatory environment whilst it also analyzes different capital sources that can be employed by shipping companies in order to diversify their capital structure and maximize shareholders value. Real-life case studies are being used throughout the course, enhancing your practical understanding of key shipping and ship-financing concepts and structures.                                  

The course enables students to understand the basic concepts of the law relating to shipping, so as to bolster their prospects of professional, commercial or business employment. Notions such as the ship, admiralty jurisdiction, arrest, ship mortgage, maritime lien, marine insurance shall be examined and analysed. Furthermore, it is opted to enhance students’ interpretational skills when examining legal instruments. Finally, students are expected to develop other skills, such as problem solving, legal research, independent study and critical evaluation. Successful students shall demonstrate a satisfactory knowledge of various concepts of shipping law. They should be in a position to apply the relevant law to hypothetical problems, to evaluate critically legal situations and reach reasoned conclusions.       

The course outlines general ship characteristics as well as the statutory and commercial rules and guidelines associated with the design and operational profile of ship types. Statutory and class regulations are presented in association to the flag and design criteria related to safe construction of ships. Furthermore, most common ship types and their commercial characteristics are presented. Guidelines associated with the design and operational profile of ship types are mentioned. Technical and vessel voyage elements are presented analytically, with reference to individual vessel types and operation. Ship repair Management and the principles of ship valuation are discussed and analyzed in the class.

Management consists of a set of universal skills that are well understood and trainable. Leadership consists of how each one of us makes a unique difference to the challenges we face with people and projects. It is not about wasting our energy trying to make ourselves more effective by changing our characters. Instead, it is more effective to find new and better ways of ‘being ourselves’ through enhanced insight and skill.  The purpose of this course is twofold: (a) to assess and improve your readiness to function well as a leader by making your time at Alba Graduate Business School a self-directed journey of learning and development; the specific objectives are to develop an awareness of the knowledge and skills that underlie leadership effectiveness; to obtain individual-level feedback utilizing some of the best existing assessment instruments; to share feedback on your own and others’ skills; and to craft a personal leadership development action plan; (b) to help you acquire actionable knowledge about leadership styles, leading with power, and influence processes by exposing you to both classical perspectives on and contemporary trends in leadership theory and practice through a series of stimulating readings, discussions, exercises, and case studies. 

The first part of the course is to introduce students to the issues involved in insuring the various interests that may arise in vessels and their cargoes. The course examines the types of policy available, the legal issues that arise in the placement and claims processes and the risks covered by the standard form of marine insurance wordings available. The second part of the course is to provide the principles of law governing the carriage of goods by sea and admiralty jurisdiction. It further focuses on liability in terms of the cargo transported and claim implications. The aim of the course is to enable students to understand, analyse and critically evaluate the processes which affect a shipping company in relation to marine insurance issues and to the law of carriage of goods by sea.

In this course students learn how the design of productive systems, strategic planning, and operations planning and control can help them increase productivity and customer service as a springboard for increased profitability. The course is intended to anyone interested in operations, strategic planning and valuation. In general, a working knowledge of operations, which typically employs the greatest number of employees and requires the largest investment in assets, is indispensable for general managers and entrepreneurs.

The Entrepreneurship bootcamp experience course has been designed to offer cutting-edge knowledge, hands-on experience and practical skills to MBA students who aspire to get a good grasp of the world of startups and plan new ventures. Students form teams and gradually develop unique business ideas in a highly interactive and practice-based learning journey. Within a period of two months students learn how to discover, assess, fund and pitch business ideas. In this process, students are exposed to novel frameworks and up-to-date learning tools (e.g., Business Model Canvas, Lean startup methodology, Minimum viable product, Financial feasibility testing, among others). The learning experience is designed by Alba resident faculty and curated by Alba academics and Venture Capital professionals, who coach, mentor and guide students throughout their learning journey. A panel of leading practitioners and academics evaluates presentations of business plans during the annual Alba Business Plan contest. The winning team represents Alba at i) the European Business Plan of the Year competition and ii) Stage Two, a pan-European start-up competition held under the patronage of EU-Commission.

The Shipping Field Consulting Project is a unique learning experience and a cornerstone of ALBA's educational philosophy. It is the culmination of a year's intensive learning, and the time to elaborate on and implement concepts and methods in a real, corporate environment. Teams of students have the unique opportunity to test "in the field" what they have learned in class.   Teams spend approximately three months working on a practical corporate project, supervised by a faculty member. They are required to systematically proceed to problem-solving, following the pattern analysis-diagnosis-proposal of solutions. The final report is presented to both company representatives who commissioned the project and the School's faculty.

The Entrepreneurship bootcamp experience course has been designed to offer cutting-edge knowledge, hands-on experience and practical skills to MBA students who aspire to get a good grasp of the world of startups and plan new ventures. Students form teams and gradually develop unique business ideas in a highly interactive and practice-based learning journey. Within a period of two months students learn how to discover, assess, fund and pitch business ideas. In this process, students are exposed to novel frameworks and up-to-date learning tools (e.g., Business Model Canvas, Lean startup methodology, Minimum viable product, Financial feasibility testing, among others). The learning experience is designed by Alba resident faculty and curated by Alba academics and Venture Capital professionals, who coach, mentor and guide students throughout their learning journey. A panel of leading practitioners and academics evaluates presentations of business plans during the annual Alba Business Plan contest. The winning team represents Alba at i) the European Business Plan of the Year competition and ii) Stage Two, a pan-European start-up competition held under the patronage of EU-Commission.

The aim of this course is to provide in-depth and holistic understanding of charter markets, chartering practice and charter party analysis in dry cargo and tanker shipping. Content includes the procedures and practices in chartering merchant ships in the dry cargo and tanker markets, their commercial employment under various forms of chartering and the detailed calculation of financial (freight) performance, voyage planning and lay time estimations. The module provides an in-depth analysis of charter party forms and adopts a legal and commercial perspective to analyze significant clauses and to explain various specialized terms in dry cargo and chartering contracts. The market structure of dry cargo and tanker industries are also analyzed and an overview of the practitioners involved (brokers, owners, charterers) is provided as are the sources of data and information required to initiate, negotiate, agree, execute and assess a successful charter party contract in the dry bulk and tanker markets.

The effective and daily strategic management of companies operating in the shipping service sector is of the most paramount importance. Managers, thus, are in need of strategic making skills as ever. Strategy is the set of objectives and policies that set to define how a shipping service provider positions itself to gain competitive advantage and increase returns for its owner and stakeholders. Two questions are of importance, then: “What business should we participate in” and “How should we compete?” In answering these questions, the external environment and the internal company resources and capabilities take a central role. Through case studies and assignments, participants learn to use tools for analyzing, creating and, communicating strategies in the shipping industry.

The Shipping Field Consulting Project is a unique learning experience and a cornerstone of ALBA's educational philosophy. It is the culmination of a year's intensive learning, and the time to elaborate on and implement concepts and methods in a real, corporate environment. Teams of students have the unique opportunity to test "in the field" what they have learned in class.   Teams spend approximately three months working on a practical corporate project, supervised by a faculty member. They are required to systematically proceed to problem-solving, following the pattern analysis-diagnosis-proposal of solutions. The final report is presented to both company representatives who commissioned the project and the School's faculty.