Courses

Personality analysis, group dynamics and communication compose the basic topics of this course. The first part of the course presents the latest developments in organizational behaviour and aims to develop the essential skills required for managers to understand and deal with the human factor in the business environment. The second part of the course presents the basic topics of organizational design.

This course examines market behavior and focuses on the actions and reactions of business firms and consumers in a variety of market environments. The impact of different market structures (including perfect competition, monopoly, and oligopoly) on production and consumption is analyzed. No prior knowledge of economics is assumed. The objectives of the course are: 1. To master the basic tools of microeconomics: supply and demand analysis, the theories of consumer and producer behavior, and market structure analysis. 2. To introduce the analytical foundations for managerial decision-making and the formulation of a firm’s competitive strategy. 3. To provide a framework for analyzing the role of government in a market economy and to explore how a firm’s behavior is related to its overall environment.

This is the basic Finance course. The first part of the course deals with corporate finance and all the relevant financial decisions and procedures. The second part covers the operation and the environment of the financial market; it examines the financial products and derivatives, which are available in the modern markets.

Financial Accounting covers topics related to asset valuation, income determination, and disclosure of the various items in the Financial Statements. The course places special emphasis on issues of earnings management and off-balance sheet financing since both have implications for the risk and the return of a publicly traded company. The material of this course is particularly useful in decision making that affects the allocation of resources to business entities, e.g. loan decisions, investment decisions, etc. The course relies extensively on case studies that present international and domestic accounting issues and requires the application of the course material on the analysis of a firm listed on the Athens Stock Exchange.

The objective of this course is to introduce the student to the basic Marketing Management principles and functions. Topics include product planning and development, product pricing, promotion and advertising, and distribution channels.

This course introduces students to the basic tools and techniques in using data to make informed management decisions, as well as their applications in a number of business areas including finance, marketing, and operations management. The course covers introductory probability, decision analysis, basic statistics, regression, and linear / integer programming. Students implement the above techniques in a number of case studies using computer packages based on Excel.

The purpose of this course is to provide a broad understanding of the role and importance of Information Systems (IS) in the modern business environment. Topics to be covered include the fundamentals of IS management, IS strategy, the impact of IS on organization and structure, IS applications to support business processes, IS planning, and IS resource management.

This course introduces students to the design, analysis, optimization and functional control of operations -production or service provisioning systems- in both industrial and service companies. It highlights the intense need for effective management of the constrained resources of these systems. Through the course, the student will understand the organizational structure and the various components, sub-systems, and functions of a production or service provisioning system. They will gain knowledge about the problems arising during their design and operation, and how these can be addressed through strategic choices, specific methods, and analytical techniques. The topics of the course cover all complex and interrelated business processes inherent in the system’s operation, e.g., Operations Strategy – Lean Management, Product/Service/Process Design, Facility Location, Capacity Planning, Forecasting, Quality Management, Inventory Management, and System Control with ERP software.

This course deals with the fundamental problems facing every manager: a) how to analyze the external environment of the company (structural analysis of industries, strategic groups, trends), b) how to exploit and build resources and capabilities needed to achieve, maintain and improve the firm’s market positioning, c) how to direct the company into the future (mission/ vision/ strategic intent), d) how to make a strategic choice, given a number of alternative strategic options, and e) how to build and sustain competitive advantage. The course provides frameworks for identifying the challenges of different competitive environments and gives some analytical approaches that are useful to widely different strategic problems. The final aim is to help students understand how to build a strategically responsive organization by tuning systems, structures and people to strategy, and how to effectively manage the process of strategizing.

This course introduces students to the practice of entrepreneurship providing insights and knowledge about the entire entrepreneurial journey. The course not only focuses on best practices and case studies but more importantly puts students in the shoes of entrepreneurs by engaging them in building an innovative startup. The course focuses on five elements; first creativity and prototyping (creativity and innovation workshop and rapid prototyping workshop); second value proposition (customer profiling and value map); third innovation (ten types of innovation); fourth planning (business plan and business model canvas); and finally on financing and running a startup. Students are evaluated through in-class assignments, pitch presentation (and video) of their startups, and the startup business plan.Guest speakers – from entrepreneurs to experts and investors – will complement the course, presenting their own entrepreneurial journey.

Internationalization of the firm is one of the most important trends taking place in business nowadays. When the firm expands in the international marketplace, it has to adjust its internal competencies and resources and formulate its strategies in order to exploit opportunities abroad that may shape the firm’s growth worldwide and avoid threats in the international environment. The IB course covers the key elements of the international business environment (the external environment), and the strategic decision-making inside the firm (the internal environment) with specific reference to IB theories and frameworks. In this course, the methods and strategies that companies use to analyze, enter and develop business in foreign markets are also discussed. This will cover international market research methods and strategic international market development decisions. Additionally, the course focuses on the emergence of international firms (small and large) in all parts of the world, managerial challenges and implications of going international, and the competing and complementary goals of governments and international businesses. The latter includes discussion of frameworks to help us understand economic and political integration processes

The course examines ethical issues and responses of enterprises to social demands and expectations about responsible business behavior. It outlines the current discussion, dilemmas and trends about corporate responsibility, regulation and corporate governance. In particular, it considers changes in regulations and societal expectations about the role of the modern corporation, outlines the need for redefining the purpose of the business and examines strategies for aligning the enterprise with societal demands. In this framework, it focuses on mechanisms and practices used by enterprises such as value management and social responsibility codes. It links business responses with a competitive advantage and presents examples of successful strategies.

Today’s high performing businesses must have the ability of constantly leveraging internal and external resources and knowledge in order to free and grow their creative potential and ultimately develop new viable offerings, i.e., innovate. Innovation, a necessity for progress and growth, requires change and as innovation can take many different shapes, it requires conscious change management throughout the organization, both vertically and horizontally. In this context, the course develops innovation and change leadership skills to guide individuals and teams through the necessary transformations and restructurings needed to compete in a continuously evolving context. Emphasis is placed on both visions and goals and on the application of practical tools and methods for implementing change and driving innovation.

The objective of this course is to assist participants with the development and improvement of their personal skills, which are nowadays considered as essential in order to succeed in a contemporary business environment. Focusing in particular on team dynamics and emotional intelligence, the course attempts to aid participants to identify potential strengths they should build on and weaknesses they should improve. It includes self and peer assessment of work-related personal skills through workshops, role-playing, teambuilding exercises, and case studies.The PSD course is not graded on the 0-10 scale but is only Pass or Fail, based on attendance, participation in sessions, and performance in assigned work.

The course is designed to provide an introduction and comprehensive overview of concepts of Energy Economics and Policy (as well as Environmental and Resource Economics) to postgraduate students. The course introduces energy, resource, and environmental economics, as a sub-discipline of economics focusing on the interrelationships between the environment and the economy. It explains how the concept of economic efficiency in the allocation of scarce resources underpins cost-benefit analysis and decision making in energy, resource, and environmental management. Basic concepts in economic theory are first introduced, so that understanding is developed of how markets are supposed to achieve economically efficient allocations and why, when they fail to do so, the result is pollution and degradation. Understanding the failure of markets involves the key concept of the property rights regime. Much of energy, resource, and environmental economics is concerned with identifying when, and under what circumstances, failures in property rights and in markets are likely to occur and how best to correct them. The course also explores why economists attach importance to the monetary valuation of energy-related goods and services and introduces a number of techniques for doing so using various Greek, European and other International case studies. It provides a critical overview of current methods and their applications. It examines the main criticisms of the approaches that are available for non-market valuation. Finally in order to set the concepts and theories introduced in the context of current concerns relating to sustainable development the course examines the relationship between energy policy making and the concept of sustainable development. It introduces core concepts of ‘sustainability’ and considers the policy implications of applying these in energy (mainly renewable energy: solar, wind, waves, etc.) within the European and International policy framework.

The course is intended to provide students with an overview of the different Global Sustainability Strategies, corporate and nonprofit perspectives, legislation, related risks, and opportunities. It aims at providing a better understanding of the individual elements and criteria necessary for the development and implementation of comprehensive global sustainability strategies and Reporting addressing the different needs of stakeholders. The course takes a strategic perspective on organizations’ Sustainability and the building of competitive advantage in highly competitive environments.

Mergers and acquisitions can be considered as a dynamic vehicle for corporate expansion and growth. The corporate practice has historically seen a pattern of merger ‘waves’ in various business sectors, although results have not always justified underlying motives. The course will provide a concise theoretical and empirical background on the topic, based on applied tools, methods and techniques. Case studies and empirical applications will be employed to elaborate on theoretical issues. The objectives, process, and motives of the M&A will be discussed, the economic consequences will be evaluated and the impact on target and acquiring firms will be analyzed. Emphasis will be placed on acquisition strategies, target-picking, merger valuation, and shareholder value implications.

Project based work is the new norm in business. Effective Project Management is of paramount importance for project success and consequently business success. This course is designed for an MBA level study into Project Management. In this course, students will consider and critically evaluate the problems associated with project selection, evaluation of projects and project managers, managing project teams and communicating with all parties involved. Students will become involved in presentations, discussions, extensive case studies, role-playing exercises and so address the key aspects of project management. This course will examine closely the effects of project management upon business needs, and how project management can establish a firm foundation for managing project and non-project work, regardless of the sector. Students will be introduced to techniques of selecting, initiating, planning, monitoring, controlling and closing projects in order to maximize the success of the project and the profitability of the organization they operate. The most widely accepted methodology based on the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK 6th  edition), as well as a number of modern books and approaches to Project Management,  will be presented and tested.

Under a broad definition, everything a business does may fit under the rubric of corporate finance. This course will equip students with the state-of-the-art tools, methodologies, and ideas needed in making the three basic decisions in corporate finance: Investment Decisions, Financing Decisions, and Dividend Decisions. Case studies and empirical applications with real data will be used to develop guidelines and practical skills needed to implement models for equity and debt risk, discount rates and valuation. Special importance will be given in incorporating the latest developments in corporate finance involving issues such as real options, asset-backed securitization, corporate risk management, and hybrid securities.

The course aims to provide a good understanding of the principles of equity portfolio theory and investment management. Both theoretical and practical aspects of risk and return measurement for portfolios and individual securities are examined. In the process, the concepts of diversification, portfolio selection, construction, and evaluation are analyzed. Various equilibrium models of asset prices, against which market prices of securities are compared, are put forward. Portfolio performance evaluation is part of the course.

The preparation and presentation of information that facilitates the allocation of resources within a business entity are the main objectives of managerial accounting. Managerial decisions rely extensively on budgets and cost allocations. The course covers topics related to the preparation of budgets, e.g. activity-based budgeting, and the allocation of the various costs, first to the different responsibility centers and then to the products. The course also presents cases that require the determination of the relevant costs and their application on issues of product pricing, outsourcing, and idle facilities, product mix decisions, etc. Important managerial decisions about capital budgeting, executive compensation, and product quality are also topics of this course. The primary emphasis of the course is on small case studies that require decision-making on the basis of different costs.

The course will present how the concept of marketing can be applied in the case of business-to-business (B2B) markets. Contrary to traditional business-to-consumer (B2C) exchanges, the course aims to describe the fundamental aspects of marketing strategy in the case of B2B exchanges. In particular, the key characteristics of the B2B markets along with the concept of organizational buying behavior will be presented. Also, the marketing strategy (i.e., segmentation, targeting, positioning, 4Ps) in B2B markets will be described. Emphasis will be also placed on B2B services, customer relationship management issues and key account management techniques. Also, the course is designed to teach students how to develop marketing plans for companies seeking opportunities outside their home country. Students will learn to adapt extant product, price, promotion, and distribution strategies to the needs of consumers of the target country. Special emphasis will be placed on the cultural, economic, and political environmental aspects of international marketing.

This course follows a multidisciplinary approach to examine and analyze the consumer as a decision-maker. Its main goal is to understand how fundamental consumer behavior concepts and principles can be used in marketing decision-making and strategic marketing actions. Topics covered include consumer decision-making models and information processing, consumer perceptions, loyalty and involvement, attitude measurement and change, consumer analysis and research, demo-psychographic research, interpersonal and social influences, buyer behavior, and strategic implications on market segmentation, product positioning and marketing communications.

In this course the students become familiar with the main methodologies of market research for the introduction of a new product or service. The central topics are: The new product/service development process and the need for market research, approaches to sales forecasts, methodologies for desk and qualitative research (idea generation, personal interviews, focus groups….), and quantitative market research methodologies (sampling, questionnaire building, and data analysis). The students will choose a methodology that fits best with their new business/product/ service idea and will apply it in order to gather field data on their idea. The course is evaluated on the students’ presentations on their field research.

The purpose of the course is to provide a geopolitical insight on business decisions. The world has vastly changed in the last 30 years. The fall of communism in Europe and Deng’s “four modernizations” in China lead many to believe that western capitalism had finally triumphed, in tandem with democratic liberalism. The extraordinary success of modern globalization is a direct consequence of these two historic events. The purpose of the course is to clarify i) the forces that shape the geopolitical world; ii) the interplay between geopolitics and business; iii) the increasing role of proprietary technology in the balance of powers.

The impact of globalization has considerably increased the exchanges between countries as well as the cultural impacts in many ways and particularly on the negotiation processes across borders. Belief and behavior differ between cultures in such a way that bargaining means many different things to different people from different cultures. To augment his/her capabilities a business negotiator needs to learn how to observe, analyze, develop solid mutually beneficial relationships to travel the road to success. This course is designed to provide the participant with a framework of the negotiation process and basic tools in order to help him/her understand and manage negotiations successfully. It is constructed so as to balance conceptual framework, case studies, use of video and constructive dialogue drawing on the knowledge, experience, and insights from the participants.

The course aims to present the “hot” field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and how it can help organizations become more efficient and more effective in their decision-making processes. AI techniques have the objective to make machines think and act as human beings and these abilities can be developed through continuous learning from and adapting to historical data. AI can be used in many areas of our life, but this course will focus on how it can be used to aid organizations make more effective and more efficient business decisions. The course will develop and grow your perspectives on how technologies evolve and what this means for business, entre/intrapreneurship, industries, and your career. It will exemplify what roles and skills you and your team will need to develop in businesses leveraging and driven by data and related technologies such as AI.

The use of data in modern data-rich business environments has been identified as one of the most crucial parameters in successful decision making. Data collection, processing and analysis are present in any daily activity: financial transactions, call records, smart phones, wearable devices. Terms like business intelligence, big data, business analytics, machine learning, GDPR, are in the epicenter of any business unit of an organization. This course introduces iMBA students to data management concepts, modern data analysis methods and data visualization techniques. These skills are necessary in our data-driven economy.

The objective of this course is to introduce basic concepts and tools used in modern Supply Chain Management. The course covers topics related to supply chain planning, design, and operations. Special emphasis is placed on the strategic role of Supply Chain Management and the optimization of the customer level of service. Issues regarding the modeling of strategic, tactical, and operational decisions and the introduction of advanced technologies in Supply Chain Management are also discussed.

In today’s rapidly evolving business environment, digital technologies are an integral part of the success of organisations in various sectors. Whether it’s harnessing the power of artificial intelligence (AI) for strategic decision making, leveraging cloud and Internet of Things (IoT) infrastructure for scalable operations, or designing and managing digital products and services, understanding the ins and outs of digital organizations is paramount. The course is designed to take practitioners on a journey from basic digital concepts to advanced management of large-scale digital operations. It takes a holistic approach, covering key skills and issues at each stage of digital transformation. Using a scaling model from startup to large-scale enterprise, participants develop a dynamic skill set aligned with organizational growth. Throughout the course, Agile and Lean methodologies are seamlessly integrated into the discussions, highlighting their transformative impact on traditional IT management paradigms. By the end of the course, participants gain a holistic understanding of the inner workings of digital organizations and emerge equipped to drive innovation and success in the digital world.