Preparing For The Challenges of Business

Today’s global business environment is complex. Executives face challenges that defy simple solutions.The Cornell–Queen’s Executive MBA program will prepare you to respond to these challenges, adapt to new markets, and lead in a constantly changing environment. The experience is intense, dynamic, interactive and comprehensive, blending theory with experience and knowledge with application. The curriculum has been designed to provide a broad general management education within a Canadian, U.S. and international context. The program provides a solid grounding in the important areas of management – management fundamentals; strategic thinking; global business; creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship; corporate social responsibility; and leadership. Because these themes are woven throughout the curriculum, you will leave the program having developed the ability to approach issues from a comprehensive and multidisciplinary perspective.

An Integrated And Sequenced Curriculum

The Cornell–Queen’s program is a highly-integrated series of courses that provides a solid grounding in the fundamentals of management and a thorough understanding of advanced management topics.The courses are sequenced so that each course builds on the content of the previous courses, allowing ample opportunity to apply your learning to real-world business situations.Throughout the program your course work will be augmented by guest speakers, field trips, and other highly relevant hands-on experiences in both Canada and the U.S.

Thinking Like An Entrepreneur

Understanding and practicing entrepreneurship is important in today’s business environment.The Cornell–Queen’s program provides the opportunity to develop and hone skills in this critical area. During the second residential session, you will focus on new ventures, including evaluating ideas, formulating a plan, finding sources of venture capital, and building an organization capable of sustained growth.

Core Curriculum

Management Fundamentals 

Marketing
Identify market opportunities; prepare and evaluate a marketing plan; and use marketing tools for costing, positioning, pricing, and evaluation.

Finance
Select, design, and evaluate a financial strategy that creates and enhances shareholder value. Emphasis is placed on integrating financial considerations into management decisions and corporate policies.

Human Resource Management
Manage the human resource challenges in the workplace, and examine ways to address today’s key HR issues.

Management Accounting and Control
Use accounting information for management planning and control. Emphasis is placed on the use of accounting tools to improve planning.

Financial Accounting
Decipher and understand the key accounting statements, and learn how to use accounting information to assess the financial health of an organization.

Operations Management
Take a multidisciplinary approach to performance improvements, and understand the interrelated roles of technology, capital, and human resources in an operating system.

Information Technology Management
Use information technology to transform the competitive framework and to improve the operating performance of the business.

Strategic Thinking

Establishing a Strategic Foundation
Develop a strategic mindset and understand the role of strategic planning in creating long-term competitive advantage.

Creating an Effective Strategic Planning Process
Planning Process Change the way you think about your business and develop useful strategic plans that have buy-in across the organization.

Planning Strategically with Tools and Frameworks
Discuss and evaluate a variety of strategic planning tools and frameworks.

Successfully Implementing the Strategic Plan
Focus organizational resources on the strategic plan to ensure its rapid deployment and to generate sustained momentum.

Linking Functional Plans to the Strategic Plan
Understand how short-term operational plans, functional plans, the annual budgeting cycle, and operating plans relate to the long-term strategic plan.

Global Business

Understanding the International Marketplace
Understand the global trends and issues that create business opportunities in foreign markets.

Conducting a Country Risk Analysis
Understand the political, economic, social, and technological issues that affect a firm’s strategy for entering and investing in foreign markets.

Evaluating International Market Opportunities
Use country evaluation techniques to identify, evaluate and prioritize market opportunities.

Understanding Cross-cultural Business Issues
Examine how cross-cultural issues affect internal business processes and decisions.

Managing an International Business
Understand the management issues related to developing and sustaining competitive advantage in foreign markets.

Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Leading Organizational Change
Manage leadership issues involved in creating a vision, building alignment, and developing an operating system to deliver an innovative stream of products or services to the marketplace.

Evaluating, Launching and Managing New Ventures
Review issues of special concern to the general manager launching a self-standing new venture in the form of a line extension or new product.

Managing New Technologies
Manage the introduction of new technology to enhance competitive capabilities and improve operating efficiencies.

Using Innovation for Competitive Advantage
Build an operating model that is capable of ongoing renewal and that provides the organization with a sustainable competitive advantage.

Understanding Value Propositions
Apply value-building methodologies to the creation of new products and services and to modifying existing products and services.

Corporate Social Responsibility

Raising the Bar on Business Ethics
Conduct business transparently, legally and with a high level of integrity.

Recognizing Human Rights
Understand the organization’s responsibility to be aware of and respect human rights in all jurisdictions in which the company operates.

Addressing Internal and External Environmental Issues
Conduct business in a way that minimizes negative impact on the environment and considers renewable rather than scarce resources.

Optimizing Employee Relations Ensure that employees are treated with fairness, respect and dignity.

Implementing New Standards of Corporate Governance
Recognize that management is responsible to investors, as well as a broader group of stakeholders.

Practicing Effective Community Involvement Understand the importance of good corporate citizenship and form a bond with the local community in which you operate.

Leadership

Understanding and Enhancing your Leadership Capabilities
Challenge your assumptions and beliefs about leadership and change the way you think about your leadership qualities.

Coaching People and Creating High-performance Teams
Build and strengthen management coaching skills and achieve continuous improvement in teamwork, work processes, and management practices.

Negotiating and Building Consensus
Improve negotiating skills and build agreement among organizational stakeholders such as customers, suppliers, partners and colleagues.

Building Collaborative Relationships
Recognize different styles of thinking, decision-making, conflict management and emotional behaviour and build collaborative relationships and management systems to foster integration across functions.

Improving Project Planning and Management
Apply advanced management techniques to project planning while aligning projects with the organization’s

Major Projects

New Venture Project

The objective of this individual project is to create a business case and comprehensive business plan for a new, stand-alone business. The New Venture Project will give you an opportunity to use the management concepts and tools you have acquired in the program to create a business plan for a new venture.You will identify market opportunities, investigate business potential, consider financing options, and create a business plan. Each participant will be assigned a project advisor.

Global Business Project

The Global Business Project is a team project that provides real-world international business experience. Your team will complete a comprehensive analysis of a real global business issue or opportunity anywhere in the world outside of the U.S. and Canada. To complete this “live case”, your team will travel to the international location to interview business managers and conduct field research prior to writing your final report. This provides an outstanding opportunity to put all that you have learned into practice.

The third residential session will focus on global business issues including: the global economy, legal and human resource complexities, cross-cultural issues,market analyses, and the challenges of international partnerships. This material will be useful in the completion of your Global Business Project.

The CMA Designation

While in the Cornell-Queen's Executive MBA program, you may earn exemptions toward a Certified Management Accountant designation.  The CMA designation is internationally recognized as a leading financial qualification for executives. Please speak to an application advisor for more information.

The CMC Designation 

Graduates of the Cornell - Queen's Executive MBA program earn credits toward the Certified Management Consultant (CMC) designation while earning their MBA. Exemptions are granted for personal and interpersonal skills courses and credit is given for time devoted to your MBA projects. The Cornell - Queen's Executive MBA curriculum covers most of the topics required for the CMC Comprehensive Qualifying Examination.