Specialization Options

Enterprise Analysis
Course focus is on enterprise analysis and management of IT-enabled solutions to business problems. Emphasis is placed on problem identification, requirements determination, process analysis, enterprise architecture design and IT auditing using the COBIT framework.

Data Management and Business Analytics
Organizing, storing, and managing available data using relational database technologies and generating insights through business analytics techniques.

Data Analytics I
Covers tools and methods used in data analytics to discover, collect, organize, and clean data to make it ready for analysis. Software packages used to clean and organize the data for analysis will be introduced, as well as software to enable users’ understanding of the data that is collected.

Data Analytics II
Covers tools and methods used in data analysis. Focus is on analytic and mapping methods, such as data mining, text mining, machine learning, social network analytics and preference mapping, and their application to business data analytics.

Entrepreneurial Thinking
Great business leaders think entrepreneurially – they seek opportunities and find ways to turn opportunities into viable ventures. These may be for-profit, not-for-profit, or social ventures. This course provides students the opportunity to engage in experiential learning to complete a feasibility assessment of such an opportunity.

Venture Development
A project-based course designed around the formation of business concepts in the formalization of a business plan.

New Venture Finance
Application of financial theory and analysis to the valuation and financing of new ventures. Course balances learning of concepts, development of analytical skills, and practice in decision making. Opportunity to apply learning to live projects.

New Venture Marketing
Within the context of high-potential, high growth ventures, examines four pillars of new product / new business opportunity. How to create value for the customer, solve significant problems through product and service design, measure sustainable financial value, and assess fit of new ideas with entrepreneur / organization. Emphasis on discovering market opportunities and exploring product or service feasibility.

Applied Business Analysis
Approaches to advising new and existing ventures on effective venture development. Projects will involve the student conducting analysis of several ventures and providing advice to them.

Technology Commercialization
The process of taking a technology product or service from development to the market, including market strategies, finding investors and potential early customers, the role of advisors, legal issues and the importance of the exit strategy for founders and early stage investors. Students will be required to complete a major project to write a feasibility study for a new technology or a case study of a successful technology venture.

Technology and Innovation Management
The dynamics of innovation as the primary driving force within firms and modern industrialized economies. Potential concepts are: incremental versus radical innovations, market-pull versus technology-push theories, dominant designs, technological trajectories, key factors for successful innovation. The emergence of new technologies; the importance of national and regional innovation systems; the role of science, regulations and social pressure in innovations dynamics; knowledge management; and implications for firms in rapidly changing industrial settings may be discussed.

New Venture Law
Students will be instructed in the legal principles impacting business decisions regarding new venture creation, growth and routine business operations. Topics may include: corporate structure, directors' & officers' liability, financing, intellectual property law, contracts and regulations. Course HoursL 3 units; H(3-0)

Advanced Topics in Financial Administration
Classical and contemporary topics in the theory and practice of financial management including capital structure, cost of capital, real options valuation, bankruptcy costs and debt holder-equity holder conflicts, corporate financial strategy, managerial incentive and financial decisions, information conveyed by financial decisions, and mergers and acquisitions.

Futures and Options
After presenting basic definitions, institutional details, and strategies, a general theory of derivative pricing based on the principle of No Arbitrage will be developed. This theory will then be applied to the basic derivative contracts (futures, forwards, put options and call option) as well as exotic continuous time model of Black Scholes, hedging and replication will also be examined.

Investment and Portfolio Management
Theory and analysis of investment and portfolio management decisions. Evaluation of performance of individual and professional investors and portfolio managers.

Mergers and Acquisitions
A study of economic theory and practical issues around takeover strategies, and takeover defense strategies. Valuation issues, corporate restructuring, corporate governance, and methods of ensuring congruence between management and shareholder goals are also discussed.

Financial Risk Management
A framework for evaluating financial risks and managing them with the use of financial securities including derivatives. Includes firm valuation with risk management, value-at-risk, testing financial models, optimal hedging strategies, energy risk management, market risk, static versus dynamic risk. Case analysis of financial disasters due to risk management failures.

New Venture Finance
Application of financial theory and analysis to the valuation and financing of new ventures. Course balances learning of concepts, development of analytical skills, and practice in decision making. Opportunity to apply learning to live projects.

Note: Personal Financial Management in Canada (FNCE 617) does not count towards the Finance specialization.

Strategies in Sustainable Development
The strategic context for making business decisions with respect to sustainable development issues. The role of sustainability in economic development, international trade relations and emerging technologies. Stakeholder perspectives and the effect of environmental and social issues on industrial performance.

Strategic Management in the Global Energy Industry
Characteristics of the energy industry. Major strategic issues facing top management teams in corporations involved in oil and gas and power businesses and relevant strategic tools for addressing them. Industry structure, energy value chain, key players and their strategies, industry dynamics and trends, supply and demand, expansion, M&As, roles of governments, OPEC and international politics, Kyoto Protocol, major technological drivers, organization and top management leadership.

Managing Social and Environmental Issues in the Global Marketplace
Canadian companies operating in the international arena find themselves faced with an increasingly complex array of social and environmental risks that threaten their strategic objectives. This course examines this new class of strategic corporate risks through a review of changes in international sustainable development policy initiatives, changes in communications, the emergence of an environmental and social activist sector, and the interaction of these factors resulting in new international business risk challenges. The course uses lectures, cases, simulations and class discussion of theories and concepts.

The Business of Clean Technology
The Business of Clean Technology course will develop a basic understanding of business and disruptions, the science and engineering behind renewable energy, the application and limitations of renewable energies, and basic understanding of regulations and financing. Students will learn to evaluate clean technologies in the context of marketability. The course will give introduction to various topics including the energy industry, market entry in a disruptive industry, and responding to disruptions as an incumbent.

Carbon Economy: Markets to Finance
Greenhouse gas emissions are becoming a significant driver for business in Alberta and globally. Many of the leading energy and related companies are pricing the GHG emissions as part of their project development and planning processes. They are also accounting for them as part of the compliance costs for operating existing facilities. Further, there are material regulatory and public opinion drivers for industry to address its GHG emissions as part of its compliance and social license requirements. This course will focus on the fundamentals of policy, economics (including markets), technical and financial issues around the emerging carbon constrained economy.

Evaluating Environmental Performance
In this course, participants learn how to monitor, control, measure and report environmental impacts. In addition to a general overview of sustainability, major topics include external reporting, internal planning, control of costs and market incentives and regulation.

Technology and Innovation Management
The dynamics of innovation as the primary driving force within firms and modern industrialized economies. Potential concepts are: incremental versus radical innovations, market-pull versus technology-push theories, dominant designs, technological trajectories, key factors for successful innovation. The emergence of new technologies; the importance of national and regional innovation systems; the role of science, regulations and social pressure in innovations dynamics; knowledge management; and implications for firms in rapidly changing industrial settings may be discussed.

Haskayne Wilderness Retreat
One-week intensive wilderness retreat combines experiential outdoor activities and personal growth challenges with cross-cultural First Nations teachings and ceremonies to deliver core leadership skills for social responsibility and sustainable development.

The Business of Oil and Gas
Given the impact of the Oil & Gas sector on the Canadian economy, it is imperative that students develop a solid working knowledge of how the sector operates. This class will provide students an industry aligned overview of the business model of Oil & Gas. Industry practices will be anchored via the course lectures which are designed to give an accurate and exact representation of the operational model in the exploration, upstream, midstream and downstream segments of the Oil & Gas industry.

Global Energy Finance & Accounting
Problems related to evaluating and financing energy enterprises. Financial and accounting principles applied to valuing and financing energy projects. Financial report, managerial control systems, theory of financing, valuation, and deal structuring. Focus on private sector energy enterprises.

The Business of Clean Technology
The Business of Clean Technology course will develop a basic understanding of business and disruptions, the science and engineering behind renewable energy, the application and limitations of renewable energies, and basic understanding of regulations and financing. Students will learn to evaluate clean technologies in the context of marketability. The course will give introduction to various topics including the energy industry, market entry in a disruptive industry, and responding to disruptions as an incumbent.

Carbon Economy: Markets to Finance
Greenhouse gas emissions are becoming a significant driver for business in Alberta and globally. Many of the leading energy and related companies are pricing the GHG emissions as part of their project development and planning processes. They are also accounting for them as part of the compliance costs for operating existing facilities. Further, there are material regulatory and public opinion drivers for industry to address its GHG emissions as part of its compliance and social license requirements. This course will focus on the fundamentals of policy, economics (including markets), technical and financial issues around the emerging carbon constrained economy.

International Petroleum Transactions
This course deals with international business transactions in the context of the petroleum industry. Participants will examine the various transactions that take place at each stage of the industry including the various forms of agreements offered by foreign governments, confidentiality agreements, study and bidding agreements, international joint operating agreements, agency agreements and participation agreements. The course will focus on an analysis of these and other agreements utilized to effect the various transactions and the key legal, business and ethical issues that could raise in the negotiations process.

World Oil Economics
Analysis of the world oil industry in the post-war period.

Technology and Innovation Management
The dynamics of innovation as the primary driving force within firms and modern industrialized economies. Potential concepts are: incremental versus radical innovations, market-pull versus technology-push theories, dominant designs, technological trajectories, key factors for successful innovation. The emergence of new technologies; the importance of national and regional innovation systems; the role of science, regulations and social pressure in innovations dynamics; knowledge management; and implications for firms in rapidly changing industrial settings may be discussed.

Fundamentals of Project Management
Application of management principles to the project environment; planning, control, scope, time and cost processes; project organization and human resource issues. Students review a current major capital project and submit and defend a project report.

Predictive Analytics in Business
Application of data-drive predictive models to solve real-life business problems in operations, marketing, finance and other business functions. Techniques covered include decision tress, classification and association rules, and cluster analysis.

Data Analytics I
Covers tools and methods used in data analytics to discover, collect, organize, and clean data to make it ready for analysis. Software packages used to clean and organize the data for analysis will be introduced, as well as software to enable users’ understanding of the data that is collected.

Marketing Analytics
Developing and implementing marketing strategies driven by data analytic techniques. The course will integrate key marketing concepts with segmentation analytics and social media analytics.     

Prescriptive Analytics in Business
Advanced quantitative decision-making and problem-solving skills in business environments with data and fact-based analysis. Techniques such as data-driven optimization, deterministic and probabilistic modeling, and simulation are covered through case studies.

Supply Chain Analytics
Optimal design and management of supply chains with analytical tools. Topics include network design, inventory management, transportation, contracting, coordination and collaboration, capacity management, and customer-supplier relations.                                                                                   

Analytics of International Business Environment
A data-driven approach to the analysis of international business environment. Use of data analytics to appraise emerging trends in a country/region/world business environment and derive strategic implications for business enterprises.

Fintech
An understanding of fast-moving recent technological improvements in various industries and how they change the conventional thinking and trading in the banking and finance industry.

Marketing Research
Study of research as a process for gathering market information to aid problem solving. Steps in the research process reviewed include problem definition, research design, data collection, data analysis and report preparation.

Fundamentals of Project Management
Application of management principles to the project environment; planning, control, scope, time and cost processes; project organization and human resource issues. Students review a current major capital project and submit and defend a project report.

Project Procurement and Logistics
Project procurement and logistics management in engineering, construction management and manufacturing, both nationally and internationally. Topics include fundamentals of procurement management, preparation of request for proposals, the selection of bidders, the evaluation of bids, supplier selection, contract management, control of inventory, handling of material flow and management of warehousing, logistics strategy and global issues.

Project External Issues
Projects will focus on the effects of external factors on business. External factors may include: corporate influences; financial interfaces; sources of funds; lending environment; owner’s and lender’s risks; government involvement; regulatory requirements; public information; compensation; project commissioning.

Optimizing Team Dynamics
This course is designed for students who are or who will be working interdependently with others in industries within which success depends on the ability of individuals to integrate disparate knowledge bases or perspectives (e.g., within the energy industry; within enterprise development/new venture, entrepreneurial endeavours; within knowledge based interdependent industries such as medicine; within think tanks based organizations).

Organizational Change and Development
This course provides you with conceptual foundations and skills in consulting. To make the experience real, we will work with non-profits on actual consulting engagements.  Each of you will work on an engagement team. You will leave the course with an understanding of what it takes and the actual skills that you will need to be a consultant. The skills you will develop include: bidding for client work, framing the engagement, specifying the contract, building and managing the client relationship, analyzing and “sense making” the data, writing a client report, and presenting to clients.

Risk Management and Insurance
A study of the various methods used to finance the operational risks of commercial enterprises. Key topics addressed are: loss forecasting, insurance, alternative risk financing, reinsurance and environmental risk management.

Advanced Project Management Practices and Principles*
Advanced practices, tools and concepts in managing complex volatile or large projects. SMART project management based on best practices in diverse industries forms the basis of the course.

Project Planning and Control*
Strategic and tactical planning; planning for scope, quality, time and cost; selection and implementation of project management information system; economic and risk analysis; planning for construction labour relations.

Law for Project Managers*
Legal issues related to the effective management of projects. Introduction to the legal system and processes; environmental law; intellectual property non-disclosure; professional liability; contract law; strategic alliances; employment law; the builder’s lien act. Cases are reviewed and students are expected to complete a number of assignments requiring research into case law.

Note: * Instructor may waive prerequisites on a case by case basis

Fundamentals of Real Estate
Overview of the real estate industry value chain, from raw land and built form through asset management. Addresses different sectors and business models, environmental, political, social and technology considerations and trends.

Real Estate Investment and Analysis
Structure and operations of the Canadian mortgage and asset-backed securities markets. Topics include instruments, techniques, and institutions of real estate finance, sources of funds, mortgage risk analysis, and fundamentals of residential and commercial real estate contracting. Examination of the risks and rewards when investing in and financing both commercial and residential real estate deals. Concepts include investment, financing, site analysis, appraisals, lending, and management of real estate portfolios and corporate real estate.

Advanced Real Estate Development
Opportunity to use classroom learnings in an applied setting through a re-development plan for designated site(s), complete with supporting market and financial analyses. The course may include site visits.

Fundamentals of Real Estate Development and Urbanization
Topics include the process of developing land and gaining approvals from regulatory bodies in the real estate industry, learning how to go from bare land to built form. Exploration of the context of city building, including topics such as the conflict between use value and exchange value of land, political economy of space, globalization trends, sustainability, gentrification and social movements.

Real Estate Legal and Operating Environment
Foundation of legal, regulatory and stakeholder issues affecting real estate. Topics will include real estate transactions, real estate brokerage, real property ownership interests, illegal discrimination in residential and commercial transactions, and other legal transactions involving real estate, such as sales and leases. Governance models, legislation, policies and by-laws in relation to the business of real estate and land development.

Real Estate Marketing
Coverage includes real estate marketing programs based on theoretical principles, an understanding of changing real estate markets, marketing methods, research approaches and marketing program development.