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Seminar Descriptions

Global Leadership
Dr. Jeffrey McGee
University of Texas at Arlington

Leadership is a fundamental element for executives working in today’s global businesses, particularly the concept of strength-based leadership. Essentially, this is a concept that recognizes that there are many different aspects of leadership such as an individual’s personality, skills, experience, creativity, personal integrity, initiative, and environment (to name just a few). Strength-based leadership means that an individual should seek to understand his/her own strengths (and weaknesses) and with this understanding find his/her own unique leadership approach. Using a battery of leadership assessment tests, participants will explore their own strengths (and weaknesses) and the impacts these have on leadership style. This seminar will help managers become adaptive leaders who can create clarity, build mutual trust, inspire others, and drive change in their organizations. It will demonstrate how to break down silos to create an energetic and productive work group. In addition to these critical interpersonal skills, this seminar is designed to build an entrepreneurial mindset in leaders. Participants will learn how to be more innovative and quicker to market in a rapidly changing and competitive world.

Developing Strategies for Competitive Advantage
Dr. Abdul Rasheed
University of Texas at Arlington

Why do some firms perform better than others? What can a firm do to gain a competitive advantage? How can a competitive advantage, once gained be sustained? The focus of this course is how firms create and sustain competitive advantage in the global marketplace. We will cover frameworks on industry analysis, internal analysis, achieving and maintaining different types of competitive advantage, and management of the diversified corporation. The goal of the course is a better understanding of corporate level and business-unit level strategy formulation and implementation.

Building High-Performance Teams
Dr. Paul Paulus
University of Texas at Arlington

Teamwork has obvious advantages in some contexts but may not work effectively in others. Teamwork is especially challenging on complex tasks, including tasks that require innovation. We will cover the pitfalls and benefits of teamwork, and the ways in which one can optimize the effectiveness of teams. Among the issues we will discuss are the use of teams to enhance innovation, the role of diversity in teams, and how to have effective team meetings. The course will be based on the latest evidence in the literature on effective teamwork and will be complemented by the discussion of cases and practical exercises.

Accessing Capital Markets for Global Operations
Dr. Walid Hejazi
University of Toronto

Effective utilization of capital markets, both domestic and foreign, is essential for a thriving firm. Leaders must be able to assess relative benefits and costs of both short-term and long-term sources of expansion capital not only within their home markets but also within the context of global markets. Evaluation of and access to foreign capital markets requires an understanding of characteristics of international financial instruments, the operation and structure of foreign capital markets and fundamentals of measurement and management of foreign exchange exposure.

Strategic Accounting and Finance
Dr. Allan Young
UCCI

This course uses a case-based approach to provide an overview of internal accounting analysis and control systems. By providing a review of the operations of external finance and capital markets, this course helps develop a high level of practical financial acumen and executive knowledge.

Management in Organizations
Dr. Robert Weishan
UCCI

This course addresses topics of management and organizational behavior, beginning with a micro focus, embarking from the individual level of analysis and then moving on to group behavior in organizations. Additional topics at the organizational level of analysis include decision making, communication, planning, structure, leadership, technology and globalization, politics and power, culture and organizational change, conflict and negotiation. (This class offers preparation for Commonwealth Executive Master-level C2 credit.)

Issues in International Finance
Dr. Ginnie Gardiner
UCCI

As money, capital, and derivatives markets expand exponentially and as businesses find themselves interconnected to the global economy as a result, the professional business manager needs to continue to learn about changes that may impact their firm’s future. Critical thinking will be developed through analyzing a selection of cases and articles which may include such topics as the impact of currency markets on risk, hedging strategies, the cost of capital for international expansion, and financing sources for import or export expansion.

Marketing Management
Dr. J D Mosley-Matchett
UCCI

This course reviews the major aspects of marketing strategy for impact in the marketplace. In addition to reviewing essentials of consumer psychology, the course reviews the effectiveness of various types of marketing media and message in terms of impact on the intended market. Topics include marketing mix, the product life cycle, approaches to pricing, packaging, and distribution, the drivers of consumer decisions, and market research. (This class offers preparation for Commonwealth Executive Master-level C8 credit.)