Seminar on Current Managerial Issues

llsms2220  2023-2024  Louvain-la-Neuve

Seminar on Current Managerial Issues
2.00 credits
22.5 h + 7.5 h
Q1 and Q2
Teacher(s)
Agrell Per Joakim; Shrestha Prabal;
Language
English
Prerequisites
None
Main themes
The course objectives are
  • to get the students accustomed to current managerial issues with a special focus on Belgian cases, 
  • to get the students accustomed to some major global economic or political issues (the society theme of the year),
  • to get the students accustomed to the reading of some advanced press,
  • to provide students some learning in terms of reviewing work of others and providing feedback.
The seminar is structured around:
  • A set of business talks focused on a small set of companies and the related business cases;
  • A set of general talks focused on a global society issue and its related research questions.
For the business cases, the goal is to get a clear view on how each of these businesses works. The students have to prepare, in groups, several analysis of business cases.
For the society issue, the goal is to get a solid understanding of one dimension of this issue. The students have to prepare, individually, one research question related to the issue and deliver an answer to that question.
Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :

1 During their programme, students of the LSM Master's in management or Master's in Business engineering will have developed the following capabilities
CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP
  • Demonstrate independent reasoning,look critically and consciously acquired knowledge (both academic and common sense) and managerial practices, in light of emerging circumstances and their outcomes.
A SCIENTIFIC AND SYSTEMATIC APPROACH
  • Collect, select and analyze relevant information using rigorous, advanced and appropriate methods
WORK EFFECTIVELY IN AN INTERNATIONAL AND MULTICULTURAL ENVIRONMENT
  • Understand the inner workings of an organization : develop a global approach and integrate the internal logic used within the organization.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
  • Analyse a project within its environment and define the expected outcomes : identify what is at stake, the required outcomes and the environmental constraints; clearly define the project objectives and associate the performance indicators.
PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Self-motivation : be capable of creating a project in line with their own values and aspirations, confident and motivated in managing the implementation of  the  project, and  persevere in  difficult situations.
 
Content
The course objectives are
  • to get students accustomed to some major global economic or political issues (the society theme of the year),
  • to get students accustomed to current managerial issues with a special focus on Belgian cases,
  • to get students accustomed to using academic sources to analyze societal and managerial issues,
  • to provide students competencies in terms of reviewing work of others and providing feedback.
  • to provide an occasion to create direct contacts between students and senior decisionmakers (CEOs, political leaders and opinion makers) to discuss current challenges.
The seminar is structured around:
  • Part A: general lectures focused on a common social issue and related research questions. 
  • Part B: a series of invited business talks focused on a small set of organizations and the related business cases. CEOs from the concerned organizations are invited to present their operations and to discuss directly with the course.
For the social/managerial theme in Part A, the goal is to get a solid understanding of one dimension of this issue. The students have to prepare, individually, one research question related to the issue and deliver an answer to that question.
For Part B the business cases, the goal is to get a clear view on how each of these businesses works. The students have to prepare, in groups, an analysis of business cases.
Teaching methods
The seminar is based on the following elements.
  • Part A: a set of invited or internal speakers related to the social/managerial theme of the year.
  • Part A:  students prepare, individually, one research question realted to the society theme of the year and an answer tothat question. They should also provide feedback one some research questions of their peers.
  • Part B: a set of invited leaders of businesses or organizations of general interest
  • Part B; students, in groups, prepare one business analysis. They also provide, in groups, feedback on the business analyses of their peers.
Evaluation methods
The students will be graded (all the evaluations below are subject to a confirmation by the professor)
  • for their own works (by their peers),
  • for their assessment of their peer works (by the distance between their assessment and the median of the assessment of others),
  • for their participation.
The final grade is made as follows:
  • 50% for their individual work in Part A (40.0% for the work itself, 20% for the assessment work)
  • 40% for the group work in Part B (25% for the work itself, 15% for the assessment work)
  • 10%  bonus/malus for their presence in class (quizzes, questions, active attendance)
There is no final examination in this seminar.
In case of failure in the examination, a comprehensive written project serves a retake exam, available at request from the instructors.
Online resources
The platform for exchanging information and communicating with all stakeholders will be the Moodle sites of this course: LLSMS 2220 and LLSMS 2220 GW
Faculty or entity
CLSM


Programmes / formations proposant cette unité d'enseignement (UE)

Title of the programme
Sigle
Credits
Prerequisites
Learning outcomes
Master [120] : Business Engineering
INGE2M
2
Master [120] in Management
GEST2M
2