Core Courses

This course focuses on current practices in corporate financial reporting and fundamental issues relating to asset valuation and income determination. We pay close attention to financial statement analysis and interpretation of financial disclosures to help improve risk assessment, forecasting, and decision‐making.

This course does NOT emphasize the details of GAAP or countless accounting rules and procedures that comprise GAAP. The main focus is developing a set of powerful analytical tools for students to understand the environment in which financial reporting choices are made, what the options are, how financial data are used for various types of decisions, and how to avoid misusing financial statements.

This course utilizes lectures, case discussions and analyses, numerical exercises, and independent reading.

A significant complaint made by many business leaders and employers have today is that their employees do not write well. They further claim that these employees do not understand how and when to use standard business writing genres and that they continue to communicate poorly even after being informed of their weaknesses. Employers often end up dismissing such employees or, at the very least, avoid giving them promotions or challenging projects to work on.

In this light, this course offers an introduction to the techniques and types of professional writing, including correspondence and reports. It is designed to help you strengthen skills of effective business and professional communication in written modes. After successful completion of this course, you will have the skills necessary to communicate effectively in a variety of professional situations.

The students will gain particular insight and an understanding towards modeling and rational approaches to decision- making and their contribution to organizational effectiveness. Analysis and communication are emphasized throughout the course by using real world and practical applications and cases.

Topics in this course include linear programming and model building, network problems, model applications, decision analysis applied to tactical and strategic business decisions in functional areas and interfaces among these areas will be covered. Major emphasis will be placed on the conceptual understanding rather than memorization.

This course focuses on interactive oral and interpersonal communication skills critical to leaders, including strategies for presenting to a hostile audience, running effective and productive meetings, active listening, and contributing to group decision-making. There are team-run classes on chosen communication topics, and an individual analysis of leadership qualities and characteristics.

At the end of the semester, students deliver an oral presentation and an executive summary both aimed at a comprehensive business audience.

In particular, we will address a few broad questions including: What are the realities of managing the responsibilities of work and family among workers in modern society? How do people cope with conflicting demands, and what are the implications of conflicting demands for family life, employers, and society? How does involvement in employment and family life enhance outcomes for individuals, families, employers, and society? What policies have organizations and governments instituted to help employees manage both work and family responsibilities? Are these policies effective? What are some of the noticeable value shifts in Korean, Russian, and ultimately global context?

Despite numerous challenges, the primary architecture of global economy remains mainly unaltered with a number of issues. First, the US superpower status is challenged by its comparative decline in strength. Irresponsible behavior by the United States in the areas of security and diplomacy and some of its unsuccessful economic and diplomatic policies have caused damage to the global order and the nation’s leadership. Second, the rise of emerging powers, especially China, is expected to reorder the global economy’s architecture. As the US predominance in the global economy is expected to decline further now that China will be becoming the world’s biggest economy by 2024, developing countries expand, and the new problems are enflamed, the global economic order enters a seemingly fragmented stage. All changes in the global order entails the redistribution of international responsibility as well as international power.

In the midst of this rapid global changes, this course investigates the challenges of global governance and the role played by China in the new global order. We will analyze the key drivers to the emergence of China, its major foreign policy priorities, and the ways it tries to change the balance in the global system. This course will present and examine the key concepts that will continuously shape its content and review a variety of strategies that global powers can use to emerge. We will pay close attention to the power structures of China and its external strategies by conducting case studies. We will also look at the ways China engage in the global governance structures and the tools it uses to influence and redesign current structures. Ultimately, this course will consider a few possible scenarios for global structures in the future.

In case of the US, family-owned businesses comprise the backbone of the national economy; however, many of these businesses represent for the families that own them despite the job security and family legacy potential. The problem is that the importance of careful succession planning is often ignored. Transitioning ownership and control can be difficult indeed for any business owner, and the leaders of family businesses are typically faced with the added challenge of managing family relationships, while preserving the culture and standards they have worked hard to establish. Then again, many family businesses in Japan not only last a long time, but keep growing and evolving. What is their secret?

In this course, we take a close look at the concepts of ‘craftsmanship’ and ‘monozukuri’ of Japan in order to find the answers to the question above. Many people are aware of Japanese business practices, including Toyota's famous just-in-time (JIT) technique, total quality management (TQM), or kaizen (continuous improvement), emphasizing on the right way of doing things.

Japanese craftsmanship is a way of life for artisans who continue faithfully making their traditional crafts while devoting themselves to enhancing their skills. On the other hand, monozukuri in Japanese language literally means 'production' or 'making of things'; however, it embodies a synthesis of technological prowess, knowhow and spirit of Japan's manufacturing practices in a broader sense. Whereas craftsmanship emphasizes on the craftsman, monozukuri puts its focus on the 'thing' that is manufactured while deemphasizing the person making a thing. This reflects the Japanese sense of responsibility and their deep respect for the world around them.

This course will begin with the question of what is East Asia, particularly from the eyes of South Korea. Then, we will examine the sources of conflict and cooperation in terms of security, politics, and economy through historical evolution. Course will conclude with intensive reading on the US-China competition and its implications for East Asia.

Much emphasis will be placed on understanding the various aspects of alliance and rivalry dynamics. Finally, our reading list incorporates articles applying international relations theories to the politics of the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia. Weekly readings will help students understand and explain current and past affairs of international politics in systematic and analytic ways. As a seminar course, students are encouraged to take part in class discussion proactively. They should master the assigned readings before class and be fully prepared to discuss it intelligently in class.

Course Objective

• Understand the key topics, concepts, and issues of IPE
• Differentiate various theoretical perspectives of IPE
• Understand global/regional trade regimes and related IPE issues
• Examine the international monetary and financial relations and the mechanism of global financial crisis
• Explore the debates over globalization and its impacts

A variety of agenda drawn from the disciplines of political science, economics, sociology and cultural studies, to international relations will be covered and discussed. The class meets once every week to have group seminar with the instructor. Two presentation and feedback sessions are scheduled to guide the research projects of the students. 

The main reason the discipline of international relations was created in the first place was to create world peace. However, with the advent of realism as the most dominant paradigm in international relations, the discipline seemed to have contributed more to creating world conflicts and war than peace and cooperation among nations. During the second half of the semester, this course will cover specific ways to change our consciousness and create world peace.

This course provides you with top management perspective and a framework for managing in severe adversity. It assumes that you are the CEO of a growing company which is facing an abrupt and severe adversity, a problem way out of the ordinary. You are expected to make a decision with a timely determination of the issues and the available options. In turn, this decision may as well determine the fate of the company and your career as the CEO.

Because the circumstances the CEO will face are often times threatening to both the company’s success and to own career ambitions, the issues investigated will put you into the crucible of management under fire. Therefore, you must learn to correctly identify problems and come up with effective solutions.

With regard to adversity, conflicts occur at different levels within organizations, and their management and resolution are one of the important issues that need a lot of time and energy on the part of managers and CEO. Therefore, organizational leaders must have sufficient information and knowledge about how to cope with conflicts. According to new approaches to organization and management, conflict is inevitable and a certain level of conflict is inexorable for organizational effectiveness. Due to its nature, an organization is fertile ground for the growth and development of conflicts and disagreements, and negotiation is one of the techniques that a manager can use. The basis for dealing with conflicts is to remember that not all conflicts are destructive. Surprisingly, conflicts sometimes turn out to be useful and constructive.

In the early stage of the course, students will be introduced to the idea of entrepreneurship in a global context. Subsequently, they will learn to apply the concepts of design thinking, systems thinking, engineering, finance, and business organization. Students will have an opportunity to identify not-yet-satisfied customer needs, design new products or services that meet those needs, and develop business models to support the creation and launch of those products or services beyond classroom.

In this course, we will observe a variety of cases and focus on the emerging business models in the Age of Industry 4.0 where new supplier ecosystems will involve the creation of high value networks comprising core industrial automation, measurement, instrumentation, and commercial information and communication technology (ICT).

Subsequently, we examine the relationship between Industry 4.0 and global trade. According to research, digitalization makes global trade flexible; however, this paperless global trade imposes a number of challenges on us. After reviewing the issues in global trade, data requirements for global trade, and Industry 4.0 technologies for global trade, we discuss the policy priorities for governments.

The development of the Hallyu phenomenon has been closely related to the cultural policies in the realm of cultural and creative industries, because the major characteristics and genres have changed based on different cultural policies. The cultural industries have moved closer to the center of the economic action in many countries. As the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) defined, a cultural industry is held to exist when cultural goods and services are produced, reproduced, stored or distributed on industrial and commercial lines, that is to say on a large scale and in accordance with a strategy based on economic considerations rather than any concerns for cultural development.

In this course, we first examine the transition from Hallyu 1.0 to Hallyu 2.0. We review the transition from cultural industries to creative industries, and take a close look at the role of social media in the creative industries.

Over the last couple of years, revitalization of arts and culture in Korean cities has given new life to small commercial districts that used to lag behind. These revitalized cities are now seen as brand new attractive hotspots for sightseeing and entertainment; however, gentrification caused by this process is becoming a serious social issue. Gentrification in Korea is unique in that its effects reach not only the regional economy and its small businesses but also the area’s culture and history. This interdisciplinary seminar course, through an exploration of the process of gentrification in select Korean cities, investigates the ways that we, as urban citizens, can contribute to the creation of more just cities from management perspectives.

In this course, we will first examine the case of China’s future leadership in the sector by examining domestic incentives for the Chinese government to reduce carbon emissions and pollution, China’s ambitious targets in renewable energy investment, the international community’s consensus on climate change, geopolitical implications of transitioning to renewable energy, and current government policy towards inbound investment in the sector.

In contrast to the United States case, China has the political incentive, economic capability, and moral consensus needed to lead the global renewable energy sector. The Chinese government places a priority on investing in renewable energy primarily because it enables the country to tackle problems of air and water pollution, and mitigate risks of socio-economic instability.

After reviewing the Chinese case, this course will center on a set of critical questions including: What would a 21^st century policy framework designed to deliver a sustainable energy future and a successful response to climate change look like? Does the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement provide the right foundation for action? How should issues of equity – within countries and across nations – be addressed? How might incentives be structured to engage the business community in climate change problem solving and clean energy innovation?

Student evaluation will be based on three factors: class participation, short written analysis assignments, and final projects.

The almost agreed refrain in recent years in countries all over the world is that healthcare is ‘in crisis’. Caused significantly by ageing and chronic illness in developed economies and the skyrocketing demand for more services in rising middle classes accompanied by ‘diseases of prosperity’ - such as obesity and diabetes - in developing economies, almost no one feels that this industry is under control. Many exciting and innovative practices are evolving to address these common challenges.

This course is devoted to distilling the lessons learned from many fresh ideas that emerged from global leaders, and it previews the trends that are shaping healthcare systems of tomorrow to make future sustainable while paying a closer look at the Chinese cases.

The idea of quality did not stop at the management level. Quality circles started in the early 60s, and one of the by-products of quality circles was the idea of improving not only quality of the products, but also every aspect of organizational issues. This was the start of the idea, total quality.

In the 1980s to the 1990s, a new phase of quality control and management began, and this became what is known as Total Quality Management (TQM). Having observed Japan’s success of employing quality issues, western companies started to introduce their own quality initiatives. TQM, developed as a universal phrase for the broad spectrum of quality-focused strategies, programs and techniques during this period, became the center of focus for the western quality movement.

In this course, we learn the quality philosophies and tools from managerial perspectives. We pay our close attention to customer focus, involvement of all employees, continuous improvement, integration of quality management into the total organization, among others. Some of the main topics include inspection, quality control and statistical theory, quality in Japan, total quality, total quality management, quality awards and excellence models, business excellence, and how the BPIR can help quality practitioners and managers.

Rapid population ageing affects local and national economies as well as pension, health, and long-term care systems. The declines in the working population shrinks national revenue, puts a strain on the social security system, and weakens the production capability.

The Japanese government has responded to concerns about the stress caused by the demographic changes place on the economy and social services with policies intended to restore the fertility rate and make the elderly more active within the Japanese society.

With this in mind, this course first explores the sociological aspects of ageing society – how do the elderly affect society and how does society affect the elderly. We examine the interaction of the elderly with society and with many of our social institutions including healthcare, government, and the economy. We then take a look at the issues associated with ageing population in Japan and how those issues affect people of all ages in the nation. While examining the challenges that ageing society impose on us, we also search for possible opportunities it might bring us from a management perspective. We might not reach a consensus on how to solve the problems but we should all leave the course with a better understanding of our society and hopefully ways in which we can improve it.

This course tries to answer these and other broad questions through a comparative analysis of political and economic development experiences of five East Asian countries (Japan, China, Taiwan, South and North Koreas).  Comparisons will be attempted at three different levels: among the individual countries, between the 'capitalist' and 'socialist' political economies, and with other developing countries.

As a course in comparative political economy, this seminar seeks to make up two typical deficiencies discernible in the rapidly growing literature on the region.  Firstly, though much has been written on these countries and relatively detailed political and economic analyses of individual countries are now available, scanty attention has been paid to the interaction between polity and economy of these countries in a striking contrast to development studies of other regions, especially Latin America.

Secondly, paying little attention to the gradations of generalities (thus, specificities as well) involved, studies of truly comparative nature have been rare.  More often than not, rapidity of growth, growth with equity, paradoxical obstinacy of nondemocratic political systems and the like are either explained away by imposing upon the East Asian cases those theories and models grown out of an almost completely different context but abstracted enough to appropriate seeming universal applicability.  Or they are simplistically ascribed to the nationally or regionally peculiar attributes.  To overcome these fallacies of "misplaced concreteness" and "exceptionalism," efforts were made to balance the readings between the current state and the historical evolution of these political economies.

Specific issues include: economic heritages, socio-political legacies, cultural backgrounds, sources of economic growth, development strategies, institutional arrangements for capital accumulation and resource allocation, socio-political costs of rapid economic growth, performance of two types of economies, and legitimation vs. accumulation, effciency vs. equity dilemmas.

Exploring these questions through the course, we will look into how the basic patterns of the state-society relations in the modern world have been transformed, and how they have been played out in East Asian countries, China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan in particular, over the past decades of political and economic development. In doing so, students are expected to acknowledge the importance of the historical origins and the developmental paths of state-society relationship in understanding the unique aspects of each government’s policies as well as of people’s political behaviors.

The purpose of this course is to understand the current situation concerning human rights in Asia, and to facilitate a chance to think about what the future may bring. In addition, continuous efforts will be made to help students to consider human rights as a concrete real-time problem in particular societies. Students' country-specific interests in the region will be encouraged.

It is hoped that, after the course, students are able to create their own views on economic and political aspects of the current global trade governance as well as interactions of multilateralism and regionalism.

The course will also deal   with the issues of economic development in relation to trade which may be crucial to the economic growth of  many  developing  countries.  It  is  hoped that, after the course, the students can better understand  the  current  status  and progress of globalization and international economic cooperation through various trade and aid initiatives. More importantly, the students are expected to be able to create their own views on the economic issues  regarding  globalization, trade and development.

Then, we turn to basic economic growth models and poverty related issues such as inequality and population. Half of this course covers macroeconomic issues on development such as investment and savings, financial development, foreign debt and aid, trade policy.

After the end of World War II and during most time of the Cold War period, South Korea, as a newly independent state, had been heavily dependent on its alliance with the United States to achieve its national objectives of security and prosperity. However, with the end of the Cold War and its successes in economic development and democratization, Seoul has attempted to expand the horizon of foreign policy through multilateralism and an active pursuit of peaceful unification of the Korean Peninsula