CAS Business Intelligence & Supply Chain

Operations & Supply Chain Management is at the core of any organization when it comes to designing, producing and delivering products and services that satisfy external and internal customer needs. Throughout the Master Class, you will develop an understanding of the complex and crucial interactions between operations and other functions, particularly marketing and finance. You will identify effective measures to improve operational performance and show how this in turn improves the organization’s financial results.

In the era of data science and artificial intelligence, managers need a solid grasp of the foundations of uncertainty modeling, business analytics, and AI tools. This course begins with fundamental concepts of uncertainty management and decision-making under risk. You will explore both the power and limitations of data analysis in business contexts. Special emphasis is placed on regression analysis, which continues to be one of the most important and interpretable tools in management analytics. The course will also include forward-looking discussion of modern AI, including an accessible introduction to large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT, and their potential role in enhancing managerial insight, productivity, and decision-making.

Information technology is transforming firms, markets, products, and processes with remarkable speed. Recent developments in AI have the potential to further accelerate the transformation. This presents managers with new challenges and valuable opportunities. This course dives into the strategic use of IT within a business context, focusing on how IT can enable competitive advantage, enhance business processes, and drive innovation. The course interweaves theory and practice, with students acquiring useful frameworks for analyzing the use of IT in organizations.

Data has become an essential asset for companies to be able to operate and compete effectively. In fact, four of the six top companies in market valuation – Amazon, Alphabet, Facebook, and Alibaba – base their business models exclusively on the use of data to optimize advertising. Moreover, SMEs are starting to benefit substantially from analyzing data about their operations, finances, clients, and employees. It is therefore essential that business managers understand data as a production factor and know how to extract the value it contains. This Master Class introduces data as a production factor, explaining its unique attributes, and examines how data can transform existing organizations and give rise to new business models. Once you understand data as a production factor, this course shows you how to generate insights and gain value from it by means of various analytical and graphic tools.

The Project Valuation Master Class provides the conceptual framework necessary to help managers decide what investment decisions make best sense. We take a look at investment projects, such as replacing machines, launching new products, or building new factories. The perspectives presented in the course cover both theoretical and practical issues. While the course’s focus is on investments, the principles we develop apply to management decisions in general with a view to helping you make better choices.

The Leadership & Empowerment Master Class takes you on a transformative journey from Leading yourself to Leading Teams and Leading Change in organizations. You will learn how to lead with greater impact, authenticity, and effectiveness. Starting with self-discovery, you’ll use a personality assessment to enhance self-awareness and understand your strengths, gaps, and motivational drivers, setting the stage for more authentic leadership. Experiential learning will deepen your understanding of team dynamics and organizational culture, while the course concludes with ambidextrous leadership, a proven strategy for leading dual transformations and driving enterprise-level success.

More than ever before, technological innovation and disruption affect the way business is conducted and new wealth is created. How to master technological change and profit from innovation are therefore key questions for business leaders. They are essential for developing a competitive advantage and boosting performance in all company types – new and old, large and small – across all industries. In this course, you will not only be exposed to the latest thinking about entrepreneurship, technological change and innovation but also apply new business tools that allow you to master technological disruption. Furthermore, you will develop an individual strategic innovation project for your company.