Strategic management focuses on creating and implementing strategies that generate a sustainable competitive advantage in an evolving market. Because the technology field changes rapidly due to constant innovation, this course examines strategy-making as an ongoing process, considering external pressures and internal resources to determine how to win in highly competitive industries.

Technology is having profound and pervasive effects on society, industry structure, competitive dynamics, customer behaviour, and organizational strategy and processes. This course examines the unique challenges and issues associated with commercializing and marketing technological innovations. Specifically, the course:

• Identifies and assesses the macro-environmental forces that affect the development and commercialization of technology.
• Examines the adoption and utilization of technological innovations from the customer’s perspective as well as his or her role as a co-developer of technological innovations.
• Outlines the unique characteristics of technological innovations and the implications for marketing strategy.
• Addresses the factors that contribute to successful commercialization of technological innovations in both domestic and international markets.

The course examines topics in corporate finance of interest to senior managers in a technology company, including:

• How debt holders and shareholders in private and public technology corporations affect corporate decision-making.
• How technology companies raise debt and equity capital, and how this capital is valued.
• The risk-return trade-off that technology investors face.
• How to analyze projects from a financial perspective, including the application of real options.
• How to evaluate mergers and acquisitions of technology companies from a financial perspective.

This course aims to increase understanding of how the successes of fast-moving organizations are influenced by the groups, individuals and leaders within them. The course is designed around the following five distinctive themes:

• Strategy and alignment from a human capital perspective;
• Negotiation and integration;
• Developing and managing high-performance teams;
• Leading organizational change; and
• Leadership skill development.

This course aims to provide an understanding of both design and innovation and how managers will need to build and harness these capabilities to be competitive in an increasingly demanding marketplace. More specifically, the course examines:

• The range, scope and complexity of the issues and problems related to the strategic management of technology and innovation.
• Frameworks for assessing and auditing the innovative capabilities of a business organization.
• Intellectual capital creation and the link between design and innovation.
• The design process, its key principles and some of the associated frameworks.
• How design knowledge and capabilities can be applied to create innovative products, services, communications, customer experiences, business models, operational processes and organizational structures.
• The various types and purposes of knowledge communities.
• The skills necessary to be effective as a general manager in the innovation process, and the challenges of and requirements for successful management of design and innovation in organizations.

The development, protection, utilization and transfer of knowledge assets lie at the core of wealth creation in today’s global economy. This course applies microeconomics and game theory to the economics, business strategies and policy issues related to intellectual capital and technology. Topics covered include:

• The law and economics of intellectual property.
• Networks, lock-in and switching costs.
• Product differentiation and pricing.
• Technology governance, regulation and policy.

Students develop an understanding of the economic issues relating to intellectual capital, technology and innovation, from the perspective of consumers, firms and policy makers.

This course has three components: financial accounting, managerial accounting and taxation.

Financial accounting provides an introduction to financial statements, the preparation of basic financial statements and the examination of the different items recognized in the financial statements. Students will be exposed to the conceptual framework and to financial statement analysis. Managerial accounting focuses on the generation, use and interpretation of cost information and related data by managers in high-tech firms. This internally generated information is used for planning and control, decision-making, performance evaluation and reporting purposes. Finally, a basic understanding of taxation and an introduction to the Canadian tax system with an emphasis on issues related to corporate taxation – especially related to Canadian international taxation rules – is considered.

Students gain familiarity with the basic ideas and tools of technology assessment and roadmapping. A broad cross-section of the germane "classical" and contemporary literature are covered. The tools used generally fall under the rubrics of “technology forecasting,” “inventory technological capabilities,” “technology fitness,” “cost-effectiveness analysis,” “cost-utility analysis,” and occasionally under the more general terms of "effectiveness" or "outcomes" analysis. Students use their own experience and knowledge gained at work for creative and constructive thinking about this important emerging frontier of management.

Given the speed of change inherent in the management of technology and innovation, advancements and issues of current import are explored and discussed. The primary purpose of this course is to provide a framework for quickly bringing the state-of-the-art from practice, management research and thinking into the classroom as it pertains to the management of technology and innovation. Because of this course's dynamic nature, an exhaustive list of topics to be covered is not feasible, however a tentative list of topics meant to illustrate, but not limit, the course will be provided.

Research that matters

The Major Research Paper (MRP) marks the final requirement of the Lazaridis EMTM program. All learners in the program will complete an original MRP that focuses on a particular area of personal interest.

Examples of Past Topics

• "Should an Organization’s Customer Data Reside on a Blockchain?"
• "Innovation is the New Black: Innovation and the Rhetoric of Corporate Annual Reports"
• "A Study of the CIO: Competency, Accountability and Organizational Fit within the Enterprise"
• "The Building Blocks for Creating Transient Collaborative Networks"
• "How does Virtual Reality Impact Consumer Behaviour"
• "If There's Room: Coexistence of AI and Care Providers to Delivering Better Quality of Life for Seniors"