Overview

Get a comprehensive guide to the five disciplines—strategy, operations, finance and accounting, organizational behavior, and marketing—taught in every MBA.

Course Description

What does it take to reach success in business—the kind of success that lasts? How do you set yourself apart from competitors or venture into different markets? What does it take to develop streamlined processes, become a stronger team leader, and work your way up the corporate ladder? It all comes down to a solid grasp of the fundamentals of business taught to MBA students in many of the world’s most prestigious business schools.

This fascinating 60-lecture course is designed to give you a comprehensive, accessible introduction. Here in one place is an authoritative guide to the five key disciplines that everyone, from entry-level employees to CEOs, needs to master in order to reap rewards in today’s complex 21st-century marketplace.

Bringing together five prestigious and renowned business professors, each 12-lecture part provides a detailed look at a particular skill: strategy, operations, finance and accounting, organizational behavior, and marketing. In exploring each skill, you’ll learn about everything from key terms and methodologies to research-backed strategies and case studies involving some of the world’s most influential companies. You’ll come away with a well-rounded education you can use to establish your own successful path in the business world.

Bringing the MBA experience to you, Critical Business Skills for Success demystifies the secrets of business and provides illuminating, empowering insights that will help you achieve your goals.

Course Lectures

Strategy

1. Strategy: Strategy Is Making Choices

What do we mean when we talk about business strategy? Start thinking more smartly about strategy with this introductory lecture that covers four key facts about competition and the two drivers of profitability: industry structure and competitive advantage.

Duration: 32 min

• Strategy: How Apple Raises Competitive Barriers

Five essential forces shape any business strategy, creating a framework to help you make key strategic choices. Central to this discussion is Apple’s meteoric rise to the top of the market.

Duration: 30 min

• Strategy: The Danger of Straddling

Professor Roberto introduces the three paths that lead to competitive advantage and four basic competitive strategies, explaining the dangers of straddling between competitive positions using case studies.

Duration: 33 min

• Strategy: What Trader Joe’s Doesn’t Do

Discover how Trader Joe’s uses trade-offs to create passionate customers and mitigate negative industry effects, making it a powerful business success story.

Duration: 31 min

• Strategy: First Movers versus Fast Followers

Explore the strengths and drawbacks of being a first mover versus a fast follower, with examples from industries like video games and social media networks.

Duration: 31 min

6. Strategy: When Netflix Met Blockbuster

Netflix’s domination of the video rental market is a classic example of disruptive innovation, presenting a serious threat to traditional businesses.

Duration: 30 min

• Strategy: Anticipating Your Rival’s Response

Understand competitive dynamics and the importance of knowing your competitor through powerful lessons from various business battles.

Duration: 32 min

• Strategy: Why Did Disney Buy Pixar?

Explore corporate strategy, focusing on horizontal and vertical integration in the context of Disney’s acquisition of Pixar animation studios.

Duration: 31 min

9. Strategy: The Diversification Discount

Learn about the diversification discount and why it leads to corporate breakups, emphasizing the importance of smart diversification.

Duration: 30 min

10. Strategy: Forward and Backward Integration

Understand vertical integration's rationales and risks through stories involving Disney's retail stores and Zara's fast fashion strategy.  

**Duration:** 31 min

• Strategy: Mergers and Acquisitions-The Winner’s Curse

Explore why some bad deals occur in mergers and acquisitions and when a hostile takeover might be the right strategy.  

**Duration:** 32 min

• Strategy: Launching a Lean Start-Up

Conclude the strategy section with insights on the challenges of launching a business and key questions any entrepreneur must answer.  

**Duration:** 33 min

Operations

• Operations: The Power of Superior Operations

Discover operations management and how to leverage operational capabilities to execute your strategy effectively.  

**Duration:** 35 min

14. Operations: Leaner, Meaner Production

Explore the decisions involved in successful production operations and future developments like 3-D printing and reshoring.  

**Duration:** 32 min

• Operations: Refining Service Operations

Learn how to manage service operations to win customers through great experiences and process improvement.  

**Duration:** 30 min

• Operations: Matching Supply and Demand

Understand how sales and operations planning integrates sales forecasts with operations plans to better match supply and demand.  

**Duration:** 32 min

• Operations: Rightsizing Inventory

Master inventory management fundamentals and strategies for maintaining the right amount of inventory.  

**Duration:** 32 min

18. Operations: Managing Supply and Suppliers

Leverage effective supply management practices that can set you apart from the competition.  

**Duration:** 34 min

19. Operations: The Long Reach of Logistics

Learn about logistics and its role in ensuring product availability to meet customer expectations.  

**Duration:** 33 min

• Operations: Rethinking Your Business Processes

Gain tools and methods for improving business processes and learn how to create process maps.  

**Duration:** 30 min

• Operations: Measuring Operational Performance

Explore the importance of performance measurement and the Balanced Scorecard framework.  

**Duration:** 34 min

• Operations: Keeping an Eye on Your Margins

Understand the contribution margin and how different customers affect your business.  

**Duration:** 33 min

• Operations: Leveraging Your Supply Chain

Discover how supply chain management can maximize effectiveness and leverage your company's network.  

**Duration:** 33 min

• Operations: Reducing Risk, Building Resilience

Learn about risk management and how to identify and prioritize risks within your organization.  

**Duration:** 35 min

Finance and Accounting

25. Finance and Accounting: Accounting and Finance-Decision-Making Tools

Unpack key concepts in accounting and finance, and learn about essential financial statements.  

**Duration:** 31 min

• Finance and Accounting: How to Interpret a Balance Sheet

Survey the significance of balance sheet items and learn how to read them for financial stability clues.  

**Duration:** 31 min

• Finance and Accounting: Why the Income Statement Matters

Explore how income statements are organized and the key questions to ask when reviewing them.  

**Duration:** 32 min

• Finance and Accounting: How to Analyze a Cash Flow Statement

Understand the importance of cash flow statements and how to analyze them effectively.  

**Duration:** 31 min

• Finance and Accounting: Common Size, Trend, and Ratio Analysis

Learn about common size analysis, trend analysis, and ratio analysis as essential financial tools.  

**Duration:** 32 min

• Finance and Accounting: Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis

Discover how breakeven analysis works and its applications in various business scenarios.  

**Duration:** 31 min

• Finance and Accounting: Understanding the Time Value of Money

Gain insights into the time value of money and the types of cash flows important for business students.  

**Duration:** 31 min

• Finance and Accounting: The Trade-Off between Risk and Return

Learn about financial models that unify an asset's expected return and risk.  

**Duration:** 30 min

• Finance and Accounting: How Investors Use Net Present Value

Investigate different approaches for evaluating investment opportunities, including Net Present Value.  

**Duration:** 30 min

• Finance and Accounting: Alternatives to Net Present Value

Explore alternatives to Net Present Value for evaluating investment opportunities.  

**Duration:** 30 min

• Finance and Accounting: Weighing the Costs of Debt and Equity

Understand the trade-offs of issuing debt versus equity and the implications for firm value.  

**Duration:** 32 min

• Finance and Accounting: How to Value a Company’s Stock

Learn how to make value-creating decisions by applying fundamental tools to real-world examples.  

**Duration:** 34 min

Organizational Behavior

• Organizational Behavior: Achieving Results in Your Organization

Explore how to achieve lasting results using the S.T.O.P. method to improve job satisfaction and performance.  

**Duration:** 32 min

• Organizational Behavior: The Value of Great Leadership

Discover the definition of effective leadership and the critical role of competency and character.  

**Duration:** 31 min

• Organizational Behavior: Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace

Learn how developing emotional intelligence can enhance your ability to work well with others.  

**Duration:** 31 min

• Organizational Behavior: The Art of Effective Communications

Cultivate stronger communication skills by understanding the critical lessons every effective communicator should follow.  

**Duration:** 32 min

• Organizational Behavior: The Motivation-Performance Connection

Discover what goes into a highly motivated organization and how to improve workplace performance.  

**Duration:** 31 min

• Organizational Behavior: Winning with Teamwork

Learn how to foster teamwork in an organizational setting and what happens when organizations don't cooperate.  

**Duration:** 30 min

• Organizational Behavior: Coaching-From Gridiron to Boardroom

Understand the importance of tailor-made coaching and how it can keep employees focused and productive.  

**Duration:** 30 min

• Organizational Behavior: Understanding Power Relationships

Explore the concept of power in organizations and strategies for cultivating personal power.  

**Duration:** 32 min

• Organizational Behavior: Handling Workplace Conflict

Learn how to manage conflict effectively using a powerful management model involving cooperation and assertiveness.  

**Duration:** 33 min

• Organizational Behavior: Ethics and the Bathsheba Syndrome

Understand the importance of ethical standards and the specific steps involved in ethical decision making.  

**Duration:** 32 min

47. Organizational Behavior: Leading Real Organizational Change

Investigate the essential ingredients of organizational change and practical steps to achieve it.  

**Duration:** 32 min

• Organizational Behavior: Lifelong Learning for Career Success

Finish the course with a discussion on the barriers to lifelong learning and how to overcome them.  

**Duration:** 33 min

Marketing

• Marketing: What Is Marketing?

Understand the core tenets of successful marketing and the four types of value consumers seek.  

**Duration:** 32 min

• Marketing: How to Segment a Market

Learn the principles of market segmentation and how to identify your customer base.  

**Duration:** 30 min

• Marketing: Targeting a Market Segment

Discover the rules of targeting and how to select the segment your product will best serve.  

**Duration:** 28 min

• Marketing: Positioning Your Offering

Understand the positioning process and how to communicate value effectively.  

**Duration:** 30 min

53. Marketing: Identifying Sources of Sales Growth

Learn how to grow sales using the 2x2 Ansoff matrix and understand customer interactions.  

**Duration:** 28 min

• Marketing: Deriving Value from Your Customers

Explore additional sources of value from customer transactions, including loyalty and information value.  

**Duration:** 30 min

• Marketing: Creating Great Customer Experiences

Learn how to design products and services for the best customer experience and manage customer interactions.  

**Duration:** 31 min

56. Marketing: The Tactics of Successful Branding

Discover what defines a brand and the rules for building a brand that connects with consumers.  

**Duration:** 30 min

• Marketing: Customer-Focused Pricing

Understand how to price your product effectively and the strategies involved in pricing decisions.  

**Duration:** 29 min

58. Marketing: Marketing Communications That Work

Learn principles and strategies for effective marketing communications, including successful ad campaigns.  

**Duration:** 29 min

59. Marketing: The Promise and Perils of Social Media

Explore the opportunities and challenges of social media in marketing and how to navigate them.  

**Duration:** 30 min

• Marketing: Innovative Marketing Research Techniques

Understand the importance of marketing research methods and their role in effective decision making.  

**Duration:** 32 min