This course is based largely on the following pieces of statute: Companies Act, Ch. 81:01 (Trinidad and Tobago); Partnership Act, Ch. 81:02 (Trinidad and Tobago); and Securities Industry Act, Ch. 83:02 (Trinidad and Tobago). It is also based on the judicial principles concerning the same areas of law. As a lecture-based course, there will be ten lectures spread out over the 12-week period. These lectures are aimed at familiarising the student with various business mechanisms to pursue commercial objectives. The entrepreneurial student will even be able to use the information learned in this course to seek financial assistance from companies like the Business Development Company and the National Entrepreneurship Development Company Limited, all the while fully understanding their duties and liabilities. Such interaction will allow for the practical application by the student of knowledge gained during the semester.

Project work is the backbone of MSc in IMME and students will have the opportunity to practise the skills that have been developed in formal lectures during the year. Each project is based on a live company problem and students will work in the company with the company staff to develop solutions to the problem. On occasion, the opportunity to try out some of those solutions would be afforded to the students. Each project ends with the task of selling the ideas to senior people within the company. This takes the forms of a presentation, a poster and a formal report.

Innovation is a fundamental driver of competitiveness and, as such, its management is a critical element in all organisations. Similarly, technology plays an essential role in not only the creation and production of a company's goods and services but, oftentimes, technology itself represents the product or service offering. Accordingly, technology must also be managed effectively.

The Innovation and Technology Management course has two major elements:

• Innovation Management
  The purpose of this element of the course is to equip students with the understanding of the fundamentals of innovation. Additionally, this part of the course aims to ensure that the students have an appreciation of the tools and frameworks for innovation management, so that they can manage innovation at the operational and strategic levels. Students are, therefore, introduced to a number of definitions of innovation; typologies of innovation types; and frameworks that consider patterns of product and market evolution, new product development and diffusion of innovation. The course also treats with the issue of organising for innovation within a company, including the concept of open innovation; and within a country through an overview of national innovation systems.
• Technology Management
  This element focuses on technology strategy and its link to value, from the viewpoint of utilising technology that is embedded in a company's products and services; or technology utilised in the creation and delivery of a company's products or services. The students are exposed to issues relating to the identification, selection, acquisition, exploitation and protection of technologies that are created in-house or bought-in. The course overviews the different types of technology-based companies, and the related implications for the management of technology. Furthermore, the course covers issues such as road-mapping; and business models; and introduces audit tools that can be used in the evaluation of technology and innovation projects.

It is virtually impossible for any organisation to successfully accomplish its mission without the effective management of operations. Operations management is concerned with the design and deployment of activities leading to the production of goods and services to satisfy the needs of customers. Customers typically require goods and services to be delivered inexpensively, speedily, when and where needed, and of the highest quality. Such requirements have major implications for operations management. As such, the effective management of operations is critical to the success of for-profit as well as not-for-profit organisations.

In many organisations, strategic decisions are often made without explicit analysis of their impact on operations. Similarly, many operational decisions in manufacturing and services have been made on narrow tactical grounds and consideration is rarely given to strategic implications. The role of operations is often reactive and passive, with a primary focus on cost reduction and labor utilisation. Issues, such as choice between large and small plants, the degree of vertical integration, the selection of process technology, and the proper approach to quality and productivity are operational decisions that have important strategic implications. Increased global competition has led to the emergence of a new perspective which emphasises operational excellence as a key to competitiveness. It is therefore felt that an understanding of the strategic role of operations must be part of the competency portfolio of any modern manager. This course is designed with this principal objective in mind, i.e., to provide students with a depth of understanding of the strategic role of operations.

The course centres on the role and process of entrepreneurship, issues involved in the creation of new business ventures and includes a number of business components such as conceptualising, creating and managing a business as well as the process of development of new products. The module is geared towards the graduates initiating the process of developing a new venture proposal starting with an Elevator pitch for presenting a business idea. The course incorporates creativity exercises to discern the balance of idea and opportunity generation. The elements of entrepreneurship are discussed and the students are taken through the process from simple finance to the steps involved in developing a full business plan.

Strategy formulation, implementation and evaluation are key elements determining the competitive success of companies. In this course, graduates are exposed to general strategic management frameworks which focuses specifically on two functional-level strategy types: Manufacturing Strategy and Marketing Strategy.

The Business Strategy and Marketing course has three major elements:

• Strategy and Strategic Management
• Manufacturing Strategy
• Marketing Strategy

Organisations rely on leaders to set direction, envision the future and accomplish goals. The underlying premise of this course is that the exercise of values-driven, principled leadership enables organisations and their members to be effective and adaptive in order to achieve their desired results. More than ever before, and in this period of global turbulence, organisations and their leadership are required to revitalise and transform themselves in the face of continual change. The purpose of this course is to help develop an understanding of the role of the organisational leader, while focusing on the essential knowledge and skills required. The course is designed to provide a framework for understanding the process of working effectively with and leading others. Much, emphasis will be placed on the development of a personal leadership philosophy and approach to the practice of Leadership and Strategic Human Resource Management in organisations.

Project work is the backbone of MSc in IMME and students will have the opportunity to practise the skills that have been developed in formal lectures during the year. Each project is based on a live company problem and students will work in the company with the company staff to develop solutions to the problem. On occasion, the opportunity to try out some of those solutions would be afforded to the students. Each project ends with the task of selling the ideas to senior people within the company. This takes the forms of a presentation, a poster and a formal report.

While this course focuses on the development of a new venture for presentation to an investor group, students will be exposed to the techniques of planning and tracking performance and making the business case for resources within an organisation. There are two distinct elements:

• Preparing a written proposal to be marked by a first and second examiner.
• Preparing a presentation for an investor group represented by a panel with a background in venture capital, investment banking, finance, marketing and business consulting. The style, format and content of the presentation are intended to showcase the team's product or service in the best possible light and "sell" the investor - not just inform.

The development and delivery of the New Venture Proposition is positioned as a mainstream activity commencing from the end of the Entrepreneurship Module in the first semester and ending in the third semester. Students will be expected to apply learnings from each module. Group advisors will be identified and there should be regular meetings with student groups - recommended every three to four weeks.

The course comprises some in-class lectures which will cover aspects of the literature review process and research methodology. The lectures are aimed at introducing the students to the concept of doing a research project, and equipping them with some of the essential skills needed. The research project has a thesis as the output. The student is expected to conduct research on a topic using a structured research process. This process should include the formation of a research question and a defined methodology, the collection and analysis of relevant data and, at the end, reasonable conclusions and recommendations. The students will be given a thesis guide as an aid during this process.

The course is intended to expose students to international best practices in the manufacturing design areas. Each year, the students will focus on a specific area, e.g., logistics and supply chain management, design and manufacturing processes and technology or any other subject area studied over the duration of the programme. During the study, four selected companies will be visited and the operation examined with a view to compare what exists in Trinidad and Tobago to enable the introduction of best practices locally. A formal group report and presentation will be made to an invited group of academics and industry persons.