Concordia University: John Molson School of Business
Spring 2014
Practical Information:
Before leaving Norway:
We got an information package when we got accepted into Concordia University. The package
included a to-do list before going to Montreal, along with information about the school and other
practical information about settling in Montreal. There were information about how to login to the
school portal and registering for our courses online, which we had difficulties with.
Visa:
As a Norwegian student, you are not required to apply for visa or study permit. More detailed
information about the visa procedures are given in the information package. We did however apply
for ESTA because we travelled to Canada through the United States and went to a couple of trips to
the US later.
Travel:
We booked our flight to New York, where we were supposed to get on another plane to Burlington in
Vermont and take the bus from there to Montreal. When we landed in New York, our flight along
with all other flights that day was cancelled due to weather storm that day. So we took a Greyhound
bus from New York to Montreal instead.
Housing:
We shared an apartment among the two of us and another friend from BI who went to McGill. Our
apartment was located 1050 Mackay Street in downtown Montreal, and was a 10 minute walk from
the JMSB campus. It was a three bedroom apartment, and the rent was 2000$ a month. There are
more reasonable priced apartments a bit further away from campus.
Costs:
Living expenses are quite cheap in Montreal compared to the prices in Norway. Montreal has a lot of
restaurants and dining places, and the prices are quite reasonable. Drinks are also very cheap in
Montreal, both in stores and in bars. They have a quite same system for alcohol sale in Montreal as
we have in Norway. They have a liquor store equivalent to Vinmonopolet in Norway called SAQ,
where all hard liquors are sold. The cost of course books is quite the same as in Norway, but some of
the books are available for online rental for almost half the price. Some teachers will give information
about how and where to get the online books.
Culture and language:
Although French is Montreal’s official language, most people in the city are able to speak English. I
had no problem getting by in Montreal by speaking just English. JMSB is an English school, so most
students and teachers speak English. We did not encounter too many people in downtown Montreal
that did not speak English, but many people from outside Montreal in the Quebec area did not speak
English. There is a very diverse culture in Montreal, even though it is mostly influenced by the
French. You find people from all over the world in Montreal.
About the School:
About the school:
John Molson School of Business is the business School of Concordia University. It is ranked among
the top business schools in Canada. The school is very modern and has great facilities; the new
building was completed in 2009. It has all new lecture halls, classrooms, computer labs and its own
Bloomberg lab. The campus is located in Downtown Montreal, and is easy to get to by bus or metro.
Concordia University is also among the fully English universities in Montreal, the teachers and
working staff all speak English fluently.
Course registration:
It was initially required to register for courses online before we arrived in Montreal, but we had some
difficulties to do so. Many courses had prerequisites that prohibited us from taking them. The
registering for courses was however taken care of on the first day of school. The student counselor
was very helpful and registered us for all the classes we wanted without any difficulties. The
add/drop period for course registration ended February 1st.
Academic calendar:
Arrival date:
03.01.14
First day of the semester:
06.01.14
Last day of classes:
Around: 16.04.14
Examination period:
16.04.14 – 06.05.14
Introduction Week:
There was no official introduction week when we arrived, because it was in the second semester. The
exchange administration did however arrange some social events for the exchange students. Some of
the social events involved students from other schools as well.
The International office:
We were introduced to the international office the first day of school. The international office was
very helpful, and always available to help on school related matters and on any other issues relating
to settling in Montreal. As mentioned, the International office did the course registration for us and
all the other exchange students.
Promoting BI and Norway:
There were no international exchange promotions to our knowledge during our semester abroad.
Social Activities:
We had a good relationship with the native and exchange students during our stay in Montreal. The
exchange administration did arrange some social activities and trips during the semester. They also
had a Spring Break trip to Cuba. There were also a lot of social events and trips arranged by
Interstude. Interstude is an organization that arranges social activities targeting the international
students from all the schools in Montreal. They had parties in Montreal and trips to different places
in Canada and the US. We highly recommend taking part in many social activities in Montreal, as we
got to know a lot of people that way.
Academics:
In the classroom
The teaching method is much the same in every class. One of the biggest differences from BI is the
number of students in each lecture. All of the elective courses had about 30-40 students in each
lecture. This opens for more intimate lectures, so you shouldn’t be surprised if you get a question
from the instructor. Some of the grade is based on your participation in class, so they try to include
the students now and then. Quizzes are very common in all of the courses. Some of the lecturers had
them in every class, while others used two-three pop-quizzes spread over the semester.
Course materials
Every classes use course packages or books/literature. Some of the homework was based on reading
certain pages or cases, which were then discussed in class. All information about the syllabus is
mentioned in class. The instructors use PowerPoint in every lecture. The exams are pretty much
based on these, so you should pay attention to what is mentioned in class.
Exams
The teachers tend to stick to their PowerPoints during the lectures, but this varies. Some of the
instructors mentioned that we would not get any topics that wasn’t included in the PowerPoint on
the exam, while others mentioned that every single page in the book were included. You should
check with you instructor to make sure what topics to focus on. A big part of the grade is based on
presentations and quizzes. The weight of the two exam results differs from each class, but it only
counts for about 40%-60% of the total grade. You will get a full overview of the different course
evaluations in class. The mid-term exam was held in in the last week of February, the week after
spring break. About half of the course material was included in the mid-term, while the rest was
given on the final exam. Once you’ve been tested on certain subjects, you will not be tested on it
again.
Library and technology
The library includes several computers and rooms where you can study. Concordia is using over 5
million dollars a year on information in databases. This includes tons of articles and material that is
useful in every course. It can be accessed from home or off-campus with your Concordia net-name.
You can also use your student card to print out any documents. It’s basically much the same as on BI.
You should remember to meet up early during the midterm and final exam period. It could get hard
to find any spot to sit and read if you meet in the middle of the day.
Description of the courses:
IBUS 493 (also listed as MANA 493) International Business Law
This course familiarizes business students with the principles of international private and public law
that they may encounter in today's fast-paced world of multinational corporations and global
business transactions. Topics include international trade organizations and treaties; principles
relating to international sales contract performance and dispute resolution alternatives; international
payment using bills of exchange and letters of credit; labour in a global economy including child
labour and human trafficking issues; international environmental law, waste disposal and pollution
issues; as well as the protection of intellectual property rights.
25 % - Mid-term Exam
15 % - Group Presentation
10 % - Class participation (two pop-quizzes which mean they are given without notice)
50 % - Final Exam
BTM 382 Database Management
This course provides a comprehensive foundation for designing, building, and working with
databases, enabling students to understand and use commercially available database products
effectively. The course examines different models of representing data with emphasis on the
relational model. Topics include data modelling, database design, queries, transaction management,
implementation issues, and an overview of distributed database management systems, data
warehouses, databases in electronic commerce, and database administration. Examples are drawn
from various functional and operational areas including enterprise and supply chain operations,
management, and planning.
5 % - Quizzes in class
15 % - Assignments (three assignments, each worth 5 %)
20 % - Project (one big project in the end of the semester that covers every topic)
25 % - Mid-Term Exam
35 % - Final Exam
COMM 320 Entrepreneurship
This course emphasizes the entrepreneurial aspects of man-agement that are required to create,
develop, and sustain either a new business venture or a major project/initiative within an existing
organization. The integrative nature of the course requires an understanding of each functional area
of business. Students will have the opportunity to demonstrate the teamwork, leadership,
commun-ication, and the other skills stressed throughout the program. A big part of the evaluation is
based on a case.
10 % - first draft of the case project
10 % - class participation
15 % - Case assignment (test given during the mid-term period)
5 % - Class presentation (presentation of you final case project)
25 % - Business Plan (your final case project)
35 % - Final Exam
(We did not have any official mid-term exam, but the case assignment was given during this period. It
was a test based on the topics we had talked about during the lectures)
COMM 225 Production and Operations Management
This course is an introduction to contemporary operational issues and techniques in the
manufacturing and service sectors. Among the topics covered are operations strategy, forecasting,
materials' management, total quality management, time-based competition, and minimal
manufacturing. Mathematical modelling in resource allocation is also introduced. Cases and
computer-aided quantitative tools for decision-making are used throughout the course with an
emphasis on the interactions between production/operations management and other business
disciplines.
15 % - Online Quizzes (only the best 4-out-of-5 will count on your grade)
5 % - Case Analysis (short assignment in one of the topics)
38 % - Mid-term Exam
42 % - Final Exam (you need to get at least 35 % in order to receive the course credit)
COMM 226 Business Technology Management
The objective of this course is to provide students with an understanding of the role of information
technology in business organizations. Students learn how information technologies can be used to
create business value, solve business problems, accomplish corporate goals and achieve and
maintain a competitive advantage. This course is a prerequisite to BTM 382 Database Management
for students at Concordia. They recommended us to take the course.
10 % - Quizzes (2 online quizzes)
10 % - Class activity (different tasks and quizzes in every class)
20 % - Assignments (three assignments)
60 % - Final Exam
(We did not have any mid-term exam in this course)
Final Note
We recommend every student at BI to go on exchange. It was an incredible experience to explore
what Montreal had to offer. The nature and climate of Montreal is pretty close to Norway, but you
will notice that the culture is pretty different. Montreal represents four big universities, so there are
students everywhere from all around the world. Montreal has actually “topped a list of 80 cities
offering the best overall return on investment for foreign undergraduate students”, according to the
Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Montreal edged out cities as London and Hong Kong on a series of
24 criteria’s in the study. You will also live pretty close to the border of the U.S. so you should take
the chance to explore as much of the North America as possible.