McGill Executive Institute
Unleash your potential
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McGill Executive Institute
Unleash your potential
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Executive Development Course (EDC) — Montreal

Mini-MBA — Understanding the full picture of business

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Overview

This flagship program condenses key topics from leading MBA and EMBA programs. It is designed to boost your career success through a comprehensive understanding of the pillars of business: strategy, sales, finance, negotiations, people skills, sustainability, and corporate social responsibility.

As the rules of the game change for almost every functional area of an organization, this learning experience offers timely exposure to new techniques, tools, and trends. Launched in 1949, this is Canada’s top concise management program, from which hundreds graduate each year.

Delivered in Montreal and online, the format fits in well with the workday of busy professionals from both the private and public sectors.

Key Benefits and Takeaways

  • Capture the key lessons of an MBA without the time and cost burden
  • Gain a comprehensive understanding of core management functions
  • Examine best practices in leadership, and in coaching employees to reach their potential
  • Improve your ability to think strategically
  • Sharpen your financial literacy to make quality management decisions
  • Understand the facets of marketing excellence, raising awareness, and creating value
  • Practice negotiation techniques to achieve successful, win-win outcomes

This program is valuable for those in the corporate, government, and non-profit sectors who want to be at their best but haven’t had time for an MBA or EMBA. It is also a perfect opportunity for those considering an MBA before making a commitment. It is beneficial for managers who have had exposure to one functional area and plan to move into a general management position.

The registration fee includes facilitation by our highly rated faculty members, digital course materials, results-oriented exercises, meal service (continental breakfast, lunch, and breaks), and a certificate of completion from the McGill Executive Institute. To successfully complete the course and receive your certificate of completion, you will need to attend all sessions and complete the pre-work for each session.

Ask us how you could qualify for a special Mini-MBA Series Certificate.

Topics covered in this course

  • Strategic Vision & Mission
  • Leveraging Core Competencies
  • Strategic Planning Process
  • Competitive Analysis
  • Understanding the Value Chain
  • Strategic Decision-Making
  • Economic Impact of Business
  • Self-discovery & Personal Strengths
  • Leader & Manager Styles
  • Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace
  • Team Collaboration & Dynamics
  • Conflict Resolution
  • Presenting Confidently
  • Leadership & Culture 
  • Understanding Financial Statements
  • Cash vs. Accrual Accounting
  • Ratio & Cash Flow Analysis
  • Techniques to Analyze Financial Operations
  • Cost Behaviour & Decision Making
  • Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis
  • Relevant Costs
  • Cost Allocation
  • Activity Based Costing & Management
  • Negotiating Successfully
  • Key Tools & Approaches 
  • Stages of Negotiation
  • When to Share Information
  • Team Negotiations
  • Preparing Your Action Plan
  • Overview of climate/sustainability crisis
  • Understanding key tools and frameworks
  • Measuring & assessing sustainability
  • Integration into team projects
  • Competitive Strategy 
  • Customer Experience
  • GTM Strategy
  • CRM Tools
  • Sales Activation
  • Introduction to AI and Analytics
  • Leveraging AI to Optimize Promotions
  • Demand Prediction
  • A/B Testing

 

Course Leaders

headshot of Don Melville

Don Melville

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Don Melville

Don Melville is an expert in strategy and competitive advantage. In his prior roles as Director at Secor and Senior Consultant at CapGemini, he led a number of activities aimed at achieving strategic excellence for multinational corporations. He is currently a faculty member in the areas of finance, strategy and organization at McGill’s Desautels Faculty of Management. He also teaches on a variety of senior executive education programs. Don holds an MBA degree from McGill University.

headshot of Miriam Carver

Miriam Carver

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Miriam Carver

As a faculty member of the McGill Executive Institute and lecturer in the Desautels Faculty of Management, Miriam Carver’s areas of expertise include leadership development, conflict resolution, negotiation skills, building teams, customer service, executive coaching, and emotional intelligence. She consults with a wide variety of organizations in diverse sectors, from manufacturing and telecommunications to government and healthcare. She holds a Master’s in Education (Counselling Psychology) from McGill University and has completed additional graduate work in Organizational Development and Conflict Resolution.

 

headshot of Julia Scott

Julia Scott

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Julia Scott

Julia Scott (CPA, CA, CFA, MBA) joined McGill University in 2000 and currently leads the CA and CPA programs at the Desautels Faculty of Management. She is an industry leader in financial accounting and business analysis, and advises people who are working towards their CA designation. She is also a Chartered Financial Analyst and an active member of the CFA Institute. Prior to joining McGill, Julia worked for TD Bank in Toronto and earned her Chartered Accountant designation from Ernst and Young (Clarkson Gordon).

headshot of Maxime Cohen

Maxime Cohen

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Maxime Cohen

Maxime Cohen is the Scale AI Chair Professor of Retail and Operations Management and Director of Research at McGill University. He is also a Visiting Professor of Operations Management and a Shubik Fellow at Yale School of Management (2023-2024). He is the Chief AI Officer of ELNA Medical and the Scientific Director of the non-profit MyOpenCourt.org. He is also a Scientific Advisor in AI at IVADO Labs, and he is actively advising corporations, retailers, and startups on topics related to pricing, retail, and data science. He has worked on retail, ride-sharing, airline, sustainability, cloud computing, online advertising, peer-to-peer lending, real estate, healthcare, and conflict analytics. He has collaborated with many companies including Google, Waze, Oracle Retail, IBM Research, Via (ride-sharing), Spotify, Aldo Group, Couche-Tard/Circle K, L'Oréal, Cargo, and Staples and he serves on the advisory board of several startups. His research and teaching have received 30+ awards, including Poets&Quants Best 40-Under-40 MBA Professors, RETHINK Retail’s Top Retail Influencers, MSOM Young Scholar Prize, and Best OM Paper in Management Science.

 

headshot of Claude Macdonald

Claude Macdonald

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Claude Macdonald

Claude Macdonald is recognized as an expert in the field of sales culture transformation in Canada. Over the past 25 years, he has trained and coached more than 25 000, professionals from organizations in Canada, the United States and Europe. He is the author of several professional development workshops and assessment tools, notably the unique Sales Culture Maturity Index, the only tool in the world for measuring the state of a sales culture within an organization.

headshot of Dror Etzion

Dror Etzion

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Dror Etzion

Dror Etzion is the Steven Grossman Endowed Chair of Sustainable Business at the University of Vermont. From 2008 – 2023 Dror worked at the Desautels Faculty of Management, at McGill. Dror is a widely published researcher studying how sustainability promotes innovation and contributes to competitive strategy. Before entering academia, Dror worked for 5 years in the Israeli software industry, and also spent a year at The Natural Step, an international non-profit research and consultancy organization focused on sustainable development. He completed his Ph.D. studies at IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain.

 

The Mini-MBA Series

This program is part of the McGill Mini-MBA Series. Each cycle is designed to equip you with key business insights, comprehensive management practices, benchmarks, and business strategies taught in our full MBA program- at a fraction of the time and cost.

Learn more about the Mini-MBA Series

 

Online Information Session

  November 27, 2024 ⁠–⁠ 12:00 pm ET

Join us online to learn more about Cycle I of the Mini-MBA Series; the Executive Development Course! Advisors will be on hand to answer any live questions regarding the program.

Register for info session

 

Delivery Formats

Online
A virtual learning experience featuring an interactive suite of synchronous (live) and asynchronous (self-paced) components from the comfort of your home or office.

View available online sessions

 

In-Person
Join your peers in our world-class facilities and explore the dynamic life of McGill University’s Montreal campus or one of our offsite locations.

View available sessions in Montreal.

Upcoming Sessions

Begins March 10, 2025 | Register by Feb 23

Montreal

Format
Classes will take place in person at the McGill Executive Institute. In addition to the in-class sessions, you can expect about 3-6 hours of additional work per day for group and individual preparation.


Individual Prep 1-2 weeks before first in-person session

Before joining us on campus, you complete individual prep work on myCourses, McGill's digital learning platform—all from the comfort of your home or office. Activites include readings, case studies and videos on our digital learning platform to prepare you for the in-person sessions.

Module 1
Date Time Activity Location
Monday, Mar. 10, 2025 9 am - 5 pm ET In-person session #1 McGill Executive Institute
Tuesday, Mar. 11, 2025 9 am - 5 pm ET In-person session #2 McGill Executive Institute
Wednesday, Mar. 12, 2025 9 am - 5 pm ET In-person session #3 McGill Executive Institute
Thursday, Mar. 13, 2025 9 am - 5 pm ET In-person session #4 McGill Executive Institute
Friday, Mar. 14, 2025 9 am - 5 pm ET In-person session #5 McGill Executive Institute

Module 2
Date Time Activity Location
Monday, Mar. 31, 2025 9 am - 5 pm ET In-person session #6 McGill Executive Institute
Tuesday, Apr. 1, 2025 9 am - 5 pm ET In-person session #7 McGill Executive Institute
Wednesday, Apr. 2, 2025 9 am - 5 pm ET In-person session #8 McGill Executive Institute
Thursday, Apr. 3, 2025 9 am - 5 pm ET In-person session #9 McGill Executive Institute
Friday, Apr. 4, 2025 9 am - 5 pm ET In-person session #10
(Final Team Presentations and Closing Ceremony)		 McGill Executive Institute
Price: CA$6,495.00

Begins September 29, 2025 | Register by Sep 14

Montreal

Format
Classes will take place in person at the McGill Executive Institute. In addition to the in-class sessions, you can expect about 3-6 hours of additional work per day for group and individual preparation.


Individual Prep 1-2 weeks before first in-person session

Before joining us on campus, you complete individual prep work on myCourses, McGill's digital learning platform—all from the comfort of your home or office. Activites include readings, case studies and videos on our digital learning platform to prepare you for the in-person sessions.

Module 1
Date Time Activity Location
Monday, Sep. 29, 2025 9 am - 5 pm ET In-person session #1 McGill Executive Institute
Tuesday, Sep. 30, 2025 9 am - 5 pm ET In-person session #2 McGill Executive Institute
Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025 9 am - 5 pm ET In-person session #3 McGill Executive Institute
Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025 9 am - 5 pm ET In-person session #4 McGill Executive Institute
Friday, Oct. 3, 2025 9 am - 5 pm ET In-person session #5 McGill Executive Institute

Module 2
Date Time Activity Location
Monday, Oct. 20, 2025 9 am - 5 pm ET In-person session #6 McGill Executive Institute
Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025 9 am - 5 pm ET In-person session #7 McGill Executive Institute
Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025 9 am - 5 pm ET In-person session #8 McGill Executive Institute
Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025 9 am - 5 pm ET In-person session #9 McGill Executive Institute
Friday, Oct. 24, 2025 9 am - 5 pm ET In-person session #10
(Final Team Presentations and Closing Ceremony)		 McGill Executive Institute
Price: CA$6,495.00

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