Week and Preliminary Dates
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Topic
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Assigned readings
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Principal activities
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Week 1 15&17 January
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Part 1 FOUNDATION CONCEPTS
What is international business?
Globalization of Markets and the
Internationalization of the Firm
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Chapter
1&2, textbook
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Case
study:
1. China
globalizes London’s black cabs
Class
discussions:
1.
Globalization and going international: SWOT analysis
2.
New realities of international business
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Week 2 22&24 January
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Part 2 ENVIRONMENT OF
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
The cultural environment of
International business,
CAGE framework of distances
|
Chapter
3, textbook
Overview
of the different ‘cultural values approaches’ used in business settings (prepared by Professor)
Article
‘Getting to Si, Ja, Qui, Hai, and Da’ (Erin Meyer, Harvard Business Review)
Article
‘How I did it… SAP’s CEO on being the American head of a German multinational’
(Harvard Business Review)
|
Case
studies:
1.
Baidu: culture and social media in China
2.
Hollywood and global culture
Class
discussion:
1.
How relevant is culture in international business settings?
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Week 3 29&31 January
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Ethics, Corporate Social
Responsibility, Sustainability, and Governance in International Business
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Chapter
4, textbook
Article
‘Your company needs a foreign policy’ (Harvard Business Review)
|
Case
studies:
1. Improving
the lives of Bangladeshi garments factory workers
2.
Bribery and corruption at Siemens
Class
discussion:
1. Is
it the time for the corporate foreign policy for the multinational companies?
2.
Environmental protection as a sustainability tool
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Week 4
5&7 February
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Theories of International Trade
and Investment
|
Chapter
5, textbook
Article
‘The Competitive Advantage of Nations’ (Michael Porter, Harvard Business Review)
|
Case
study:
1. Taobao’s
rise
Class
discussion:
1.
Competitive advantage of the nations – do the companies benefit from the
national umbrella brands of their origin countries?
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Week 5 12&14 February
|
Short
quiz on the theoretical concepts covered in the classes
Political and Legal Systems in
National Environments
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Chapter
6, textbook
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Case
studies:
1.
Risks in Russia’s political and legal systems
2.
Political, legal, and ethical dilemmas in the global pharmaceutical industry
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Week 6 19&21 February
|
Government Intervention and
Regional Economic Integration: One Belt One Road and Asian Infrastructure
Investment Bank
|
Chapter
7, textbook
|
Case
study:
1.
Government intervention at Airbus and Boeing
Class
discussion:
1. China’s rise – One Belt One Road Initiative
– is it really ‘win win’ for all parties?
|
Week 7 26&28 February
|
Understanding ‘emerging’ markets:
special focus on South East Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa
|
Chapter
8, textbook
Article
‘Africa’s New Generation of Innovators’ (Harvard Business Review)
|
Case
study:
1.
Prowling for Success: the revival of Jaguar and Land Rover
Class
discussion:
1.
Opportunities for multinationals in Africa: SWOT analysis?
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Week 8 5&7 March
|
Mid-term
exam (written individual essay): Ethics and corporate social responsibility:
case analysis
International Monetary and
Financial Environment
|
Chapter
9, textbook
|
Case
studies:
1. The
European Union and the Euro
2.
Asian International Financial Centers – Singapore and Hong Kong
Class
discussion:
1. Can government be a disruptor for
international financial systems: Brexit and HK as part of the PRC?
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Week 9 12&14 March
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PART III STRATEGY AND OPPORTUNITY
ASSESSMENT
Strategy and Organization in the
International Firm
|
Chapter
11, textbook
|
Case
studies:
1. IKEA’s
strategies for global success
2.
Global strategy at Lenovo
Class
discussion:
1. What
are the critical factors for the company to succeed internationally?
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Week 10 19&21 March
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Global Market Opportunity
Assessment
|
Chapter
12, textbook
|
Case
study:
1.
Estimating demand in emerging markets
Class
discussion:
1. National demand in the emerging markets –
what are the factors critical for assessing the demand?
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Week 11 26&28 March
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PART IV ENTERING AND WORKING IN
INTERNATIONAL MARKETS
Exporting and Global Sourcing
|
Chapter
13, textbook
|
Case
study:
1. Barret Farm Foods: a small firm’s international launch
Class discussion:
1. What are the important factors to consider before exporting and sourcing internationally?
2. How to protect your company's assets: tangible and intangible?
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Week 12 9&11 April
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Group
Assignment: case analysis: presentations
|
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Case analysis of the chosen global
company’s success or failure in the international markets (SWOT analysis of
the company going global and CAGE framework analysis of respective
environments the company is operating in)
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Week 13 16&18 April
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Foreign Direct Investment and
Collaborative Ventures
|
Chapter
14, textbook
|
Case
studies:
1. Huawei’s
investments in Africa
2.
China’s going out strategy
Class
discussions:
1.
Well-being of the nation vs the multinationals’ drive for profits: does the
government have to intervene, and if - how?
|
Week 14 23&25 April
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Licensing, Franchising, and Other
Contractual Strategies
|
Chapter
15, textbook
|
Case
studies:
1.
How Lego built global value in the toy industry – block by block
2.
Subway’s franchising challenges in China
|
Week 15
28
April - 4 May
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Final
exam:
Individual
written assignment: an essay on discussion topics covered in the lectures
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