國際企業管理
International Business
Department of International Business
College of Management, NDHU
Fall 2008
Time- 2-5pm, every Tuesday Classroom- B206, College of HMNT
Instructors- Prof. Lin (The 1st Half); Prof. Luan (The 2nd Half)
Office- MGMT B322 (Prof. Lin; L); MGMT A421 (Prof. Luan; l)
Email- (L) tjlin@mail.ndhu.edu.tw; (l) cjluan@mail.ndhu.edu.tw
Office Hours- by appointment (L- ext.3051; l- ext. 3059)
“Good science is good conversation”
Nature and Scope of the Course
This course, International Business, was designed to introduce MBA students to the numerous challenges associated with managing multinational corporations (MNCs). In the course, we will emphasize the international dimensions of trades, investment, strategies and organizations, and will provide a framework that can be applied to managing in a multinational corporation.
Key elements, concepts, and tools of the course will be introduced during this semester, including MNCs motivations and mentalities; environmental challenges associated with the increasingly global nature of the world economy, strategic and competitive challenges, strategic collaboration and alliances between MNCs, organizational challenges for MNCs, challenges associated with the need to create worldwide learning organizations in order to compete effectively, challenges associated with individual managers, and future challenges for MNCs.
The first half of the semester will be lectured by Prof. Lin, and provides the basics for understanding cross-cultural difference and competitiveness in international business at the level of the nations. International business theories and strategic decision consideration on investment across boarders are included in this half part as well. Taking advantages of those opportunities faces enormous managerial challenges, and the second half of the semester, lectured by Prof. Luan, focuses on international business strategies, for instance, licensing, joint ventures, and assorted possible entry modes modern enterprises have adopted. The goal of this course is to provide the foundations for taking effective actions in the multi-faceted world of international business.
This course uses a combination of lectures, case studies[1], presentation and class discussion in order to expose students to the challenges facing multinational corporations and their managers. Before a class, students should be ready about the required readings or chapters for further discussion in the class. Students will be grouped by no more 3 persons[2], and one of the groups will be assigned to present the readings of that session in about 30 minutes. After that presentation, lecturing and discussion will follow, and any supplementary materials, for instance, studied cases, will be released if any. Also, lecturers will have the rights to adjust the processes if necessary.
Textbook and Teaching Materials
Textbook- Hill, C. L., International
Business: Competing in the Global Marketplace, 6th
edition, 2007, McGraw-Hill.
Cases- Selected cases related to IB issues;
Harvard Business School Cases (if necessary), students should pay copyrights
(about US$3) for each case
Lecture notes, if any, will be offered in each
class, and other teaching materials will be also provided if necessary.
Reference-
Bartlett, Ghoshal, and Beamish,
Transnational Management: Text, Cases & Readings in Cross-Border Management,
5th edition, 2008, McGraw-Hill.
Doz, Y., Santos, J., and Williamson, P.,
From Global to
Metanational: How Companies Win in the Knowledge
Economy (Harvard
Business School Press, 2002)
Recommended- WSJ (Wall Street Journal); HBR
(Harvard Business Review)
Course Requirements
Meaningful Participation- Sufficient mutual
communication is the key to effective learning, so being present is the
essential commitment. Moreover, aggressive participation also includes
preparation before the class, expressing opinions when discussion and exchanging
ideas during the class. To enforce the mutual learning process, in addition to
the comprehensive exam, learning activities are based groups. Taking loading of
assignment and cost of intra-group coordination into account, a group is
composed of no more 3 persons. Please complete the grouping list before the
first assignment is due.
Case & Write-ups- Case studies are to goal to
train students’ abilities to analyze issues, think logically, propose
alternative and make strategic decisions, under the real case and contingent
information, based on the knowledge in the class. In addition to CASE
write-up, each group should also hand in the WEEKLY write-up
related to the contents of assigned chapters by the class. The write-up should
be 2-paged[3],
double-spaced, and well-typed write-ups, including each member’s signature on
the cover page, about assigned readings or chapters in that very session. For
fair evaluation, no late submissions will be allowed. And the most important of
all, remember “Analyze, not report”.
Term Project- This is also termed “International
Strategic Plan”, and will be completed by two groups, that is, 5-6
students. The team, consisting of two groups, will conduct an international
strategic plan for an MNC and then may submit to that very MNC. The plan is to
be about 20 pages in length, excluding appendix, tables, and figures. Since the
plan may be submitted to corporate executives at the respective organizations,
it is expected that the strategic plan should be written and presented in a
professional manner. Remember, these reports carry your name and reputation.
More details will be discussed during the class. Furthermore, as to the presentation, you will have approximately 15 minutes to present the international strategic plan, followed by 7 minutes of Q&A. The presentations are expected to be formal, as if you were presenting the plan to executives from your company. As such, all students are expected to dress in formal business attire. Should you require audio/visual equipment, please inform me one week in advance.
Comprehensive Exam- This is to aim to testing
students’ comprehensiveness on concepts, structures, and critical issues related
to international business in order to evaluate individual difference. Because
the exam is to test what you should know in the course (rather than what you do
not know), do not worry too much if you fully participate the class.
Grading Policy
Comprehensive Exam 40%
Case & Weekly Write-ups and Assignments 30%
Term Project 25%
Class Participation 10% (including 5% bonus)
Feel free to let us
know if you have any questions about the course.
Wish you a great
journey of the course- International Business.
Tentative Schedule a
Session I- Introduction
W1 9/23 (L) Introduction: Globalization
Hill (Ch.1)
Session II- International Environment and Trade
W2 9/30 (L) Cross-border Difference- Political Economy
Hill (Ch. 2)
W3 10/7 (L) Cultural Difference and Ethics
Hill (Ch. 3.4)
W4 10/14 (L) International Trade Theory and Political Economy of Int’l Trade
Hill (Ch. 5.6)
Case I- Matsushita (pp.120-121)
W5 10/21 (L) FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) and Political Economy of FDI
Hill (Ch. 7.8)
W6 10/28 (L) Regional Economic Integration
Hill (Ch. 9)
Case II- Starbucks (pp.259-260)
W7 11/4[4] (L) Guest Speeches- Topics: TBC
W8 11/11[5] (L) Corporate Visit- Topic: International Trade Procedures
W9 11/18 (l) Global Monetary System
Hill (Ch. 10.11)
Session III- International Business (IB)
Strategy and Org. Structure
W10 11/25 (l) IB Strategy
Hill (Ch. 12)
W11 12/2[6] (l) IB Organization Structure
Hill (Ch. 13)
Case III- P&G
W12 12/9[7] (l) Entry Strategy I (TCE Introduction)
Hill (Ch. 14)
W13 12/16 (l) Entry Strategy II- Entry Modes
Hill (Ch. 15)
Case IV- NTT DoCoMo’s Marketing Strategy
Session IV- International Business (IB)
Operational Strategy
W14 12/23 (l) Comprehensive Exam
Merry Xmas and Happy New Year!!
W15 12/30 (l) Theme-based Film Case Studies
W16 ‘09/01/06 (l) Global Operation Strategy
Hill (Ch. 16.17.18.19.20)
W17 01/13 (l) Term Project Presentation; Course Wrap-up and Review
a W1-W8 are scheduled to Prof. Lin’s (L), followed by W9-W17 to Luan’s (l)
[1] The case package will be confirmed and delivered soon.
[2] The number of a group will depend upon total students joining the class.
[3] Appendix is not included in the 2-paged write-up.
[4] The speeches may be scheduled on Nov.1st.
[5] The visit may be scheduled on Nov. 15th.
[6] After this lecture, please preview the requirement of Session IV for your international strategic plans.
[7] Some supplementary readings will be delivered before this lecture.
2008/09/29 22:34