International Business Principles (MKT 3400) Professor Lilac Nachum Marketing/International Business Department Tel. 646 312 3303 E-mail: Lilac.Nachum@baruch.cuny.edu Office VC-11 276 Office hours: Saturdays 5.30-6.30pm in my office or by appointment. To schedule an appointment please contact me by e-mail. Meeting outside class: I encourage you to get in touch so that I can help you get the most out of this course and reach your highest possible achievements. All out of class communication should be made via e-mail. I will be happy to speak with you over the phone or in person but please schedule a time slot via e-mail. Course Description The world environment of business enterprise; foreign trade and investment problems, patterns, and opportunities; the performance of business functions in an international context; and basic terminology of international business. Course Objectives Managers of all companies, regardless of the geographic scope of their own activities, are exposed to the impact of developments in the global environment, on which they usually have no control. Companies operating internationally are directly affected by such developments, which shape the multiple and varied environments in which they operate. Examples include rapidly changing economic and institutional environments, monetary and fiscal government policies, currency fluctuations, trade agreements, stock market booms and busts, activities of international organizations and NGOs, and social and labor unrest. These phenomena often confront firms with formidable challenges, but at the same time, also create business opportunities. This course is designed to deepen your understanding of the consequences of global macroeconomic, political and social developments for firms. It seeks to equip you with means to make informed managerial choices in response to the challenges and opportunities they represent, and enable you introduce sustainable and profitable strategies. The course will enhance your understanding of the ways by which such global phenomena explain dramatic events in individual countries and in the international economy, and will enable you to better evaluate their associated risks and opportunities. Firms that possess an understanding of these developments, and have the tools and means to analyze their strategic consequences, will enjoy a competitive advantage. Cases and real life experiences of multinational companies, drawn from a wide set of geographic regions and industrial backgrounds, will be used to illustrate the strategic importance of explicitly incorporating the macroeconomic environment in the strategy formulation of
multinational firms. We will also incorporate in our discussions contemporary developments taking place at the intersection of the macroeconomic environment and international strategy. By the end of the course, you can expect to: - Understand the macro environment within which international business activity takes place and gain means to analyse the strategic and managerial consequences of changes in this environment. - Understand the impact of government policies on the economic and financial environments confronting firms operating internationally and their impact on the range of strategic alternatives available for firms. - Deepen your understanding of the relationships between firms and foreign governments, and the drivers of government policies towards foreign firms. - Gain an understanding of the dynamics of the major modes of cross-border flows, namely capital (portfolio investment), goods (trade), and companies (FDI), and the managerial challenges and opportunities associated with them. Course Material Textbook: Daniels et al., International Business: Environment & Operations. 15 th edition, 2015. The entire course required readings and cases are from this textbook. I strongly recommend purchasing a copy, and doing it early on, so it is in your possession when the semester begins. Easy access to the book will be fundamental for the ability to follow the course requirements. Older editions and the international edition tend to differ a great deal from the 15 th edition and are therefore not appropriate. Course Structure and underlying Principles The course is structured as a combination of lectures and class discussions. Most classes cover one chapter of the textbook, and often a case or two from the textbook that accompanies the chapter. Please familiarize yourself with the readings and cases before the class, so you can take active part in class discussions. You should use the questions at the end of the cases to guide your case readings. We will use these same questions to lead our class discussions. Pay specific attention to the cases as very often they provide the basis for the class discussions. Prerequisites There are no prerequisites for this course. Performance Evaluation: First exam 30% (material covered in classes 1-7) Second exam 40% (material covered in classes 9-18) Both exams are multiple-choice, closed-material exams. They cover all the course material, including the readings, cases and class discussions. The exams are not cumulative. Samples exams will be distributed in advance. Exams are given only on the dates stated in the syllabus. No makeups are allowed. Group project 30% Instructions will be distributed in class Data table 10% Essay 20% 2
Grades will be posted on Blackboard a few days after the exams/project submission. The final grades will be posted on Blackboard shortly after finals week, and before being submitted to the Registrar Office. Class overheads are posted on Blackboard before classes. The syllabus is also posted on Blackboard. Make sure that you have full access to Blackboard, and you are accessible via Blackboard (so you receive my e-mails). Any difficulties with Blackboard should be addressed to Blackboard helpdesk: bbhelp@baruch.cuny.edu Other Administrative Issues Try to avoid missing classes. It is understandable that there might be circumstances that are beyond your control, but please try to keep these to a minimum. Given the nature of this course, where learning is largely based on class discussions, it is difficult, if not impossible, to complete the course successfully without attending classes regularly. Academic Integrity: Plagiarism is not tolerated and our school has a very strict policy for such behaviour, which I fully endorsed. Baruch College's policy on Academic Honesty is outlines in http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/academic/academic_honesty.html). I trust there will be no need for such actions in our class. 3
Course Plan and Homework Class/Date Topics Covered Textbook chapter(s)/pages 1 Cases 1 2/4 Introduction: Firms in a global world 1 The globalized business of sport (ch. 1, opening case) 2 Why firms go global? Trade 5 2/11 theories 3 Why firms go global? FDI 15 2/18 theories 4 2/25 Firms in a culturally-diverse world 2 Tesco PLC: Leveraging global knowledge (ch. 2, closing case) 5 Firms in a global economic 4, pp. 157-175 3/4 environment 6 3/11 Using the global economic environment strategically: Global production networks, 18 7 3/18 self study 8 3/25 9 4/1 4/15 spring break. No class outsourcing and logistics Firms and the global capital market: Foreign exchange and the global monetary system Sample exam distributed Mid-term exam Managing in a global capital market; National tax systems; National and international accounting standards 8, pp. 300-308 9 10 Group project assigned 1 When page numbers are not specified, please read the whole chapter.
10 4/8 11 4/22 12 4/29 13 5/6 14 5/13 Exam week 5/22-26 Date TBA Firms in a global legal and political environment; Ethics and institutions across countries Managing the global legal and political environment: Understanding national and regional trade and FDI policy Firms and the global labor market: Managing human capital strategically In-class work on group project Globalization on trial: Costs and benefits for home and host countries Group presentations Preparation final exam Final exam 3 HBR case (will be posted on Blackboard) 6 7, pp. 262-269 Toyota European Drive (ch. 7, opening case); Wal-Mart goes South (ch. 7, closing case) 20 Data table due Group project due (*) all the readings and cases are from the textbook. 5
As we start the semester I will be most interested in getting to know you. I begin by introducing myself. BIO My areas of interest and expertise are globalization and the management of Multinational Corporations, topics I have been teaching, consulting and publishing on intensively for three decades. Prior to joining Baruch College in 2002, I was a Senior Research Fellow at Cambridge University UK. Earlier, I held a senior position in the Research Division on Foreign Investment and Transnational Corporations at the United Nations in Switzerland. In conjunction with these positions, I have consulted with a number of national and international organizations, including the United Nations, the World Bank, the European Union, London's Westminster City Council, the Government of Turkey, the US Department of Commerce, on issues related to Multinational Corporations and globalization. I am the Director of the Centre for the study of Russian and Emerging Market Multinationals of St. Petersburg State University, and lead a consulting project for Deloitte Tohmatsu Consulting on value creation and appropriation in global supply chains, with application to Bangladesh garment industry. I have held visiting positions in business schools around the world, many of which are the leading schools in their countries, including Sun Yat-sen University, China, India School of Business (ISB), Lagos Business School, and BI Norwegian Business School, among others, where I have taught various IB courses. As a newly-appointed consultant to the American Management Association (AMA) I will guide the redesign of AMA s Global MBA program, and teach the global strategy and management courses on this program. I am a frequent commentator on globalization and global companies in various media outlets, including CNBC, FOX Business, CNN, Forbes, FT, India Economic Times, Business World India, Brooklyn Independent TV, among others, and a regular speaker in research seminars and conferences around the world. In 2014 I was part of an expert delegation invited by the President of the UAE to advise on the global financial investment strategy of the country s financial arm. I am the recipient of Baruch College 2011 Best Teacher Award and 2012 Presidential Excellence Award for Scholarship. My research has been awarded several notable recognitions, most recently the 2012 Outstanding Author Contribution Award of the Literati Network Emerald Awards for Excellence. I am the author of two books on global competition in service industries (one of them translated to Chinese) and numerous journal papers published in the leading academic journals in international business and strategy, including the Strategic Management Journal, Management Science and the Journal of International business Studies, and have served as a consulting editor and board member of the leading international academic journals in international business and strategy.