COURSE SYLLABUS

On completion of the course the student will be able to:

1. Explain and critically discuss central concepts in the international management literature
2. Describe and discuss the factors driving change in the international business environment

3. Practice cross-cultural interactions in multinational teams
4. Utilize relevant analytical tools to simulate and debate international management practices

5. Critically discuss international management concepts
6. Recognize and evaluate challenges which companies with international activities might be facing

Organizations across the world no longer work in an environment defined by national boundaries. Changing patterns of global competition, knowledge transfer, and transnational co-operation are redefining the rules of the international business game. International managers have to cope with the need for simultaneously achieving global effectiveness and local responsiveness. Multinational enterprises seek to transcend their cultural embeddedness and ethnocentric frameworks.
Therefore, the objective of this course is to understand the knowledge, perspectives, and skills that global managers need to work effectively in different cultural environments and with people from all over the world. To fulfil this aim, this course explores organizational strategies, structures and processes for cross-border activities, as well as ways to address, coordinate and exploit the diversity of values, resources and cultures when managing international activities and the challenges deriving from it.

The major components of this course are as follows:

• Overview of international management and the contemporary international business environment
• Organizational and strategic aspects of international management; headquarter-subsidiary relationships in multinational companies; cross-border M&A; international supply chains
• Cross-cultural management
• International human resource management and leadership
• International entrepreneurship and SME management

Connection to Research and Practice

The course is focused on international management theory and connects to research in this area by the following:

• Connecting students with faculty who are research focused on the area of international management through lectures and seminars where the researchers’ own research is used as teaching material.
• Introducing students to the traditional and contemporary frameworks in internalization, entry modes, cross-cultural management and global resource strategies.
• The practical connections brought into the course are cases as well as guest lectures by international management practitioners who discuss their experiences with challenges relating to international management problems.

Lectures, seminars, project work. In addition to class contact, students will devote extensive time to independent study and project work.

Language of instruction is in English.

It is the responsibility of the examiner to ensure that each course is evaluated. At the outset of the course, the programme evaluators in the course must be contacted. In the middle of the course, the examiner should meet the programme evaluators to identify strengths/weaknesses in the first half of the course. At the end of the course, the examiner should remind students to fill in the survey. The examiner should also call a meeting with the programme evaluators to debrief the course, based on course evaluation data and comments. The next time the course runs, students should be informed of any measures taken to improve the course based on the previous course evaluations. At the end of each study period, JIBS’ Director of Quality and Accreditation crafts a “Course Evaluation Quarter Report”, presenting the quantitative results from course evaluation surveys. The Associate Dean of Education, The Associate Deans of Faculty, Programme Directors, and JSA President and Quality receive the report.

Academic integrity

JIBS students are expected to maintain a strong academic integrity. This implies to behave within the boundaries of academic rules and expectations relating to all types of teaching and examination.

Copying someone else’s work is a particularly serious offence and can lead to disciplinary action. When you copy someone else’s work, you are plagiarising. You must not copy sections of work (such as paragraphs, diagrams, tables and words) from any other person, including another student or any other author. Cutting and pasting is a clear example of plagiarism. There is a workshop and online resources to assist you in not plagiarising called the Interactive Anti-Plagiarism Guide.

Other forms of breaking academic integrity include (but are not limited to) adding your name to a project you did not work on (or allowing someone to add their name), cheating on an examination, helping other students to cheat and submitting other students work as your own, and using non-allowed electronic equipment during an examination. All of these make you liable to disciplinary action.

Please note that changes may be made to the reading list up until eight weeks before the start of the course.

Deresky, Helen & Miller, Stewart E.. International Management: managing across borders and cultures (most recent edition).

A list articles will be supplied at the course introduction.