Objectives and Structure
This course develops a framework for understanding the international aspects of management, for formulating effective strategies in an increasingly complex world economy, and for making those strategies work. It provides the future international manager with a broad view of the factors underlying international competitive dynamics and performance. Class sessions emphasize concepts, techniques, and factual knowledge useful for managers and consultants involved in international strategy and cross-border management.
The course is divided into three sections. Part I, Foundations of International Business , reviews the changing patterns of international business and introduces a basic conceptual tool kit. Topics include trade and foreign direct investment, levels of analysis, the interplay between comparative and competitive advantage, modes of entering international markets, business systems, and institutional environments. The usefulness of these conceptual approaches is illustrated with case materials on current opportunities and problems faced by managers in different countries and settings. Part II, Geography of International Business, focuses on decisions involving entry into particular markets and the location of core activities and regional headquarters. Part III, Managing Across Borders, applies the tools and topics of parts I and II to the problems of integrating core activities, managing subsidiaries, managing international alliances, and the changing managerial task under conditions of globalization and regionalization.