MIS 44163 Fall 2011 Smas
SYLLABUS
GLOBAL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT – WRITNG INTENSIVE
M&IS 44163
FALL 2011
HOURS: T / 4:45 – 5:30 PM
OFFICE: BSA A415
PHONE: 330-672-1155
EMAIL: mjsmas@kent.edu
|
SECTION |
CALL NO. |
DAY / TIME |
ROOM NO. |
|
001 |
29643 |
T / 5:30 – 8:15 PM |
BSA 206 |
NOTE: The material in this syllabus should be considered nominal and is subject to change by the instructor at any given time due to various constraints on the class, such as weather, illness of the instructor, or other such issues. Final exam times are listed in the college catalogue and it is the student’s responsibility to know when these exams are scheduled.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
As a student in this course, you by now have or should have understood that the whole scope of business has drastically changed in the last ten to twenty years. No longer can corporations big and small be content to stay within their own borders and be competitive. Just go down to the nearest big box store and look at the names of the leading appliances sold there. Twenty years ago LG, Electrolux, Lenovo and the like brands were unheard of in the US. Now they are seriously competing with Whirlpool and GE for US market share in appliances. We can extend this rationale to other industries such as automotive, and IT. Even small business has to seriously contend with the global market place to stay alive in this hypercomptetive world.More and more firms aare across the globe are competing actively in international markets as well as using overseas locations to obtain low-cost, high-value goods and servics.
As firms seek new
opportunities overseas, they inevitably encounter new risks and new costs form
from doing business internationally. This course will deal with the challenges
of managing the opportunities, risks, uncertainty and costs of the business
activities of fims competing in international environments. How they deal with
the complex and dynamic economic, political, technological, and cultural
environments of a world of increasingly interdependent nations is the main focus
of the course.
The major topics covered will be cross-cultural studies, culture and business
mangement, small business opportunities, entrepreneurship, negotiation,
business ethics, and the like.
OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE
· To give the student an broad-based overall knowledge of the international business environment.
· To give the student tools and skill needed to participate in international business activites.
· To give the student a thorough understanding of cultural, political-legal, and religious issues as they relate to business practices in international business.
· To give the student a introduction to HR practices in international business.
· To give the student a brief overview of strategy as it pertains to international business.
· To give the student some ideas on organizational structure for international operations.
· To give the student practice in analysis of case work in international business.
· To give the student an opportunity to develop a case for internationalization of a product (line) or service of an existing company into an international market of their choosing.
REQUIRED TEXT
Multinational Management, A Strategic Approach, 5e, John B. Cullen and K. Praveen Parboteeah, South-Western (Cengage), 2008
ISBN – 13:978-1-4390-8065-8
ISBN – 10: 1-4390-8065-8
The book is not optional, you must have the book to pass this class.
GRADING FOR CLASS
GRADING:
I will use plus / minus grading this semester. Thus the grading for the course is as follows:
Based on Percentage Points Scored
92.5 – 100 % POINTS A
89.1 – 92.4 A –
86.0 – 89.0 B+
82.5 – 85.9 B
79.1 – 82.4 B-
76.0 – 79.0 C+
72.5 – 75.9 C
69.1 – 72.4 C-
<69.0 D
<59.0 F
According to new University Guidelines the grades are converted to your grade point average by the following rules:
A = 4.0
A- = 3.7
B+ = 3.3
B = 3.0
B- = 2.7
C+ = 2.3
C = 2.0
C- = 1.7
D+ = 1.3
D = 1.0.
F = 0.0
GRADING PLAN / PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS
1. Exams ( 4 @ 100 pt.) 400 pt.
2. Case Write Ups (4 @ 100 pt) 400 pt.
3. Participation in case reviews 200 pt.
4. Final project 200 pt.
Total points 1200 pt.
THE APPROACH TO TEACHING/LEARNING
1. Lectures by the instructor .
2. Exams
3. Case Analysis in class
4. Integrative case write ups
5. Examination of real operating companies on internationalizing a product, prodt line or service into a new foregn market.
Internationalization Proposal
The internationalization proposal is designed to provide a forum to apply frameworks and concepts discussed throughout the course to a real-world business. Each group (to be formed the third week of class) is responsible for writing a proposal for a firm’s internationalization. You will select an already existing company, product or service, as well as a new country to expand to for a global business venture. You will provide a typed one paragraph to one page introductory summary of this information to me on September 20. Once approved, you will develop a proposal for this firm’s internationalization into a new market. To do this, you will conduct country, competitor, and internal analyses; explore cultural and ethical issues that could impact the firm; propose a firm strategy, structure, and entry mode for the venture; discuss human resource systems to be used in the new venture; and recommend levels of product/service adaptation as well as marketing methods. You should base your analysis on pertinent, reliable data about the country and the firm (e.g. annual reports, core competencies, information about products/services). Considering that this is a proposal, you should mention relevant alternatives (e.g., locations, entry modes) and persuasive rationale for your recommendations. Thus, key to this project is familiarity with the “facts,” use of frameworks discussed in class, identification of central issues and problems facing the firm in the proposed venture, critical analysis of the situation, and realistic recommendations for the firm. Your final paper should be presentable to the firm as a viable proposal for international expansion. It may be helpful to consider yourselves outside consultants or members of that firm’s internationalization team when approaching this assignment.
A possible outline for the sections is as follows:
1. Introduction
a. Description of organization
b. Description of product/service
c. Reasons for wanting to go abroad and to the selected country
2. Country Analysis (i.e. opportunities and challenges of the external environment)
a. Political analysis
b. Economic analysis
c. Legal analysis
d. Cultural analysis (e.g. cultural dimensions, norms, ethical issues)
e. Commercial analysis (e.g. market demand, industry analysis, major competitors, competitors’ strengths and weaknesses)
3. Internal Analysis
a. Strategic goals/objectives
b. Company strengths and weaknesses (especially with regard to going international)
c. Entry mode (alternatives and recommendations)
d. Strategic pattern (alternatives and recommendations)
e. Organizational structure (recommendations)
f. Product/service adaptation (recommendations)
4. Implementation Issues
a. Timeline
b. Financing (e.g. funding sources, required investment levels within a timeframe)
c. HR systems (e.g. staffing policy)
d. Marketing/advertising approach
5. Conclusion
The above outline shows the main areas that should be covered. While you do not need to follow the exact wording and structure of these sections and sub-sections, I expect your proposal to include information on these topics. If there is additional material that is especially relevant to your company, product/service or country, you should include it.
In-Class Case Reviews
Every student is responsible for providing a brief, typed, 11-12 point font, stapled summary of each assigned case. For cases, briefly state the main issue(s) of the case in 1-3 sentences and them provide specific, detailed, realistic, justified recommended courses of action for the future, again in a paragraph to one page. Do not go overboard preparing the summaries. The purpose of these assignments is not to create busy-work, but to ensure that you have studied and thought about the assigned readings. These summaries will not be graded in detail. Because they merely act as evidence of preparation, they will simply be checked to determine if you have read and reflected upon the readings and can therefore provide a meaningful response in class discussion. If this is evident, you will receive an “A” for the summary. If your answer reveals you have merely skimmed the article in order to catch a few keywords to write down, you will receive an “F.” Missing summaries will also receive an “F.”
Your participation grade will reflect the degree to which you contribute to class, rather than simply whether you are physically present. Both quality and quantity of participation will be evaluated. Excellent class participation is characterized by consistently attending class and being on time, regularly contributing to class discussion, and demonstrating superior understanding and insight on the material. Good class participation is characterized by consistently attending class, arriving punctually, and contributing to class discussion, while occasionally demonstrating superior understanding and insights on the material. Average participation is characterized by consistently attending class and being punctual, occasionally contributing to discussion, and occasionally demonstrating superior understanding and insights on the material. Poor class participation is characterized by tardiness, inconsistently attending class and contributing to class discussion, and rarely demonstrating superior understanding and insights.
After each class participation will be evaluated based on the following scoring system:
|
Excellent Participation: Significant and valuable contributions (comments or questions that stimulate discussion and debate and intellectually challenge other students and/or the professor) |
5 |
|
Good Participation: Contributes to class discussion (relevant comments or questions that demonstrate some preparation) |
3 |
|
Average Participation: Present and alert (a minor comment or some other indication that the student is engaged) |
1 |
|
Poor Participation: Present but generally inattentive and/or unprepared (see below) |
0 |
|
No Participation: Absent |
minus 3 |
Integrative case Write-ups
At the end of each part of the course, an integrative case is assigned. We will be doing four of these cases, the case in part five will not be assigned. You will answer the case questions pertaining to the case using as much detail as possible to make your answer clear. The case write-ups are due on the day they appear on the schedule. Each day the paper is late a deduction of 3 points will be made from the grade. Exceptional quality is expected in the write-ups, with a cover sheet including your name and the case reviewed. Twelve point font, Arial, stapled and no grammar or spelling mistakes. Think of these as a brief to the board of directors, and your career depends on the impression you make with these briefs.
Exams
There will be four (4) exams during this course. They will consist of forty five (45) multiple choice or true/ false questions worth two (2) points each, and two (2) essay questions, worth five points each. The final is not cumulative.
The Following Policies Apply to All Students in this Course
A. Students attending the course who do not have the proper prerequisite risk being deregistered from the class.
B. Students have responsibility to ensure they are properly enrolled in classes. You are advised to review your official class schedule (using Student Tools on Flash-Line) during the first two weeks of the semester to ensure you are properly enrolled in this class and section. Should you find an error in your class schedule, you have until Sunday, Sep 11, 2011 to correct the error. If registration errors are not corrected by this date and you continue to attend and participate in classes for which you are not officially enrolled, you are advised now that you will not receive a grade at the conclusion of the semester for any class in which you are not properly registered. The last date for withdrawal from the course is Sunday, Nov 6, 2011.
C. Academic honesty: Cheating means to misrepresent the source, nature, or other conditions of your academic work (e.g., tests, papers, projects, assignments) so as to get undeserved credit. In addition, it is considered to cheating when one cooperates with someone else in any such misrepresentation. The use of the intellectual property of others without giving them appropriate credit is a serious academic offense. It is the University's policy that cheating or plagiarism result in receiving a failing grade for the work or course. Repeat offenses result in dismissal from the University.
D. Students with disabilities: University policy 3342-3-01.3 requires that students with disabilities be provided reasonable accommodations to ensure their equal access to course content. If you have a documented disability and require accommodations, please contact the instructor at the beginning of the semester to make arrangements for necessary classroom adjustments. Please note, you must first verify your eligibility for these through Student Accessibility Services (contact 330-672-3391 or visit http://www.registrars.kent.edu/disability/ for more information on registration procedures).
Graduation Application Deadlines:
May Graduation: Apply before September 15th
August Graduation: Apply before December 15th
December Graduation: Apply before March 15th
To apply for graduation complete the following steps:
1. Log onto your Flash-line account
2. Click on the Student Tools tab
3. Look in the Graduation Planning Tool Box
4. Click on Application for Graduation
**If an error message appears, you must contact your advisor.
