44163-002-003-900 Spring 2013 Smas
SYLLABUS
GLOBAL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT – WRITNG INTENSIVE
M&IS 44163
SPRING 2013 / PROFESSOR JIM SMAS
T / 5:30 – 8:15 PM
HOURS: T / 4:00 – 5:00 PM
OFFICE: BSA A415
PHONE: 330-672-1155
EMAIL: mjsmas@kent.edu
|
SECTION |
CALL NO. |
DAY / TIME |
ROOM NO. |
|
002 |
15581 |
M 5:30--8:15 PM |
SATTERFIELD 121 |
|
003 |
15582 |
T 5:30 – 8:15 PM |
A311 |
|
900 |
15586 |
T 5:30 – 8:15 PM |
LORAIN TBA |
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 on my schedule. Thus, it is the student’s responsibility to know when these exams are scheduled. You will not be able to take a make-up on the final. Please do not come to me with plans for your vacation trip which compromises the final. I will not allow it.
NOTE: The instructor will be happy to acknowledge email inquiries for anything not listed on the schedule or the syllabus. If you haven’t been to class for a while, do not email me for information that has been passed out in class or is available through other sources.
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
- Understand and assess the drivers and consequences of globalization, its impact on specific regions, and the emerging concerns about its influences on countries around the world
- Compare and contrast different political, legal, and economic systems and technological forces and their impact on international management
- Understand and appreciate the need for ethics and social responsibility in international management, and the growing pressures on firms to act in an ethically and socially responsible manner in their global business operations
- Describe and apply the concept of “national culture” and, using the typologies of Hofstede and Trompenaars, explain how the culture of one group of people can be distinguished from that of another, and the implications of these differences for international management
- Explain and understand the challenges of managing across cultures
- Understand the relationship between national culture and organizational culture, integrate those concepts within the context of international management decision-making, and appreciate the challenges of diversity in the modern work environment
- Describe the challenges to and apply the most important elements of effective cross-cultural negotiation and communication
- Integrate and apply the basic elements of international strategic management, including the pressures and cost/benefits of strategies that emphasize global integration versus local adaptation; describe the specialized strategies required for emerging economies and for international new ventures
- Compare and contrast the modes of entry and the basic choices for organizing firms involved in international business and describe the conditions under which specific entry modes and organizational structure are most effective
- Describe methods used to analyze and assess political risk and how MNCs apply those methods as they attempt to manage the level of political risk in developed and developing countries, appreciate the broader efforts firms make to manage their relations with host governments, and discuss the various options for managing alliances and joint ventures, especially those in which host governments are involved
- Explain and apply the mechanisms for ensuring effective control and decision-making in international organizations
- Understand the tools and techniques used to provide motivation and incentives for employees across cultures, including compensation, benefits, work teams, and other approaches
- Understand the importance of leadership to international management, including the role of different leadership types and practices and the importance of entrepreneurial and ethical and socially responsible leadership
- Understand and describe the practices for recruiting, selecting, training and deploying employees internationally, including the challenges of expatriate placement and repatriation
REQUIRED TEXT
International Management, 8e, Fred Luthans and Jonathan Doh, McGraw Hill Irwin, 2009.\
ISBN: 978-0-07-8112257-7
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:
= 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 ( 2 @ 100 pt.) 200 pt.
2. Case Write Ups (3 @ 150 pt) 450 pt.
3. Team Country Reviews 100 pt
4. Participation in case reviews 100 pt.
5. Final project 150 pt.
Total points 1000 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 February 4 or 5th. 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. Your final report will be a typewritten proposal and a power point presentation to made on the last day of class.
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)
4. Implementation Issues
a. Timeline
b. HR systems (e.g. staffing policy)
c. 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. We are more concerned with the cultural and country specific issues than we are with the specific marketing and product issues.
In-Class Case Reviews
There are two parts to this grade. The first is you attendance at case reviews. This will be exemplified by your turning in the write up of the case questions during the in-class review. The second is the quality of your responses to the case questions and other participation as the case progresses. Each part is worth fifty points.
Integrative case Write-ups
We will be doing three of these cases, as assigned in the schedule of classes. 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 two (2) exams during this course. They will be case based exams and will be open book, open notes and most likely take home.
CLICK HERE FOR 003 & 900 SCHEDULE
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, January 27, 2013 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.
C. For Spring 2013, the course withdrawal deadline is Sunday, March 17, 2013.
D. 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.
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).
E. 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.
