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Course Study Guide

2010–11

Global Business
- BUSI1357

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Contents

1. WELCOME ........................................................................................................................................ 3
2. INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE................................................................................................. 4
2.1 AIMS ........................................................................................................................................... 4

2.2 LEARNING OUTCOMES ................................................................................................................. 4

2.2.1 Knowledge and understanding of: ........................................................................................ 4

2.2.2 Intellectual Skills: .................................................................................................................. 4

2.2.3 Subject practical skills: .............................................................................................................. 5

2.2.4 Transferable skills: ................................................................................................................ 5

2.3 LEARNING AND TEACHING ACTIVITIES ............................................................................................ 5

3. CONTACT DETAILS ......................................................................................................................... 7

4. COURSE CONTENT ......................................................................................................................... 8
4.1 SESSION READING..................................................................................................................... 13

5. ASSESSMENT DETAILS ................................................................................................................ 15

5.1 SUMMARY OF ASSESSMENT ........................................................................................................ 15

5.2 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ASSESSMENT .................................................................................... 15

6. OTHER DETAILS ............................................................................................................................ 17

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1. Welcome
Welcome to study at the University of Greenwich Business School and a particular welcome to the
course Global Business (BUS1357).

This course is designed to develop core skills in both the subject area and in general postgraduate level
academic areas and although we do expect you to work hard, you should be more than rewarded by
added employability that comes from being skilled in this area.

What may you expect from this course? A number of challenges in international business will be
discussed from a business network perspective, such that you will have a clear and thorough view of
the most important aspects in doing global business. For example, how to find opportunities in global
business, how to organize global business, and how to finance global business, are questions that will
be answered. Also, if you pass the course, you will understand some pivotal mechanisms of business
networks and how they affect global business relations within and between organizations.

What is expected of you? Needless to say, it is crucial that you attend both lectures and workshops.
There is a direct correlation between failure to attend and failing the course. Also, it is expected that
you prepare work for class, and actively contribute to the off-line and on-line discussions.

This document outlines the course’s main features and provides you with the key information you
need during the course. You are always welcome to talk with me if you have any questions about the running
of this course. I would like to encourage you to use computer mediated communication as the internet; an
indispensable tool in Global Business.

Dr David Dekker

Email: d.j.dekker@gre.ac.uk

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2. Introduction to the Course
In many parts of life relations are central, not the least profoundly in doing business. In a globalized
setting, managing business relations is a great challenge. While domestic business relations are usually
embedded in an environment well-known to both parties, global business relations usually face much
more uncertainties. This course explores the antecedents and consequences and trends in doing global
business from a relational and business network perspective.

How will we do that? First, we will not stop at focusing on dyadic relations; rather great emphasis will
be put on the network that embeds global business relations. The theoretical mechanisms provided in
social network theory offers us a solid foundation to analyze, interpret and understand managerial
challenges of doing global business.

2.1 Aims
The aims of the Global Business course are to:

 provide an appreciation of key factors on which international business decisions are based;
 develop an understanding and appreciation of similarities and differences in the international
business environment;
 distinguish the imperatives underpinning international trade and foreign direct investment;
 provide an understanding of the principles of the internationalisation process and draw
implications for business management;
 develop an appreciation of the key components of the operations and other functions employed
by commercial organizations in pursuing or planning international business initiatives;
 challenge students to consider the impact of organisation and leadership on the global reach of
business.

2.2 Learning Outcomes

2.2.1 Knowledge and understanding of:
 differences in national business environments
 environmental scanning
 international trade
 the process of internationalisation
 foreign direct investment
 market entry
 organisation of international business
 global production, outsourcing and logistics
 international marketing
 international human resource management
 the finance of international trade and investment transactions

2.2.2 Intellectual Skills:

 reflect on and debate contemporary theory relating to the execution and the integration of
international in a range of organisational models

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 present coherent argument in support of an intellectual position.
 synthesise information and theory from a range of sources.
B1 Breadth of outlook

 The effect of national differences on business operations

 The internalisation process and its strategic embededness
 The strategic role of operations and other functions in creating sustainable competitive advantage
 How a global perspective in strategic planning and resource investment shape the modern enterprise.
B2 Wisdom

 Appreciate the relationship of leadership to business organisation

 Autonomous and independent learning.
 Work effectively and cooperatively with colleagues
 To consider ethical dimensions of international business.
B3 Personal effectiveness

 Assume responsibility for independent research and learning.

 Present persuasively, debate verbally, and present ideas in writing and graphically.
 Manage collaborative learning relationships with peers and academic staff.

2.2.3 Subject practical skills:

 Understand international environment and environmental scanning techniques
 Develop and build appropriate operational links and other functions that provide competitive advantage in
a company’s markets.

2.2.4 Transferable skills:

2.3 Learning and teaching activities

A Knowledge and understanding, via:

 Lectures, tutorials, directed and self-managed reading, research activities.

B Intellectual skills

 Analysis and comparison of key theory and practice presented in text chapters, related articles
and contemporary case studies.
 Debate and appreciate interpretations and applications of academic theory and practice.
B1 Breadth of outlook

 Lectures, tutorials, self-directed learning and research, feedback from tutors

B2 Wisdom

 Lectures, tutorials, case studies, expert opinion and professional journals.

 On-line discussion with practitioners and primary research.
B3 Personal effectiveness

 Preparation and presentation of case study and other directed assignments and tutorial activities
 Participation in tutorials

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C Subject specific skills

 Research across a range of sources

 Presentations and coursework.

D Transferable skills

D1 Critical thinking

 Case study analysis, debate and presentation of findings.

 Review and assessment of the content of key journal articles and text chapters.
 Tutorial activities, group discussions and courseworks.
D2 Information management

 Development of ITC and database management skills

 Application of research skills.
D3 Communication skills

 Discussion and presentation skills with peer groups.

 Preparation for oral and visual presentations and coursework.

Mapping of teaching, learning and assessment activities and learning outcomes

Assessment A B1 B2 B3 C D1 D2 D3

activities

Lectures √ √ √

Tutorials √ √ √ √ √ √ √

Presentations √ √ √ √

Assignment √ √ √ √ √ √ √

Examination √ √ √

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3. Contact Details

Room Email address Phone number

Course Leader

David Dekker QA359 d.j.dekker@gre.ac.uk 0208 331 9623

Tutors

Young-Chan Kim QM166 Y.Kim@greenwich.ac.uk 0208 331 9076

Michael Wyn-Williams QM163 M.Wynn-Williams@greenwich.ac.uk 0208 331 8920

Paola Tubaro QA359 P.Tubaro@greenwich.ac.uk 0208 331 9625

Admin Programme Coordinator

Alex Kubit-Hope QM245 Ka77@gre.ac.uk 0208 331 9840

Please see your programme handbook for more detail

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4. Module Details
MODULE 1: Course Introduction

LEARNING OUTCOME for this module:

Student will be able to:

 Understand the aims of the course
 Understand how the course relates to other courses at this stage of the programme
and other stages

 Understand the assessment requirements

 Understand International Business and Trade

 Understand the Role of Interlocking Directorates for organizations

EVIDENCE:
Reflective thinking, Building arguments, Presenting Hypotheses, Participation to debates and discussions,
Applying conceptual models

ACTIVITY:

Week Wk Session Title and Description Staff member

beginning associated

27-Sep-10 2 Lecture Foundations of International Business

Seminar Initial meetings, group allocation
Self- CH 1 – 3 Textbook
Study
WebCT Initial posting as described in evidence and discourse
4-Oct-10 3 Lecture
International Business and Trade
Seminar A Business Case on Porter’s Diamond Model
Self- Frans A. J. Van Den Bosch and Arno A. Van Prooijen, 1992
Study
Robert M. Grant , 2006
Howard Davies, 2000.

WebCT Discussion: Why should we use Porter’s Diamond

Model? Building an argument
11-Oct-10 4 Lecture Interlocking Directorates
Seminar Discussion: What are the strengths and weaknesses of
Interlocking Directorates for Global Business relations?
Developping hypotheses.
Self- Mizruchi, Mark and Christopher Marquis, 2006.
Study
Kees van Veen and Janine Elbertsen, 2008.
Mattei Dogan, 2003.
WebCT Presenting hypotheses.

RESOURCES:

Course Handbook, Course Textbook: Ch 1-4, Slides: Available in advance on WebCt, Further
Readings: Accesible on WebCt

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DISCOURSE: Participation to class debates and group activities and /or contribution to an
online discussion on the WebCt discussion board.

TOPIC 2: THE ENVIRONMENT OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

LEARNING OUTCOME for this module:

Student will be able to:

 Understand the role of National Cultures

 Understand the concept of a clique
 Understand how cliques produce culture
 Apply SNT concepts to Global Business Networks
 Appreciate the importance of social network theory to understand global business
 Experience with building and presenting hypotheses

EVIDENCE: Reflective thinking, Building arguments, Presenting Hypotheses, Participation to debates and
discussions, Applying conceptual models

ACTIVITY:

Week Wk Session Title and Description Staff member

beginning associated

18-Oct-10 5 Lecture National Cultures

Seminar The role of leadership in developing culture. (Ch. In
Schein 1992)
Self- Ch. 5 - 7
Study
WebCT Discussion about CH. 5
25-Oct-10 6 Lecture Culture and Structure in Business Networks
Seminar Trust game
Self- Grannovetter 1985
Study
Uzzi 1996
WebCT What is the effect of cliques in global business
relationships?
1-Nov-10 7 Lecture Other Environmental Factors
Seminar What is the effect of Interlocking directorates on FDI?
Self- Ch. 8 - 10
Study
WebCT Present hypotheses

RESOURCES: Course Handbook, Course Textbook: Ch 5-10, Slides: Available in advance on

WebCt, Further Readings: Accesible on WebCt

DISCOURSE: Participation to class debates and group activities and /or contribution to an
online discussion on the WebCt discussion board.

TOPIC 3: Taking Opportunities in Global Business

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LEARNING OUTCOME for this module:

Student will be able to:

 Understand strategy and opportunity assessment

 Show skill of assessing strategy and opportunity in international business
 Understand factors relevant for operational choices with strategic impact
 Show skill in developing hypotheses
 Show skill in presenting hypotheses

EVIDENCE: Reflective thinking, Building arguments, Presenting Hypotheses, Participation to debates and
discussions, Applying conceptual models

ACTIVITY:

Week Session Title and Description Staff member

beginning associated

8- Nov -10 8 Lecture Strategy and Opportunity Assessment for

International Business
Seminar Case study
Self- Ch. 11 - 12
Study
WebCT
Discussion on case study
15- Nov -10 9 Lecture Brokerage Advantages in Global Business
Seminar Doing the Math: Choosing where to produce; Choosing
whom to deliver.
Self- Ron Burt, 2005.”Closure and Brokerage”,Ch.1.
Study
James E. Rauch, 2001."
WebCT Present hypotheses.

RESOURCES: Course Handbook, Course Textbook: Ch 11-12, Slides: Available in advance on

WebCt, Further Readings: Accesible on WebCt

DISCOURSE: Participation to class debates and group activities and /or contribution to an
online discussion on the WebCt discussion board.

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TOPIC 4: Presenting students’ research

LEARNING OUTCOME for this module:

Student will be able to:

 Present their research in a poster session

 Exchange ideas with other students and engage in peer learning
 Improve transferable skills

EVIDENCE: The poster session is part of the summative assessment.

ACTIVITY:

Week Wk Session Title and Description Staff member

beginning associated

22-Nov-10 10 Lecture Poster session – Summative Assessment

Seminar Poster session – Summative Assessment
Self- Reflection on poster presentation session; Reading
Study
textbook’s chapters, lecture slides and further readings
WebCT Online debate in preparation for paper discussion

RESOURCES: Students’posters.

DISCOURSE: Participation to class debates and group activities and /or contribution to an
online discussion on the WebCt discussion board.

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TOPIC 5: Doing Global Business

LEARNING OUTCOME for this module:

Student will be able to:

 Understand different market entery modes

 Understand the effects of globalization on supplu chain governance
 Understand the ideosyncracies of international finance, marketing and HRM

EVIDENCE: Reflective thinking, Building arguments, Presenting Hypotheses, Participation to debates and
discussions, Applying conceptual models

ACTIVITY:

Week Wk Session Title and Description Staff member

beginning associated

29-Nov-10 11 Lecture Market Entry

Seminar What is the effect of Interlocking directorates on FDI?
Hypotheses formation
Self- Ch. 13 - 16
Study
WebCT Present hypotheses
6- Dec -10 12 Lecture International Supply Chains
Seminar Paper discussion
Self- Corrado Cerruti and Emanuela Delbufalo, 2010.
Study
WebCT
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the paper?
12- Dec -10 13 Lecture Tactics and Operations
Seminar Case Study: Zara
Self- Ch. 17 - 19
Study
WebCT Online debate on overall course.
Winter Break 20 December – 7 January

RESOURCES: Course Handbook, Course Textbook: Ch 13-19, Slides: Available in advance on

WebCt, Further Readings: Accesible on WebCt

DISCOURSE: Participation to class debates and group activities and /or contribution to an
online discussion on the WebCt discussion board.

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4.1 Session Reading
The course will use one textbook properly designed to meet requirement of the course. Therefore all
students are strongly encouraged to have a copy of the textbook; all the case studies discussed during
tutorials will be taken either from the course textbook or supplied through WebCt. Students need to
come to the tutorial having read the case study in advance.

Reference Key aspects to consider

S. Tamer Cavusgil; Gary Knight; John R. Riesenberger, 2008.
International Business: Strategy, Management, and the New
Realities. Pearson.

Frans A. J. Van Den Bosch and Arno A. Van Prooijen, Week 3

1992."The competitive advantage of European nations: The
impact of national culture — a missing element in porter's
analysis?", European Management Journal, Volume 10, Issue
2, Pages 173-177.

Robert M. Grant , 2006."Porter's competitive advantage of

nations: An assessment", Strategic Management Journal,
Volume 12 Issue 7, Pages 535 – 548

Howard Davies, 2000. “Porter's "Competitive Advantage Of

Nations": Time For The Final Judgement?”, Journal of
Management Studies, Volume (Year): 37 (2000), Issue
(Month): 8 (December), Pages: 1189-1214.
Mizruchi, Mark and Christopher Marquis. "Interlocking Week 4
Directorates." In International Encyclopedia of Economic
Sociology, edited by Jens Beckert and Milan Zafirovski, 375-
377. London: Routledge, 2006.

Kees van Veen and Janine Elbertsen, 2008. “Governance

Regimes and Nationality Diversity in Corporate Boards: A
Comparative Study of Germany, the Netherlands and the
United Kingdom”,
Corporate Governance, Volume 16, Number 5, September
2008 , pp. 386-399(14).

Mattei Dogan, 2003. “Introduction: Diversity of Elite

Configurations and Clusters of Power”, Comparative
Sociology, Volume 2, Number 1, 2003 , pp. 1-15(15)

Mark Granovetter, 1985. “Economic Action and Social Week 6

Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness” American Jorunal
of Sociology, Volume 91 Number 3: 481

Brian Uzzi, 1997.”Social Structure and Competition in

Interfirm Networks: The Paradox of Embeddedness”
Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 42, 1997
Ron Burt, 2005.”Closure and Brokerage”,Ch.1. Week 9
James E. Rauch, 2001."Business and Social Networks in
International Trade" Journal of Economic Literature, Vol.
XXXIX, pp.1177-1203
Corrado Cerruti and Emanuela Delbufalo, 2010. “International Week 12
sourcing effectiveness in the fashion industry: the experience
of Italian industrial districts”, International Journal of

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Globalisation and Small Business, Volume 3, Number 4, 18
March 2010 , pp. 427-440(14)

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5. Assessment Details
5.1 Summary of assessment
Complete a tabula representation such as the example below

Assessment Title Weight Pass Length Due Date Return Header

towards Mark Date Sheet #
final grade
A. Presentation 50%
A1. Group poster 50% 1m X 1m Week 10 N/A
presentation
A2. Individual review 50% 3rd December January
50%
on poster 2010 3:00PM 2011
overall
presentations
Take home exam 50% Max. 2,500 24 hours after
words 16th December
2010 3:00PM

5.2 Detailed description of assessment

The assessment is split up in parts A and B. The first part (A) is split in two; a presentation (A1) and a
review of other presentations (A2). Aim of the first part (A1) is to develop the skill of giving an
coherent and audience-focussed presentation based on a rigorous review of what is known about the
topic you present in the appropriate literature. Note that this skill will help you later in promoting your
organization’s activities, your self at job interviews, your business idea for investors, etc. In the process
you will have to learn a lot about the topic and accident topics.

More specifically, it is expected that in a group you will prepare a poster presentation, in which you
present an argument that results in 3 hypotheses on a topic discussed in classes 4, 7, and/or 9. The
presentation should show why the hypotheses are important and what research question they are to
answer, be explicit about the sources used to build the argument and be indicative about how these
hypotheses could be tested.

Marks allocated to Criteria

criteria:
20% Focus
Does the presentation set up a clear research question to address? Does
the presentation stay within and fulfil the topic parameters?
30% Synthesis
Does the presentation bring together the literature in a significant manner
that addresses a research question?
30% Soundness
Does the presentation indicate a comprehensive understanding of the topic
area and literature discussed?
20% Clarity of structure
Is the presentation well organised and logically constructed to achieve
synthesis while being mindful of the needs of the audience?

Part A2 assesses your individual skill of giving positive critisms. Each student makes an individual
assessment of an assigned presentation. The aim is to find explicit grounds for improvement in the
presentations of others by highlighting the strengths, and suggesting how weaker points could be

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improved. The assessment gives you the opportunity to motivate others to improve on what they are
doing. Also, this places you in the seat of an assessor and will hence improve your understanding of
how assessors evaluate your own work. It will require that you have substantive knowledge on the
topic of the presentation, and understand structure and flow of the presentation. The assessment
should be emailed to d.j.dekker@gre.ac.uk before the deadline expires. The subject header should
read: BUS1357 1011 ASMT [YOUR NAME] [YOUR BANNERID]. The submitted document has to be a pdf-
file with the same name as the subject header in the email.

Marks allocated to Criteria

criteria:
30% Developping assessment criteria Is the evaluation grounded on explicit
assessment criteria?
20% Indentifying strengths and weaknesses Does the assessment identify
proper strengths and weakness?
20% Suggested Improvements Does the assessment suggests measurable
improvements?
30% Communication of improvements Is the assessment motivating?

The second part of the assessment is a take-home exam (50% of final grade), which should be emailed
to d.j.dekker@gre.ac.uk within 24 hours after it has become available on WebCt. The subject header
should read: BUS1357 1011 TKHE [YOUR NAME] [YOUR BANNERID]. The submitted document has to
be a pdf-file with the same name as the subject header in the email. In preparation to this exam you
have to study all course materials and map out all the literature discussed during the course. The exam
will cover 4 essay questions on different topics discussed during the course. Points will be allocated on
the framing of the answer in the appropriate literature, interpretation of the literature and
argumentation. The point distribution is equal over the questions; each question will count for 25% of
the final grade. Questions can be divided into sub-questions.

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6. Other Details
The majority of information relevant to you while you study at the University has been brought
together into your programme handbook. Please refer to your programme handbook for any further
information you might require including methods of submitting assignments, advice and
administrative procedures.

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