BST 2413 International Business
BST 2413 International Business
This course prepares students for working in an international business environment. The course addresses critical macro level factors in the environment and meso level factors in the organization that are fundamental for a manager to be competent in international business. This course will give students knowledge of the institutional, organizational and interpersonal factors and challenges that are critical to successful international business.
International Business is about firms engaging in cross-border economic activities or doing business abroad. International Business is an integrative perspective that draws on several functional areas of management including Strategy, Leadership, and Human Resource Management.
The course begins with an overview of the global business environment and introduces the international organization and key decisions managers have to face when going international. The environmental and organizational context will provide the backdrop for an in-depth analysis of culture and management. Special focus will be placed on the cross-cultural management, global leadership and international human resource management. Strategy and structure of the international business organization will also be discussed. Students will have the opportunity to develop their skill sets based on their knowledge of culture and management to be effective negotiators and team players. The course is built on a research-based foundation, and uses practical cases where different perspectives can be used to solve the cases, depending on the students’ academic backgrounds.
The overall objective of this specialization is to provide students with knowledge of the international business environment and how to manage international and global companies, and culturally diverse employees.
After having completed the course, students should have acquired knowledge of central factors in international business - on the macro-, meso-, and micro-level. In particular they should have knowledge of the national differences in the international business environment, firms’ strategies for serving foreign markets and engaging in global competition, as well as culture's consequences for leadership, HRM, and negotiations.
The students will be able to apply core models and concepts to practical situations. They should develop skills in managing a diverse workforce as well as negotiating across cultures.
The students should be able to reflect on the meaning of culture and culture's impact on people's expectations and perceptions of management. They should also be able to reflect on the effects of globalization (negative as well as positive) and to see how a changing world impacts business both at the macro and the micro levels.
The course content will be structured like below.
- Introduction to globalizing business
- Conceptualizing and understanding cultures
- Intercultural communication and negotiation
- Leading across or within cultures
- Managing workforce diversity and global HRM
- Firm competitiveness and international expansion
- Globalization and global competition
- Strategy and organization of global firms
- Summary & integration
The course consists of 75 teaching hours and 15 hours for tutoring and administration of learning process. For the total 75 teaching hours, 2/3 of them (50 hours) will be delivered in a synchronous fashion; the remaining 1/3 (25 hours) are asynchronous, which includes recommended videos or readings as well as other asynchronous learning materials.
The learning process emphasizes a mix of lectures, interactions and group activities, weekly assignments, student presentations, analysis of cases of business decisions and management challenges. Active participation and involvement in class is expected. Information regarding student evaluation will be provided in class.
A re-sit is held at the next scheduled exam in the course.
Two years of college education in economics and business administration, marketing or equivalent is required for taking the course.
Disclaimer
Deviations in teaching and exams may occur if external conditions or unforeseen events call for this.
As a minimum the basic course in statistics MET 3431 Statistics or MET 2920 Statistics.
| Assessments |
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Exam category: Submission Form of assessment: Written submission Weight: 40 Grouping: Group/Individual (1 - 3) Duration: 1 Semester(s) Comment: Biweekly learning journal. Every other week, you write a report to reflect on (a) what learning activities you have participated in, (b) which part of the content you found particularly helpful or interesting, and (c) how the newly acquired knowledge have changed your views of international business or themselves. Exam code: BST 24131 Grading scale: ECTS Resit: Examination when next scheduled course |
Exam category: Activity Form of assessment: Presentation and discussion Grouping: Group/Individual (1 - 3) Duration: 1 Semester(s) Comment: "Carry-the-class" group assignment. There will be 3-4 cases for in-class discussion. For each case, two groups will be assigned to "carry the class" by leading the discussion and providing feedback for each other. The assigned groups need to be prepared in advance. Each group will take charge of the case study twice. Exam code: BST 24132 Grading scale: Pass/fail Resit: Examination when next scheduled course |
Exam category: Activity Form of assessment: Presentation and discussion Grouping: Group/Individual (1 - 3) Duration: 1 Semester(s) Comment: "Carry-the-class" group assignment. There will be 3-4 cases for in-class discussion. For each case, two groups will be assigned to "carry the class" by leading the discussion and providing feedback for each other. The assigned groups need to be prepared in advance. Each group will take charge of the case study twice. Exam code: BST 24133 Grading scale: Pass/fail Resit: Examination when next scheduled course |
Exam category: Submission Form of assessment: Written submission Weight: 60 Grouping: Individual Duration: 5 Hour(s) Comment: Individual take-home exami (digitally) Exam code: BST24134 Grading scale: ECTS Resit: Examination when next scheduled course |
All exams must be passed to get a grade in this course.
| Activity | Duration | Comment |
|---|---|---|
Teaching | 75 Hour(s) | |
Student's own work with learning resources | 150 Hour(s) | |
Group work / Assignments | 130 Hour(s) | |
Examination | 45 Hour(s) |
A course of 1 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of 26-30 hours. Therefore a course of 15 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of at least 400 hours.