GRA 6853 Doing Business in and with China
GRA 6853 Doing Business in and with China
Maximum number of students: 60
Introduction
China is one of the two largest economies in the world in terms of both GDP and population and is also one of the fastest growing economies in the world. As such, developing an understanding of how to do business in or with China is no longer an option for many firms but a necessity. Developing knowledge about China is especially useful for firms based in smaller countries like Norway which naturally tend to look beyond Norway’s borders to gain ample economies of scale. As such, China is clearly a very important market for managers to understand. However, China is also a country that is quite different from Norway and other Western countries more broadly and has proven perplexing and hard for many mangers to understand. This course seeks to help participants to develop an understanding of how to do business in and with China effectively and efficiently and provides participants a comparative advantage as a result. The course will also discuss how to deal with the fact that China is quite diverse and rapidly changing, and especially the role of the state and the institutional structures in implementing policies related to innovation, entrepreneurship and globalization and their impact. For example, the course will discuss the Chinese government’s push to change from being the factory of the world just focusing on producing products to also having much innovation done in China, and the implication of this for companies in China and beyond.
The course explores a wide range of issues relating to how to do business in and with China. Broadly speaking the course focuses on what management practices and strategies work best in China. The course also highlights that China is a large and diverse country and that people, firms, and the situations they are in differ greatly and need to be taken into account. The importance of considering the context and specifics of any situation will be stressed in the course--a one size fits all approach is not possible to doing business with China. The course aims to move beyond simply teaching content to helping students understand how they can apply the content they have learned.
After taking the course, students should have developed knowledge about:
- How technological, economic, political discourses affect doing business in or with China
- How institutional context affect business activity
- Opportunities and challenges from the perspectives of a manager on how to develop cooperative processes
- The perceived risks and opportunities that a manager can encounter in a new context
- How to negotiate effectively with Chinese
- What management practices work best in China
- What leadership styles work best in China
- What entry strategies work best in China
- What business strategies work best in China
- What strategies and management practices are commonly used by Chinese firms as they internationalize
- What are Chinese firms and the Chinese government doing in terms of becoming more ecologically friendly and what opportunities does this present for collaboration with Nordic firms
After taking this course, students should have developed the skills needed to:
- Be able to analyze a business opportunity and suggest how it can be adapted to the Chinese context
- Be a more effective leader in China
- Analyze situations and suggest which entry mode will work best for entering China
- Recommend management practices which work well in China
- Recommend strategies which work well in China
After taking the course students should have acquired the ability to:
- Understand contextual factors affecting business decisions
- Make a consulting style presentation
- Undertake a consulting-style project for a real firm
- Think innovatively
- Think analytically
The course will focus on:
- How technological, economic, political discourses affect doing business in or with China
- How institutional context affect business activity
- Opportunities and challenges from the perspectives of a manager on how to develop cooperative processes
- The perceived risks and opportunities that a manager can encounter in a new context
- How to negotiate effectively with Chinese
- What management practices work best in China
- What leadership styles work best in China
- What entry strategies work best in China
- What business strategies work best in China
- What strategies and management practices are commonly used by Chinese firms as they internationalize
- What are Chinese firms and the Chinese government doing in terms of becoming more ecologically friendly and what opportunities does this present for collaboration with Nordic firms
The course is practically focused. The course consists of diverse teaching methods including lectures, discussions, cases, simulations, a live case, guest lectures by senior executives, etc. The course is highly interactive. Class attendance and active participation is highly encouraged and much learning which will be useful for the graded elements of the course is gained via preparing for, attending, and actively taking part in class.
Additional information on the exams
The course has two exams: An individual report (40% of the total grade) and a group presentation (60% of the total grade). The group presentation is based on doing a consulting-type project based on a live case or research-based case. For the live case, the professor will find one or several companies wanting to enter or already operating in China, with one or several challenges they want advice on. This issue(s) will be presented by an executive from the firm in class early in the term. Students will then work in groups during the term to address this issue(s) like a consulting project, which provides students a chance to apply learnings from the course. Student groups of 3-5 students will undertake these projects and make presentations where they will report their analysis and recommendations for the live case. The group presentations will be jointly evaluated by a professor and an executive from the live case firm. The professor could choose to use a research-based case for the exam where either the professor would provide a written case to be analyzed or students would be asked to find a company entering and working in China which meets certain criteria and make an analysis about that. This would still be done in groups of 3-5 students and the evaluation would still be done via an oral presentation which two faculty would evaluate. The group presentations are likely to take place virtually via Zoom. The live case/case will help students understand and practice applying learnings from the course in practice. If a live case is used there will be an opportunity for each student group to meet with an instructor twice during the course for 45 minutes to ask questions and get feedback on their live case project in addition to being able to ask questions at other times.
Timing
The course will take place in the second half of the Fall term to allow students doing internships and other activities in the first part of the term to fully take part.
Who Can Take the Course
We welcome students of any nationality to take the course. Previously discussions in the course have benefitted from having Norwegian, Chinese, and people of many other nationalities take the course. We also welcome any BI master's student who is eligible to take the course. We also warmly welcome exchange and double degree students to take the course.
The course will not start before mid-October in 2025 due to the timing of student internships and exchange.
Due to its highly interactive nature, course enrollment is limited to 60 students. It is unlikely more than 60 students will sign up. If more than 60 students apply to take the course, preference will be given to students who are doing MSc in Business - major in strategy followed by students who have Chinese as their native language (as these students are helpful for discussions in the course), followed by students of any other major or exchange students. If more students in one category than can be accepted apply for the course then students will be accepted on a first to sign up basis.
Exchange students are especially welcomed to take this course.
It is also worth noting that the course may be useful for students who will go on exchange to China/Asia to take before they go on exchange.
Key strengths of this course are: a) the interactive nature of the course, b) the diverse teaching methodologies used, c) that content is taught in ways that it can be applied in firms, and d) the course’s project-based approach to learning using a live case.
All courses in the Masters programme will assume that students have fulfilled the admission requirements for the programme. In addition, courses in second, third and/or fourth semester can have specific prerequisites and will assume that students have followed normal study progression. For double degree and exchange students, please note that equivalent courses are accepted.
Disclaimer
Deviations in teaching and exams may occur if external conditions or unforeseen events call for this.
| Assessments |
|---|
Exam category: Submission Form of assessment: Submission PDF Exam/hand-in semester: First Semester Weight: 40 Grouping: Individual Duration: 1 Semester(s) Comment: Individual report. Please see the section "Teaching and Learning Activities" for more details on the exams. Exam code: GRA 68531 Grading scale: ECTS Resit: Examination when next scheduled course |
Exam category: Activity, Oral Form of assessment: Presentation Exam/hand-in semester: First Semester Weight: 60 Grouping: Group (3 - 5) Comment: Group presentation based on doing a consulting-type project based on a live case or research-based case. Please see the section "Teaching and Learning Activities" for more details on the exams. Exam code: GRA 68532 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 | 24 Hour(s) | Lectures |
Digital resources | 12 Hour(s) | |
Student's own work with learning resources | 124 Hour(s) |
A course of 1 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of 26-30 hours. Therefore a course of 6 ECTS credits corresponds to a workload of at least 160 hours.
