International Trade Simulation
International Trade Simulation
Professor Lee
Fall 2011
4 credits
Room 310
Description
This is the first interactive simulation course for American and Chinese students
of international trade. American and Chinese students simultaneously participate in
simulated trade transactions with one another. Using a web-based software program
and materials designed just for this course, students will play the role of simulated
companies in their respective countries who are seeking to trade goods between China
and the United States. Nowhere else in the American law school curriculum are
students better prepared to bridge the cultural divide between the business worlds of
China and the United States.
Professor Lee's Office Hours and Contact Information
I follow an open-door policy, which means you should feel free to stop by my
office, Room 216, anytime to discuss the course material. My time from 10:00 to
11:00am Mondays and Thursdays is reserved just to talk with students in my office. I
am also happy to discuss the course material with you in the classroom immediately
after class. If you prefer, make an appointment with me in advance. My phone
number is 644-3833, my e-mail address is tlee@law.fsu.edu,
Course materials
You will use 1) a manual containing the information on international trade
transactions that will help you through each step of an international trade transaction
with a Chinese partner, and 2) a personal computer with software that you will need to
access our internet environment. Skype and instant messaging software are
recommended. Our tech staff will help you install what you don’t already have.
Format and Objectives
Both classroom-based and electronic formats are used. Students at both the
FSU College of Law and the Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade (SIFT) log onto the
program regularly to receive news about trading opportunities and to perform tasks
outlined in the program that advance their trades. Guidance is provided in introductory
lectures and demonstrations, a manual available on our electronic blackboard, and
hours each week of supervised trading and question-and-answer sessions. Students
negotiate in live video sessions and with instant message, Skype or email. Students
will also regularly maintain online records of their company’s transactions, in order to
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track the results of their deals and what they have learned about international trade and
Chinese business culture.
A primary objective of the course is to help you learn how to conduct an
international trade transaction. To that end, we will take a hands-on approach.
Through simulations accessible in a specially-designed internet environment, you will
perform all the major tasks of actual international trade transactions, including 1) finding
a seller in China of a good you want to buy, 2) negotiating the terms of the purchase, 3)
arranging for financing, shipping, and insurance, and 4) keeping track of the financial
effects of the transaction on your company. We also emphasize a problem-solving
approach. You will learn to identify risks and challenges and how to develop strategies
to solve them.
Another objective of the course is to introduce you to future clients and contacts.
SIFT’s students will soon staff China’s vast bureaucracy for regulating foreign trade
and China’s most important companies which engage in foreign trade. You will not
only meet them through this course, you will get to know them through weekly contact
with them and learn how to engage them effectively. Once you complete the course,
you will be given access to a website (http://www.itsclub.org/en/) just for alums of ITS.
Building such relationships is of crucial importance to international business lawyers.
Communications between FSU and SIFT students, and between students and
teachers, can occur anytime, via email, instant messaging, or SKYPE. During these
conversations you can promote your company, ask questions, converse about their
respective legal and business cultures, and collaboratively solve problems that typically
crop up in international trade transactions and in Sino-American business transactions.
In addition, five three-hour sessions for live, video negotiations between the
companies will be held, and the entire teaching team of FSU and SIFT professors will
co-teach several classes at FSU.
Training will occupy the class meetings during the first three weeks. Once the
simulation program is up and running, you will meet each week with one or more of the
professors in the teaching team. In private and group meetings, the week’s
transactions can be discussed and any problems that you share will be analyzed and
solved.
Each company will prepare three reports that summarize key information about
its trades. The first two are short and describe the company’s trading during the first
third and then the second third of the simulation. The final operational report, which
will also be summarizes all the trading done by each company, including financial
information, a template for which will be distributed to each company. The preliminary
report will form the basis of the final operational report.
Grading and Requirements
Your grade in the course is calculated by combining the following grades as
follows: Quizzes 5% (2.5 points each); Professionalism 35% (Market awareness and
sensitivity 10%, Communication skills 10%, Negotiation skills 5%, Operation accuracy
10%); Profitability 40% (Total sales 10%, Gross profit 10%, Number of completed
transactions 10%, Number of contracted transactions 10%); Degree of activity in the
simulation 5%, Written reports (two mini written reports and final operational summary)
15%. The points earned for the quizzes are awarded to students as individuals, while
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the rest of the points are awarded to students as companies registered in the
simulation.
You also have the chance to earn an ITS Certificate which signals your
successful performance in the ITS simulation. To be awarded this Certificate, all you
need to do is dedicate yourself to the simulation and perform at or above the average
standard. If your performance is among the best in the class, you will be awarded a
“Certificate of Excellence” in lieu of the regular Certificate. The best company will, in
addition, earn a special award which will be displayed at the FSU College of Law.
Your first requirement is to take two quizzes on the training materials. At later
dates specified below, you are required to email to Professor Lee two partial reports of
1-2 pages in length and to drop in our electronic drop box a hard copy of a final
operational summary by 3pm on Dec. 9. Each of these reports should summarize your
efforts and results, the challenges you encountered and the strategies you used to
overcome them, with respect to each of the categories you are graded on, as listed
above. You are also required to participate in two live, video negotiations. These
negotiations will be closed to other students and remain confidential in order to protect
your company’s strategies. Professors Lee, Cheng, or Tan will give you immediate
feedback on these sessions. The final requirement is to give an oral summary of your
company’s operations during the final weeks of the semester, as indicated below.
Failure to complete any of these requirements leads to a grade of F for that portion of
your final grade.
Attendance
What we do in class is crucial to your achieving the goals of the course. For
this reason, and in order to comply with the attendance policy of the Florida State
University College of Law, you are expected to attend and participate in each class
meeting. As the school’s by-laws provide, missing 20 percent or more of our class
meetings automatically leads to a failing grade.
Class meetings
Training sessions on how to use the simulation software program are scheduled
during the first four weeks on Mondays and Thursdays from 3 to 4:50pm. For the final
eleven weeks of the semester, you will have access to the program 24/7 to do your
simulated trades. During this period, you will be able to log on to the simulated trading
environment to perform the steps in your trades and receive crucial news about bids,
offers, and the fate of your shipments. You can negotiate your trades anytime without
logging into the simulation platform. In addition, and to accommodate the 12-hour time
difference between Shanghai and Tallahassee, six joint, live sessions will be held with
our counterparts at SIFT.
August 29, Monday 3-4:50pm
Intro to the course; go over syllabus and overview of the operation manual; specifics on
how to establish a trading company. Training, including lecture on international trade,
Sino-American trade, and the Chinese bureaucracy and regulations for imports and
exports; overview of the simulation software; online sign-ups for trading companies.
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September 1, Thursday 3-4:50pm
Training continues, including lecture on negotiation strategies in China by Prof. Lee and
Lecture and Q&A on Trade Terms by SIFT professors.
September 1, Thursday 6:00 pm
Simulation software is activated and trades may begin.
September 5, Monday 3-4:50pm
Labor Day Holiday – no school.
September 8, Thursday 3-4:50pm
Training on Import & Export Price Calculation with Quiz #1 by SIFT professors.
September 12, Monday 3-4:50 pm
Training continues, including Lecture and Q&A on “Three Methods of Payment,”
focusing on “T/T & Documentary Collection,” by SIFT professors.
September 15, Thursday, 3-4:50pm
Training continues, with a focus on “Payment by L/C” Quiz #2 by SIFT professors.
September 19, Monday 3-4:50 pm
Work on trades under the supervision of Professors Lee, Cheng and Tan. Teams of
students meet separately with Professors to discuss challenges and to develop
strategies for overcoming them.
September 19, Monday 6:30 – 9:00pm
First round of live negotiations in video with Chinese trading companies in real time.
Arrange in advance with a Chinese company, then email Professor Lee
(tlee@law.fsu.edu) and Professor Tan (ytan@scicib.com) your company names and the
date and time you prefer. Choose from 6:30-7, 7:00-7:30, 7:30-8:00, and 8:00-8:30.
Professor Tan will inform you of your time slot. Professors Lee, Cheng and Tan will
debrief you on your negotiations immediately afterwards and analyze the week’s trading
activities to help improve your company’s results.
September 26, Monday 6:30 – 9:00pm
Second round of live negotiations in video with Chinese trading companies in real time.
Arrange in advance with a Chinese company, then email Professor Lee
(tlee@law.fsu.edu) and Professor Tan (ytan@scicib.com) your company names and the
date and time you prefer. Choose from 6:30-7, 7:00-7:30, 7:30-8:00, and 8:00-8:30.
Professor Tan will inform you of your time slot. Professor Lee will debrief you on your
negotiations immediately afterwards and analyze the week’s trading activities to help
improve your company’s results.
October 7, Friday, noon
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Email first written reports to Professor Lee at tlee@law.fsu.edu.
Upon receipt of the report, Professor Lee will email you your time slot for meeting with
her the next class meeting to discuss the report.
October 10, Monday, 3-4:50pm
Work on trades supervised in class. Discuss reports in a private meeting with
Professor Lee in class.
6:30-9:00pm
Third round of live negotiations in video with Chinese trading companies in real time.
Arrange in advance with a Chinese company, then email Professor Lee
(tlee@law.fsu.edu) and Professor Tan (ytan@scicib.com) your company names and the
date and time you prefer. Choose from 6:30-7:00, 7:00-7:30, 7:30-8:00, and 8:00-8:30.
Professor Tan will inform you of your time slot. Professor Lee will debrief you on your
negotiations immediately afterwards and analyze the week’s trading activities to help
improve your company’s results.
.
October 17, Monday, 6:30-9:00pm
Fourth round of live negotiations in video with Chinese trading companies in real time.
Arrange in advance with a Chinese company, then email Professor Lee
(tlee@law.fsu.edu) and Professor Tan (ytan@scicib.com) your company names and the
date and time you prefer. Choose from 6:30-7:00, 7:00-7:30, 7:30-8:00, and 8:00-8:30.
Professor Tan will inform you of your time slot. Professor Lee will debrief you on your
negotiations immediately afterwards and analyze the week’s trading activities to help
improve your company’s results.
October 24, Monday, 6:30-9:00pm
Fifth round of live negotiations in video with Chinese trading companies in real time.
Arrange in advance with a Chinese company, then email Professor Lee
(tlee@law.fsu.edu) and Professor Tan (ytan@scicib.com) your company names and the
date and time you prefer. Choose from 6:30-7:00, 7:00-7:30, 7:30-8:00, and 8:00-8:30.
Professor Tan will inform you of your time slot. Professor Lee will debrief you on your
negotiations immediately afterwards and analyze the week’s trading activities to help
improve your company’s results.
November 2, Wednesday, noon
Email second written reports to Professor Lee at tlee@law.fsu.edu.
Upon receipt of the report, Professor Lee will email you your time slot for meeting with
her the next day to discuss the report.
November 3, Thursday, 3-4:50pm
Work on trades in class under the guidance of Professor Lee.
written reports in a private meeting with her in class.
November 10, Thursday 3-4:50
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Discuss your second
Work on trades.
In private meetings with Professor Lee prepare final presentations.
November 15, Tuesday 12:00am
Trades stop.
Preparation of the financial part of your final report, which is called the financial
summary. Your financial summary will be submitted by email to Professor Lee
(tlee@law.fsu.edu) and Professor Tan (ytan@scicib.com) not later than at 12:00 noon
on Friday, November 18.
Your powerpoint presentation of the financial summary and the rest of your company’s
activities will be sent to Professor Lee and Professor Tan not later than November 20,
Sunday, at noon.
November 17, Thursday 3-4:50
In private meetings with Professor Lee prepare final presentations.
November 18, Friday, 12:00 noon
Email financial summaries to Professors Lee and Tan.
November 20, Sunday, Midnight 12:00 am
Email powerpoint presentations to Professors Tan and Lee.
November 21, Monday, 5-8pm
Board Meeting with SIFT professors and professional traders in Shanghai and
Tallahassee for the oral presentation of your operational reports. The professional
traders will immediately provide comments and feedback for the improvement of your
reports.
December 2, Friday, 2:00-5:00pm
Celebratory party at Professor Lee’s house.
awards.
Presentation of ITS certificates and
December 9, Friday, 3:00pm
Deadline for putting your final operational reports in the electronic drop box.
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