2VE81NVMMEG – Managing the Multinational Enterprise
Business Administration - Elective course
Fall, 2012
Course leader:
Emma INCZE, Assistant Professor
Lecturer(s):
Emma INCZE, Assistant Professor
Department:
Office hours:
Institute of Management, Department of Strategic Management
By appointment
Availability:
Phone number: (+36-1) 482-5377; 482-5263
Course type:
Prerequisites:
Credits:
Number of hours
per semester
Time of class:
Venue:
Course web
Room: E 385
Email address: emma.incze@uni-corvinus.hu
Elective
Organizational Theory, Strategic Management
6
Two 80 minute classes per week = 43.5 hours per semester (0+2)
Wednesdays 16.30-17.50 18.10-19.30
C 418
http://moodle.uni-corvinus.hu
Aims and objectives and description of the course:
Increasingly, firms are required to compete in multiple foreign markets at both the product and
supply-chain levels. Understanding the challenges associated with global business activity, and
developing skills in these areas, have become essential requirements. The Managing of
Multinational Enterprise course is designed to provide students with the skills, knowledge, and
sensitivity required to work within a global environment. The course addresses issues in the
strategy, organisation and management of companies operating in the global market.
Case studies used in this course will help you develop your analytical and decision-making skills
and also highlight the reality of environmental uncertainties influencing decision making in the
global context. Cases also seek to develop your capacity to identify issues, to reason carefully
through various options and improve your ability to manage the organizational process by which
decisions get formed and executed. In addition to case analyses we will also read and discuss
additional articles on strategic issues relevant to operating in a global context. Thus, students
will develop both, historical and current, and theoretical and practical, perspectives on operating
in a global context.
Learning outcomes:
By the end of the course, students should be able to:
 perform country, region, industry and firm analyses in an international setting
 evaluate the effectiveness and sustainability of international and global corporate
strategies
 analyze the benefits and shortcomings of various multinational organizational
structures
 compare the relative merits of different modes of global market entry
1
 understand the underlying conditions of the international economy that influence
global competitive behavior such as economic, legal, political and cultural differences,
exchange rates, comparative national advantage, national economic policy.
Methodology to be used:


Case studies
Presentation and discussion of key conceptual ideas and theoretical frameworks
A typical session will start with a case study analysis. Preparation of the case should be done
by everyone. Working in study groups (groups of 4) is highly recommended! As a group, we will
then try to complete the analysis of the situation and address the problems and issues presented
in the case.
The case study analysis will be followed by the summary of the relevant theoretical issues on
the topic.
A case study typically is a record of a business situation that actually has been faced by business
executives, together with surrounding facts, opinions, and prejudices upon which executive
decisions had to depend. Cases will offer you an opportunity to play the role of the decision
maker. You are expected to reason through to a preferred set of actions. The greater is the
amount of preparation you put into the case and the more you are prepared to participate in class
discussion, the more you are likely to develop your own skills. Other class participants and the
instructor will fill the role of critics and competitors showing up any flaws in your reasoning or
interpretation of case facts and offering alternative prescriptions to fit the situation. You miss the
opportunity for developing your own skills if you rely on other people for your ideas and reasoning.
Force yourself to read the case thoroughly, specify the problems, and reason through as to which
seems most appropriate. Keep on asking yourself WHY? until you are persuaded by your own
answers. Also think about how your conclusions would be implemented. Do not avoid quantifying
actions. Wherever possible have a clear idea of how much you would spend and to what effect.
In many cases the obvious problems and decision making alternatives are not the most
important. The diagnosis of the decision maker in the case, for example may focus on the
symptoms and not the disease. In studying each case you should be prepared to dig deeply and
uncover facts that are not spelt out directly. Question opinions, analysis and decisions presented
by those in the case.
Detailed class schedule, 1st – 14th week:
Week 1 – 12 Sept.
Topics
Week 2 – 19 Sept.
Topics
Week 3 – 26 Sept.
Topics
Introduction and overview.
 Getting together, course content, expectations, rules of the class
 The case method – Sands corporation
Strategy in international context
 Basic tools of strategic management
 Methods and models of strategic analysis
 International strategy
Forces in the Global Environment
 The international environment of MNCs
 Global Environmental Analysis: Frameworks for Analyzing Global Regions,
Countries, Industries and Markets
2
Readings
Application
Week 4 – 3 Oct.
Topics
Readings
Application
Week 5 – 10 Oct.
Topics
Readings
Application
Week 6 – 17 Oct.
Topics
Readings
Application
Week 7 – 24 Oct.
Topics
Readings
Application
Week 8 – 31 Oct.
Week 9 – 7 Nov.
Topics
Readings
Application
Week 10 – 14 Nov.
Topics
Readings
Application
Week 11 – 21 Nov.
26 Nov. 10 am.
Week 12 – 28 Nov.
Week 13 – 5 Dec.
Week 14 – 12 Dec.
Ghemawat (2001): Distance Still Matters: The Hard Reality of Global Expansion,
Harvard Business Review 79, no. 8 (September): 137-147.
 ESASA case
Competing in the Global Marketplace
 Sources of sustainable competitive advantage
 Capability to leverage advantages outside borders
Gupta and Govindarajan (2000): Managing Global Expansion - A Conceptual
Framework,
 Business Horizons, 2000, vol. 43, issue 2, pages 45-54
 JOLLIBEE case
Designing a Global Organization
 Organizing the MNC
 Headquarter-subsidiary relations
 Bartlett, C. and Ghoshal, S. (1986): Tap Your Subsidiaries for Global Reach,
Harvard Business Review, Vol. 64 pp.87 - 94.
 Acer America case
Entry Strategies of Hungarian MNC’s
 Exporting
 Foreign Direct Investments
 Strategic Alliances
 Pan, Tse (2000): The Hierarchical Model of Market Entry Modes, Journal of
International Business Studies 31, 535–554
 In-class mini cases
The Management Challenges of Global Operation
 Managerial tasks of MNCs
 Roles and responsibilities of different management groups in an MNC
 The role of top management
 Birkinshaw et. al. (2007): Managing Executive Attention in the Global Company, MIT
Sloan Management Review Volume: 48, Issue: 4, Pages: 39-45
 BLR Hardy case
Meeting Professionals Working with MNC’s
Cross-border partnerships
 Motivations for entering cross-border partnerships
 Costs and risks of collaboration
 Managing cross-border relationships
 Evans, P. and Wolf, B. (2005): Collaboration Rules
 Renault-Nissan Alliance case
The Social Environment of MNC’s
 Roles and responsibilities of MNCs
 Types of MNC postures towards the social environment
 Christensen, Baumann, Ruggles, & Sadtler (2006): Disruptive Innovation for Social
Change
Film in class – discussion
Working Outline of Group Integration Project Due.
Meeting Professionals Working with MNC’s
Group integration Project Due (Moodle and Room E367)
Final Presentations: Group Integration Project
Final Presentations: Group Integration Project
Final Exam
Assesment:
Individual Class Contribution
Class attendance is absolutely essential. All missed classes will be noted. The policy on missed
classes is to allow each student two (2) absences, no questions asked, no penalty. All further
3
absences over the limit will reduce the student's participation grade, no questions asked, no
excuses of any kind expected or accepted. Students with an excessive number of absences are
at risk of failing the course. Habitual lateness (and leaving class early), for whatever reason, will
be noted as evidence of low course commitment, and penalized. Simply put, you cannot learn
for our class discussions, and your classmates cannot learn from you, if you are not present.
We do not engage in debate to provide a definite answer but rather to be aware of the issues
and the various perspectives on them. Your views will be judged by your ability to present your
arguments convincingly and logically rather than by how “correct” they are. My assessment of
you will be based on your demonstrating knowledge of the materials and your ability to apply
them to solve real business problems.
Some of the behaviors that contribute to effective class participation are captured in the questions
that follow:
1.
Are the points that are made relevant to the discussion? Are they linked to the
comments of others? Do the comments add to our understanding of the
situation?
3.
Do the comments show evidence of analysis of the case?
4.
Is there a willingness to share? Is there a willingness to test new ideas, or are all
comments "safe"? (For example, repetition of case facts without analysis and
conclusions or a comment already made by a colleague.)
5.
Is the participant willing to interact with other class members?
6.
Do comments clarify and highlight the important aspects of earlier comments
and lead to a clearer statement of the concepts being covered?
7.
Does the participant ask questions rather than limit participation to responding to
others’ questions?
The class contribution grade will reflect attendance and extent and quality of contributions to
the class.
Quiz related to the case
At the beginning of each case-session a short quiz related to the case is performed. The best
two of them (out of five) will be considered.
Group Integration Project
Groups of 4 students will work during the semester on the Group Integration Project. Groups will
analyze a global enterprise of their choosing and present their findings to the class at the end of
the semester.
The project output should focus on the following:
1. General information about the firm (size, age, nationality, types of business activities
performed by the firm)
2. Characteristics and trends of the global industry environment
3. An international business problem or decision
4. An ethical dilemma involving international business
and is evaluated based on the following:

Executive Summary (20%)
 5-7 pages (minimum 2000 words), excluding charts, quotes, press realeses,
organization charts, video clippings, etc.
4

 Format: 12 pt, 1,5 space, 2 cm margins, moodle and print out
Presentation (20%)
 12-13 slides
 Format: moodle and print out
Papers are required to be fully referenced within the body of the paper and with a complete
bibliography of sources. Although some firms are more heavily cited in the business press than
others, a minimal bibliography should have at least ten major references.
Each group must submit a short proposal for the project. An early choice is recommended,
since duplication of companies across groups, is not permitted. In addition to the names and email addresses of your group members, and a team name, the proposal should include: the name
of the organization you will analyze, a one page summary of the preliminary research done on
the company. The proposal should be printed out and will be due on Week 10.
Oral presentations will be given at the end of semester. The Executive Summary and
Powerpoint slides will be due for ALL GROUPS on 26 November 10.am. via moodle. The
print out version shoul be submitted in Room E367. There will be no late acceptances.
The Final Exam will consist of short answer and short essay questions on all assigned readings
and lectures.
Grading:
Maximum Value
Individual Class Contribution
Quiz related to the case
Group Integration Project
Final Exam
Total Possible Points
20%
20%
40%
20%
100%
In order to successfully pass this course, a passing grade (> 50%) must be achieved in each individual course
component.
All students must adhere to the principles of academic integrity in all work done for this class and
for other classes. Attempted cheating in any form, including plagiarism, is extremely serious and
can result in dismissal from the Program.
Compulsory readings:
-
Readings (articles detailed in the syllabus) are available in an electronic format and
downloadable from the Moodle page of this course as well as university library
databases such as Business Source Complete/Ebsco, Science Direct, ABI/Inform
Global. To accesses the articles please visit the following link:
o http://www.lib.uni-corvinus.hu/content/view/31/190/lang,en/
-
Case-studies packet to be fetched at ISP office
Lecture notes
Recommended readings:
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1. Christopher A. Bartlett, Paul W. Beamish (2010): Transnational Management:
Text, Cases & Readings in Cross-Border Management, 6th edition McGrawHill/Irwin
2. Philippe Lasserre (2007) : Global Strategic Management, 2nd edition, Palgrave
Macmillan
Grading:
Grade Conversion Table for FBA Programs and Courses taught in English
Percentage
achieved
Hungarian Grade
ECTS
Grade
97-100
5
A
A+
Excellent
94-96
5
A
A
Excellent
90-93
5
A
A-
Excellent
87-89
5
A
B+
Excellent
84-86
4
B
B
Good
80-83
4
B
B-
Good
77-79
4
B
C+
Good
74-76
3
C
C
Satisfactory
70-73
3
C
C-
Satisfactory
67-69
3
C
D+
Satisfactory
64-66
2
D
D
Pass
60-63
2
D
D-
Pass
0-59
1
F
F
Fail
Nem jelent meg
DNA
N
Did not attend, 0
credit
6
ISP
Grade
Explanation