Baruch College, Zicklin School of Business
IBS 5750 - International Competitiveness Capstone
Asst. Prof. Rajeev J. Sawant
Room 13-249 V.C.
(P) 646-312-3410
E-Mail: rajeev.sawant@baruch.cuny.edu
Class: Twice a week, 75 min each.
Tue (4:10-5:25), Thu (4:10-5:25) Room VC-13150
Prepared: Jan 15, 2014
Course Objectives
This is an advanced course in international business that focuses on the integration of theory and
practice through the application of international business tools and methods. After completing
the course, you should understand the totality of material covered in other international business
courses and be able to apply this knowledge to solve real world problems
Students are provided with the requisite skills to understand and be able to identify international
business competitiveness. Similar to real world business, this course is an eclectic combination
of a variety of business disciplines including business strategy, marketing, accounting and
finance.
Learning Goals:
 An ability to apply learned functional skills in a competitive business setting.
 An ability to analyze a business problem and present a concise written solution.
 An opportunity to orally present a solution to an international business problem to a real
business customer.
 An opportunity for students to improve their written and oral skills.
Reading Material:
The reading material for the course will be posted on Blackboard. The cases for the
course are to be purchased from the Harvard Business School (HBS) website.
Course Description:
The course is composed of three interrelated components. The first provides students with the
requisite skills to perform the remaining segments. The second component of the course
involves case analyses, and the third component involves an international business-consulting
project with a real client.
Grading
Class Participation (Attendance, participation & meetings with Schwartz consultant)
10%
Mid-Term Exam (case)
20%
Case analysis (3 cases)
Practicum
Presentation (Client, Instructor and Schwartz consultant)
Paper
Total
20%
50%
40%
10%
100%
Class Participation: The class is conducted using the Socratic method of teaching which
consists of a question answer format. This is a great opportunity for you to learn to
communicate clearly, think on your feet and learn to participate as part of a group in a safe
environment where there are no wrong answers. This ability will stand you in good stead as
you prepare to enter the job market.
Mid Term Exam: A mid-term exam will be a case analysis covering course material. The exam
will be closed book, but you are allowed one page (one side) of notes. The case will be
distributed a week before the exam; however, exam questions will not be provided in
advance of the exam.
Case Analysis: You are required to perform a written analysis of 3 cases listed in the course
syllabus of your choosing. Case assignments are due prior to their discussion in the class.
The case analysis is a group project done by the same group as the practicum project. You
can think of these assignments as warm-ups for the practicum. You are required to hand in a
one page executive summary and an additional page of charts, graphs or any other material
that supports your analysis and solution in the executive summary.
Practicum/Group Project: The focus on the practicum part of the course involves integrating
theory and practice through the application of international business tools and methods. You
will form teams of five to seven people. I will assign a ‘client’ to each team. The clients are
companies from the New York region with a real world business problem. The main output
is a business solution for the problem for your target company. As part of the plan, students
will research the problem, analyze the data and brainstorm creative solutions for their
company. This involves problem analysis, gathering data through the library, research, and
field research through the client firms.
Students will present their recommendations to the company. The presentation will involve
every member of the team and each individual’s presentation will count towards class
participation as well as the overall group grade. Students will also present a written report to
the client outlining their research, approach for solving the problem and their solution.
Communication-Intensive Course
This class is a communication intensive course that will emphasize the following BBA Learning
Goals: analytical skills, oral and written communication. Since this is a communicationintensive class, an expert from the Schwartz Center has been assigned to assist you. You should
regard this as an important opportunity to improve your communication skills, written, oral and
presentation, prior to your entering the job market. You are required to meet with the consultant
for your case writeups, your project analysis and the project presentation as outlined below.
These are important learning goals and count towards your class attendance and participation.
a) The consultant will review your case write-up assignments and improve your written and
analytical skills on a group basis.
b) The consultant will meet with the project groups to work on your project structure and layout
as you research and analyze your cases.
c) The consultant will also meet with the project groups to work on presentation skills prior to
the formal class presentation.
By participating in the course, you should experience a little of the real world and obtain
practical knowledge and tools that will help you succeed in the global marketplace once you
have graduated.
Code of Conduct
Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, collusion, sabotage, and
falsification of records. For clarification and definitions see College’s Academic Honesty
Website: www.baruch.cuny.edu/academic/academic_honesty.html. Penalties can be severe and
are determined by the instructor on a case-by-case basis.
Syllabus
Class
Date
Topic Covered
Reading
1
28-Jan Overview
Syllabus
2
30-Jan Accounting
Overview
Accounting Framework, Financial
Statements, and Some Accounting
Concepts. Background Note. William J.
Burns Jr. Harvard Business School
Publishing.
3
4-Feb Strategy
Overview
What is your strategy? Background Note.
Xavier Gilbert. Harvard Business School
Publishing.
Case
4
5
6-Feb Marketing
Framework
11- Developing an
Feb Overall
Assessment
Framework
1. Note on Marketing Strategy.
Robert Dolan. Harvard Business
School Publishing.
2. Managing Global Expansion: A
Conceptual Framework, Note.
3. Writing Great Marketing Plans,
Note
1. SWOT Analysis I: Looking
Outside for Threats and
Opportunities, Note.
2. SWOT Analysis II: Looking
Inside for Strengths and
Weaknesses, Note.
3. Some Thoughts on Business
Plans. HBS Note 897101.
4. Ethics a Basic Framework,
HBS Note 307059.
5. Avoiding Integrity Land
Mines, Harvard Business
Review, 2007
6
13- Case Analysis
Feb
7
18- Case Analysis
Feb
Case writeup due.
8
25- Case Analysis
Feb
Case writeup due.
Case writeup due.
Harrington
Collection: Sizing up
the Active-Wear
Market
Crocs: Revolutionizing
an Industry’s Supply
Chain for Competitive
Advantage, Case
Nantucket Nectars
9
27- Case Analysis
Feb
Case writeup due.
Chemdex
Arbitrage: Exploiting Differences.
Ghemawat, P. 2007
10
4-Mar Case Analysis
Case writeup due.
Tata Consulting Services
- Iberoamerica.
Building global champions in Latin
America. By: Haberer, Pablo R., Kohan,
Adrian F., McKinsey Quarterly,
00475394, 2007 Special Edition
11
6-Mar Case Analysis
Case writeup due.
12
11- Case Analysis
Mar
Case writeup due.
13
13- Case Analysis
Mar
Case writeup due.
14
18- International
Mar Business
Research
15
20- Midterm Exam
Mar (Case based)
16
25- Teams
Mar assigned
companies,
meet with the
company, and
meet to discuss
practicum and
obtain teacher
feedback.
Discussion midterm exam case.
17
27- Teams meet
Mar during class
time to work
on practicum
1. Teams meet with clients
Wal-mart Stores:
Everyday Low Prices in
China.
Zara: Fast fashion
Wanxiang Group: A
Chinese company’s
global strategy
Louise Klusek from
library staff will present
approaches to
International Business
Research
To be distributed
18
1-Apr Teams meet
during class
time to work
on practicum
1. Teams meet with clients
19
3-Apr Teams meet
during class
time to work
on practicum
8-Apr Teams meet
during class
time to work
on practicum
and obtain
teacher
feedback.
10- Teams meet
Apr during class
time to work
on practicum
and obtain
teacher
feedback.
1. Teams meet with clients.
20
21
1. Team presentation to Schwartz
consultant
2. Team presentation to instructor
3. Team presentation to Schwartz
consultant
4. Team presentation to instructor
22
24- Teams meet
Apr during class
time to work
on practicum
and obtain
teacher
feedback.
23
29- Student Group
Apr Business Plan
Presentations
Client Presentation
24
1-May Student Group
Business Plan
Presentations
Client Presentation
25
6-May Student Group
Business Plan
Presentations
Client Presentation
26
8-May Student Group
Business Plan
Presentations
Client Presentation
27
13- Student Group
May Business Plan
Presentations
Client Presentation
5. Team presentation to Schwartz
consultant
6. Team presentation to instructor
28
15- Course Wrap
May up