Bocconi University PhD‐course in Global Strategy Today, business is inherently global as all companies face global competition one
way or another. This course focuses on the strategic challenges confronting firms that
compete in the global economy. Basically it centers around the key question on how
firms can exploit the global opportunities to create a competitive advantage. As such
it addresses questions on how to build the necessary global presence, how to organize
the global network and what is the optimal location for the various value chain
activities.
The course is structured in three parts where the first part (“The emergence of the
global village”) focus on the fundamental question on what is it that makes the global
setting unique, the second part (“Advantages of a global strategy”) scrutinize how the
many global challenges can be turned into advantages for the firms, and the final part
(Challenges in implementing a global strategy) put attention on the implementation of
the global strategies.
Numerous examples of research problems will be discussed in the course as well as
illustrations of the managerial problems in real cases. This advanced course implies
high level of interaction and contribution by participants.
Instructor:
Prof. Torben Pedersen
Objectives:
The goal of the course is to introduce participants into the research
field of global strategy. This involves research problems, theories
and methods that are applied in research on global strategy.
Participants should familiarize with the field of global strategy, and
be able to apply the theories and methods as well as develop an
ability to analyze complex strategic issues in the global context.
Course design:
The course consists of two components: discussion in sessions and
final assignment. Each activity accounts for half of the course
grade.
Pedagogy:
The sessions adhere to a dialogue-based approach and an interactive
seminar format, where participants will offer their own
interpretations, critiques and suggestions of the research articles. I
will stimulate and coordinate the debate, while providing my own
perspective and summary conclusions.
Sessions:
For each topic/session, we will read and discuss a few key articles
in order to capture the main arguments in the literature. At latest
one week before the overall discussion questions will be distributed
to all participants that are expected to read the articles beforehand
and to engage regularly in the seminar discussions.
Assignment:
Develop a brief research proposal (max. 25 pages) focusing on a
topic in global strategy of your choice. During the course we will
discuss potential topics for the final assignment and how you
typically structure it.
The assignment topic needs to be approved by the instructor.
Readings:
All articles will be available to seminar participants.
PhD‐course in Global Strategy Course Program
The course is structured around 12 sessions where the first sessions focus on the more foundational
questions (e.g. what is unique about global strategy compared to general strategy) and the later
sessions scrutinize the more recent contributions (e.g. on offshoring and emerging markets). All the
listed articles are required readings and will be subject to class discussions.
Session 1: The Emergence of a Global Village
1.
Theodore Levitt (1983), ‘The Globalization of Markets’, Harvard Business Review, MayJune, 92-102
2.
Kenichi Ohmae (1989), ‘Managing in a Borderless World’, Harvard Business Review, MayJune, 152-61
Session 2: The National Differences that Still Remains
3.
Pankaj Ghemawat (2003), ‘Semiglobalization and International Business Strategy’, Journal
of International Business Studies, 34, 138-52
4.
Kwok Leung, Rabi S. Bhagat, Nancy R. Buchan, Miriam Erez and Christina B. Gibson
(2005), ‘Culture and International Business: Recent Advances and their Implications for the
Future Research’, Journal of International Business Studies, 36, 357-78
Session 3: Conducting International Activities
5.
Alvaro Cuervo-Cazurra, Mary M. Maloney and Shalini Manrakhan (2007), ‘Causes of the
Difficulties in Internationalization’ Journal of International Business Studies, 38, 709-25
6.
Tatiana Kostova and Srilata Zaheer (1999), ‘Organizational Legitimacy under Conditions of
Complexity: The Case of the Multinational Enterprise’, Academy of Management Review,
24 (1), 64-81
Session 4: Advantages of Pursuing a Global Strategy
7.
Sumantra Ghoshal (1987), ‘Global Strategy: An Organizing Framework’, Strategic
Management Review, 8, 425-40
8.
Stephen B. Tallman (1992), ‘A Strategic Management perspective on Host Country
Structure of Multinational Enterprises’, Journal of Management, 18, 455-471
Session 5: The Organization of the MNC
9.
Gunnar Hedlund (1986), ‘The Hypermodern MNC – A Heterarchy’, Human Resource
Management, 25 (1), 9-35
10. Sumantra Ghoshal and Christopher A. Bartlett (1990), ‘The Multinational Corporation as an
Interorganizational Network’ Academy of Management Review, 15 (4), 603-25
Session 6: Management of the MNC
11. Anil K. Gupta and Vijay Govindarajan (2000), ‘Managing Global Expansion: A Conceptual
Framework’, Business Horizons, March-April, 45-54
12. Yves L. Doz (1980), ‘Strategic Management in Multinational Companies’, Sloan Management
Review, Winter, 27-46
Session 7: Headquarter-Subsidiary Relationships
13. Julian Birkinshaw and Neil Hood (1998), ‘Multinational Subsidiary Evolution: Capability
and Charter Change in Foreign-Owned Subsidiary Companies’, Academy of Management
Review, 23 (4), 773-95
14. John Cantwell and Ram Mudambi (2005), ‘MNE Competence-Creating Subsidiary
Mandates’, Strategic Management Journal, 26, 1109-28
Session 8: Learning from the World
15. Harry Barkema, Oded Shenkar, Freek Vermeulen and John H.J Bell (1997), ‘Working
Abroad, Working with Others: How Firms Learn to Operate International Joint Venture’,
Academy of Management Journal, 23, 979-96
16. Tony N. Frost (2001), ‘The Geographic Sources of Foreign Subsidies Innovations’,
Strategic Management Journal, 22, 101-23
Session 9: Transfer and Leveraging Knowledge across Borders
17. Anil K. Gupta and Vijay Govindarajan (2000), ‘Knowledge Flows within Multinational
Corporations’, Strategic Management Journal, 21, 473-96
18. Morten T. Hansen and Bjørn Løvås (2004), ‘How do Multinational Companies Leverage
Technological Competencies? Moving from Single to Interdependent Explanations’,
Strategic Management Journal, 25, 801-22
Session 10: HRM, Organizational Mechanism and Mindset
19. D. Minbaeva, T. Pederson, I. Björkman, C.F Fey and H.J Park (2003), ‘MNC Knowledge
Transfer, Subsidiary Absorptive Capacity, and HRM’, Journal of International Business
Studies, 34, 586-99
20. Orly Levy, Schon Beechler, Sully Taylor and Nakiye A. Boyacigiller (2007), ‘What We Talk
About When We Talk About “Global Mindset”: Managerial Cognition in Multinational
Corporations’, Journal of International Business Studies, 38, 231-58
Session 11: Location Issues and Offshoring
21. Ravi Aron and Jitendra V. Singh (2005), ‘Getting Offshoring Right’, Harvard Business
Review, December, 135-43
22. Ram Mudambi (2008), ‘Location, Control and Innovation in Knowledge-Intensive
Industries’, Journal of Economic Geography, 8, 699-725
Session 12: Emerging Market Strategies
23. Tarun Khanna and Krishna Palepu (1997), ‘Why Focused Strategies May Be Wrong for
Emerging Markets’, Harvard Business Review, July-August, 41-51
24. C. K. Pralahad and Allen Hammond (2002), ‘Serving the World’s Poor, Profitably’,
Harvard Business Review, September, 48-57