International Business Strategies

Masters in Business Administration

MBA 606

Breyer State University

Instructor: Seun A. Onodipe, MBA

SYLLABUS

COURSE OVERVIEW: Welcome to International Business Strategies, a Master’s level course in the curriculum for the degree, Master of Business Administration. Within this International Business Track MBA Program, I will be your instructor and tutor during your course study of the International Business Strategies.

This exciting course is designed primarily for the business student who is especially interested in International Business Strategy. The focus of this course is on real world managerial application of international business terminology and concepts. Therefore the course will examine available concepts and practical tools used by executives and managers in the strategic decisions in the process of international business. This class i built on the base of required reading articles and cases. Periodically I will also provide you with additional class materials. The format of this course is a 10-week seminar. Do not forget: Active participation and interaction with the professor is fundamental.

For this MBA program, you must own a bachelors degree, preferably in business.

Although this course has no formal prerequisites you are expected to be familiar with basic economic terms, concepts, and logic.

TIME FRAME: This is a five-semester hour course that is allotted ten weeks of time. You must complete all of the requirements for the course successfully by the end of this ten-week period. The first day of week one will begin the day that you register for the course and notify me that you are ready to begin your studies. Please take a commitment and be cognizant of the time frame. It is rare that extensions of time are permitted, unless you have good justification. Upon successful completion of this course, you will be awarded five semester hours of credit.

TEXTBOOK: There is no textbook for this course.

REQUIRED CASES and ARTICLES: Several articles and cases will be used in this course. All articles and cases can be obtained from the Harvard Business School website http:www.hbsp.harvard.edu. You will need to purchase each article and case ($6.00 - $6.50 per article).

Articles:

1. Arnold, David. Seven rules of international distribution. November 1, 2000
2. Bartlett, Christopher and Sumantra Goshel. Going Global: Lessons from late movers. March 2000.
3. Hout, Thomas, Michael E. Porter, and Eileen Rudden. How Global Companies Win Out. September – October 1982.
4. Levitt, Theodore. The Globalization of Markets. May – June 1983
5. Pankaj Ghemawat, Distance Still Matters: The Hard Reality of Global Expansion, September 1, 2001
6. Quelch, John, and Edward Hoff. Customizing Global Marketing. May – June 1986
7. David A. Moss, Nicholas Bartlett, The World Trade Organization, September 20, 2002

Cases:

1. Bartlett, Christopher, A. Hardy: Globalizing an Australian Wine Company, December 12, 2001.
   Read: How Global Companies Win Out
2. Bartlett, Christopher. Philips versus Matsushita: A New Century, a New Round. June 26, 2003.
3. The Black & Decker Corporation (A): Power Tools Division. June 20, 1995.
   Read: Globalization of Markets
   Customizing Global Markets
4. Saudi Arabia: Getting the House in Order, March 28, 2002
5. Hitting the Wall: Nike and International Labor Practices, January 19, 2000
6. Toys "R" Us Japan, December, 1995

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS: Your case assignments will take the form of Case Study Analysis of Harvard Business School cases. Case studies are used to emphasize the real world nature of business management. These cases will require some knowledge of the core areas of business – finance, accounting, marketing economics and organizational behavior, since all are necessary inputs into the successful management of any business, domestic or global. For each case, you will review a particular case and prepare a 3 - 5 page analysis by answering a series of questions which I have prepared for each case. Your paper should be double-spaced with 1.5-inch margins.
Of the cases I have listed, you are required to select 5 to analyze. Every 2 weeks, you must submit one case analysis to me.

EXAMS: There is no examination for this course.

Academic dishonesty of any form will not be tolerated in this course. You will receive no credit for academically dishonest work and your case will be referred to the university for appropriate action.

GRADING: The grading scale for this course is as follows:

90-100%    = A
80-89%      = B
70-79%      = C
Below 70% = Fail

The grade of this course will be based on class participation and case analysis. The approximate weighting of the grades are as follows:

Case analysis                – 20% per case
------
Total - 100%

COMMUNICATION: You are encouraged to communicate with me. I am available as a teacher, coach, and mentor to assist you in meeting your goals for this course. Primarily, communication is through email. However our classroom for this course has a "chat" room. Due to our geographical distance I am more than willing to meet you one-on-one in the chat room at your request. I only ask you to consider the differences in our time-zone. From time to time, depending on how many students are enrolled in this course at a particular time, we will have some scheduled group chats. You will receive more detailed information at the time such chat sessions are scheduled. Please keep my email address handy so that you can contact me whenever necessary. If at any time during this course you change your email address, please be sure to notify me right away.

I will be flexible with the scheduling up to a certain point: according to your personal interest we can spend more time with some selected topics even if by the end of the course all the material should be fully covered.

ABOUT YOUR INSTRUCTOR: I was born in Nigeria and have been living in the US for over 15 years. I have an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University, and an MS (in Engineering) from University of Pittsburgh. I work at IBM as a consultant with strong emphasis on Financial Services industry (Banks, Insurance companies, Mutual Funds etc).

Prior to my MBA and IBM experience, I had over 7 years of work experience in the Telecommunications industry. I experienced the boom and the bust of the Internet bubble.

COURSE OBJECTIVES: This course aims to provide you with understanding of the value and uses of international business as one of the major sources of strategic competitive advantage. It will familiarize you with the major concept of international business strategy. It will provide you with practical knowledge of tools that company managers and executives can use during managerial decision making when targeting international markets. Therefore this course will also give you practical examples, through case studies, what is available for managers to explore, conquer, and sustain international market presence successfully.

INFORMATION: If you have any questions regarding this program, you may contact the instructor at seun.onodipe@yahoo.com

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