6 ECTS credits
168 h study time

Offer 4 with catalog number 4023118FNW for working students in the 2nd semester at a (F) Master - specialised level.

Semester
2nd semester
Enrollment based on exam contract
Impossible
Grading method
Grading (scale from 0 to 20)
Can retake in second session
Yes
Taught in
English
Faculty
Faculty of Social Sciences & SolvayBusinessSchool
Department
Business
Educational team
Fiona Maureen Courtens
Alain Verbeke (course titular)
Activities and contact hours
12 contact hours Lecture
12 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals
144 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study
Course Content

The structure of the course is as follows.
In the first part, the main building blocks of a unifying framework are introduced. This framework should allow students to grasp the essence, in strategy terms, of what happens in a complex international business setting. The framework also suggests the way forward, so as to improve MNE performance in terms of value creation and satisfying stakeholder goals across borders. 
In the second part, we revisit the best international business articles published in prestigious publications such as the Harvard Business Review, the Sloan Management Review and California Management Review since the 1980’s. During the lectures in the second part, up to 30 case studies are discussed to confront students with practical applications. Also, findings from the relevant academic literature are introduced to ensure that students are exposed to a broad spectrum of strategic management insights, from highly theoretical to highly practical.

Course material
Handbook (Required) : International Business Strategy, Rethinking the Foundations of Global Corporate Success, Alain Verbeke and I. H. Ian Lee, 3rd, Cambridge University Press, 9781108738378, 2021
Additional info

The actual class sessions aim to provide a conceptual synthesis of the course materials, with presentations by the instructor and his teaching associates, followed by class discussions. The instructor and his teaching associates will go systematically beyond the required readings and present materials criticizing or augmenting the substance of the required readings.
Lectures will be given after regular working hours to increase the accessibility of the course for working professionals.

Alain Verbeke, International Business Strategy: Foundations of Global Corporate Success (2nd edition)

Interested students seeking additional information might be interested in the following, non-compulsory materials:

  • Alan M. Rugman and Alain Verbeke, Analysis of Multinational Strategic Management, Cheltenham: E.Elgar, 2005 
  • Chris Bartlett and Sumantra Ghoshal, Managing Across Borders: The Transnational Solution, Harvard Business School Press, 1989 (Provides a good description of various MNE types and their historical development path over time.)
  • John Dunning, Multinational Enterprises and the Global Economy, Addison-Wesley, 1992 (This book provides an impressive overview of the entire economics and economic policy-based literature on the MNE, including its wide variety of impacts on home and host country stakeholders.)
  • Julian Birkinshaw, Entrepreneurship in the Global Firm, Sage, 2000 (Provides a superb subsidiary perspective on the challenges and opportunities facing managers in the international environment.)
  • Geoffrey Jones, Multinationals and Global Capitalism, Oxford University Press, 2005 (Provides a rich, historical perspective on the evolution of the multinational enterprise.)

Teaching Methods

  • Lecture: collective contact-dependent moments during which the lecturer engages with learning materials
  • Seminar, Exercises or Practicals (Practical): collective or individual contact-dependent moments during which the students are guided to actively engage with learning materials
  • Independent or External Form of Study (Self): independent study

This description of the teaching methods is indicative, in order to assess the expected study load.

REGULAR AND WORKING STUDENTS

Lecture: 12 hours

Practical: 12 hours

  • interactive classical discussions of different cases

Self: 144 hours

  • preparation lecture, amounting to 3 hours per chapter: 51 hours (17 x 3 hours)
  • preparation cases before the classical discussions, amounting 1,5 hours per case: 45 hours (30 x 1,5 hours)
  • individually preparation of actuality (critical monitoring of the international business activities): 8 hours
  • preparation exam: 40 hours (5 days of 8 hours)
    • theory: 32 hours
    • additional undiscussed cases: 8 hours

WORKING STUDENTS

Videos of all formal lectures are available for working students, and teaching assistance is also available to them when needed.

Learning Outcomes

Algemene competenties

The purpose of this course is not to add an incremental ‘international dimension’ to the discussion of a set of conventional strategy problems.  Rather, the goal is to explain what is at the heart of a successful international business strategy, thereby outlining the foundations of global corporate success.

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Written Exam determines 100% of the final mark.

Within the Written Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

  • Written Exam with a relative weight of 100 which comprises 100% of the final mark.

Additional info regarding evaluation

Examination will take place through a written exam which consists of three parts:

  • open questions
  • 1 case study with open questions related to the case and the theory, and
  • multiple choice questions. The questions will typically address the main content of the chapters of the book
Allowed unsatisfactory mark
The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context

This offer is part of the following study plans:
Master of Business Engineering: Standaard traject (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Business Economics: Standaard traject (only offered in Dutch)
Master of International Business: Standaard traject
Master of Business Engineering: Business and Technology: Standaard traject
Master of Teaching in Economics: standaard traject (90 ECTS, Etterbeek) (only offered in Dutch)