Professors

Jan Schaaper (Université de Bordeaux)

Schedule

Tuesday
From 15:00
to 16:30
Thursday
From 15:00
to 16:30

Course description
The economic world is becoming more global. Companies, big multinationals as well as small and medium sized firms, are increasingly active abroad. The reasons behind this globalization of business are well known: international division of labour, specialization and relocation of the value chain under the combined effect of new technologies of information, lower transport costs and political agreements in favour of international trade. As a result, companies, whether giant multinational companies or SMEs, have more and more activities abroad, in the form of export, agreements, subcontracting and/or subsidiaries to manage. The objective of the course is to understand how companies choose, can develop and manage these international activities. This course will also consider the environmental impacts of business Internationalization and, through case studies, how firms might try to reduce their environmental footprint.

 

Learning outcomes
At the end of the course, students will be able to:
- Understand why companies go global;
- Formulate an internationalization strategy;
- Select priority foreign markets for a company's international development;
- Choose a mode of entry into foreign markets;
- Understand the differences between export, subcontracting, cooperation and foreign direct investment;
- Understand the various organizational structures that enable the development and management of international activities;
- Understand the consequences of internationalization on working international;
- Understand the multi-dimensionality of the control of international activities and set up an international control system;
- Understand how sustainability can be a source of competitive advantage and as such be put at the centre of an international business model;
- Understand what is reverse globalization of firms, i.e. firms coming from developing countries, which start international activities in developed countries.

 

   Topic  Reading and activities
 1  Introduction Globalization • Reading: Katsioloudes & Hadjidakis, 2007, p. 9 -15
• Class exercise “MNCs
 2  Formulating an
internationalization strategy
• Reading: Deresky, 2016, chapter 6, Formulating [an internationalization] Strategy, p. 234-277
3  Country selection • Reading: “Foreign market selection” (J. Schaaper)
• Quiz 1: Formulating an internationalization strategy
• Case Study 1: "True Fruits" country selection
 4  Entering
foreign markets
• Reading: Katsioloudes & Hadjidakis, Chapter 8 “Entering the International Market”, specifically p. 242-257 “Foreign Market Entry Strategies”
 5 Internationalization of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SME) • Case Study 2: "Maynooth"
• Reading: Nowicka & Schaaper, 2022, "Internationalization of eco-innovative SMEs", submitted article
 6 International Human Resource Management
(Ethnocentrism versus Polycentrism)
• Reading: Deresky H. (2016), International Management: Managing Across Borders and Cultures, chapter 9: “Staffing, Training and Compensation for Global Operations”, p. 373-382
• Quiz 2: Country Selection & Entering Foreign Markets
• Case Study 3: "Wipro Global Staffing"
 7 International Human Resource Management
(Expatriation)
• Reading: Deresky H. (2016), International Management: Managing Across Borders and Cultures, chapter 9: “Staffing, Training and Compensation for Global Operations”, p. 382-399
• Reading: Schaaper et al. 2013, IHRM in Asian subsidiaries: compa-rison of French and Japanese MNCs. Journal IHRM 24:1454–1470
• Case Study 4: "Pat Marek Overseas' Transfer”
 8/9 Organizing the International firm • Reading: Schermerhorn, 2012, “Organizational Structures and Design”, p. 238-249,
• Quiz 3: International Human Resource Management
• Reading: Lasserre, 2012, Chapter 3, “Designing a global organization”, p. 73-84
• Case Study 5: Heineken's evolving Organizational Structures. 
 9/10 Controlling the international firm  • Reading: Schermerhorn, 2012, Management, 12th ed. p. 218-224, “Why and how managers control?”
• Reading: J. Schaaper, B. Amann & J. Jaussaud, Management International, 21(4): 89-108, “Control in Subsidiary Networks in Asia”
• Quiz 4: Organizing the international firm
• Case Study 6: Vancl Outsources From China to Bangladesh
 11 Sustainability & international business  • Case study 7: “Nescafé in China”.
• Quiz 5: Controlling the international firm
12 Reverse Globalization of Firms • Reading: Gao, N. & Schaaper, J. (2018), Chinese Foreign Direct Investment in France, Management International, Vol. 22, 13-129
• Case study 8: Xiaomi’s International Development

 

 

Teaching methodology
The flipped classroom is the methodology of the course.
• Before coming to class, students must study the indicated sections of the readings.
• During class, the teacher will remind the most important points of the indicated readings.
• 8 case studies will be solved by assigned groups of 3-5 students. The solutions will be discussed in class Some of these cases will be collectively graded.
• The topics Internationalization strategy, Foreign Market Entry), IHRM), Organizing and Control will be subject to a multiple-choice quiz.

 

Evaluation of students

Activity Grading Points / % of grade
 5 multiple choice quizzes  Individual  30
 8 case studies  Group assignment  30
 1 written exam  Individual  40

 

 Bibliography
• Amann, B., Jaussaud, J., Schaaper, J., 2018. Control in Subsidiary Networks in Asia: Toward an Extension of the Centralisation-Formalisation-Socialisation (CFS) Model. Management International, 21, 89–108.
• Deresky, H., 2017. International management: managing across borders and cultures: text and cases, Ninth edition. ed. Pearson Higher Education, Boston.
• Gao, N., Schaaper, J., 2019. Chinese Foreign Direct Investment in France: Motivations and Management Style, Management International, 22, 113–129.
• Katsioloudes, M.I., Hadjidakis, S., 2007. International business: a global perspective. Butterworth-Heinemann, Amsterdam ; Boston.
• Lasserre, P., 2012. Global strategic management, 3rd ed. Palgrave Macmillan, New York.
• Schaaper, J., Amann, B., Jaussaud, J., Nakamura, H., Mizoguchi, S., 2013. Human resource management in Asian subsidiaries: comparison of French and Japanese MNCs. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 24, 1454–1470
• Schaaper, J., Gao, N., 2020. How do Chinese Multinational Companies Coordinate and exert Control over Foreign Subsidiaries ? The case of Chinese Subsidiaries in France. Journal Global Policy and Governance, 8.
• Schermerhorn, J.R., 2013. Management, 12th ed. ed. John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ.

 

 

Last updated: 17 January, 2023

Venice
International
University

Isola di San Servolo
30133 Venice,
Italy

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