THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2015/2016

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : Business School : Business Studies

Undergraduate Course: International Business and the Multinational Enterprise 2B (BUST08009)

Course Outline
SchoolBusiness School CollegeCollege of Humanities and Social Science
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 8 (Year 2 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThe course will examine the role of the multinational enterprise and the process of foreign direct investment; issues relating to culture, technology, intellectual property rights and finance are discussed; the international regime and the interaction between governments and investors will also be reviewed. This course is designed to be complementary to International Business 2Ah.
Course description This course takes as its theme the strategies and operational activities of the multinational enterprise doing business in the global economy. This includes an assessment of the relationship between MNEs and the host governments of the nations states in which the MNE locates its operations.

Syllabus

MNE and FDI Theories and Foreign Direct Investment
Developing Entry Strategies
Firm Strategies and Structures

Student Learning Experience

The lecture programme provides an overview of international business concepts and practices, and is supported by suggested readings from the course text.

The compulsory weekly tutorials comprise a mix of conventional Teaching Assistant-supported group exercises and audio-visual exercises. The tutorials are used to support and develop concepts and theories taught in the lectures. The audio-visual sections allow students to observe the practices of companies in the international business area.

The course assignment requires students to write a report relating a company¿s experience in an international business environment and to analyse their activities.




International Business: Globalisation and Trade 2A (BUST08008) is recommended.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Students MUST have passed: Foundations of Business (BUST08025) OR Introduction to Business (BUST08026) OR ( Industrial Management 1 (BUST08002) AND Techniques of Management (MAEE08002))
Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesVisiting students should usually have at least 1 introductory level Business Studies course at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this) for entry to this course. We will only consider University/College level courses.
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2015/16, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  None
Course Start Semester 2
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Lecture Hours 20, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 9, Summative Assessment Hours 2, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 165 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 60 %, Coursework 40 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) Group Report = 30%, Group Presentation = 10% 1 degree exam = 60%; resit exam = 100%.
Feedback Generic feedback on your coursework, together with individual marks, will be available on Learn. You can also look at your individual feedback in the UG Office (Room 1.11, Business School, 29 Buccleuch Place) and take away a copy of the feedback form, but you will not be able to take away the original piece of coursework, as it may be required by the Board of Examiners.

Your examination marks will be posted on Learn (together with generic feedback and examination statistics) as soon as possible after the Boards of Examiners meeting (normally early-mid June). During the summer months (i.e. mid/end June end August), you may come into the UG Office (Room 1.11, Business School, 29 Buccleuch Place) to look at your examination scripts. Note that you will not be able to remove any examination scripts from the UG Office as they may be required by the Board of Examiners.

Continuing students will also be given the opportunity to review their examination scripts early in the new academic year in Semester 1 (i.e. in October).

Exam Information
Exam Diet Paper Name Hours & Minutes
Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May)2:00
Resit Exam Diet (August)2:00
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Understand and discuss why enterprises choose to expand their operations across national borders, and the alternative strategies enterprises may adopt to exploit overseas markets.
  2. Understand and discuss the organisational implications of international operations including the implications for individual managers.
  3. Understand and discuss operational aspects of multinational enterprise including: sourcing and logistics, technology management, protection of intellectual property rights and financial management.
  4. Understand and discuss the interactive relationships between MNEs and host governments and the arguments for and against promoting (or constraining) inward foreign investment by host governments.
  5. Understand and discuss the challenge of international marketing and exporting in a world of fluctuating exchange rates and non-tariff barriers.
Reading List
Strongly recommended for purchase
International Business compiled by Alan Brown & Stephen Harwood (2013, 3rd edition).

Optional purchase
Hill C. (2006), International Business (Competing in the Global Marketplace), 6th edition, McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
.Czinkota, M.R. & Kotabe, M. (1998), Trends in International Business: Critical Perspectives, Blackwell.
.Dicken, P. (2007), Global Shift: Mapping the contours of the world economy, 5th edition, Sage.
.Kotler, P. (2000), Marketing Management, Prentice Hall.
Vernon-Wortzel, H. & Wortzel, L.H. (1995/1997), Global Strategic Management: The Essentials, 2nd or 3rd edition, Wiley.
.Bartlett, C.A. & Ghoshol, S. (1999), Transnational Management: Text, Cases and Reading in Cross-Border Management, 2nd edition, Irwin.
.Dunning, J.H. (1988), Explaining International Production, Unwin Hyman.

Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Cognitive Skills
On completion of the course students should
a) demonstrate that they can work in tutorial groups to address issues relating to both international trade and the multinational enterprise;
b) demonstrate that they understand patterns of FDI and the desire for companies to pursue FDI as means to internationalisation;
c) demonstrate that they understand market entry decisions of companies.
e) how multinationals organise technology transfer.

Key Skills
On completion of the assessed course work students should
a) demonstrate their ability to write a concise and informative report on a companies activities;
b) demonstrate their ability to source and collect material relevant to the topic.

Subject Specific Skills
On completion of the course work students should
a) demonstrate their ability to understand problems confronting companies operating in a multicultural environment;
b) critically assess market entry methods.

Additional Class Delivery Information 2 Lectures plus tutorials (one hour per week for 9 weeks)
KeywordsFDI Theory Market Entry MNE Innovation
Contacts
Course organiserMr Alan Brown
Tel: (0131 6)50 3804
Email: Alan.C.Brown@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Sara Dennison
Tel: (0131 6)50 3825
Email: Sara.Dennison@ed.ac.uk
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