30361 - DOING BUSINESS IN EUROPE
Department of Social and Political Sciences
Course taught in English
Go to class group/s: 31
Course Director:
ARNSTEIN AASSVE
ARNSTEIN AASSVE
Suggested background knowledge
No prerequisites are required.
Mission & Content Summary
MISSION
The European business environment varies substantially from one country to another but also within some countries one can find big differences. This course provides an overview of the various elements of doing business in a continent that has very different institutional and cultural history, and where the institutions regulating the economic actors’ behavior differ tremendously. Given the current European political (and economic) situation, the challenges that the Union has ahead, the internal turmoil and the geopolitical pressures, particularly at the Eastern border of the Union, the edition of the seminar focuses mainly on the post-2004 countries of new accession and on candidates as Serbia and Turkey. The aim is to understand the current economic and political structure of these “transition economies” and their peculiar business environment. Doing business in such a various legal, institutional and not least, cultural, environment proves to be particularly complex and challenging, both for Europeans used to deal with a single country and for non-Europeans, who may not grasp the differences among different European countries. A better knowledge of similarities and differences is thus greatly needed for both future managers and entrepreneurs.
CONTENT SUMMARY
- Europe as a space for business above national differences. History and crucial areas. The new accession countries and the candidates.
- HDI, Inequality and social structure, human rights and education.
- Political system, corruption and geopolitical issues.
- Industrial structure and trade specialization, industrial demography.
- Entrepreneurship and innovation.
- Financial system – Banking and Stock Market.
- Unions and Labor, bureaucracy and public administration.
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO)
KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
At the end of the course student will be able to...
- Reckognize and summarize the key differences and similarities in the European business environment.
- Illustrate the challenges that businesses face with respect to the new accession countries of the EU.
- State the key political, economic, institutional and demographic elements of relevance when assessing these countries.
APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
At the end of the course student will be able to...
- Select, find and apply a host of international data sources to analyze the European business environment.
- Based on relevant input data, apply simple cluster analysis to analyze and compare similarities and differences across Europe.
- Evaluate and discuss the role of different input variables for how countries compare in terms of business.
Teaching methods
- Face-to-face lectures
- Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
- Company visits
- Group assignments
DETAILS
In addition to the face-to-face lectures, we invite consultants and experts to discuss with students the key topics covered. There is one visit to the European Union office in Milan to get a first hand overview and evaluation of the current situation as regards new member states and EU candidate countries. Students work in groups to develop a project, that, at the end of the course, is presented with a poster.
Assessment methods
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Teaching materials
ATTENDING AND NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS
Teaching material are delivered before the start of the course.
Last change 30/05/2019 10:00