Course 2024-2025 a.y.

20539 - MANAGING THE MULTINATIONAL CORPORATION

Department of Management and Technology

Course taught in English

Student consultation hours
Class timetable
Exam timetable
Go to class group/s: 31
CLMG (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/07) - M (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/07) - IM (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/07) - MM (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/07) - AFC (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/07) - CLELI (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/07) - ACME (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/07) - DES-ESS (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/07) - EMIT (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/07) - GIO (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/07) - DSBA (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/07) - PPA (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/07) - FIN (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/07) - AI (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/07)
Course Director:
GABRIELLA LOJACONO

Classes: 31 (I sem.)
Instructors:
Class 31: GABRIELLA LOJACONO


Suggested background knowledge

It is suggested that students have a basic knowledge in Corporate Strategy.

Mission & Content Summary

MISSION

The aim of this course is to prepare students for their future career in a multinational company (MNC). Globalization of markets and industries has created new growth opportunities for companies by accessing resources and serving markets worldwide. At the same time, managing across different cultures, administrative systems, geographic distances, economic structures poses its own managerial challenges. This course focuses on the strategic and organizational challenges involved in managing activities across borders, in an increasingly interconnected world. Students can expect to come away with a set of frameworks that helps them to understand: why firms do (or do not do) international business? How do they do it? What are the international strategies firms use as they go overseas? How do firms build a global presence by choosing countries, products and modes of entry? How do firms organize themselves for international business?

CONTENT SUMMARY

  • The meanings of globalization.
  • The imperatives that drive firms to invest abroad as they seek market access, knowledge and inputs.
  • The liability of foreignness and the costs of doing business abroad.
  • Adaptation vs standardization.
  • How firms build global presence (e.g. market selection, entry modes).
  • Analysis of market attractiveness (e.g. PRISM, CAGE, etc.).
  • Data sources for conducting foreign market analysis.
  • Concentration vs spreading.
  • How internationalization choices influence firm's performance.
  • Arbitrage, offshoring, and reshoring.
  • Regional strategies.
  • Strategies of emerging market multinationals.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO)

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

At the end of the course student will be able to...
  • Understand the economic fundamentals of globalization.
  • Describe the factors driving the internationalization processes of firms.
  • Identify the ways in which firms organize their global value chains.
  • Explain how firms deal with the challenges of managing their activities across borders.

APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

At the end of the course student will be able to...
  • Analyze attractiveness of foreign markets.
  • Examine decisions regarding offhsoring/reshoring of value chain activities.
  • Discuss decisions regarding adaptation to local market factors.
  • Evaluate the performance of the internationalization processes.

Teaching methods

  • Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
  • Practical Exercises
  • Individual works / Assignments
  • Collaborative Works / Assignments
  • Interaction/Gamification

DETAILS

Lectures are very interactive and supplemented with classroom exercises, a simulation on market selection, discussion of articles and recent academic papers, a rich set of business cases, and guest speakers from multinational companies. A number of sessions is dedicated to analysis of market data for deciding which markets to enter.


Assessment methods

  Continuous assessment Partial exams General exam
  • Written individual exam (traditional/online)
     x
  • Individual Works/ Assignment (report, exercise, presentation, project work etc.)
 x    
  • Collaborative Works / Assignment (report, exercise, presentation, project work etc.)
 x    

ATTENDING STUDENTS

Evaluation consists of:

  • A written exam at the end of the course aimed at assessing the learning path along the overall program (40% of the total grade).
  • Assignments  completed during the course (60% of the grade).

NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS

Evaluation consists of a written exam at the end of the course aimed at assessing the learning path along the overall program (100% of the total grade). Students are expected to study all the material included in the syllabus (i.e.textbook, articles, cases, videos).


Teaching materials


ATTENDING STUDENTS

  • P. GHEMAWAT, Redefining Global Strategy: Crossing Borders in a World Where Differences Still Matter, HBS Press, 2007 (chapters 1-2-4-5-6).
  • Slides, cases and readings discussed in class and not included in the above mentioned book are accessible on Course Reserve or saved on the Bboard Platform.

NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS

  • VINOD K. JAIN, Global Strategy. Competing in the Connected Economy, Routledge, 2017.
  • P. GHEMAWAT, Redefining Global Strategy: Crossing Borders in a World Where Differences Still Matter, HBS Press, 2007 (chapters 1,2,3,4,5,6).
  • K. MAHBUBANI, Has the West Lost It?: A Provocation, Allen Lane, 2018.
  • Slides, cases and readings discussed in class and not included in the above mentioned book are accessible on Course Reserve or saved on the Bboard Platform.
Last change 27/05/2024 11:59