20625 - GLOBAL SCENARIOS - MODULE 2 (Geopolitics and Business)

Capabilities to act successfully in international environments are increasingly linked to the achievement of global visions and to a deep understanding of complexity. Geopolitical events shape the environment in which companies operate, and in recent years the world has looked an increasingly uncertain place for international managers. This course aims to provide the necessary skills in this respect through a critical analysis of the role and behavior of corporations and governments in the global market. The first part of the course lays the foundations of understanding the main dynamics with regard to geopolitics and international business behavior, and their interaction. After a theoretical introduction, the course addresses a wide range of issues related to geopolitics and international business, and trains students through a vast array of case studies and role playings taken from different historical, institutional, and geographical contexts, within the frameworks of globalization and de-globalization. The second part of the course explores the opportunities and challenges associated with doing business in different parts of the world today, by exploring each continent through the use of both interviews with academics, entrepreneurs and managers, and team assignments on specific nations prepared by students and presented in class.

Setting the stage:

• Principles of geopolitics.
• Multinational companies: theories and impact.
• Geopolitics and international business.

Geopolitics and international business within the frameworks of globalization and de-globalization:

• The First Global Economy.
• The First De-Globalization.
• Towards a Second Global Economy.
• The Second Globalization (and the Second De-Globalization?).

Doing Business in...

• Doing Business in Africa.
• Doing Business in America.
• Doing Business in Asia.
• Doing Business in Europe.
• Doing Business in Oceania.

• Know relevant global political and economic historical facts which have substantially contributed to shaping the present context.
• Contextualize the variety of entrepreneurial and corporate forms which emerged in the long run in response to changing institutions and technology.

• Identify the “macro” phenomena (globalization, economic growth and development, leadership of the advanced countries, and so on) which influence “micro” behaviors (companies’ strategies, organizational forms, and so on).

• Face-to-face lectures
• Online lectures
• Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
• Case studies /Incidents (traditional, online)
• Individual assignments
• Group assignments
• Interactive class activities (role playing, business game, simulation, online forum, instant polls)

This course is structured as a blended learning format. Times and modes of learning integrate the systematic use of face-to-face and online resources and tools.

• The usual course schedule is flipped by assigning lectures and online videos to be viewed at home, and by tackling engaging problems in face-to-face classroom situations. Online resources are the main point of reference for study materials. These include video lectures recorded by the instructor to deliver the core content of the course, video pills recorded by Bocconi’s professors to remind students of some basic concepts of economic theory; recorded guest talks and interviews to give students interesting insights from experts from the field in different parts of the world.
• Two individual assignments to test students' knowledge especially focusing on information of value in allowing students to work effectively on their team assignment.
• In-class lessons, on the other hand, are done through the discussion of case studies and role playings (in the first part of the course) and through the use of group assignment presentations (in the second part of the course) on the topic “Doing business in… (a specific nation)”.

Assessment is composed of both at home/online and on-campus activities. At home/online: 

• Two individual pieces of homework to test the achievement of the intended learning outcome “Know relevant political and economic historical facts which have substantially contributed to shaping the present”, especially focusing on information of value in allowing students to work effectively on their team assignment

On-campus:

• Teamwork to make students apply what they have learned during the course to the current situation in a specific geographical region. Working together with peers tests the intended learning outcomes “Contextualize the variety of entrepreneurial and corporate forms which emerged in the long run” and “Identify the “macro” phenomena (globalization, economic growth and development, leadership of the advanced countries, and so on) which influence “micro” behaviors (companies’ strategies, organizational forms, and so on)".
• A final written exam, with a mix of open-ended and multiple-choice questions, which tests the achievement of the intended learning outcomes: “Know relevant political and economic historical facts which have substantially contributed to shaping the present” and “Contextualize the variety of entrepreneurial and corporate forms which emerged in the long run”.

Cases and articles available at Course Reserve: 

• T.J. WATSON, IBM and Nazi Germany (by G.G. JONES, A. BROWN)(HBS case, 9-807-133).
• M. WILKINS, US Business in Europe: An American Perspective, in H. BONIN, F. DE GOEY eds., American Firms in Europe, 1880-1980: Strategy, Identity, Perception and Performance, Geneva: Librairie Droz, Chap. 2, pp. 35-67 (2009).

Cases and class material available on Bboard, including:

• Video lectures: videos of the module, The First Global Economy,  “A focus on the interwar years”, “From the Golden Age to the Economic Crisis”, “The New Global Economy”.
• Video pills: Colantone, Williams, Altomonte, Colli.
• Interviews and guests’ talks: Wolf, Dávila, Friedman, Galambos, Lluch, Bozzo, Lai, Park, Kurosawa, Piramal, Carbonato, Shanahan, Pezzotta, Decker, Verhoef, Agostoni, Amatori, Fava, Özlale, Fumagalli, Jones.
• Case studies and role playings (The Suez Canal, Supermarkets Italiani, Repsol-Ypf).
• Slides.

More information on additional materials are given at the beginning of the course