20720 - GLOBAL SCENARIOS - MODULE 1 (GEOPOLITICS AND BUSINESS)

The ability to act successfully in international environments is 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 like an increasingly uncertain place in the eyes of 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 for understanding the main dynamics with regard to geopolitics and international business behavior, and how they interact. After a theoretical introduction, the course addresses a wide range of geopolitical and international business issues and trains students through the consideration of a vast array of case studies and role play taken from different institutional and geographical contexts, within the frameworks of globalization and de-globalization. The second part of the course takes advantage of interviews with entrepreneurs and managers, guest speaker talks, and team assignments, in order to explore the opportunities and challenges associated with doing business in emerging industries and in different parts of the world today.

Introduction

Globalization and deglobalization

Geopolitics and international business

Hot topics:

1)    Risk and risk management

2)    Globalization, politics, and geoeconomics

3)    Doing business in wartime

Doing business in:

1)    The “Old” World

2)    Asia

3)    Emerging markets

4)    Emerging industries

Learning from failure

Mock exam

• Know and understand the current, main economic and geopolitical dynamics at a global level, especially focusing on those that contribute substantially to shaping the present international business environment.
• Know and understand the peculiarities of the business environment in the “Old World”, as well as in the emerging markets and in some emerging industries.

• Identify the “macro” phenomena (globalization, economic growth and development, geopolitical tensions, and so on) and analyze how they influence “micro” (companies’ strategies, organizational forms, and so on).
• Identify and analyze the main risks coming from the current economic and geopolitical environment in different geographical areas at the global level and suggest practical solutions for international companies.

• 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 in 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 problems of engagement in face-to-face classroom situations.

Online resources include recordings of guest talks and interviews to give students interesting insights from experts from the field in different parts of the world.

In-class lessons, on the other hand, are done through the discussion of case studies and role-playing games.

The final grade is the sum of the following partial grades:

a) Exam: up to 15 points, divided as follows: 

• 2 T/F questions (with motivation) up to 4 points
• 3 multiple-choice questions up to 3 points
• 1 open question up to 4 points
• 1 article/table/graph to comment on up to 4 points

b) In-class continuous assessment (polls, in-class interaction, ...): up to 2 points

c) Teamwork 1 (Geopolitical risk): up to 6 points

d) Teamwork 2 (Learning from failure): up to 8 points

The final exam aims to test students' knowledge, understanding, and analytical skills as a whole.

The purpose of the in-class continuous assessment is to test students' in-progress knowledge and ability to understand the relationships between “macro” and “micro” phenomena, thanks to an analysis of some of the proposed cases.

Teamwork intends to encourage students to apply what they learn to a specific business case and geographical region.

The status of attending students will expire in the following academic year.

Students who are not included in the work teams are considered to be non-attending students.

Students who don’t attend the course must declare their status in terms of being not-attending students by sending an email to Veronica Binda (veronica.binda@unibocconi.it), Andrea Colli (andrea.colli@unibocconi.it) and Benedetta Crivelli (benedetta.crivelli@unibocconi.it) by December 1st. It is fundamental that students who don’t aim to attend the course declare so in time, since they won’t be included in the work teams.

For non-attending students, the final grade is the sum of the following partial grades:

a) Exam: up to 15 points, divided as follows:

• 2 T/F questions (with motivation) up to 4 points
• 3 multiple-choice questions up to 3 points
• 1 open question up to 4 points
• 1 article/table/graph to comment on up to 4 points

b) Individual assignment on the topic “Geopolitical risk” (to be delivered via email to Andrea Colli before the day of the exam): up to 6 points

c) 20-page paper on the topic “Learning from failure” (to be delivered via email to Veronica Binda before the day of the exam): up to 8 points

The final exam aims to test students' knowledge, understanding, and analytical skills as a whole.

The individual assignments intend to encourage students to apply what they learn to a specific business case and geographical region.

Class material available on Blackboard, including video interviews, readings, case studies, role-playing games, and slides.