BUEC 342: International Business Syllabus-Fall 2005
Instructor: Carlos Machuca Office: TBA
Phone: 467-7468
E-mail: [email protected]
Lectures: Tuesday and Thursday from 15:30-16:50 Location: BUS B-05
Office Hours: By Appointment or 30 minutes before class
Course Objective:
The objective of the course is to provide students with a working knowledge of international business, the organizations or political structures that either help or hinder international commerce, capital markets, foreign exchange, and other potential issues and risks involved in managing a successful international business.
The course follows the structure of the Hill textbook (listed below), but purchase of the text is not required. It is, however, strongly recommended that students read and make use of the book which is held on reserve at the Rutherford Library.
Required reading:
Notes posted on the course webpage Case studies and hand-outs
Hill, Charles W.L. “International Business: Competing in the Global Marketplace”, McGraw-Hill, 2003 (5 edition, ISBN 0-07-287395-7)
Supplementary reading
Butler, Kirt C. ”Multinational Finance”, South Western, 2000 or more recent
Eiteman, David K. et al.” Multinational Business Finance”. Addison-Wesley, 2000 or more recent edition.
Levich, Richard M. “International Financial Markets: Prices and Policies”
McGraw-Hill 2001, 2nd Edition or more recent.
Class structure: Each class will consist of lectures as well as student presentations and classroom discussions.
Students will be asked to form groups of 5 participants. During each class, a group will be responsible for leading the discussion of a specific presentation case previously assigned.
There will also be a class presentation project. This project will consist of a class presentation about a specific industry sector (see detailed schedule) and a formal hard copy of the presentation. The oral presentation should last a maximum of 30-45 minutes
with Q&A. The project will identify key industry leaders, current and future demand, issues affecting the industry, and recommendations to our firm (class) were we to decide to enter the international arena in a defined geographical area of the world. In short, its purpose is to educate other class members about the idiosyncrasies of other economic sectors when competing globally.
The formal group project hard copy is due on the last day of class for the instructor.
Maximum number of pages is 15 including a 2 page executive summary, using 1.5 space, and to include a full bibliography of sources used.
Final Grade Evaluation and build up:
This will be in four parts. Questions are encouraged to avoid misunderstandings.
¾ Student participation in class and through case discussions 15%
¾ A mid term exam 25%
¾ Group project to be delivered on last day of class 30%
¾ A final exam, on the last day of class 30%
¾ Final grade to be reported following new grading system 100%
This course covers a lot of material. Course members should attend all sessions in order to have the required level of understanding to complete the program to an acceptable standard. You are required to sign attendance sheet during every class.
All course members are expected to contribute fully to the work of the group on the group project. Should some group members have a concern about a possible lack of participation by any other group member then they should contact the instructor without delay. Should it be clearly shown that a group member is failing to participate then that person could be liable to have his or her mark for the project reduced to reflect lack of positive contribution.
Proposed week-to-week schedule:
Date Topic Required Reading: Hill’s Book, Case names
Week 1
Sept. 8 Class Guidelines, Expectations, Overview and Questions.
Week 2
13 &15 Globalization and National Differences; chap 1-2 Week 3
20 & 22 Differences in Culture; chap 3; Cases: Nike, Qualcomm, Shell p.128-136 Week 4
27& 29 International Trade; chap 4-5 Week 5
Oct.4 & 6 Foreign Direct Investment; chap. 6-7 Week 6
11 & 13 Cases: Starbucks, Trade in Steel, Lumber, Ghana p.302-306 Regional Integration; chap 8
Week 7
18 & 20 Foreign Exchange Market, Int’l Monetary System; chap. 9-10 Week 8
25 & 27 Global Capital Markets; chap. 11- Midterm Exam Week 9
Nov.1 & 3 Cases: Manage Trade, Dixon, p.307-311. Money change, Bailing out Brazil, IMF Fund. p. 402-405
Week 10
8 &10(holiday) Strategy and Organization of Int’l Business; chap. 12-13 Week 11
15 & 17 Strategic alliances; chap. 14; Cases: BP, Exide, Philips 514-517 Week 12
22 & 24 Managing International Business: Student Presentations 1-2; 3-4 Week 13
29 & Dec.1 Managing International Business: Student Presentations 5-6; 7-8 Week 14
Dec. 6 Exam 2; Project due. Late assignments will not be accepted or graded
Please note:
“The policy about course outline can be found in section 23.4(2) of the University calendar” (GFC 29 SEP 2003)
“The University of Alberta is committed to the highest standards of academic integrity and honesty. Students are expected to be familiar with these standards regarding academic honesty and to uphold the policies of the University in this respect. Students are particularly urged to familiarize themselves with the provisions of the Code of Student Behaviour (online at www.ualberta.ca/secretariat/appeals.htm) and avoid any behaviour which could potentially result in suspicions of cheating, plagiarism, misrepresentation of facts and/or participation in an offence. Academic dishonesty is a serious offence and can result in suspension or expulsion from the University”.(GFC 29 SEP 2003).