STUDY MODULE:  INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

SUMMER 2002: May 6 through May 26, 2002

AIMS:
International Business reflects the emergence of a global marketplace and
significant new challenges facing business management in a competitive and
rapidly changing international environment. This course will stress the problems/challenges that differences in cultural, political, and socioeconomic environments introduce into the management process in international
operations. With business investment abroad rising and world trade
expanding, the demand for managers who are knowledgeable about the
culture and business practices of other countries is increasing and will
continue to increase. Foreign competitors are also a fact of life in all
domestic markets.

OBJECTIVE:
This course is intended to respond to the need for future business managers
to be internationally literate with an understanding of the cultures, economic
systems, and business practices of participants in a highly interdependent
global marketplace.

The basic course objective is to bring an international perspective to the
students thinking and some understanding of the international language of
business. In seeking to achieve this objective, the course will focus on a
number of timely international issues and developments:

* Scope of international business, its significance, the role of multinational
companies in this marketplace, and the driving forces to enter the global
arena.

* Factors impacting on competitive performance in international markets,
and options for improving an organization's competitiveness in these markets.

* International trade, economic/political ramifications of trade imbalances
and restrictions between the domestic market and its trading partners,
free trade vs. protectionism policies.

* Cultural environment of international business, how to communicate/
motivate in different cultures, cross?cultural management challenges.

* Social responsibilities in multinational operations and ethical guidelines/
business practices.

* Host government relationships, political environment, and the implications
of multinational operations on national sovereignty, control/regulation
problems.

* Regional common market operations, i.e., doing business in the European
community

in the post Monetary Union era, in N.A.F.T.A., or in centrally planned
economies.

* Developing global corporate strategies, and assessing risks associated
with market entry into new foreign markets.

* Developing strategies for risk minimization in international business.

* Practical considerations of "doing business internationally" and the impact
of a foreign assignment on an executive's career and family.

COURSE MATERIAL:

Czinkota, Michael, Ilkka, Ronkainen, and Michael Moffett (1999),
International Business, Fifth ed., The Dryden Press.
Additional readings will be assigned during the course and will be used
to expand the student's knowledge in specific areas.

TEACHING METHOD:

Seminar approach with maximum student participation encouraged
through readings, research, and case discussions/presentations. Course
lectures intended to expand/clarify text assignments, supplemented with
class assignments/analysis. Emphasis will be on the understanding and
application of concepts, with opportunity provided for the student to
demonstrate an understanding of the factors critical to the success of an
international operation.

Students (working in small teams) will be expected to become a class
resource by researching/presenting brief reports on assigned cases and
readings.

EVALUATION:

The following criteria will be used as the basis for evaluation of student performance/achievement, and weighted as indicated below in arriving at
a final course grade:

Mid?term Exam 30%
Final Exam 40%
Cases & Homework 30%
Total 100%

Class attendance is required reflecting a seminar approach and the need
for maximum class participation to successfully develop effective class
discussion. (Course grades may be debited in cases where absences
are deemed excessive.)

The midterm and final examinations will consist of multiple choice,
true?false, and matching questions, along with essay questions. They will
be designed to test your ability to analyze and synthesize the materials.

Attendance for exams is specifically required. (Makeup exams will not be
offered ) One sheet (A4) of notes may be brought to each exam. This
means the Midterm and Final examinations.

RESIT EXAMS:

Will be scheduled at the request of students by the administration of the
program later in the summer semester.

GRADING POLICY

5 93-100 %
4 83-92.99 %
3 73-82.99 %
2 63-72.99 %
1 53-62.99 %
0 0 – 52.99 %

Indicative grades will be given on each assignment, however, final course
grade will be computed as a weighted average of the % grades on each
individual assignment. Midterm and final examinations will be graded such
that the second highest observed score in the class will be defined as
= 100%.
All other student scores will be normed on this score.

CLASS SCHEDULE AND ASSIGNMENTS
DATE TIME ROOM ASSIGNMENT

Monday 06.05 9.00 – 12.00 Read: Chaps. 1
Reading 1 Blunders in Int’l Business, Chap. 1 & 5

Tuesday 07.05 9.00 - 12.00 Read Chaps 2
Reading 2 The Cultural Environment of
International Business
DUE: Demographic Case

Wednesday 08.05 9.00 – 12.00 Read Chaps 5
Reading 3 & 4: The Communist Manifesto,
Part 1, and The Globalization of Markets
DUE: Tarus Case

Thursday 09.05 Holiday No Class Today!!

Friday 10.05 9.00 – 12.00 Read Chaps 3
DUE: Trade Theory Worksheet

Monday 13.05 9.00 – 12.00 Read Chaps 8
DUE: Tariffs Worksheet

Tuesday 14.05 9.00 - 12.00 Read Chaps 7 & 17
DUE: Banana War Case

Wednesday 15.05 9.00 – 12.00 Lecture 9.00 – 10.00
MIDTERM EXAM. (10.30-12.00)

Thursday 16.05 9.00 - 12.00 Read Chaps 11 & 13
DUE: Hedging Case

Friday 17.05 9.00 – 12.00 Read Chaps 14
Reading 5: Multinational Product Planning

Monday 20.05 9.00 - 12.00 Read Chaps 19 & 20
Reading 6: Blunders, Chap. 6 DUE: Acme Widget Case

Tuesday 21.05 9.00 - 12.00 Reading 7:
Blown to Bits, Chap. 1 & 4

Wednesday 22.05 9.00 - 12..00 Read Chaps 22
DUE: Universal Tire Case

Thursday 23.05 9.00 – 12.00 REVIEW DAY FOR FINAL EXAMINATION

Friday 24.05 9.00 – 11.00 FINAL EXAMINATION
(9.00-11.30)

READINGS:

Reading 1: Ricks, David A. (1993), Blunders in international Business,
Chapters 1 and 5, Cambridge, Ma: Blackwell Publishers.

Reading 2: Terpstra, Vern and Kenneth David (1991), The Cultural
Environment of International Business, Third ed., Chapter 1, Cincinnati, OH: Southwestern

Reading 3: Marx, Karl and Friedrich Engels (1847) The Communist
Manifesto, Translation by Paul Sweezy, New York: Monthly Review Press

Reading 4: Levitt, Theodore (1983) “The Globalization of Markets,”
Harvard Business Review, (May-June).

Reading 5: Warren J. Keegan (1969) “Multinational Product Planning:
Strategic Alternatives, Journal of Marketing, (January).

Reading 6: Ricks, David A. (1993), Blunders in international Business,
Chapter 6, Cambridge, Ma: Blackwell Publishers.

Reading 7: Evans, Philip and Thomas Wurster (2000) Blown to Bits,
Chapters 1, 2 and 4, Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

PREVIOUS STUDIES:

This course is designed to be taken by students as part of their
undergraduate degree programs in business

LECTURER:

Richard Sjolander, Ph.D.,
Professor
Department of Marketing and Economics, and
Director of International Business Programs
The University of West Florida, USA, and
Visiting Professor
Mikkeli Polytechnic, Finland, and
Nyenrode University, Netherlands

Dr. Sjolander joined the faculty at UWF in January, 1985, following
the completion of his Ph.D. at Michigan State University. He majored
in Resource Development/Resource Economics with minors in Marketing
and Transportation / Distribution. He holds both bachelors and masters
degrees in Packaging Engineering.

Dr. Sjolander had an active career in international business prior to
returning for graduate education in the U.S. He held positions in
Multinational corporations both in the U.S. and Europe. Dr. Sjolander
maintains ties in Europe where he has been a visiting professor at
numerous institutions.

Richard's publications include major journals in the U. S. and Europe, as
well as numerous conference papers. He has been a Co?principle
investigator on two major international grants and is a founding
member of the International Business Student Exchange Network
(IBSEN) .