INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS – MKT 321

Fall 2001: Tuesday, Thursday – 10:00 a.m.-11:50 a.m., 4 credit hours

Instructor: Virginie Pioche Kharé
Office: BU 219B
Phone: (216) 687-6935
Fax: (216) 687-5311
Email: v.pioche@csuohio.edu
Web page: http://grail.cba.csuohio.edu/~vipioche

Office hours: After class or by appointment

PREREQUISITE: MKT 301

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Introduces concepts, theories, information and issues that impact business strategies in global markets. Investigates the role of international institutions and the cultural, economic, legal, and geopolitical influences on world trade. Examines the nature of business decisions across such functional areas as human resource management, finance and accounting, marketing, and operations management.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

1. To provide an overall perspective on the functions and significance of international business in the U.S. and world economies and the political, economic, legal, cultural, and social environments within which international business must operate.
2. To develop an understanding of the role of each of the traditional business functions in terms of the global economy.
3. To develop an understanding of the tools and techniques available for use in screening and analyzing business opportunities.

REQUIRED READING: The Wall Street Journal

ATTENDANCE

This class requires active participation to make it beneficial. This requires that students are always prepared with readings, cases, and outside material, and will actively participate in class discussions. Class attendance is expected and will be taken. Students are expected to have read and prepared the chapters assigned for each class meeting.

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Examinations will be held according to the attached class calendar. Exemptions from an exam will be provided only for extreme cases of personal problems or illness. For such cases, a make-up exam should be taken as soon as possible. A student must contact the instructor before the exam and show documented evidence to be eligible for an exemption. Any student who has not made arrangements for a make-up exam before the originally scheduled exam will receive a grade of zero on that exam.

Each student will be expected to prepare a written analysis of every case assigned for discussion in class (see guidelines for case analysis). The instructor will only collect a few written case analyses from randomly picked students. No late case analyses will be accepted.

Each student will be expected to turn in weekly assignment on international topics.

There will also be a team project. Each team will be composed of 3 (to 4 if needed) members. The team will research an assigned topic that deals with today’s international business environment. The team will submit a paper and present its findings to the class

COURSE GRADE

The course grade will be computed according to these weights:
 

Midterm Examination:		20 %
Final Examination:		20 %
Individual Assignments:		20%
Individual Case Analyses:		10%
Participation and Attendance:		10 %
Group Project:		20%

Letter grade:

A= 93% or greater A- = 90-92% B+ = 87-89%
B= 83-86% B- = 80-82% C+ = 77-79%
C= 70-76% D = 60-69% F= 59% and below

COURSE SCHEDULE AND ASSIGNMENTS*

Week	Topic	Readings/Assignments/Tests
1	Introduction to the course Discussion of topics for teams The International Business Imperative	Chapter 1
2	Looking at the World Around Us	Assignment 1 due 09/04
3	National Trade and Investment Policies Politics and Laws	Chapters 3, 4 Assignment 2 due 09/11 H1-b visas: a high-tech dilemma case (p. 570) due 09/13
4	Culture and International Business	Chapter 2 Assignment 3 due 09/18
5	The Theory of International Trade and Investment The Balance of Payments	Chapters 5, 6 Assignment 4 due 09/25 Avicular Controls and Pakistan International Airlines case (p. 585) due 09/27. Questions will be posted on the web site.
6	International Financial Markets Multinational Financial Management International Accounting and Taxation	Chapters 7, 16, 17 Assignment 5 due 10/02 Harley-Davidson Hedging Hogs case (p. 627) due 10/04
7	Economic Integration	Chapter 8 Assignment 6 due 10/09 The Global Car Market: the European Battleground case (p. 591) due 10/11
8	MIDTERM EXAM Market transitions and development	MIDTERM EXAM, Tuesday, 10/16 Chapter 9 GM and AvtoVAZ of Russia case (p. 595) due 10/18. Questions will be posted on the web site.
9	International Business Entry and Development Strategic Planning in International Business	Chapters 11, 12 Assignment 7 due 10/23 Amazon.com case (p.612) Case due 10/25
10	International Research International Marketing	Chapters 10, 13 Assignment 8 due 10/30 Water from Iceland case (p. 603) due 11/01
11	International Services International Logistics and Supply-Management	Chapters 14, 15 Assignment 9 due 11/06  Customer Service Online: the HP Designjet Case (p. 620) due 11/08
12	International Human Resource Management Organization, Implementation, and Control of International Operations	Chapters 18, 19 Assignment 10 due 11/13 An expatriate tour in El Salvador Case (p. 631) due 11/15
13	Team Presentations
14	Team Presentations
15	Team Presentations Class Evaluations Conclusion of the course	Team papers due 12/06
16	FINAL EXAM	FINAL EXAM, Thursday, 12/13

*Schedule may be changed depending on class progress.

GUIDELINES FOR CASE ANALYSES

Format

Case studies must be between 2 to 4 double-spaced typed pages. Margins of 1" and a font size of 12 must be used.

Presentation

In addition to following the right format, case studies must be free of spelling and grammatical errors. Graphs and appendices need not be used unless the student thinks they are crucial to the case analysis. In this case, however, remember that graphs and appendices do not count towards the minimum length requirement of typed material.

Organization

Each case study must have at least two parts:

• Introduction: case summary: provide an overview of the organization discussed in the case - include items such as SWOT analysis, description of products, target markets, management structure, marketing strategies, culture, employees, etc, as needed and appropriate.
• Answers to questions given in the book: make sure to use the information provided in the case to answer questions and to deduce your own conclusions

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