INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY

COURSE MANUAL 2014-2015

Course code
IM01CC
Term
Block 1 of the MSc. program in International Management CEMS
Course load
7.5 ECTS, which correpon! to a"o#t $00 ho#r of t#!%.
Adm!s"ra"#e $ueres
For administrative issues such as Blackboard enrollment, please contact the MSc. program
management. For issues related to exam result registration, please contact the exam
administration.
I!s"ruc"ors
Dr. A. Slangen
Associate professor of International Business
&epartment of Strategic Management an! Entreprene#rhip
'otter!am School of Management, Eram# (ni)erit%
e*mail+ alangen,rm.nl
Prof. Dr. T. Reus
Professor of Global Strategy
&epartment of Strategic Management an! Entreprene#rhip
'otter!am School of Management, Eram# (ni)erit%
e*mail+ tre#,rm.nl
Course co!"e!"
The course International Strategy combines key insights from the areas of strategic
management and international business to shed light on the topic of international strategy.
International "#ine trateg% mean effecti)el% an! efficientl% matching a m#ltinational
firm- internal trength .relati)e to competitor/ with the opport#nitie an! challenge fo#n!
in intit#tionall% an! geographicall% !ipere! en)ironment that cro international "or!er.
S#ch matching i a re0#irement for creating )al#e an! atif%ing takehol!er- goal, "oth
!ometicall% an! internationall%, an! hence for #r)i)al an! goo! performance.
Since glo"ali1ation ha increae! "oth the opport#nitie an! challenge fo#n! in the
international "#ine en)ironment, forming an! e2ec#ting #ccef#l international "#ine
trategie ha "ecome increaingl% important an! more comple2 for firm. &e)eloping an!
"#il!ing on a #nif%ing framework of the practitioner*oriente! literat#re on international
"#ine trategie, the co#re familiari1e t#!ent with the core concept an! !%namic
aociate! with #ch trategie, there"% increaing t#!ent- aca!emic #n!ertan!ing of
#ccef#l international trateg% formation an! implementation.
The co#re will co)er the mot eential tra!itional topic relate! to international "#ine
trateg% a well a recent !e)elopment in the area.
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The topic that will "e !ic#e! are+
The concept#al fo#n!ation of international "#ine trateg%3
The critical role of firm*pecific a!)antage3
The nat#re of home*co#ntr% location a!)antage an! the pro"lem with hot*co#ntr%
location a!)antage3
Com"ining firm*pecific a!)antage an! location a!)antage in a m#ltinational network3
International inno)ation, o#rcing an! pro!#ction3
International marketing3
The !%namic aociate! with #ch entr% mo!e a trategic alliance an! merger 4
ac0#iition3
Emerging market an! emerging market m#ltinational3
The role of E#ropean integration an! other #pranational intit#tion3
Corporate reponi"ilit% an! #taina"ilit% in a glo"al conte2t3
The )ario# wa% in which c#lt#ral !ifference infl#ence international trategie.
Course o%&ec"#es
The co#re ha the following o"5ecti)e+
familiari1ing t#!ent with the ke% theoretical i!ea a"o#t international trateg%3
training t#!ent in criticall% e)al#ating thee i!ea3
training t#!ent in appl%ing thee i!ea to "#ine practice thro#gh cae t#!ie of
m#ltinational firm3
increasing students ability to formulate and express their views on the theory and
practicalities of international business strategy.
The o)erall en! goal i to increae t#!ent- a"ilit% to #n!ertan!, !e)elop, an! implement
#ccef#l international trategie in m#ltinational firm, i.e. trategie that enhance the
performance of #ch firm.
Course 'orma"
The clae will lat two to three ho#r each, an! will "e a com"ination of lect#re an!
intr#ctor*le! !ic#ion in which t#!ent- participation i e2pecte!. 6or the e2act !ate,
time, an! location of the clae, pleae ee SI7*8nline.
(re)ara"o! a!d a""e!da!ce
To raise both the quality and effectiveness of the course, each class requires the preparation
of an assignment. The assignments can be found on Blackboard. Six of them are team
assignments, which may be graded and should be made by teams of four students. These
teams will be formed during the first class, meaning that attending the first class is
mandatory. Students who fail to attend the first class are themselves responsible for finding
a team. The team assignments should be handed in to the lecturer at the start of each class.
Furthermore, before the start of the class an identical copy of the team assignment should be
uploaded to Blackboard (under Upload assignments here), where it will be automatically
checked for plagiarism. Assignments containing plagiarism will receive zero points. The
same applies to assignments handed in or uploaded after class.
All students are expected to contribute equally to the team assignments and should be able to
explain and defend their teams answers in class. By actively participating in the preparation
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and class discussion of the assignments, students will maximize their learning experience and
significantly increase their chances of passing the course, since learning is very much an
active as well as interactive process. If your team members are not satisfied with your
contribution to the team assignments, your assignment grade may be lowered.
Students are strongly encouraged to attend all classes in order to maximize their learning
experience, but are allowed to be absent during one class (with the exception of the first one,
as explained above). Students are expected to have carefully read all required readings for a
class in advance.
Grad!*
The final gra!e that t#!ent will recei)e for the co#re i "ae! on the team aignment an!
an in!i)i!#al e2am. 8f the i2 team aignment, fo#r will "e gra!e!. 9hich fo#r
aignment will "e gra!e! will not "e anno#nce! "eforehan!. The aignment gra!e
primaril% will "e "ae! on the clarit%, acc#rac%, an! completene of the anwer gi)en, a
well a on their le)el of !etail an! the 0#alit% of the arg#mentation an! form#lation. The
intr#ctor will !o their #tmot "et to anno#nce all aignment gra!e "efore the e2am.
St#!ent can earn a ma2im#m of 10 point for each of the gra!e! team aignment. The
a)erage of the fo#r gra!e! aignment will make #p 50: of the final gra!e. The aignment
gra!e are onl% )ali! for one e!ition of the co#re, meaning that t#!ent retaking the co#re
nee! to make the aignment again.
The other 50% of the final grade will be determined through an individual, closed-book
exam. To pass the course, students should obtain an exam grade of at least 5.5. During the
exam you are not allowed to use a dictionary that translates English into your mother tongue
and vice versa. An example exam will be made available on Blackboard. The exam questions
may pertain to all course materials, including the lecture slides and class discussions. Like the
assignment grades, the exam grade will primaril% "e "ae! on the clarit%, acc#rac%, an!
completene of the anwer gi)en, a well a on their le)el of !etail an! the 0#alit% of the
arg#mentation an! form#lation. If a t#!ent ha not pae! the co#re after the reit of the
e2am, he or he will nee! to take the co#re again in the ne2t aca!emic %ear.
9ithin fo#r week after the anno#ncement of the e2am gra!e, an e2am per#al will "e
organi1e!. ;leae note that the goal of the per#al i not to complain or haggle a"o#t %o#r
gra!e, "#t to learn from %o#r mitake. (nle calc#lation error are !etecte!, the anno#nce!
gra!e m#t "e regar!e! a the final gra!e. 7o alternati)e per#al will "e organi1e! for
e2am inpection.
Re$ured read!*s
The main re0#ire! rea!ing for thi co#re i the econ! e!ition of the te2t"ook entitle!
International Business Strategy "% <lain =er"eke .$01>, Cam"ri!ge, (?+ Cam"ri!ge
(ni)erit% ;re, ISB7+ @7A*1*107*BA>0@*@/. St#!ent are themel)e reponi"le for
o"taining thi "ook on time. The #pplementar% re0#ire! rea!ing are reearch paper, which
are a)aila"le from Black"oar!. Their f#ll reference .in alpha"etical or!er of the firt a#thor-
lat name/ are a follow+
Akhtar S., & Jones V. (2013). Proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership
(TTIP): In Brief. Congressional Research Service.
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Fligstein N., & Merand F. (2002). Globalization or Europeanization? Evidence on the
European economy since 1980. Acta Sociologica 45(1): 7-22.
Harzing, A. (2000) An empirical analysis and extension of the Bartlett and Ghoshal
typology of multinational companies. Journal of International Business Studies, 31(1):
101-120.
Hong H.-J., & Doz, Y.L. (2013). L'Oral masters multiculturalism. Harvard Business
Review 91(June): 114-119.
Slangen, A.H.L., & Dikova, D. (2014) Planned marketing adaptation and multinationals
choices between acquisitions and greenfields. Journal of International Marketing, 22(2):
68-88.
Topics and readings by class
The class schedule, which may be subject to changes, is as follows:
+a"e To)c,s- Re$ured read!*s Ass*!me!" ".)e I!s"ruc"or
Septem"er $
Concept#al fo#n!ation of international "#ine
trateg%
Intro!#ction 4 chapter 1 of
=er"eke
In!i)i!#al
preparation 0#etion
&r. Slangen
Septem"er 5
* The critical role of firm*pecific a!)antage
* The pro"lem with hot*co#ntr% location
a!)antage
Chapter $ 4 C from
=er"eke
Team aignment 1 &r. Slangen
Septem"er 11
* The nat#re of home co#ntr% location a!)antage
* Com"ining firm*pecific a!)antage an! location
a!)antage in a m#ltinational network
Chapter > 4 5 from
=er"eke, Dar1ing .$000/
Team aignment $ &r. Slangen
Septem"er 1B
* International inno)ation
* International o#rcing an! pro!#ction
Chapter B 4 7 from
=er"eke
Team aignment > ;rof. !r. 'e#
Septem"er 1A International marketing
Chapter @ from =er"eke,
Slangen 4 &iko)a .$01C/
In!i)i!#al
preparation 0#etion
&r. Slangen
Septem"er $>
* Strategic alliance
* Merger an! ac0#iition I
Chapter 1$ 4 1> from
=er"eke
Team aignment C &r. Slangen
Septem"er >0
* Emerging market
* Emerging market m#ltinational
Chapter 1C 4 15 from
=er"eke
Team aignment 5 Prof. dr. Reus
8cto"er $
* E#ropeani1ation
* Tranatlantic market
6ligtein 4 Meran! .$00$/
<khtar 4 Eone .$01>/
In!i)i!#al
preparation 0#etion
Prof. dr. Reus
8cto"er 7
* Corporate ocial reponi"ilit%
* Corporate en)ironmental #taina"ilit%
Chapter 1Ba4" from
=er"eke
Team aignment B Prof. dr. Reus
8cto"er @
* C#lt#ral !ifference
* M#ltic#lt#ralim
Dong 4 &o1 .$01>/
In!i)i!#al
preparation 0#etion
Prof. dr. Reus
Closing remark
The master course International Strategy will be an exciting but time-consuming course that
should substantially enhance students scientific and practical knowledge of the strategic
management of multinational firms in an international context. We hope to be able to count
on your interest, motivation, energy, and enthusiasm in order to make this course a success.
We expect every participant to have made a conscious choice for this course and to be
prepared for active participation in our joint learning process. It will be hard work, but
hopefully a lot of fun too!
Arjen Slangen and Taco Reus
Rotterdam, August 2014
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