Course BA 4371-004 International Business

Professor Sunny Li Sun

Term Fall 2008: Aug. 20-Dec. 16
Meetings S 8:30 a.m. - 11:15 a.m., SOM2.717

Professor’s Contact Information

Office Phone 972-883-6041

Office Location SM 4.407
Email Address lxs055000@utdallas.edu
Office Hours Monday 1:30-4:00, or by appointment

GENERAL COURSE INFOMATION

Course Pre-requisites, Co-requisites, and/or Other Restrictions

This course requires basic knowledge in many functional areas in business. Knowledge in management related
areas can be helpful.

Prerequisites: BA 3365, MATH 1326 and MATH 2333. Pre-/Co-requisite: BA 3341.

Course Description

Globalization is the worldwide trend of business expanding beyond their domestic borders. To compete in
today’s global economy, managers need to be able to apply management principles across countries and
cultures with suitable adaptation in the process. Adopting a truly global perspective of management, this
course presents current thinking in international business theory and practice. It introduces students to the
environment of International Business and Multinational Corporations (MNC). It will cover topics such as
international trade and investment theories, country environments (e.g., political, legal, financial and economic
environments), culture, foreign direct investment, international strategy, corporate governance and corporate
ethics.

This course is structured in a lecture-discussion format. There is an emphasis on using case analysis as a way
of practicing your business thinking skills as well as your writing skills.

Student Learning Objectives/Outcomes

This course exposes you to fundamental issues and concepts in international business and emphasizes
application of academic knowledge to real world situations through the use of lecture and case studies. In
particular, I expect you to leave this course with a firm understanding of how the institutions and resources
affect MNCs in doing business internationally, and how to look at ethical behavior in the IB context. By
working as a group, you will have the opportunity to dig more deeply into a topic of your choosing and learn
the actual activities MNCs conduct in real world situations.

By the end of this course, you should have an understanding of the multicultural aspects and international
dimensions of the societies and the world in which you live and be familiar with knowledge and methods
necessary to deal with related problems. Also you will develop a regard for human values and the ability to
make judgments based on ethical and environmental considerations.

Required Textbooks and Materials

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Global Business, Mike W. Peng, South-Western CENGAGE Learning, Custom-version, 2008.

WebCT course website: Power point slides for each section; Quizzes.

Current news in international business: Newspaper such as Financial Times, Periodicals such as the Economist
or BusinessWeek can be helpful. UTD library electronic database is another useful source for additional
materials for group projects.

Assignments & Academic Calendar

READINGS
[COMPLETED TOPIC FOR CLASS DISCUSSION &
DATE ASSIGNMENT
BEFORE CASE PREPARATION
LECTURE]

Syllabus, Open Discussion, Doing Library Research,

Aug. Syllabus Introduction, Registration, &
Form Groups, International Business, Pre-test
23 Chapters 1 Selection of Groups
Why IB Matters? Is World Flat or not?

Aug. What is Globalization? A Unified Framework on IB

Chapter 1
30
Debates on Globalization

Formal Institutions, Two Political System

Chapters 2 Quiz 1 due
Sept. 6 Three Legal System, Three Economic System

Informal Institutions, Culture difference

Chapters 3,4 Quiz 2 due
Sept.
Resources & Capabilities
13

Analyzing Resources & Capabilities: VRIO

Chapters 4 Group Case Review 1
Sept.
Integrative Cases Presents and Discussion 1
20

International Trade

Sept. Chapters 5 Quiz 3 due

Debates on International Trade (Guest speaker: Prof.
27 Mike Peng, textbook author)

Investing Abroad Directly

Oct. 4 Chapter 6 Quiz 4 due
OLI Advantage, Outsource

Oct. 11 MIDTERM EXAM

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 Global Economic Integration
Chapters 8 Quiz 5 due
Oct. 18 Debates on WTO

Entrepreneurial Firm/Internationalizing
Chapters 9* Group Case Review 2
Oct. 25 Integrative Cases Presents and Discussion 2

Entering Foreign Markets

Chapters 10 Quiz 6 due
Nov. 1 Liabilities and Asset of Foreignness

International Alliances Individual MNC Job

Nov. 8 Chapters 12
Project Due
International M&A

Nov. Multinational Strategies, Structure and Learning

Chapters 13 Group Case Review 3
15
Integrative Cases Presents and Discussion 3

Family business and State-owned Enterprises Individual MNC Job

Nov. Project
Chapters 16*
22
Corporate Governance round the World
Peer Review Due

Nov. Corporate Social Responsibility

Chapters 17 Group Case Review 4
29
Integrative Cases Presents and Discussion 4

Dec. 6 No Class (Reading day)

Dec. 13 FINAL EXAM

*Chapter 9 and 16 are not included in the custom-version of the textbook. An electronic copy is reserved in the
library. Please download these chapters at http://utdallas.docutek.com/eres/coursepass.aspx?cid=459
Password: chen

Course Policies

Grading Criteria 15% Individual Project (MNC job hunt + Review)

10% Quizzes
20% Group Project (Review, Presentation)
5% Group Peer Review
20% Mid-term Exam (open book)
25% Final Exam (in class)
5% Class Participation (Including attendance and in class discussions)
100% Total
Numerical grade correlation
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 >=97 =A+
94 -< 97 =A
90 -< 94 =A-
87 -< 90 =B+
84 -< 87 =B
80 -< 84 =B-
77 -< 80 =C+
74 -< 77 =C
70 -< 74 =C-
67 -< 70 =D+
64 -< 67 =D
60 -< 64 =D-
0 -< 60 =F
Midterm and final Midterm Exam only covers what you have learned in the chapter 1-6 of the textbook.
Exam It includes 30 multiple choice questions and 2 essay questions.

Final Exam only covers the second half of the course, and contains 30 multiple
choice questions, 1 essay questions and 1 bonus essay question.

Two exams will last for two hours. Students will be allowed to bring notes on two
regular size pages, with double sides permitted. Please remember to bring your own
scantron (882-E) and pencil.
Make-up Exams A student anticipating not being available for the scheduled day of the final exam
may request a make-up exam.
Quizzes 6 Web-based quizzes will be given one week before the due day in WebCT. These
are open book/open note and will cover the weekly class material. They are designed
to help prepare you for the exams as well as help keep you on top of the course
material. Each quiz has 10 multiple choice questions and lasts for 30 minutes. Your
top 4 quiz scores will be used in calculating your final grade (2 lowest scores
dropped).
Late Work No late assignments are expected or accepted.
Class Participation Participation is expected and essential to the learning process –excessive absences
tend to adversely affect ones’ ability to participate. Lack of attendance hinders a
student’s awareness of classroom assignments and their ability to comprehend
relevant information.
ƒ Quality of class contributions will be weighted more heavily than quantity.
Frequent and valuable participants are those who attend all of the lectures, participate
regularly. To help me learn each student’s name and grade “participation and
contribution” as fairly as possible, you will prepare and bring a “nameplate” to each
class.
ƒ Class Discussion: Your participation grade will reflect the degree to which you
contribute to class, rather than simply whether you are physically present. Here are
some guidelines in participation grades. The instructor has the sole authority in
assigning participation grades. Please see the Appendix for further criteria.
Honor Code No case write-ups, exams, or student's notes from current or previous business
Information school students should be consulted in doing your case analysis. You can, however,
consult your notes and reading materials as well as information in the library. Any
material quoted directly or paraphrased should be referenced in your written and oral
cases. Plagiarism is a serious infraction and will be dealt with accordingly.
Student Conduct and The University of Texas System and The University of Texas at Dallas have rules
Discipline and regulations for the orderly and efficient conduct of their business. It is the
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 responsibility of each student and each student organization to be knowledgeable
about the rules and regulations which govern student conduct and activities. General
information on student conduct and discipline is contained in the UTD publication,
A to Z Guide, which is provided to all registered students each academic year.

The University of Texas at Dallas administers student discipline within the

procedures of recognized and established due process. Procedures are defined and
described in the Rules and Regulations, Board of Regents, The University of Texas
System, Part 1, Chapter VI, Section 3, and in Title V, Rules on Student Services and
Activities of the university’s Handbook of Operating Procedures. Copies of these
rules and regulations are available to students in the Office of the Dean of Students,
where staff members are available to assist students in interpreting the rules and
regulations (SU 1.602, 972/883-6391).
A student at the university neither loses the rights nor escapes the responsibilities of
citizenship. He or she is expected to obey federal, state, and local laws as well as the
Regents’ Rules, university regulations, and administrative rules. Students are
subject to discipline for violating the standards of conduct whether such conduct
takes place on or off campus, or whether civil or criminal penalties are also imposed
for such conduct.
Academic Integrity The faculty expects from its students a high level of responsibility and academic
honesty. Because the value of an academic degree depends upon the absolute
integrity of the work done by the student for that degree, it is imperative that a
student demonstrate a high standard of individual honor in his or her scholastic
work.

Scholastic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, statements, acts or omissions
related to applications for enrollment or the award of a degree, and/or the submission
as one’s own work or material that is not one’s own. As a general rule, scholastic
dishonesty involves one of the following acts: cheating, plagiarism, collusion and/or
falsifying academic records. Students suspected of academic dishonesty are subject
to disciplinary proceedings.

Plagiarism, especially from the web, from portions of papers for other classes, and
from any other source is unacceptable and will be dealt with under the university’s
policy on plagiarism (see general catalog for details). This course will use the
resources of turnitin.com, which searches the web for possible plagiarism and is over
90% effective.
Email Use The University of Texas at Dallas recognizes the value and efficiency of
communication between faculty/staff and students through electronic mail. At the
same time, email raises some issues concerning security and the identity of each
individual in an email exchange. The university encourages all official student email
correspondence be sent only to a student’s U.T. Dallas email address and that faculty
and staff consider email from students official only if it originates from a UTD
student account. This allows the university to maintain a high degree of confidence
in the identity of all individual corresponding and the security of the transmitted
information. UTD furnishes each student with a free email account that is to be used
in all communication with university personnel. The Department of Information
Resources at U.T. Dallas provides a method for students to have their U.T. Dallas
mail forwarded to other accounts.
Withdrawal from The administration of this institution has set deadlines for withdrawal of any college-
Class level courses. These dates and times are published in that semester's course catalog.
Administration procedures must be followed. It is the student's responsibility to
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 handle withdrawal requirements from any class. In other words, I cannot drop or
withdraw any student. You must do the proper paperwork to ensure that you will not
receive a final grade of "F" in a course if you choose not to attend the class once you
are enrolled.
Student Grievance Procedures for student grievances are found in Title V, Rules on Student Services
Procedures and Activities, of the university’s Handbook of Operating Procedures.

In attempting to resolve any student grievance regarding grades, evaluations, or

other fulfillments of academic responsibility, it is the obligation of the student first to
make a serious effort to resolve the matter with the instructor, supervisor,
administrator, or committee with whom the grievance originates (hereafter called
“the respondent”).Individual faculty members retain primary responsibility for
assigning grades and evaluations. If the matter cannot be resolved at that level, the
grievance must be submitted in writing to the respondent with a copy of the
respondent’s School Dean. If the matter is not resolved by the written response
provided by the respondent, the student may submit a written appeal to the School
Dean. If the grievance is not resolved by the
School Dean’s decision, the student may make a written appeal to the Dean of
Graduate or Undergraduate Education, and the deal will appoint and convene an
Academic Appeals Panel. The decision of the Academic Appeals Panel is final. The
results of the academic appeals process will be distributed to all involved parties.

Copies of these rules and regulations are available to students in the Office of the
Dean of Students, where staff members are available to assist students in interpreting
the rules and regulations.
Incomplete Grade As per university policy, incomplete grades will be granted only for work
Policy unavoidably missed at the semester’s end and only if 70% of the course work has
been completed. An incomplete grade must be resolved within eight (8) weeks from
the first day of the subsequent long semester. If the required work to complete the
course and to remove the incomplete grade is not submitted by the specified
deadline, the incomplete grade is changed automatically to a grade of F.
Disability Services The goal of Disability Services is to provide students with disabilities educational
opportunities equal to those of their non-disabled peers. Disability Services is
located in room 1.610 in the Student Union. Office hours are Monday and
Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; Tuesday and Wednesday, 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.;
and Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

The contact information for the Office of Disability Services is:

The University of Texas at Dallas, SU 22
PO Box 830688
Richardson, Texas 75083-0688
(972) 883-2098 (voice or TTY)

Essentially, the law requires that colleges and universities make those reasonable
adjustments necessary to eliminate discrimination on the basis of disability. For
example, it may be necessary to remove classroom prohibitions against tape
recorders or animals (in the case of dog guides) for students who are blind.
Occasionally an assignment requirement may be substituted (for example, a research
paper versus an oral presentation for a student who is hearing impaired). Classes
enrolled students with mobility impairments may have to be rescheduled in
accessible facilities. The college or university may need to provide special services
such as registration, note-taking, or mobility assistance.
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 It is the student’s responsibility to notify his or her professors of the need for such an
accommodation. Disability Services provides students with letters to present to
faculty members to verify that the student has a disability and needs
accommodations. Individuals requiring special accommodation should contact the
professor after class or during office hours.
Religious Holy Days The University of Texas at Dallas will excuse a student from class or other required
activities for the travel to and observance of a religious holy day for a religion whose
places of worship are exempt from property tax under Section 11.20, Tax Code,
Texas Code Annotated. The student is encouraged to notify the instructor or activity
sponsor as soon as possible regarding the absence, preferably in advance of the
assignment. The student, so excused, will be allowed to take the exam or complete
the assignment within a reasonable time after the absence: a period equal to the
length of the absence, up to a maximum of one week. A student who notifies the
instructor and completes any missed exam or assignment may not be penalized for
the absence. A student who fails to complete the exam or assignment within the
prescribed period may receive a failing grade for that exam or assignment.
If a student or an instructor disagrees about the nature of the absence [i.e., for the
purpose of observing a religious holy day] or if there is similar disagreement about
whether the student has been given a reasonable time to complete any missed
assignments or examinations, either the student or the instructor may request a ruling
from the chief executive officer of the institution, or his or her designee. The chief
executive officer or designee must take into account the legislative intent of TEC
51.911(b), and the student and instructor will abide by the decision of the chief
executive officer or designee.

INFORMATION FOR ASSIGNMNETS

ƒ Individual Project: International Business Topic (15%)
Part 1: MNC Job Hunt (10%)
• It is assumed that you are hunting an oversea job in an MNC (find one in Fortune Global 500,
Financial Time 500) or a born-global startup company (find a real one in theladders.com;
Monster.com). Your assignment must include:
o Review this MNC international business;
o Analyze one of its recently important oversea investments;
o Choose one of your aspired job position in its oversea subsidiary or international
department;
o Identify your advantage and disadvantage in this job position;
o Describe your hypothetic role in that critical oversea investment of MNC.
• Good sources may be the Financial Times, Business Week, The Economist, company’s year
report, CEO narration or another credible source. Write a 3 page (at least), single-spaced
summary. Bring 2 copies on the due date Nov. 8.
• Library research AND online research (called “due diligence” in the business world) is
REQUIRED. As a guide, your paper should have at least 3 references listed. Use the
library’s amazing resources, such as the access to electronic periodicals of 100’s of business
journals and documents to make your recommendations. A bibliography is required
according, providing a full list of references.
• Use of professional tools and concepts from the text and lectures. (This includes tools used in
other courses such as ratio analysis or market share analysis.)
• It is not a job application letter, but a self-analysis on an interesting job position and a
preparation in your future corporation ladder.
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 Part 2: Peer Evaluation (5%)
• Your fellow student will assume to be a recruiter of the MNC, and evaluate your paper in the
next two weeks, and based upon the quality/contents/relevance of the write-up will assign a
score.
• The evaluating student will judge whether you are qualify this job position, give your advices,
and write some comments as to what are the advantage of this MNC, what are the strengths of
this job application, and what improvements can be done to make the your care path better.
This comment is expected to be one page. Bring 2 copies on the due date Nov. 22.
• The instructor will then evaluate the assignment and the evaluation. Based on the quality and
contents of the evaluation, the evaluating student will be awarded points for each answer
evaluation/comments. However, the points given to the assignment, by the evaluating student
remain unchanged.

ƒ Group Project: Cases Discussion Leading (20%)

Each group will be required to lead four integrative cases in textbook, and discuss them in front of the
whole class (5% each). For each such assignment, the discussion leader will submit to the instructor a
two-page review (double spaced) of the assigned reading at the time of the discussion. The designation of
discussion leaders will be conducted during the first class, with the students’ input.

Part 1: Case Review (12%)

• For each such assignment, the group will answer all the questions attached in the end of
each case in textbook, and submit to the instructor a one-page (single spaced) review
(including the answer). The review should focus on how the assigned reading relates to
the international business theories and concepts. The review paper is due before your
presentation.

Part 2: Presentation (8%)

• Each group is scheduled for four oral presentations. Each presentation should be
approximately 10-15 minutes in length. Visual aids must be employed.
• Oral Presentation Teams are required to dress professionally and exhibit the same level of
decorum and consideration that you would in a real business setting.
• All team members must be involved in the oral presentation with each team member
presenting a segment. Segment definition is the responsibility of the team.
• The title page of your presentation should list the case name, the date, the names of each team
member, and the segment each member will cover.
• When presenting, indicate the outside sources used. If you present industry averages, for
example, or demographic data, indicate where you got them.
• A 5 min Q&A session will be after your presentation. Be prepared to receive questions
regarding your assumptions, your use of data, your conclusions, your logic, and your
recommendations. Other class members may not agree with your analysis. Your instructor
may challenge your analysis. DO NOT BECOME DEFENSIVE. This is a natural part of the
process. You are being asked to think on your feet and demonstrate that you have a deep
understanding of the core issues. ALL team members should participate in the question and
answer session. Everyone learns from this experience, even class members who are not
presenting.

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 ƒ Information for the Written Presentation

The following library site provides abundant data search engines that are helpful in writing a
paper. http://www.utdallas.edu/library/reference/business.html .

Just searching company website and/or citing free web information is not enough. Take advantage of the
paid search engines in the library homepage. It contains the following search engines. Should you have
further questions, contact liaison librarians in the library (Loreen Phillips, Loreen.Phillips@utdallas.edu
or visit http://www.utdallas.edu/library/reference/somliaison.html .

Business and Company Resource Center

Business Source Premier
Business & Management Practices
CCH Internet Tax Research Network (tax service)
Wall Street Journal (1984-current)
Academic Universe Lexis Nexis (then under Business)
Disclosure Data from Academic Universe. Click on Business, then Company Financial
(company financial info)
Mergent Online (company financial information)
National Trade Data Bank (NTDB)
EconLit (economics)
ECONbase
PAIS (public affairs)
Business Dateline (index to regional business publications)
Business Organizations
Regional Business News (from TexShare)
EDGAR Financial Reports (company financial information)
Social Sciences Abstracts
Social Sciences Citation Index (Web of Science/Web of Knowledge)
Essay & General Literature Index
Web of Science (Web of Knowledge) (citation indexes)
WorldCat
General Databases (multidisciplinary)

ƒ Information for Group Peer Evaluation

Teamwork is important in the workplace and in this class. Since the quality of group output is
dependent upon each individual’s quality contribution, it is vital that each group member work as
part of the team. Because I cannot assess the degree to which group members are performing their
fair share of work, group members will anonymously evaluate the performance of each member.
Members will assess each other (as well as themselves) on their contribution to the country project
report, attendance at meetings, timely contribution to individually assigned tasks, and overall
performance. Group members will multiply the number of people in their group by 100 points and
assign their total points among the members. All members must receive between 80 and 120 points
from each evaluator (i.e. you can not give someone a zero score). Each individual’s average score
will be the basis for his/her peer evaluation score, which is multiplied by the overall group’s 4 cases
project score to obtain the final group score for that individual. For example, an individual who was
a member of a six-person group that earned 80 points out of 100 on the country project report and
who was given the peer evaluations shown in the table below would receive the overall group case
analysis project grade as listed in the “individual project grade” column below. Thus, student E
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 whose group received a project report score of 80 and whose average peer evaluation score was
510/600, or 0.85, would obtain an individual project grade of 68. Note that I maintain the right to
disregard self-ratings that are substantially higher than peer ratings.

Student Ratings Ratings Ratings Ratings Ratings Ratings Total Individual

From A From B From C From D from E from F Score Project Grade
A 100 100 100 100 110 100 610 80*1.02=81.3
B 80 85 95 85 80 100 525 80*0.875=70
C 108 100 110 100 120 100 638 80*1.063=85.06
D 120 120 115 120 100 100 675 80*1.125=90
E 80 80 80 80 90 100 510 80*0.85=68
F 112 115 100 115 100 100 642 80*1.07=85.6

Total: 600 600 600 600 600 600

ƒ Be objective in evaluating other members in your group and specify reasons.

ƒ The evaluation must be turned in on the day of the final exam.
ƒ If one fails to turn in the peer evaluation sheet, then every member in the team gets 80.

CLASS PARTICIPATION/ATTENDANCE
Class participation will be graded based on the quantity and quality of contributions to the case discussion
during the class. With regard to quality, some of the following criteria normally applied are:

9 Are the points that have been made relevant to the discussion?
9 Are the points simple recitations of case facts, or have new implications been drawn?
9 Is there evidence of analysis rather than mere expression of opinions?
9 Are the comments linked to those of others?
9 Did the contribution further the class' understanding of the issue?
Here is a rough guide of how this is evaluated:
9 Excellent class participation is characterized by a student consistently attending class, making an
insightful contribution to discussions, being well-prepared by having prepared notes and
demonstrating a superior understanding of the material.
9 Good class participation is characterized by students consistently attending class and contributing
to discussions as well as being reasonably prepared with notes from the reading, while only
occasionally demonstrating a superior understanding of the material.
9 Poor class participation is characterized by a student inconsistently attending class rarely
contributing to class discussion (or contributing with banter), and having no notes prepared for the
readings.

FINAL GRADE
Following the university's guideline for grade distribution, the final grade of a student will be based on the
relative standing of his or her total credit points accumulated from all the requirements as compared with
the rest of the class. After the final exam, there will be designated office hours for final grade checking in
the instructor's office. In accordance with the university's policy of confidentiality, no grade information
will be transmitted via phone or e-mail.

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 Peer Evaluation Sheet: BA 4371

Use this form to evaluate the level of contribution of yourself and group members on the simulation group
exercise. First, write each team member’s name in the space provided (please do so alphabetically, last name
first). Second, assign a score between 80 and 120 for each team member that reflects your perception as to the
grade they should receive on this project. And finally, offer comments (if desired) to explain your reasoning of
the grade you assigned (and because self-evaluation is important in the learning process – make sure to place
an * next to your name and assign yourself a letter grade as well). As a guideline, suggested comment
topics are provided below.

Finally, you should know that this document will be held in strict confidence by the instructor but if need be,
some evaluation comments may be referred to in student-instructor conferences (with evaluator’s name
withheld).

Suggested comment topics: level of labor / thinking contribution, attitude toward the assignment/each other,
would like to work with this person again, pulled their own weight, etc.

Group # ______________

Name __________________________

Name Self

Score
(80-120)*
Reasons

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