International Strategy
Objectives
A. Knowledge and Understanding in:
• The strategic aspects of managing a multinational enterprise in an international context
• The role of organizational resources and capabilities as well as the institutional and cultural differences between countries
• The practical decision-making challenges
• Designing international expansion strategies
• Managing cross-cultural organizations
• Coping with global challenges
B. Subject-Specific Skills:
• The ability to explain in detail the key theories related to managing in a global context covered during the course;
• The ability to use international strategy theories to explain how the different dimensions of international strategies create
value;
• The ability to apply theories to the strategic decisions of MNEs to evaluate their appropriateness and effectiveness;
• The ability to critically reflect on the usefulness of international strategy theories.
C. General Skills:
• Cross-cultural capabilities
• Teamwork
• Critical thinking
General characterization
Code
67945
Credits
2
Responsible teacher
René Bohnsack
Hours
Weekly - Available soon
Total - Available soon
Teaching language
English
Prerequisites
N/A
Bibliography
• Porter, M. E. (1990). The competitive advantage of nations. Harvard Business Review, 68(2), 73-93.
• Ghemawat, P. (2001) Distance still matters: The hard reality of global expansion, Harvard Business Review, 137-147.
• Dunning, J. H., & Lundan, S. M. (2008). Institutions and the OLI paradigm of the multinational enterprise. Asia Pacific
Journal of Management, 25(4), 573-593.
• Ghemawat, P. (2007) Managing differences: The central challenge of global strategy, Harvard Business Review, 59-68.
• Johanson, J., & Vahlne, J. E. (2009). The Uppsala internationalization process model revisited: From liability of foreignness
to liability of outsidership. Journal of international business studies, 40(9), 1411-1431.
• Nölke, A., & Vliegenthart, A. (2009). Enlarging the varieties of capitalism: The emergence of dependent market economies
in East Central Europe. World politics, 61(4), 670-702.
Teaching method
Class is three hours per week, consisting of a balance of lecture, case analysis, (interactive) class work and discussion. The
first meeting consists of two parts. During the first part, the setup of the course will be discussed and the student teams will
be formed. The second part consists of an interactive lecture on the topic of the first week. The subsequent meetings will
also consist of two parts. The first part will be a case discussion in the form of a debate on the topic of the previous week,
led by different student teams each week.
This means that a typical MGC class will look like this:
Case study on the topic of the previous week and discussion (60 min)
Break – (+/- 15-20 min)
Lecture and discussion (70 min)
Exercise (10 min)
Summary & key takeaways (10 min)
Evaluation method
Assessment
• Team paper (35%)
• Team presentation (15%)
• Exam (50%)
Subject matter
Introduction
Internationalization strategy: Why & where
Session 1 case: Toto
Session 2 case: Grolsch
nternationalization strategy: Subsidiaries & performance
Exercise: MicroDesign Negotiation
Global Issues: Digitalization / Sustainability
Session 4 case: Time Out Market
Global Institutions: Business Systems / Cross-cultural management
Session 5 case: Alibaba
The course covers the following topics:
• Why do firms engage in foreign investment and become MNEs in the first place?
• What are the different strategies that MNEs can follow to structure and manage their portfolio?
• Which factors determine MNEs’ strategic choice from the wide spectrum of entry modes available?
• How do MNEs cope with the fact that they are often at a disadvantage in foreign countries compared to locals?
• How do MNEs manage global issues such as climate change?
• How do MNEs manage formal and informal institutions such as policies or culture?
• What is the role of business systems?