IN-620 International Business
- ECTS Credits:
- 7.5
- Responsible department:
- School of Business and Law
- Course Leader:
- Ilan Alon
- Lecture Semester:
- Autumn
- Teaching language:
- English.
- Duration:
- 1 term
The course is connected to the following study programs
- School of Business and Law, PhD programme
Teaching language
English.Prerequisites
PhD candidates. Applicants with relevant scientific background can be considered if the resources are available.
· Students are required to read all the required articles before class and be ready to discuss them in detail in a Q&A investigative fashion.
· Suggested readings: Author resources papers in: http://aom.org/Publications/AMJ/Author-Resources.aspx
Recommended prerequisites
Students who have not had a master’s level course in international business or international management are expected to develop knowledge in this area based on individual reading (MBA textbooks are ok for giving an overview of these areas).
Course contents
This is the main course for candidates taking the specialization in International Business. It is a very demanding course aiming to rapidly bring candidates up to speed on the international business literature. International business is a multidisciplinary subject covering all the functions of business across borders and embedding multiple-theoretical foundations from several social sciences, including sociology, economics, political science, psychology, etc. The international business literature also has multiple levels of analysis, including individual, group, company, agents, stakeholders, business groups, industries, countries, country blocks, and global forces. The course will provide both a broad overview of the international business field as well as a deep dive into selected areas. Major theories of international business will be reviewed, analysed and discussed in class to demonstrate the breadth of international business research, and different disciplinary
approaches will be emphasized to provide depth in selected areas. The majority of the readings are from the Journal of International Business Studies (JIBS) and other leading IB journals. We will focus our readings on JIBS decade award winners and articles https://aib.msu.edu/awards/jibsdecade.asp. Students are expected to do readings PRIOR to class and evaluate relevant and specific know-how.
Learning outcomes
On successful completion of the course/programme, the candidate should be able to
· Learn the main streams of research and theories of international business and assess these in relation to their own research
· Provide a critique of the IB literature through reading, reviewing, synthesizing, and writing
· Review and analyse an academic article in international business for a refereed journal
· Design a course paper focusing on
o Introduction, make your contribution clear beyond the research gap
o Review the literature on the dependent variables
o Identify the appropriate theory or model or combination thereof
o Justify your test or extension
o Develop 2 to 3 related hypotheses
o Write the methods section, including data collection plans
o If available, present preliminary results
Examination requirements
Grading: Pass/Fail - where Pass must be equivalent to the letter grade B or better, and a successful completion of the following things:
1. Attendance of all and ACTIVE participation in all lectures
2. Completion of all assigned tasks for each class
3. Review of an academic article
4. Writing of an academic paper (front part)
The candidates must receive a "pass" in all 4 categories to obtain course credits.
Teaching methods
The course combines various forms of pedagogy, including lectures, discussions, presentations, reviewing and writing assignments. Main faculty is professor Ilan Alon, but also other internal and external professors may be invited to provide additional lectures in the course.
Assessment methods and criteria
Grading: Pass/Fail - where Pass must be equivalent to the letter grade B or better, and a successful completion of the following things:
1. Attendance of all and ACTIVE participation in all lectures
2. Completion of all assigned tasks for each class
3. Review of an academic article
4. Writing of an academic paper (front part)
The candidates must receive a "pass" in all 4 categories to obtain course credits.