Course Overview MN20603

Dr Denise Tsang dt525@bath.ac.uk

or d.tsang@henley.ac.uk (urgent enquiry)

The assessment methods and the contribution of each towards the final mark are:

1. Group written project: 30% group deadline 13 October (document group meetings)
2. Individual examination: 70%

The word limit is 2500 words with a word allowance of plus or min 10%.
Real World Case Study
Key requirements are:
 The critical application of relevant concepts, arguments and readings covered in the unit;
 The depth and critical nature of the analysis and arguments, whilst arguments must be well
supported (e.g. considering pros and cons, weighing evidence, considering the
strategic/organizational implications of particular decisions);
 Quality of any recommendations/options (where applicable), which must be sound and well
justified. Show independent thinking and originality, critical judgement. Evidence of high
analytic and problem-solving skills.
 Logical structure.
 Academic presentation.
Teams are required to submit a single copy in Word format via Moodle before or on 13.00 Tuesday
19 December 2023.
1 Course introduction – Overview of Globalisation

2 International trade theories

3 Global and national governance of international trade

4 Regional economic integration

5 Countries’ political economies and economic development

7 Global risks and firms’ responses

8 MNCs’ internationalisation motives and market entry modes

9 The relationship between MNCs and states

10 Cross-border mergers and acquisitions

11 Course and exam revision

Objectives

 Examination of the macro-environment of international business and its implications for

multinational companies (MNCs).

 Examination of concepts, trends, and issues with regard to selected aspects of managing
international firms.

 Critical perspective on the effects of international trade and foreign direct investment on
stakeholders

Book: Hill C. (2022) International Business: Competing in the Global Marketplace. 14th edition.
Exam: essay type questions –

 Grasp of concepts, issues etc. discussed

 Breadth and depth of coverage of answer to exam question, whilst retaining focus
 Linking of concepts, arguments etc. to examples as appropriate (depending upon the
question) but not in a descriptive way
 Logic, structure, clarity of writing

Closed book 2 questions out of 5 (In person exam)

Lecture 1 reading:
Lecture 1

International Market Development:

FDI occurs when a firm invests resources in business activities outside its home country that provide
ownership and control – through acquisitions, by setting up greenfield sites.

International trade: occurs when a firm exports goods or services to consumers in another country.

To do: learn about silk road (documentary?), opium trade, reading globalisation. BBC documentary –
love of money (2008 crisis)

The Globalization of markets refers to the merging of historically distinct and separate national
markets into one huge global marketplace.

The Globalization of production refers to the sourcing of goods and services from locations around
the globe to take advantage of national differences in the cost and quality of factors of production
(such as labour, energy, land and capital)

Rise of Japanese cars – case study

‘Second wave’ of internationalisation post-world war II

Explosion of trade from the 1980s onwards

 Wider number of countries

 Wider number of industries
 Integration of a wider range of indicators
 FDI has grown faster than trade

In recent times, more countries (India, China, Japan) apart from UK and US have become better at
exporting and innovation which lowers the cost of everything basically.

Open markets: removed trade barriers like tariffs, import quota, bans.

Mncs today – 65,000

Politics are also borderless.

 Globalisation influences

 Economy
 Politics
 Culture (Destroys diversity, melting pot, shares culture
but eventually there is one culture all over the world)

Open

A threat and opportunity – leads to climate change,

destruction of local plants/industrialized countries, domestic
workers suffer

What improved international trade after World War 2?

o Technology
o Lesser trade barriers
o Communication technologies
o Declining transport costs

Recent shocks to globalisation:

Global Financial Crisis: 2008

COVID 2020

Ukraine x Russia War: 2022

 The EU, the UK and the US have imposed trade sweeping trade sanctions (Cygan et al. 2022)

 A substantial number of multinational firms have left Russia (Sonnenfeld and Tian, 2022)

Against globalisation:

 Political movements calling for a retreat towards nationalism

◦ Brexit

◦ America interests First – reassuring citizens are preferred.

 other trade tensions

◦ US-China

◦ Brexit

◦ China-Taiwan

 Climate change

 Despite a significant increase in globalisation since WW2

◦ Globalisation is proceeding unevenly

◦ Geographies still matter

◦ Globalisation is not an inevitable nor irreversible process