Master Syllabus: MGT 333 - International Business Management

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I. Catalog Description

1. International business management, focusing primarily on the Asia-Pacific region. Asks why firms go global and how they address the diverse challenges and opportunities of going global. Controversy over the pros and cons of globalization is explored.
2. Satisfies Hawaiʻi/Asia/Pacific graduation requirement
3. Prerequisites:
   Admission to Professional Business program, ECON 130 Intro To Microeconomics (3) and MGT 300 Mgt, Orgs & Human Behavior (3) .
   Justification: This business major core course assumes basic knowledge of economic factors and management functions.

II. Course Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:

1. Comprehend and apply concepts relating to international business management, including the theory and practice of international trade and production, supply chain management, political, cross-cultural, financial, and ethical decision-making and risk analysis, international marketing and host country market entry analysis, regional economic integration, and regional monetary issues. Also relevant are concepts relating to the globalization controversy, such as the golden straightjacket, electronic herd, globalution, kleptocracy (public corruption), and hyper-globalization as a constraint upon national sovereignty.
2. Develop critical thinking skills by analyzing cases and making managerial recommendations relevant to international business opportunities and challenges. Special focus on addressing cross-cultural negotiations and globalization challenges.
3. Communicate their analysis and recommendations on the above concerns clearly, logically, and persuasively

III. Course Materials

The current text is Cavusgil, Knight, & Riesenberger, International Business: The New Realities. Prentice-Hall. Supplementary readings may include one of the following:

• Oddou and Derr (1999) Managing Internationally: A Personal Journey, Fort Worth, TX: Dryden Press.
• Tom Friedman (2000) The Lexus and the Olive Tree, New York: Anchor Books,
• Moises Naim (2005) Illicit: How Smugglers, Traffickers, and Copycats Are Hijacking the Global Economy, New York: Anchor Books, or
• Dani Rodrik (2011). The Globalization Paradox: Democracy and the Future of the World Economy. New York: W.W. Norton & Co.

IV. Teaching Methods

The most typical mode of instruction is discussion, rather than lecture-based. A handout frames key concepts, definitions, and questions. Textual materials, cases and videos provide the basis for discussion. Periodic “pro and con” handouts on controversial international topics provide the basis for group “buzz sessions,” followed by oral or written feedback. Assignments on controversial international topics culminate in an integrative group assignment, such as a debate on an international controversy.

Evaluation Tools

Two or more short answer multi-chapter quizzes assure that students understand and can apply basic concepts covered in the readings and discussions. Take home midterm and final essay exams encourage higher order, integrative learning and critical thinking, as well as writing skill development. In-class group discussion assignments serve as the basis for two group reports. The integrative group problem-solving exercise, such as a debate, is graded in terms of content knowledge and argumentation, as well as presentation skills.

VI. Course Content:

1. Typical major course topics will include:
   1. Motives and modes for going global
   2. International production and global supply chain management
   3. Strategy and Structure in International Business Operations
   4. Ethics and International Business (Focus on Corruption)
   5. Coping with diverse cultural environments (focus on Japan and China)
   6. The coming of globalization
   7. Market liberalization in Soviet Union and China
   8. Social and cultural consequences of globalization
   9. Are globalization and democracy linked or incompatible?
   10. Responses to globalization
   11. Trade theory and the politics of international trade
   12. Regional economic integration (NAFTA, EU, etc)
   13. In-depth investigation of globalization controversies such as:
       1. Sweatshops and human rights
   14. Intellectual piracy and alternate property rights regimes
   15. Outsourcing and jobs
   16. Environmental sustainability
   17. Regional currency crises
   18. Tension between political sovereignty and “hyper-globalization”

VI. Support of Program Learning Goals

Definitions of Student Mastery Levels
These set performance levels are somewhat parallel to Bloom’s Taxonomy.

I

The student can identify examples (and non-examples) of the desired outcome, name the elements involved, and answer "objective, multiple-choice, fill-in the blank" type of test questions showing awareness. (Objective tests are not necessarily simple, but they are most likely to be used at this introductory level.)

D

the student can describe, demonstrate or construct an example of the desired outcome but with guidance about each step. In some cases, the steps to learn the outcome may be spread among more than one course or activity within a course. Also included here is evaluation of existing examples of the outcome (pro's and con's, etc.) Essay questions and short projects would be used as evidence.

M

the student can demonstrate the outcome given a problem statement and appropriate data and tools. The student would need to synthesize skills learned previously in isolation. The skill demonstration would be sufficiently rigorous that an outside stakeholder (future employer) would be satisfied with it for an entry level position after graduation. Term papers, senior projects and research papers, senior portfolios, and capstone coursework would be used as evidence.

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