Module description
What is the module about?
This module looks at how multinational enterprises (MNEs) navigate in the international landscape given country and institutional differences.
Who should do this module?
Everybody who is interested in better understanding country differences and how they matter for businesses. This module is of relevance to those thinking about a career in an MNE, or in a start-up with international presence.
Key text or background reading
To do well on this module you need to read regularly and ahead of the associated workshop. We have provided a reading list on a week-by-week basis to accompany the workshops, which can be found on the Reading List linked on KEATS.
Most of the readings are available as electronic resources, which are easily accessible through the Reading List. The list is also reproduced below for reference. All readings are categorised as ‘core’, ‘recommended’, or ‘additional’.
Core should be understood as the minimum you are required to read to understand the fundamental concepts of the module and enable you to follow the workshops.
Recommended can be seen as strongly suggested to everyone and essential to those aiming to achieve higher marks on the module.
Additional readings offer further perspectives on the subject, but we would not expect you to read them for the purpose of the module. Rather, they offer additional insights into topics you are particularly interested in and wish to specialise in or may help you understand a subject area better.
Provisional Workshop Outline :
WEEK 1: International Business and the MNE
Core Reading
- Meyer, K. (2013) 'What is, and to what purpose do we study, international business?' AIB Insights, 13(1): 10-13.
Recommended Reading
- Ghoshal, S., and Bartlett, C.A. (1990) 'The multinational corporation as an interorganizational network', Academy of Management Review, 15(4): 603-625.
- The Economist. 2017. 'The retreat of the global company'.
https://www.economist.com/briefing/2017/01/28/the-retreat-of-the-global-company
Additional Reading
- Roth, K., and Kostova, T. (2003) 'The use of the multinational corporation as a research context', Journal of Management, 29(6): 883-902.
WEEK 2: Global Strategy
Core Reading
- Alcacer, Juan. (2015). 'Strategy Reading: Competing Globally,' HBSP Product #: 8123-PDF-ENG
https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/8123-PDF-ENG
Read pages 1-19
Recommended Reading
- Benito, G. R., Cuervo‐Cazurra, A., Mudambi, R., Pedersen, T., & Tallman, S. (2022). "The future of global strategy." Global Strategy Journal, 12(3), 421-450.
- Marcus Alexander, Harry Korine. (2008). "When You Shouldn't Go Global" HBSP Product #: R0812E-PDF-ENG
Additional Reading
- Barney, Jay. "Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage." Journal of management 17.1 (1991): 99-120.
WEEK 3: Institutional Approaches to International Business
Core Reading
- Pankaj Ghemawat. 2001. 'Distance Still Matters: The Hard Reality of Global Expansion'. Harvard Business Review, HBSP Product #: R0108K-PDF-ENG
Recommended Reading
- Jackson, G., and Deeg, R. (2008) 'Comparing capitalisms: Understanding institutional diversity and its implications for international business', Journal of International Business Studies, 39(4): 540-561.
- Pankaj Ghemawat, Sebastian Reiche. (2022). "National Cultural Differences and Global Business" HBSP Product #: IES925-PDF-ENG
Additional Reading
- Kostova, T., and Roth, K. (2002) 'Adoption of an organizational practice by subsidiaries of multinational corporations: Institutional and relational effects', Academy of Management Journal, 45(1): 215-233.
- Andy Molinsky. (2016). "Cultural Differences Are More Complicated than What Country You're From" HBSP Product #: H02M2X-PDF-ENG
WEEK 4: Internationalization & Entry Modes
Core Reading
- Ghemawat, P. (2007). 'Managing Differences: The Central Challenge of Global Strategy.' HBSP Product #: R0703C-PDF-ENG
Recommended Reading
- Brouthers, K.D., Geisser, K.D., and Rothlauf, F. (2016) 'Explaining the internationalization of business firms', Journal of International Business Studies, 47(5): 513-534.
- Bartlett, Christopher A., and Sumantra Ghoshal. "What is a global manager?." Harvard business review 81.8 (2003): 101-108.
Additional Reading
- John Dunning. 2001. 'The Eclectic (OLI) Paradigm of International Production: Past, Present and Future'. International Journal of the Economics of Business: 8(2).
- The Economist (2018): 'Fifty shades of Greyhound: How Flixbus conquered the European coach market'
https://www.economist.com/business/2018/05/10/how-flixbus-conquered-the-european-coach-market
WEEK 5: Global Marketing
Core Reading
- Deshpande, R. (2014). "Marketing Reading: Global Marketing" HBSP Product #: 8182-PDF-ENG
Recommended Reading
- João S. Oliveira, Magnus Hultman, Nathaniel Boso, Ian Hodgkinson, Paul Hughes, Ekaterina Nemkova, Anne Souchon; Decision-making in international marketing: past, present and future. International Marketing Review 30 August 2023; 40 (3): 413–428.
- Rb Young, Robert B. Young, Rajshekhar G. Javalgi. (2007). International Marketing Research: A Global Project Management Perspective. HBSP Product Number: BH225-PDF-ENG
Additional Reading
- Rosabeth Moss Kanter (2003). "Thriving Locally in the Global Economy Product". HBSP Product Number: R0308H-PDF-ENG
- No Author Listed. (2021). "How to Help Your CMO Boost Global Growth". Harvard Business Review. HBSP Product Number: F2106A-PDF-ENG
WEEK 6: Reading Week
WEEK 7: International HRM
Core Reading
- Kenneth M. York. (2009). Chapter 12: "International HRM" in Applied Human Resource Management: Strategic Issues and Experiential Exercises. pp. 300-323. eBook ISBN 9781483302010
Recommended Reading
- Edwards, T., Sánchez-Mangas, R., Jalette, P., Lavelle, J., & Minbaeva, D. (2016) 'Global standardization or national differentiation of HRM practices in multinational companies? A comparison of multinationals in five countries,' Journal of International Business Studies, 47(8): 997–1021.
- William R. Kerr. (2018). "Navigating Talent Hot Spots" HBSP Product #: R1805E-PDF-ENG
Additional Reading
- Tsedal Neeley (2015). "Leading Global Teams: Managing SPLIT to Bridge Social Distance" HBSP Product Number: 416011-PDF-ENG
- Barbara Zepp Larson, Susan R Vroman, Erin E. Makarius (2020). "A Guide to Managing Your (Newly) Remote Workers" HBSP Product #: H05HON-PDF-ENG
WEEK 8: MNEs in Emerging Markets
Core Reading
- Tarun Khanna, Krishna G. Palepu, & Kjell Carlsson. 2005. 'Why Study Emerging Markets'. HBSP Product #: 706422-PDF-ENG.
Recommended Reading
- London, T., and Hart, S.L. (2004) 'Reinventing strategies for emerging markets: Beyond the transnational model', Journal of International Business Studies, 35(5): 350-370.
- Anderson, J., and Markides, C. (2012) 'Strategic innovation at the base of the pyramid', MIT Sloan Management Review, 49(1): 83-88.
Additional Reading
- Garrette, B., and Karnani, A. (2010) 'Challenges in marketing socially useful goods to the poor', California Management Review, 52(4): 29-47.
- Clayton M. Christensen, Efosa Ojomo & Karen Dillon. 2019. 'Cracking Frontier Markets'. Harvard Business Review.
https://hbr.org/2019/01/cracking-frontier-markets
WEEK 9: MNEs from Emerging Markets
Core Reading
- Cuervo-Cazurra, A., and Genc. M. (2008) 'Transforming disadvantages into advantages: Developing-country MNEs in the least developed countries,' Journal of International Business Studies, 39(6): 957-979.
Recommended Reading
- Ramamurti, R. (2012) 'What is really different about emerging market multinationals?', Global Strategy Journal, 2(1): 41-47.
- Stephanie Fernhaber, Dan Li, Aiqi Wu. (2019). "Internationalization of Emerging-Economy New Ventures: The Role of Within-Country Differences" HBSP Product #: BH990-PDF-ENG
Additional Reading
- Hennart, J. F. (2012). Emerging market multinationals and the theory of the multinational enterprise. Global Strategy Journal, 2(3), 168-187.
- Ibeh, K., Adeleye, I., and Ajai, O. (2018) 'The rise of African multinationals: Are IB Scholars paying sufficient attention?', AIB Insights, 18(4): 10-14.
WEEK 10: Presentations
Student group presentations
Assessment details
75% Examination
25% Group presentation
Teaching pattern
Weekly Workshop