The course examines two levels of international business activities: the firm and the nation. The level of the firm considers the theories and practice of international activities of firms. The level of the nation examines why firms choose to do business in particular countries and how international corporations and individual nations impact each other.

The following topics are covered:

· Theoretical frameworks of international business activities of firms (Vernon’s product life cycle, Hymer’s approach, the internalization approach, internationalization process model, transaction cost economics).

· The growing presence of multinationals from emerging economies in the international business community.

· Specifics of international business activities of service firms and patterns of their internationalization.

· Competitive advantages of nations and the ability of nations to attract international corporations.

· The influence of national and supranational institutions on international business activities.

· Mutual impacts of international firms and national economies on each other.

Week 1. Introduction: history and overview of international corporations

Part I. The firm: theory and practice of international activities of corporations

Week 2. Internationalization theories A: Vernon, Hymer, internalization

Readings

Ietto-Gillies, G. (2002). “Hymer, the nation-state and the determinants of multinational corporations’ activities.” Contributions to Political Economy, 21(1), 43—54.

Sat, N. A. (2009). “Revisiting transnational corporations’ literature: the implicit emphasis on spatial reflections.” GU Journal of Science, 22(1), 41—50.

Week 3. Internationalization theories B: internationalization process model, born-globals

Readings

Chetty, S. and Campbell-Hunt, C. (2004). “A strategic approach to internationalization: a traditional versus a born-global approach.” Journal of International Marketing, 12(1), 57—87.

Ghemawat, P. (2001). “Distance still matters: the hard reality of global expansion.” Harvard Business Review, September, 137—147.

Week 4. Explaining outsourcing and offshoring: resource-based view, transaction cost economics

Case

ECCO A/S - Global Value Chain Management (Ivey case 908M14)

Readings

Gomes-Casseres, B. (2009). “Outsourcing: where will you draw the line?” http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2009/08/outsourcing_where_will_you_dra.html

Narayanan, V. G. and Raman, A. (2004). “Aligning incentives in supply chains.” Harvard Business Review, November, 94—102.

Week 5. Multinationals from emerging economies

Readings

BCG Report (2006). The New Global Challengers: How 100 Top Companies from Rapidly Developing Economies are Changing the World. http://iis-db.stanford.edu/evnts/4326/New_Global_Challengers_May06.pdf

Part II. The Nation: Why and How Corporations Choose to do Business in Particular Countries

Week 6. National competitive advantage

Case

Competitive Advantage of China (Stanford case IB57)

Readings

Porter, M. E. (1990). “The Need for a New Paradigm.” In The Competitive Advantage of Nations, New York: Free Press.

Week 7. Policies and institutions

Readings

Busenitz, L. W., Gómez, C. and Spencer, J. W. (2000). “Country institutional profiles: unlocking entrepreneurial phenomena.” Academy of Management Journal, 43(5), 994—1003.

Week 8. Multinationals and national economies: mutual impacts

Readings

McKinsey (2003). Multinational Company Investment: Impact on Developing Economies, 1—23.