- Understand and describe the particular challenges and
opportunities that relates to business strategy and management in
emerging markets and developing countries, inter alia in relation
to competitive strategy, internationalization strategy, human
resource management, and base of the pyramid strategy.
- Describe, compare and critically discuss theories and
approaches that address the particular challenges and opportunities
of business strategy and management in developing countries and
emerging markets.
- Apply these theories and approaches to concrete cases of
business strategy and management in developing countries and
emerging markets and assess their respective relevance and
applicability.
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Strategy formulation and management in developing countries and
emerging markets take place in a market context and regulatory
environment that is significantly different from that of developed
countries. Huge differences in business environments, in
combination with rapid change and high volatility, fundamentally
alter strategy formulation and implementation compared to developed
countries. The business literature has traditionally devoted little
attention to this aspect of business strategy and management and
only recently has a literature focusing specifically on the
interface between business strategy and developing
countries/emerging markets emerged. The course “Business strategy
in developing countries and emerging markets” is specifically
designed to introduce students to this literature.
The course will consist of four modules: Module I (Introduction)
will provide a general introduction to the business and development
studies literature. The point will be first, that the business
literature until recently has failed to take into account the
particular conditions of doing business in developing countries and
emerging markets, and second, that the development literature has
devoted too little attention to the role of firm strategy and
management in economic development. Module II, introduces theories
of business strategy and management in developing countries and
emerging markets. The module will position the institutional
perspective on business strategy vis-à-vis more conventional
theories of business strategy (e.g. the resource based perspective,
transaction cost economics, network theory, principal agency
theory, etc.). Furthermore, it will discuss the applicability of
different theoretical frameworks depending on factors such as the
scale of firms (SMEs, conglomerates, clusters), governance and
ownership, nationality, or degree of internationalisation. The
module contains a special session that focus on cultural aspects of
management and strategy in developing countries and emerging
markets. Finally, the module will introduce a theoretical tradition
that has won prominence in the business literature in recent years
– the bottom of the pyramid perspective - to critically assess firm
strategies aimed at alleviating poverty. Module III presents an
economic organisation perspective on firm strategy in developing
countries. The Module examines the role of clusters in the
strategies of developing country firm. Furthermore it introduces a
global value chain perspective on firms and industries in
developing countries and discusses the governance structures of
global value chains, as well as the options for local firms in
developing countries to upgrade through chain participation.
Furthermore, the module includes two theme days on respectively (i)
entry barriers into regional and global value chains and markets
for developing country firms; and (ii) on corporate social
responsibility (CSR) strategies in clusters and value chains.
Finally the module applies regional practical perspectives on
business strategy and management in developing countries, offering
Latin American, African and Middle Eastern perspectives on the
issue. Module IV is the conclusion of the course summing up on the
content, evaluating the course and preparing for
exam.
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