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The College of Management Academic Studies Graduate School of Business Administration

Prof. Tamar Almor & Mr. Guy Pross – International Business, MBA program - Sylabus 2017-18B spring semester

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Course title: International Business (MBA program) 2126077

Year: 2017-2018

Lecturers: Prof. Tamar Almor and Mr. Guy Pross

Prof. Tamar Almor

Phone

Email address:

03-9635767

[email protected]

Office hours:

According to appointment or after class

Dean's office – Building A - Dean of Behavioral Science and

Psychology

Mr Guy Pross

Email address: [email protected]

Office hours: According to appointment

Teaching Assistant:

http://www.colman.ac.il/English/Pages/default.aspx

http://www.colman.ac.il/English/AcademicUnits/Business/Pages/default.aspx#ctl00_PlaceHolderTitleBreadcrumb_siteMapPath_SkipLink

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]



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In the 21st century, international business is an integral part of any type of

organization. Business organizations all over the world, whether large or

small, are engaged in international aspects of their activities. Clients may be

foreign, the supply chain may be international, employees may be from

different countries or the company may be registered somewhere outside the

home country. Internationalization has become part and parcel of business

management and in this course we will explore the basic concepts of

internationalization, such as country competitiveness, foreign direct

investment, international business strategies, entry strategies into foreign

countries and functional strategies. We will examine international behavior of

large as well as small companies from traditional industries as well as firms

from high tech sectors and examine how theoretical tools can help analyze

international strategies and behavior and plan for international business

behavior.

The various topics discussed during the semester will include the recent

advances in the field and we will attempt to apply our understanding of the

topics and related ideas to particular countries, industries and companies. We

will discuss three case studies of firms that grapple with IB issues.

The course entails frontal lectures, meetings with international business

managers, including international entrepreneurs as well as in-class

discussions. Students participate in case studies during the semester and

take part in an exam at the end of the semester. Class attendance is required.

Course description:





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Course title International Business

Course type Core/compulsory

year 2017-2018

Prerequisites Strategic Management

Website Moodle

Course

objectives

To introduce theories and concepts of international business theories and

processes and to create a basic understanding what international

business entails, what it means to engage in internationalization of the

business. At the end of the course, you should be familiar with the major

IB theories and know how to use them to analyse business cases.

Course topics Internationalization has become part and parcel of business management

and in this course we will explore the basic concepts of

internationalization, such as country competitiveness, foreign direct

investment, international business strategies, entry strategies into foreign

countries and functional strategies. We will examine international behavior

of large as well as small companies from traditional industries as well as

firms from high tech sectors currently and in the next decade.

This course introduces IB concepts and provides the basis for those that

are interested in developing a deeper understanding of the topic in related

courses. At the end of the course, you will be able to analyze international

business behavior as well as international business opportunities.

Course format

The course entails frontal lectures, meetings with international business

managers, including international entrepreneurs as well as in-class

discussions. Students have to hand in two case studies during the

semester and take part in a take home exam at the end of the semester.

Class attendance is required.





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Course

assessment

Attendance

25% in class case study presentation

75% exam

Attendance is strongly adviced in at least 80% of the sessions. You will

see that the sessions are organized around the book, but the book should

NOT be seen as a substitute for the lectures – rather, the two are

complementary. This means that all the material, topics, and examples

covered during class time are supposed to be learned, and it is your

responsibility to stay on top of the readings and lectures. We will post the

lecture slides, but note that the slides are intended as a guide for the

lecture, and not as a substitute. You will perform best if you take notes

during lecture. We will not offer extra study sessions to cover missed

lectures, or make-up assignments in the event that you miss one.

Bonuses will be given to active and knowledgable students who

present a 5 minute presentation about a firm while applying at least

one theory taught in the course.





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Sessions overview

Class

meeting

Topic Lecturer

Reading materials

1

16.3.18

Introduction – International Business and you

We kick off the course by looking at the world in the 21st century

through the eyes of Thomas Friedman http://video.mit.edu/watch/the-

world-is-flat-30-9321/ and Pankaj Ghemawat

http://www.ted.com/talks/pankaj_ghemawat_actually_the_world_isn_t_flat.html

While Friedman argues that the world is flat Pankaj Ghemawat does

not agree. You are invited to prepare a response to the arguments in

relation to international business and participate in the discussion

which is question driven and addresses what IB means to you.

Tamar Almor

Ch.1

2

23.3.18

Country of Origin: Israel in a globalizing world

Many smaller countries specialize in certain industries that allow

them to develop competitive and comparative advantages

internationally. In this class meeting we will be examining a case

study of one country, Israel, which has developed capabilities in

certain high tech industries. We will employ an number of the

models and theories such as Porter's Diamond to examine how this

advantage was developed and how it is sustained.

Guy Pross

Senor & Singer

3

13.4.18

Discussion of Apple in China Guy Pross

4

20.4.18

The World: institutions

The global business environment is in many ways a “celebration of

differences.” In this session we will start thinking systematically

about sources of variation in the global business environment. To do

so, we will develop a framework based on institutional theory.

Institutions are in part represented by the formal regulations and

laws that exist in each country. In this session we focus on

Tamar Almor

Ch. 2



http://video.mit.edu/watch/the-world-is-flat-30-9321/



http://www.ted.com/talks/pankaj_ghemawat_actually_the_world_isn_t_flat.html



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understanding how (and why) policy frameworks differ across

countries. In addition, we will consider how companies not only

“receive” policy, but also use “voice” and “exit” to shape policy

outcomes. Discussion of WEF report.

5 27.4.18

The World: culture

Institutions also exist in more informal forms: the culture and value

systems that vary across countries and shape the way managers

operate and interact with each other, society and government. We

will consider ways to measure culture and how cultural differences

matter for things like decision-making and consumer behavior.

Tamar Almor

Ch.3

6

4.5.18

Discussion of Amazon case study Guy Pross

Ch. 4

7

11.5.18

The World: trade

Trade is the backbone of the global economy. It is the basis of

commerce and allows us to enjoy the fruits of labors performed

elsewhere. Free trade is supposed to maximize welfare, and there

are powerful policies in place in support of this logic. But in practice,

there are also many barriers to free trade. What’s going on?

Furthermore, not all agree that free trade maximizes welfare and we

will look at the various views during this class.

Tamar Almor

Ch. 5

8 18.5.18

Trade and developing industries in developing markets

autonomous driving and the automotive industry

Discussion of Mobileye

Guy Pross

Ch. 11

9

25.5.18

International Business Strategy: MNEs and their behavior

What are “multinational enterprises” (MNEs) and how do they

behave? MNEs use international strategies such as Foreign Direct

Investment (FDI). This in fact the defining characteristic of (MNEs).

FDI means owning value-adding assets abroad. What motivations

do firms have for doing this? What firm-specific advantages make it

Tamar Almor

Ch.6





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successful? And what do we mean when we say FDI is a substitute

for trade? What is the TNI index?

10

1.6.18

Strategies for developing markets Discussion of Gillette case study

Tamar Almor

Ch. 13

11 8.6.18

International Business Strategy: Entering Foreign Markets

MNEs have a host of options for entering foreign markets. They may

choose ‘low commitment’ paths involving export or strategic

alliances, or they may engage in FDI. But FDI also comes in different

forms. For instance, firms can acquire existing assets in the target

market, or they can erect a new facility. Or they may set up a new

entity in the form of as a joint venture (JV) with another company.

What factors influence the choice for one entry mode over another?

Are these onetime decisions or do they evolve over time?

Guy Pross

Ch. 10

12

15.6.18

Discussion of Uber case study Guy Pross

13

22.6.18

International Business Strategy: The internationalization of

Small and Medium Sized Firms

Much of our attention is focused on the large multinationals we know

from the daily media. But is international expansion something that

involves all firms, regardless of size? And if small firms expand

internationally, should they do so quickly and capitalize on first-

mover advantages, or gradually so that they can profit from

experiential learning? What causes small firms to seek international

operations and how do they organize their activities,

their resources and capabilities when they operate internationally?

Tamar Almor

Ch. 9

Text Book - compulsory reading

Mike W. Peng. 2017. Global Business, 4rd Edition. South-Western Cengage Learning.





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Additional reading materials

Almor, T. 2001. Towards a contingency view of market entry strategies: Contextual and strategic factors. The Journal of Euromarketing, 10(1): 5-25.

Almor, T. and Hashai, N. 2004. The Competitive Advantage and Strategic Configuration of Knowledge-Intensive, ‘Born Global’ Firms: A Modified Resource Based View. Journal of International Management: 10: 479-500.

Dunning, J. 2001. The Eclectic (OLI) Paradigm of International Production: Past, Present and Future. International Journal of the Economics of Business, 8(2), 173 – 190.

Hashai, N. and Almor, T. 2004. Gradually Internationalizing ‘Born Global’ firms: An Oxymoron? International Business Review, 13(4): 465-483.

Hofstede, G. 1983 The cultural relativity of organizational practices and

theories. Journal of International Business Studies, 14(2): 75-89.

Oviatt,B. and McDougall, 2005. Towards a theory of international new

ventures. Journal of International Business Studies 36, 29–41.

Peng, M. 2002. Towards an Institution-Based View of Business Strategy.

Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 19: 251–267.

Senor, D., and Singer, S. 2009. Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle. Twelve, New York.

Rugman, A. M., & Verbeke, A. 2004. A perspective on regional and global

strategies of multinational enterprises. Journal of International Business

Studies, 35(1): 3–19



http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~db=all~content=t713425120

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~db=all~content=t713425120

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~db=all~content=t713425120~tab=issueslist~branches=8#v8

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~db=all~content=g713425246



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Assignments

Throughout the semester, we will discuss case studies in class. Each group will

discuss one question to one case study during the semester. You can work

on the cases in groups of four at most. Grade: 25% of final grade for each

assignment.

Technical details: the group that is presenting should discuss the

question in class for 3-5 minutes at most. The group will hand it the presentation

to the lecturer before class – hard copy format. Grades to the presentations will

be returned the week after the presentation.

Questions for each case study are presented below:

Apple in China

1. Present a short introduction / background to the case study.

2. Analyze the Chinese cell phone industry and compare it to the USA

culture using Porter’s diamond. How do the two countries compare?

Present comparisons and explain.

3. Can you explain why the Chinese market initially reacted tepidly to the

5C model and why Apple's products were much more successful in the

Chinese market once they were repositioned targeting the higher end

segment of consumers?

4. Discuss Apple's problems with branding in China and try to relate it to

cultural differences.

5. Discuss Apple's future options.

Amazon


2. Did Amazon make sensible choices in its emerging markets entry

strategies? Consider formal institutional aspects in the different

countries.





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3. How should companies and investors measure success in emerging

markets using the WEF model?

4. Considering the competitive landscape in China, India, and Latin

America, how do the informal institutions compare – use Hofstede’s

measures.

5. Discuss Amazon's future options in the different countries.

Mobileye


2. Analyze the competitive posotion of Mobileye. Use Porter’s Five Forces

Model to discuss how Mobileye builds its competitive advantage in the

marketplace.

3. Consider the pressure from OEMs on Mobileye to lower their prices.

How does this impact their pricing strategy? (full price strategy VS

discount bundling). What are the tradeoffs between margins and

maintaining marketshare?

4. Discuss the two different visions for a driverless car future as presented

by Google Vs Mobileye and accordingly consider if Mobileye should

seek to collaborate with Google, or should they try to keep Google and

arms-length?

Gillette


2. Analyze how razor consumers in the US differ from those in India while

using the institutional approach – address formal and informal

institutions.

3. Use the trade models to analyze Gillette’s strategy in India – address

various options.





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4. If Gillette wants to become a strong presence in other developing

countries, as well how should its management go about it – FDI or other

strategies?

5. Discuss Gillette's future options.

Uber

1. Economic risk across different sectors of the world economy is an integral

part of analysis as it indicates future business prospects. Please assess

the risks and opportunities of the private road transportation industry in the

US and in India and discuss the differences. You may use data published

by the World Economic Forum with regard to the US and India (refer to the

1st and 2nd pillars): https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-global-competitiveness-report-2016-2017-1

2. Uber entered China in addition to India. If they would have asked you,

which market entry strategy should it have chosen based on the

experience in India? Please provide at least two alternatives and explain

the pros and cons of each and why one is preferable to the other.

3. Use Hofstede's model to discuss differences in behavior of Uber's Indian

vs. American customers and taxi drivers.

4. What are the barriers to entry for Uber into Indian market and do you think

that Uber suffers from liability of foreignness in that market?.

5. Use the OLI framework to analyze Uber's operations in the Indian market.

6. What international strategy does Uber use in India according to the I/R

model? Would you advice the management to change the strategy using

the I/R framework – if so how?

Final exam

Grade: 75% of final grade.



https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-global-competitiveness-report-2016-2017-1



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This is an individual exercise which will take place in class according to the date

provided by the School. The exam will be a multiple choice exam and may

include a short case study. It will address the theoretical materials as well as

the case studies discussed in class.



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