To introduce the key spatial concepts surrounding the global economy;

To develop an awareness of the spatial dimensions of globalisation, trade and multinational firm’s strategies and management systems;

To critique existing conceptual frameworks from both economic geography and international business that focus on the national state as a unit of analysis and thereby highlight the importance of sub-national location, including cities;

To understand key frameworks such as global commodity chains and production networks and how these are managed by firms;

To be aware of different geographical scales of regulation and other formal and informal institutional factors;

To empirically examine a world city and apply key theoretical concepts from economic geography and international business to increase understanding on the role of such cities in globalization processes;

To critically evaluate the spatial aspects of the processes of globalisation an d their impacts on the strategy and management systems of firms.

(LO1) To gain an understanding of the spatial aspects of contemporary global economy;

(LO2) To review and critique existing frameworks in economic geography and international business for analysing the spatial aspects of the global economy;

(LO3) To gain an understand of the key role of spatial factors for the strategy and management systems of multinational firms;

(LO4) To gain an understanding of the importance of cities in the global economy and to understand the role of multinational firms for the development of cities and for the role of cities in the global economy;

(LO5) To apply key concepts from economic geography and international business to an empirical examination of a world city and understand how that city connects to the global economy and the strategies and management systems of multinational firms in that city;

(LO6) To gain an understanding of the academic debates surrounding the spatial aspects of the globalisation process for the strategic and management systems of multinational firms.

(S1) International awareness

(S2) Communication skills

(S3) Organisational skills

(S4) Teamwork

(S5) Commercial awareness

(S6) IT skills

(S7) Lifelong learning

(S8) Ethical awareness

Teaching Method 1 - Lecture
Description: Lectures will deliver the core content on the key concepts of the module.
Attendance Recorded: Yes

Teaching Method 2 - Seminar
Description: Seminars and 'virtual field trips' will supplement lectures with the delivery of material on the four key cities that form the focus of the group projects. These are multimedia experiences that combine traditional forms of data with other digital content such as videos and music to provise a virtual 'trip' to the historical and contemporary key cities. The key seminar readings are discussed interactively as part of these trips. Students will be required to research a city using web-based material, textbooks, journal articles and contemporary popular press.
Attendance Recorded: Yes

The key spatial factors in the contemporary global economy and the impact on the processes of globalisation;

National and sub-national location by multinational firms;

Cities as key nodes in the world economy;

Strategy and management systems of multinational firms for operating in different geographical locations;

Coordination and development of global commodity chains and production networks and implications for location by multinational firms;

Questioning the role of spatial factors in the globalisation process and subsequent implications for the strategy and management of multinational firms.