This module aims to:

Equip students with sound theoretical and conceptual frameworks that will enhance their understanding of the operations, structure and strategies of MNEs, and of the formal and informal institutions that determine the business and market environment in a certain country;

Enable students to develop the necessary skills to become aware of how variations in countries’ legal, political, socio-economic, and cultural dimensions can affect MNEs’ performance and profitability;

Prepare students for being able to identify and understand the challenges (and opportunities) that can arise from the institutional environment that exists in a foreign country and develop appropriate skills in how best to manage those;

Enable students to gain important insights into the ethical and corporate social responsibility (CSR) implications that arise when carrying out business at a global scale and explain why MNEs might be forced to change their CSR stance from country to country;

Equip students with the skills necessary to analyse the institutional environments of major global markets and evaluate the strategies of MNEs from emerging markets, including state-owned enterprises.

(LO1) Students will be able to critically evaluate the role of formal and informal institutions in shaping the short-term operations and long-term strategies of MNEs.

(LO2) Students will be able to critically evaluate the theories that describe the behaviour of MNEs and those that can be used to explain a country’s institutional environment.

(LO3) Students will be able to critically appraise practices that MNEs can use to manage different functions and communicate with subsidiaries.

(LO4) Students will be able to critically analyse the formal and informal institutional environment in a foreign market and identify the opportunities and challenges that exist there.

(LO5) Students will be able to design and apply managerial practices to provide informed solutions to issues that MNEs face when operating in foreign markets and improve decision-making.

(LO6) Students will be able to research academic literature and critically apply findings to organisational scenarios.

(S1) Ethical awareness
Students will become aware of some of the ethical dilemmas that firms face when carrying out activities in foreign markets and develop skills to manage them.

(S2) Teamwork
Students will experience working in teams in order to provide suggestions to various debates during seminars.

(S3) Problem solving
Students will learn how to apply the knowledge gained in lectures and seminars to provide solutions to real world managerial problems.

(S4) Commercial awareness
Students will become aware of, and be able to analyse, the business and commercial environment in certain emerging economies including China.

(S5) International awareness
Students will become aware of how differences in various international settings influence decision making.

Lectures:

Synchronous x 8 hours (2 hours x 4)
Asynchronous x 6 hours (1 hour x 6)

Seminars x 12 hours (2 hours x 6)

Self-directed learning x 174 hours

Students are expected to prepare for the lectures, seminars and assignments every week.

Introduction to Multinational Corporations and Institutions

Trade and non-trade barriers

National cultural differences - effect on MNEs’ operations

Legal and regulatory differences and political risk - effect on MNEs’ operations

The effect of formal and informal institutions on international marketing strategy

Exchange rate fluctuation and the effect of governmental policies

Regional and political integration – globalisation and deglobalisation

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and institutional variations

Regional strategies: China and emerging economies

Strategies of emerging market multinationals and state-owned firms - Revision