International Business Strategy module (BU51016)

For any aspiring global business leader, understanding international business strategy is essential, this module will help develop your skills in assessing strategic decisions made by international firms, and by using the analytical tools used by successful managers worldwide.

You will examine how business strategies are formulated, implemented, and evaluated to establish and maintain a competitive advantage on the international stage. By investigating the case studies, you will learn from historical development of strategic theories, enabling you to gain important insight from past practices.

What you will learn

In this module, you will:

• explore theories of the international firm and global development
• learn about different business forms and understand the relationship between environment, firm competencies, and the nature of international competitive advantage
• enhance your understanding of capabilities, resource-based theories of internationalisation
• understand the role of culture in shaping corporate goals
   

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• describe the economic principles underpinning international business strategy
• understand how market structures, environments, and institutions influence strategic decision-making in a complex, risk-prone world
• learn to abstract essential features of firms' internationalisation strategies and apply theories and models of imperfect competition to practical scenarios
• interpret economic problems in their broader socio-political and historical contexts

Assignments / assessment

• essay 1 (40%)
• essay 2 (60%)

This module does not have a final exam.

Teaching methods / timetable

You should expect weekly lectures. You will also have in-person tutorials and be expected to have completed the reading and tasks in preparation of contributing to the class.

For this module, the exact dates of teaching and/or reading weeks are to be confirmed.