Faculty
Michael Wendelboe Hansen, Henrik Schaumburg-Müller, Peter Lund Thomsen, Andrew Crabtree, Dana Minbaeva

Course Coordinator
Michael Wendelboe Hansen, Henrik Schaumburg-Müller

The course is open to all master students and can be taken as a credit course. The course is an integrated part of the Business and Development Studies programme and is complemented by a number of courses, which expand on the business and development perspective, including “International business and economic development” (Autumn) and “Foreign direct investment projects in developing countries” (Spring).

The course includes the following main elements:

· Module I (Introduction) will provide a general introduction to the business and development studies literature. Until recently business literature has failed to take into account the particular conditions of doing business in developing countries and emerging markets. Additionally, the development literature has devoted only little attention to the role of company strategy in economic development

· Module II (Theoretical perspectives) introduces theories of business strategy 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 companies (SMEs, conglomerates, clusters), governance and ownership, nationality, or degree of internationalisation

· Module III (Cross-cultural/-national business strategy) directs focus to intercultural aspects of business strategy in developing countries and emerging markets. What are the cultural barriers and opportunities for business strategy in developing countries and how do informal institutions shape business linkages and alliances?

· Module IV (Business strategy, private sector development and sustainable development) focuses on the relationship between business strategy and development. The module will examine the potentials and limitations of private sector development (PSD) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies in non-OECD countries and also discuss the feasibility of ‘bottom of the pyramid’ strategies (the company strategies directly targeted the needs of the poorest).

At the end of the course, and against the backdrop of the course literature in its entirety, students should be able to:

· describe the particular challenges and opportunities that relate to business strategy in emerging markets and developing countries, inter alia in relation to local and foreign company competitive strategy; in relation to human resource management; and in relation to CSR strategies and strategies particularly aimed at the poor

· describe, compare and critically discuss theories and approaches that address the particular challenges and opportunities of business strategy in developing countries and emerging markets

· apply these theories and approaches to concrete cases of business strategy in developing countries and emerging markets and assess their respective applicability.

The exam will be a four hours exam, where students will be requested to write an essay on a question related to the course literature. The exam will take place in week 43.

Peng, Mike, Business Strategies in transition economies, London: Sage, 2000
Meyer, Klaus and M.W. Peng (2005), “Probing theoretically into Central and Eastern Europe: transactions, resources, and institutions” Journal of International Business Studies 36, 600-621

Robert E. Hoskisson, Lorraine Eden, Chung Ming Lau and Mike Wright (2000), “Strategy in Emerging Economies.” Pp. 249-267, in Academy of Management Journal, vol. 43, no. 3
Arnold, D., and Quelch, “New strategies in emerging markets”, Sloan Management Review, Vol 40 no 1, Fall 1998

John Child & David Faulkner (1998). Strategies of cooperation: managing alliances, networks, and joint ventures, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998

Prahalad, C.K., The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, Eradicating Poverty Through Profits, Upper Saddle River, NJ : Wharton School Publishing, 2005

Hart, Stuart L., Capitalism at the Crossroads : The Unlimited Business Opportunities in Solving the World's Most Difficult Problems, New Jersey : Pearson Higher Education, 2005.