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POL.SGEN - Strategizing in a Globalized Economy of National Business Systems* *NOT ESTABLISHED*

Faculty
Robson Rocha and Stine Haakonsson
Course Coordinator
Stine Haakonsson
Prerequisite/progression of the course
Basic knowledge of the principles of organization and business administration.
Course content, structure and teaching
The course addresses the challenges of managing companies in different parts of the world. By focusing at the role of diverse institutional national/regional/global settings and their impact on business strategies, this course provides an understanding of how ‘doing business’ differs – and why. Hence, the course will integrate theory and a variety of case studies from different countries. This knowledge will enable the participants to effectively deal with managerial-level issues that require understanding how companies do business in different parts of the world.
Theoretically, the course discusses business systems approached applied to different parts of the globe. It deals both with the mechanisms of governance, managerial models and how they may be combined in different governance systems around the world. Empirically, the course deals with different national business systems: the market based US and UK systems, co-ordinate systems in Germany and Scandinavia, cross ownership in Japan, and family business in East Asia and Latin America. Furthermore we will investigate the role of the State in changing managerial models over time in different countries.
Teaching will address:
  • An introduction to the core concepts and literature regarding the course and the topic
  • The understanding of different business systems in the world economy
  • Financial systems – The differences between economic systems (e.g. financed through stock market, private banks and State owned banks) and how they are linked to different business strategies and governance models
  • The understanding of how educational and vocational systems function in different countries and their impact on business strategy
  • Human resource management practices in national and multinational companies
  • Different Managerial Models – Taylorism, Lean, Flexible specialization
The course will be built around three different methodologies:
  • Introductory lectures by the teacher (session handouts will be made available), with classroom dialogue based on the assigned readings
  • Team work on cases
  • Class presentations of cases
The course's development of personal competences
The students will gain knowledge of the complexities of operating business in very different business environments. They will learn about how national politics and business systems affect business, this includes national businesses as well as multinational corporations.
Learning Objectives
At the end of the course, students should be able to:
  • Understand the business systems framework both in relation to the developed and the developing world
  • Evaluate the different problems and possibilities of doing business in different geographical settings
  • Identify the role of different institutional combinations and complementarities in different countries
  • Understand the ‘institutional’ differences found in multinational enterprises from different home countries.
  • Evaluate the pros and cons of different organizational structures
Type of examination, exam aids and assessment
Oral exam on the basis of a synopsis.
Recommended literature
The core readings will be available in a compendium in the CBS Bookshop.

Last updated by The Electives Office 21/12/2009