Faculty
Michael W. Hansen, Henrik Schaumburg-Müller, Peter Ørberg and guest lectures

Course Coordinator
Associate Professor Michael W. Hansen and Professor Henrik Schaumburg-Müller.

Bachelor degree – Knowledge of International Business Strategy literature.

Course content: More and more firms in the North are embarking on foreign direct investment (FDI) in emerging markets and developing countries, partly to access rapidly growing markets there, partly to access the vast human and natural resource potentials of these countries. In this situation, it becomes increasingly pertinent for managers to understand how to plan, design, organize and manage an investment project in such countries. The aim of this course is, based on practical examples and real life cases presented by practitioners, to enable students to analyze and make recommendations for various strategic issues arising in connection with setting up FDI projects in emerging markets and developing countries, e.g. financial issues, marketing issues, human resource management issues, issues related to partner selection, corporate governance issues, etc.

More specifically, the course will provide an overview of the issues that arise when a company plans a foreign direct investment project in a developing country. Students will learn about global strategy as it relates to emerging markets and developing countries. They will furthermore be presented to the tools that are employed when designing, organizing and implementing an investment project in developing countries, e.g. in connection with organizing a marketing strategy; getting finance for the project; searching for local partners; making a feasibility study; managing human resources; and providing for an appropriate exit of the project. The introduction to these issues will be based on experiences from concrete projects in emerging markets and developing countries presented by practitioners. There will be presentations by firms and organizations such as Carlsberg, IFU, Orana, Ecco, etc.

Structure and teaching methods: The course will consist of 11 lectures. It will to a large extend use external guest lecturers from business to provide a practical perspective on the issue. In order to ensure a qualified dialogue with the external guest lectures, it is necessary that students prepare in advance of lectures, by reading the required literature and preparing a set of ‘Issues for Review’ described in the course plan. For each lecture, a group of students will be assigned with the task of being discussant on the presentation. The student group will be responsible for company/case researching, and based on this research, prepare key questions and comments to the presenter.

The course will enable students to analyze, present and make recommendations for various strategic issues arising in connection with setting up FDI projects in emerging markets and developing countries.

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

Full degree ‘Business and Development Studies’ students write a mini-project against the backdrop of this course. The mini project will present and analyze one or more cases of foreign direct investment projects in developing countries or emerging markets. It will include theoretical reflections over the project based on the course literature and other literature. The reflections will emphasize the particular strategic and practical issues that derive from the fact that the project is taking place in a developing country /emerging market. Projects should, where relevant, include considerations for financial implications of the analyzed project/activity. Students will defend their project and relate it to the course literature in an oral exam. The mini-project will be prepared in groups of no more than four students, however, the oral examination will be individual. The oral exam will take place in June. Duration of exam including marking: 20 minutes.

Exchange/credit students take an individual oral curricula exam based on a 3-page written synopsis presenting an individual case of a firm’s FDI in a developing country/ emerging market. The synopsis must be handed in app. two weeks before the exam. It is not graded and may be written with one or two fellow students. The oral exam will take place in June. Duration of exam including marking: 20 minutes.