Azerbaijan University s1

AZERBAIJAN UNIVERSITY

School of Business

IB 8090 International Business Environment

Fall 2012

Instructor: Fuad Aliyev

Contact: 050 3387245

Email: [email protected]

Monday-Wednesday: TBA ALC Room TBA CRN TBA

Reading: International Business: Strategy, Management and the New Realities By S.Tamer Cavusgil, Gary Knight and John R. Riesenberger, Pearson Prentice-Hall, 2007. (ISBN 0-13-173860-7)

COURSE DESCRIPTION This course examines worldwide integration of economic, political, and socio-cultural aspects of business in order to explore and understand the existing environment for international business.

Students develop a world-view of the global marketplace. Special consideration is given to key issues in ethics, global social responsibility and technology.

COURSE OBJECTIVES By the end of this course, you should be able to: 1. Develop thought processes and analytical skills essential to a global business mindset. 2. Practice critical thinking by keeping current with global events and discussing their implications. 3. Understand the role of globalization in shaping the business environment and assess trends, challenges and opportunities created by the globalization of business practices. 4. Identify complexities introduced by globalization and integrate concepts learned in this class with those acquired in other courses. 5. Identify and evaluate major issues related to ethics and social responsibility in the international arena. 6. Critically evaluate various components of a national environment: technological, cultural, economic, political, and legal systems, and their influence on business practices and strategies.

BUSA 3000 Syllabus Spring 2008 Page 1 of 6 7. Examine trade and investment theories and patterns, and critically evaluate the role of governments and their impact on the international business environment. 8. Critically evaluate the role of various forms of regional economic integration on national economies. 9. Apply the concepts learned and knowledge gained in the case of specific international organizations. 10. Develop written and oral communication skills as well as research and group skills.

COURSE METHODOLOGY The central theme of this class will be the study and evaluation of the international business environment. The primary teaching vehicles are lectures, class discussions, speakers, team projects, and an analysis and critique of cases. You must read the designated text material and all other assigned readings before each class session.

CLASS POLICIES: ATTENDANCE: The attendance policy is firm. Do not ask the instructor to make any exception to this policy. Students are expected to attend all classes. Attendance is based on the entire period. Tardiness and partial attendance (for example being present only before or after break) is considered an absence and will affect your final grade. Legitimate reasons for being absent are (1) illness - note from doctor required; (2) death in family - copy of death notice; (3) jury duty - bring official notice from court; (4) religious holidays. Students must make arrangements with their employers to leave work in plenty of time to attend all classes. Missing any class due to business requirements is not a legitimate absence. Legitimate absences count toward the 2 absences limit. As a courtesy, please inform the instructor in advance if you will not be attending a given class, will be arriving late or have to leave early. Also, your instructor must be informed in advance before any exam is missed. Failure to notify the instructor before missing an exam will lead to a grade of zero (0) on that exam.

Sleeping: Falling asleep in class is not acceptable. It will negatively impact your final grade. Side conversations: Side conversations make it difficult for your classmates to actively listen and learn. Please be considerate of others. Inattention: Please do not read other books, newspapers nor work on a computer during class. Note taking must be done by hand. You are expected to pay attention and join in individual and group discussions. It will help you master the material. Courtesies expected: All cell phones and beepers MUST be put on a silent-mode during class time. Failure to do this will result in being excused from class for the remainder of the day and the loss of (5) five meaningful contribution points. No food is allowed in the classroom. There is a break during the middle of each class. That is the time to take care of personal activities, not during class sessions. Academic dishonesty: Although no one expects cheating in or outside the classroom, the penalty may range from an F for the assignment to an F for the course. Cutting and pasting from websites or other digital documents without proper attribution is plagiarism, a form of cheating and a violation of academic honesty. Disciplinary actions may follow. Late work: No late work will be accepted. Please do not ask for any exception to this policy. Make-up exams: No make-up exams will be given Presentations: Possible.

BUSA 3000 Syllabus Spring 2008 Page 2 of 6 Course and instructor evaluation: Students are strongly urged to complete the course/instructor evaluations as soon as it becomes available at the end of the semester.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS The course requirements are as follows: Exams (2): The first one will cover Chapters 1 - 4, and the second, a common final exam, covers Chapters 5 - 10. Exams may be a combination of any of the following: multiple choice, true/false, scenarios, definitions, short answers, and/or essays. Quizzes: You may have up to one per week. There are no make-ups for quizzes. Missed quizzes are graded zero. Quizzes can be given at any time during the class. Quizzes will be in-class and unannounced.

Case Write-Up & Discussion: You will be assigned one case for write-up and discussion during the semester. The purpose is to learn how to apply international business principles to specific situations. Limit the written assignment to three to four typed, double-spaced pages. The case analysis must include:

a. An introduction and summary of the case b. Answer all the questions at the end of the case. Explicitly write the question, followed by its answer. A response that simply rehashes the case facts and narrative is not satisfactory. Your answer must demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the salient issues characterizing the case, critical analyses and evaluations of the issues and recommendations or proposed solutions as appropriate. c. Conclusions about the case and answer to the following question: What concepts of international business does the case illustrate?

On the days when a case discussion is scheduled, preparation of the case by all class members is mandatory. Your instructor may ask you to formally present your case analysis to the class. The case method of teaching is only effective when participants have thoroughly studied the case and are prepared to contribute to the class discussion. Class members may be asked to open the discussion or may be “cold called”. The quality of your contribution will be emphasized over the frequency of your comments. Cases are available at the end of each chapter of your textbook. Cases are due on the assigned dates per the course schedule.

Country Analysis At the beginning of the semester, your instructor will create teams of 3 to 5 students, depending on class size, and assign a country to each team. The team will develop expertise on its assigned country by regularly reading news articles and other material from and about the country. This is not a “cut and paste” process – that amounts to plagiarism (see Academic Dishonesty above). The team needs to write a useful narrative of the topics that gives the reader an under-standing of the country as a place to do business. A final report should include:

1. Introduction 2. Geography/resources 3. Background on the country useful for an international business person; cultural environments facing someone conducting business in the country: business ethics, corruption 4. The political, legal and economic environment 5. Prospect as a trading partner, government policies on international trade,

BUSA 3000 Syllabus Spring 2008 Page 3 of 6 direction and terms of trade 6. Participation in cross-national cooperation and agreements, regional trading blocks, FTAs and other forms of international economic integration 7. Attractiveness for trade and as a site for foreign direct investment 8. Any major trends and events affecting its standing in the global business environment. The goal is to integrate and apply the knowledge gained in this class in the context of your assigned country analysis. Each team will make a 15-20 minute presentation to the class. Completing your presentation within this time limit is a factor on the project grade Each team member must complete a peer evaluation of every other member of the group. If you do not complete the peer evaluation, it will negatively impact your meaningful contribution.

Homework: Your instructor may assign homework to help you prepare for and participate meaningfully in classes. Meaningful Contribution: Your class participation grade will be based on attendance plus the quality of your contributions. Complete all assignments on time. Be prepared to discuss the chapters, the international newspaper articles, the cases, the videos, and all other supplemental material. More importantly, you should be able to support your arguments using the text and other readings. In this class, you are expected to contribute by asking engaging questions, and class discussions, and sharing relevant examples, experiences, and news with your classmates. Variances: Please see the attachment at the end of the syllabus.

GRADING

ITEM POINTS PERCENTAGE

Exam I 25 25%

Exam II 35 35%

Quizzes 10 10%

Case 10 10%

Country Analysis 10 10%

Meaningful Contribution 10 10% TOTAL POINTS 100 100%

GRADE ASSIGNMENT

A = 94-100

BUSA 3000 Syllabus Spring 2008 Page 4 of 6 A- = 90-93 B+ = 87-89 B = 84-86 B- = 80-83 C+ = 77-79 C = 74-76 C- = 70-73 D+ = 67-69 D = 64-66 D- = 60-63 F = -60

BUSA 3000 Syllabus Spring 2008 Page 5 of 6 SCHEDULE – Fall 2012

Week Topic 1 Syllabus, class policies, Internet resources, organize country analysis teams, case and country assignments, schedule for the final exam and the procedure to address conflicts (variance exam) Address class members’ concerns about any part of the syllabus Review case analyses and country analysis presentation Intro to course, background for international business (“IB”), cultural environments facing IB (Chapter 1) 2 Globalization of Markets and the Internationalization of the Firm (Chapter 2) Case discussion – Ch 1, p 23

Case discussion – Ch 2, p 53 3 Organizational Participants that Make International Business Happen (Chapter 3) Case discussion – Ch. 3, p. 85 4 Theories of International Trade and Investment (Chapter 4) Case discussion –, Ch 4, p 117

5 Mid-Term Exam (60 minutes) 6 The Cultural Environment of International Busines Case discussion – Ch 5, p 151 7 Political and Legal Systems in National Environments Case discussion – Ch. 6, p. 186

8 Government Intervention in International Business Case discussion – Ch. 7, p. 1215 9 Regional Economic Integration Case discussion –, Ch 8, p 246

10 Understanding Emerging Markets Case discussion – Ch. 9, p. 277 11 The International Monetary and Financial Environment Case discussion – Ch. 10, p. 305 Written cases due 12 Country Analysis presentations 13 All Country analysis reports due Final Exam Review 14 Final Exam (90 minutes)

BUSA 3000 Syllabus Spring 2008 Page 6 of 6