ITRN 773 - International Strategic Management

George Mason University

Spring 2001

 

Lecturer -            Brooks Speed

                        George Mason University

                        The Institute of Public Policy

                        Policy Analysis Center, MS 2E4

                        Fairfax, VA  22030-4444

                        pspeed@gmu.edu

 

Location -            George Mason University – Arlington Campus

                        Lecture is in room 269

 

Time -             Tuesday 19.05 - 21:35

 

Textbooks -     None – The class will use journal articles available on line through the University, other items provided by the instructor, and excerpts from selected tests maintained as course reserves at the Arlington Campus Library.

 

Abstract -        This course focuses on strategic management in the multinational organization.  Its covers organizational performance assessment, strategic planning, international competition, and management leadership in the modern integrated and technology-enabled firm.  It also examines the strategic levels of vertical and horizontal integration and links to internal and external business processes.  Traditional approaches to organizational planning and management are covered in some detail, and extended to include contemporary approaches for using information as a strategic resource.  While the focus of the course is planning, the course also considers cultural, behavioral, and technological barriers and enablers of international strategic management.

 

 

Evaluation -   Student evaluation will be based on the following criteria:

                                   

Class Presentations                 15%

Midterm Examination 30%

`            Research Paper               25%

                                    Final Examination                  30%

 

 

 

 

 

Important -     I realize that you have many obligations, hence time management is a difficult problem.  However, you are expected to submit your work on the date that it is due.  If you miss an assigned date, I will not accept late work.  Since all grading is relative, it is extremely difficult to provide objective grading when assigned work is submitted late.  It is not fair to your equally constrained classmates who meet the deadlines.

 

Illness (with a doctor's letter) and death (with an appropriate letter) are the only legitimate excuses for missing examinations. Absences due to employment will not be accepted. For those who have to make travel reservations for the end of the semester, plan your travel accordingly.  The final examination will only be administered on the scheduled date.  Since the examination dates are known far in advance, plan your work, travel, weddings, vacations, sports events, etc. on other days.

 

Presentations -

 

In the course of the semester, you will make two 10-minute oral reports to the class assessing the business environment and opportunities in a specific country or region.  The industry/business and countries will be your choice.  The recommended source material for these reports is the Price Waterhouse Information Guide series of country and regional reports in the Fenwick Library  (HG4538.P75), Fairfax Campus of GMU.

                       

 

Paper -            Your assignment is to select a particular problem from a personal area of interest in international strategic management and develop a research paper.  Your paper is part survey and part analysis, since you must synthesize, understand, and evaluate the relevant literature. It should be between 12 and 18 pages in length including references and/or the bibliography.  Please be sure to use double-spacing and 12 point Times New Roman font for the word processing of the body of the manuscript.  Please submit an original copy, and retain a copy for yourself.

 

 

Lecture Plan and Readings

 

We may adjust to new topics or schedules during the semester.  Late semester readings on enterprise integration and practices will be based on current literature.

 

01.16.01            Introduction and Review of Management Concepts         

 

01.23.01          Management Theorists and the Modern Integrated Multinational Enterprise

 

Hammer, Michael and Champy, James, Reengineering the Corporation: A Manifesto for Business Revolution (New York: HarperCollins, 1993), Introduction and Chapters 1-3, pp. 1 – 64.

 

Cole, Robert E., The Death and Life of the American Quality Movement  (New York: Oxford Press, 1995), Chapter 1 & 2, pp.  3-41.

 

01.31.01            Business Forecasting

 

Makridakis, Spyros G., Forecasting, Planning, and Strategy for the 21st Century (New York:  Free Press, 1990), Chapters 3 & 4, pp. 49–89.

 

Georgoff, David M. and Murdick, Robert G., “Manager’s Guide to Forecasting”, Harvard Business Review (Jan – Feb 1986), pp. 110-120.

 

02.06.01            Strategic Planning, Business Direction, and Performance Assessment

 

Kaplan, Robert S. and Norton, David P., The Balanced Scorecard, (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1996), Chapters 1 & 2, pp. 1-46.

 

Hout, Thomas, Porter, Michael E, & Rudden, Eileen, “How Global Companies Win Out”, Harvard Business Review (Sep – Oct 1982), pp. 98-108.

 

02.13.01            The Balanced Scorecard

 

Kaplan, Robert S. and Norton, David P., “Using the Balanced Scorecard as a Strategic Management System”, Harvard Business Review (Jan – Feb 1996), pp. 75-85.

 

Kaplan, Robert S. and Norton, David P., The Balanced Scorecard, (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1996), Chapter 8, pp. 167-189.

 

 

 

 

 

 

02.20.01            International Marketing and Market Entry

 

Kotler, Philip, Kotler on Marketing: How to Create, Win, and Dominate Markets (New York: Free Press, 1999), Chapter 5, pp. 73-93.

 

Yip, George S., Total Global Strategy:  Managing for Worldwide Competitive Advantage (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1992), Chapter 6, pp. 135-165

 

02.27.01            Midterm Examination

 

03.06.01             Spring Break

 

03.13.01            International Competitive Advantage

 

Porter, Michael E., The Competitive Advantage of Nations (New York: Free Press, 1990), Chapter 3, pp. 69-130.

           

03.20.01             Culture and Conflict Management

 

Rahim, M. Afzalur and Blum, Alfred A.  Global Perspectives on Organizational Conflict (Westport CT: Praeger Publishers: 1994), Introduction (pp.1-10) and Chapter 3 (pp. 33-51)

 

Fukuyama, Francis, Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity (New York:  Free Press, 1996), Chapters. 5-6, pp. 43-57; pp. 255-266.

 

03.27.01            Human Resources Management

 

Johnston, William B. “Global Work Force 2000:  The New World Labor Market,“ in Strategic Management in a Global Economy (New York: Wiley & Sons, 1997), Chapter 25, pp 368—381.

 

Young, Scott T. and Nie, Winter, Managing Global Operations (Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing, 1996), Chapters 7 & 8, pp. 77–101.

 

04.03.01             Operations and Technology Management

 

Young, Scott T. and Nie, Winter, Managing Global Operations (Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing, 1996), Chapters 2, 3, & 5, pp. 5–34, 51—62.

 

 

 

 

 

 

04.10.01            Enterprise Resource Planning

 

Majchrzak, Ann and Wang, Qianwei, “Breaking the Functional Mind-Set in Process Organizations,” Harvard Business Review (Sep – Oct 1996), pp. 92-99.

 

Hammer, Michael and Stanton, Steven, “How Process Enterprises Really Work,” Harvard Business Review (Nov—Dec 1999), pp. 108-118.

 

04.17.01            Extended Enterprise Integration

 

Salcedo, Simon and Grackin, Ann, “The e-Value Chain,” Supply Chain Management Review (Winter 2000), pp. 63-70.

 

Upton, David M. and McAfee, Andrew, “The Real Virtual Factory,” Harvard Business Review (Jul – Aug 1996), pp. 123-133.

 

Garvin, David A., “Leveraging Processes for Strategic Advantage,” Harvard Business Review (Sep – Oct 1995), pp. 77-90.

 

04.24.01            Trading Exchanges and International Electronic Commerce

 

Readings TBD

 

05.01.01            The Integrated Multinational Organization

 

Readings TBD

 

05.08.01            Final Examination