The course aims at providing the basics for understanding the global international business environment for competing in the global marketplace. In particular the course introduce students to the main theories explaing the internationalization process of firms, the market selection process, main entry strategies and location choices, together with emerging international collaborative relationships among firms. The managerial implications associated with building the organization and managing the operations of multinational enterprises in a global economy will also be analyzed, paying attention to the impact of national/regional difference in political economy, industrial policy and culture on firm’s strategic choices. The role and different forms of “psychical distance” in the internationalization processes will also be analyzed and discuss with the support of selected case studies.
On completion of the course, students are expected to be prepared both to confront the unique challenges of global business and to understand the main special problems involved in conducting international business. Students have to prove to be able to discuss, adopting a critical approach, the various theories of internationalization, the key determinants of strategy development in an international context, the alternative ways of organizing and managing the multinational enterprise.