Global Network Courses: January - May 2015
International Management & Organizational Structures
Raúl Montalvo
EGADE Business School
February 9-April 6, 2015 (February 9, 13, 16, 20, 23, 27; March 2, 6, 9, 16, 23; April 6)
Class meeting times: Mondays and Fridays, 7:00 – 8:30 a.m. (based on the time in Mexico City, CST in Mexico)
Even when today we can talk about a globalized world, it is important to understand that the local, national or regional nature of business is still one of the most important components when strategic decision making takes place. There are many cases of multinational companies which have been very successful locally or regionally and when they try to export their business model abroad the results can be mixed. The markets have such a wide diversity in terms of infrastructure, culture, purchasing power, legal framework, geography, market composition, weather, consumer behavior, amongst others. One can find evidence from many companies that after they went global had to change and adapt their businesses or even further in some cases to rethink it, not only in terms of adapting their products, but also their logistics for delivery, governance and organizational structure, to mention some. At the end, it is important to understand that the global business environment is influenced by its own environment in a local, regional or national context and how is it that global companies have to adapt internally and externally.
The course will be composed of classes, discussion forums, interviews and a team final project. During the course we will be combining the analysis from three main angles: business context (economic figures of the country or region, business framework, consumer behavior, etc.), business model and business expansion strategy: evidence (case discussion and evidence of the strategy used and its implications when a group of companies from different countries and sectors went global). All of these supported as indicated above with guest speakers who did participate in the expansion of their companies and who will share their experience with the class.
At the end of the course as a final project the students in groups, will have to analyze the best strategy for a local company that may want to become global.
Check with your MBA Program Director about how to apply before December 19.
Natural Capital: Risks and Opportunities in Global Resource Systems
Bradford S. Gentry and Todd Cort
Yale SOM
January 13-May 5, 2015 (no classes during Yale SOM spring break, February 25-March 23)
Class meeting times: Tuesdays and Thursday, 8:30 – 10:00 a.m. EST (please note that our clocks go forward + 1 hour on March 8)
Natural resource constraints affect most, if not all, functional areas of the modern corporation. Many large companies are taking proactive approaches to managing these risks and capturing the opportunities they create. As such, they are increasingly expecting their employees to have a basic familiarity with the environmental and social, as well as the economic, megatrends affecting these systems. See video about the Natural Capital course.
My Journey Began with the Natural Capital Course: A Student’s Perspective
Check with your MBA Program Director about how to apply before November 19.
Handling Disruption: Humanitarian emergencies management and development
Chrisanthi Avgerou and Shirin Madon
London School of Economics
January 21-March 19, 2015
Class meeting times: Wednesday and Thursdays, 14:00-15:30 GMT (London time)
This is a course on the management of disasters with a focus on the management and policy challenges of humanitarian emergencies and development. The course places emphasis on the crucial role of information and communication technology (ICT) in information gathering, analysis and coordination for the activities of humanitarian organisations as well as affected communities.
Check with your MBA Program Director about how to apply before November 19.
Global Network Courses: August – December 2014
Analysis of Competition Law and Enforcement Across Countries (Fiona Scott Morton, Edward Snyder, Pierre Cremieux, Yale SOM)
Competition policy and enforcement is now a global phenomenon. Competition and antitrust authorities across the world have been increasingly active in:
- prosecuting transnational pricing-fixing conspiracies, e.g., LCD, auto parts;
- challenging mergers that span multiple countries, e.g. Google-Motorola, UTCGoodrich, the joint venture between BHP Billington and Rio Tinto; and
- changing various practices by large firms across the world, e.g., Intel, Google, and Microsoft.
The fundamental goal of competition laws is the protection of consumers. The overall objectives, design, and actual enforcement practices in any given country may also be affected by other factors, including the protection of domestic industry from foreign competition, concerns about the strength of particular industries, desire for policy consistency across countries, and overall experience with market economies.
Analysis of Competition Law and Enforcement Across Countries will combine classes and discussion groups, and a team research project. The first series of four classes will provide a common economic, legal, and business framework upon which student groups can develop their research projects. The remainder of the course will be focused on the team research projects, examining current or recent antitrust regulatory efforts focused on specific companies under scrutiny for monopolization/unilateral conduct or a group of companies under scrutiny for potential price-fixing behavior. (Learn more from a short video about the course.)
Inclusive Business Models (Sourav Mukherji, IIM-Bangalore)
According to World Bank Development Indicators (2008), close to half of the world's population, over three billion people, live on less than US$ 2.50 per day and about 1.4 billion on less than US$1.25 per day. In this course students will debate and discuss whether business enterprises can address the needs of the "base of the pyramid" in a financially sustainable manner, as a for-profit business. By analyzing a series of real life case studies of such inclusive businesses, as well as by listening to social entrepreneurs who are running inclusive businesses, the course will reveal the various challenges that are embedded within such business models and some of the creative means by which social entrepreneurs have dealt with such challenges, sometimes successfully and sometimes not.
Mobile Banking Opportunities Across Countries (K. Sudhir, Yale SOM)
Mobile banking refers to the use of mobile devices to access financial services and conduct commerce. Though technologies for mobile banking available are pretty standard around the world, the solutions that succeed in various countries diverge. Students will work in cross-national teams across universities to understand why current business models differ and propse new business models from the perspective of an assigned institution (e.g., bank, telecom provider, startup) that are appropriate for an assigned country or region. By comparing the solutions proposed by different teams, the course will help students gain insights into strategies for success for different market participants with different competencies and assets across countries.
New Product Development (Avraham Shtub, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology)
In today's world New Product Development (NPD) is critical to the success and survival of organizations. This course is aimed at teaching the tools and techniques developed to support the NPD process, to gain insight from real NPD success and failure case studies and to implement the tools, techniques and insights in a simulated environment.
Global Network Courses: January – May 2014
Natural Capital: Risks and Opportunities in Global Resource Systems
Natural resource constraints affect most, if not all, functional areas of the modern corporation. Many large companies are taking proactive approaches to managing these risks and capturing the opportunities they create. As such, they are increasingly expecting their employees to have a basic familiarity with the environmental and social, as well as the economic, megatrends affecting these systems.
New Product Development
In today's world New Product Development (NPD) is critical to the success and survival of organizations. This course is aimed at teaching the tools and techniques developed to support the NPD process, to gain insight from real NPD success and failure case studies and to implement the tools, techniques and insights in a simulated environment.