Бакалавриат
2026/2027
Международный бизнес
Статус:
Курс обязательный (Международный бизнес)
Где читается:
Высшая школа бизнеса
Когда читается:
2-й курс, 4 модуль
Охват аудитории:
для своего кампуса
Преподаватели:
Текич Аня
Язык:
английский
Кредиты:
4
Контактные часы:
48
Course Syllabus
Abstract
Why do some companies thrive abroad while others fail spectacularly? This course on International Business explores how firms navigate globalization by understanding entry modes, institutions, strategy, and core functions rather than just geography and distance. We begin with the dynamics of (de)globalization, examining how shifting value chains, digital platforms, and geopolitical tensions create opportunities and risks for firms. We then move directly to the practical question of how to enter foreign markets, comparing key modes of entry (exporting, licensing, franchising, FDI) and practicing their selection in seminars through an in-class OLI-based pitch.
Next, we analyze how formal institutions (political, legal, economic systems, trade and investment regimes, regional integration) and informal institutions (national culture, norms, values, ethics, CSR expectations) shape international business decisions. In seminars, teams compare two countries as potential host markets on these institutional dimensions and present integrated recommendations.
Building on this, we examine international business strategy and organization, focusing on the fit between global strategies and organizational structures, and then zoom in on IB functions—global R&D, operations, marketing, and HR—and how they must align with strategy and country context.
The course culminates in a team foreign market entry strategy project, where students design a coherent entry plan for a specific company and country, including strategy–organization–function fit and a 3-year expansion roadmap.
A final multiple-choice exam assesses students’ mastery of core concepts and frameworks across all blocks.
Learning Objectives
- Provide an integrated understanding of how globalization and country-level institutions shape the environment in which firms operate internationally.
- Develop students’ ability to think strategically about why and how firms expand abroad, including choices of market, entry mode, and organizational set-up.
- Introduce core international business functions, and how they must be aligned with institutional context and global strategy.
Expected Learning Outcomes
- Students will be able to assess the business advantages and challenges that companies face in a global context, and suggest how companies should develop their international business strategies, taking into account economic, institutional and cultural factors
- Students will have a comprehensive set of knowledge and skills that will enable them to explain and critically discuss the key theoretical concepts related to international business
- Students will have a holistic understanding of the issues of international business at both strategic and operational levels in large multinational companies, SMEs, as well as in new and growing ventures
- Students will improve their skills of presentation and communication of the main issues of international business to both specialist and non-specialist audiences, in English, both orally and in writing
- Students will learn how to become team players and pursue effective exchange of relevant ideas and experiences within the teams, as their members or leaders, while being ready to acquire knowledge and skills independently, creating the basis for the self-directed and autonomous life-long learning
- Students will be able to explain how globalization creates key opportunities and challenges for firms operating in international markets.
- Students will be able to analyze how national political, legal, and economic systems shape the risks and opportunities of international business.
- Students will be able to evaluate how cultural differences and informal norms influence managerial decisions and outcomes in international business.
- Students will be able to compare major foreign market entry modes and justify an appropriate choice for a specific firm–country context.
- Students will be able to determine and assess the fit between a firm’s international strategy and its global organizational structure.
- Students will be able to propose coherent R&D, operations, marketing, and HR decisions that support a firm’s international strategy in different country environments.
- Students will be able to develop teamwork, communication, and self-directed learning skills needed to analyze, present, and discuss international business issues in English with both specialist and non-specialist audiences.
Course Contents
- International business and (de)globalization
- International business and formal institutions
- International business and informal institutions
- Modes of entry
- International business strategy and organization
- International business functions
Assessment Elements
- Lecture AttendanceThis element assesses students’ consistent physical presence during scheduled lectures. Attendance points are distributed proportionally across all lecture sessions.
- Seminar Assignment 1In this closed-information team assignment, students compare two potential host countries using evidence about political, legal and economic systems, trade and investment conditions, regional integration and institutional risk. Teams recommend the more suitable market and identify the principal conditions and risks affecting their decision.
- Seminar Assignment 2Teams analyse a concrete cross-cultural business problem involving areas such as communication, negotiation, consumer behaviour, leadership, ethics or corporate responsibility. They diagnose how informal institutions contributed to the problem and recommend appropriate adaptations while identifying practices or principles that should not be compromised.
- Seminar Assignment 3Teams assess a company’s ownership, location and internalization advantages in an assigned foreign market and recommend a specific mode of entry. The recommendation must apply relevant internationalization frameworks, compare feasible alternatives and explain how the principal risks of the selected mode should be managed.
- Seminar Assignment 4Teams develop an international business strategy for an assigned company and demonstrate how its organizational design should support that strategy. The assignment requires decisions concerning global integration and local responsiveness, organizational structure, centralization and local autonomy, coordination mechanisms and the allocation of decision rights.
- Seminar Assignment 5Teams design an integrated international configuration of R&D, operations, marketing and human-resource management for an assigned company. They must demonstrate alignment between functional decisions, international strategy and country conditions and revise their recommendations in response to an unexpected change introduced during the seminar.
- ExamThe final exam is an individual, pen-and-paper assessment covering all course blocks. It consists of 20 multiple-choice questions worth 2 points each and two open-ended questions worth 10 points each. Multiple-choice questions may have one or more correct answers. The exam is a blocking assessment element.
Interim Assessment
- 2026/2027 4th module0.06 * Seminar Assignment 2 + 0.1 * Lecture Attendance + 0.6 * Exam + 0.06 * Seminar Assignment 5 + 0.06 * Seminar Assignment 1 + 0.06 * Seminar Assignment 4 + 0.06 * Seminar Assignment 3
Bibliography
Recommended Core Bibliography
- 9781260590920 - Charles Hill - ISE Ebook for Hill International Business - 2020 - McGraw Hill - https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=2947576 - nlebk - 2947576
Recommended Additional Bibliography
- Global business : management, Willcocks, L. P., 2021
- Global business : strategy in context, Willcocks, L. P., 2021
- Griffin, R. W., Pustay, M. W. (2019). International Business: a Managerial Perspective. Global Edition, Pearson Education Limited.