International Contemporary Analysis

COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course provides the students the necessary elements to understand the global market place. They will research available specialized literature on our major foreign markets and investigate deeply the main political, cultural and economical undercurrents impacting them. Devise business strategies directed to overcome barriers to entry.

RELEVANCE
Ability to adapt to an ever changing business environment is main focus of strategic management. An international business professional must be able to accurately diagnose the main characteristics of the target market and set in place strategies to successfully manage them.

RELATED COMPETENCIES
International Business
Institutional Competence: Familiarity with target market main challenges and/or opportunities is critical for decision making in international business.

Professional Competence: Knowledge of local history, culture, politics, legal framework, businesses practices, and consumers? habits and expectations are related competences complementing market research.

GENERAL OBJECTIVE OF THE COURSE
The international business course will focus on developing student research abilities in accessing economic, political, and cultural information on relevant markets in order to compile sufficient information to design market entry strategies.
Students will learn research strategies, critical understanding of target market environment, main challenges and/or opportunities for market entry or market development, and successful design and application of business strategies.

LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the course, students will be able to:
Knowledge

• Understand challenges posed by a global economy.
• Familiarity with target market?s political, economic, legal, and cultural backgrounds.
• Familiarity with pertinent literature and basic research tools.
• Familiarity with relevant legal framework.

Abilities

• Define challenges/opportunities of target market.
• Design of market strategy based on consumers? expectation and market environment.
• Language and cultural skills.

Attitudes

• Global vision.
• Discipline
• Lots of reading everyday
• Researching on relevant literature.
• Open to others opinions.
• Foreign languages skills.
• Teamwork

METHODOLOGY
Active participation

• The course is taught through the active participation of the lecturer and students in class sessions. Strategies include the presentation of concepts and cases by the lecturer and the interaction of students.

Practical exercises

• Depending on the nature of activities, some will be completed individually and others in groups in order to enhance the ability to work in teams and properly justify one?s opinion to fellow classmates.

Oral discussions

• The adequate use of technical concepts will always be enhanced

Virtual activities

• All students will have access to a web page of the course. Besides including teaching materials for them, they will participate in message boards throughout the semester. This will be the official channel between the teacher and the students to send all the tasks previously defined.

ASSESSMENT
Mid-Term Exam 1 (Written Exam) - 25%
Mid-Term Exam 2 (Written Exam) - 25%
Quizes and Assignments - 10%
Applied Project - 15%