Curriculum

This course provides students the opportunity to visit companies and meet executives to learn firsthand about doing business in South America. Meetings with government officials, as well as visits to important cultural centers and participation in cultural activities will further enhance students? understanding of the South American business environment.

In Fundamentals II major emphasis continues to be on the development of speaking and listening proficiency, but increased attention is also given to reading and writing. Authentic materials in the target language reflect situations relevant to the international manager, except for non-Latin
based languages or Asian languages.

This course is a continuation of Fundamentals I. It aims to help students further develop communicative skills in listening and speaking, with an additional emphasis on reading texts. The emphases of this course are: a) building up more vocabulary and grammatical structures for communications purposes, b) integrating the linguistic and cultural knowledge acquired in Fundamentals I with the new knowledge, c) introducing business content and terminology in instructions and activities.

This course explores the mix of organizational practices and people that can be the basis of sustainable competitive advantage in the contemporary global business environment. Topics covered include cross-cultural issues in managing people; traditional and emerging models of organizations; organizational culture; leadership; employee skills and motivation; reward systems; and change management.

As business enters the 21st century, a shift in thinking about business? role in society is underway. Society?s demands for social and environmental responsibility are growing dramatically and few managers have the requisite skills to respond effectively. This course is designed to give future business leaders the knowledge and tools needed to develop a CSR strategy that creates value, not only for society and the environment, but also competitive and financial value for the company.

This course focuses on issues that define the scope of the firm and its competitive environment. Organization scope is impacted by a variety of factors such as ownership structure, country context, and firm-specific resource endowments. Consequently, this course will explore these influences within a multi-disciplinary perspective, drawing on research and practice from areas such as finance, industrial organization economics, organization behavior and organization theory.

This course focuses on consumer behavior from a
cross-cultural perspective. Topics include the cognitive processes underlying consumer choice (needs, perceptions and attitudes);
descriptive consumer characteristics (demographics, psychographics,
VALS); and environmental influences on behavior
(culture, family, situation). Emphasis is placed on the implications
of consumer behavior for global marketing strategy. Class assignments emphasize the application of these concepts to real marketing problems.

This course builds on material from the Quantitative Methods class. It introduces the use of computer simulation for scenario planning, covers regression analysis in depth, and covers the use of computerized techniques for optimization and linear programming. The course takes an applied business perspective, with examples drawn from operations management, finance, and marketing.

This course will take participants to Shanghai, Suzhou, Ho Chi Minh City, Kuala Lumpur and Bangalore, where the program will explore the high-tech business environment and how to do business in one of the world?s most dynamic regions. Program content will focus on applied knowledge, such as intellectual property protection or managing high tech talent that will help prepare students to lead and manage effectively in this diverse and complex region.