CERTIFICATE PROGRAM
IN
BUSINESS
FOR
INTERNATIONAL PROFESSIONALS
COURSE SYLLABUS - AUTUMN QUARTER 2005
Academic Director: Dr. Jerry W. Ralston
Tel: 206 725-7866
Fax: 206 723-4988
Administrative Director: Barbara Hansen
Director, U.W. Downtown English Language Programs
Tel: 206 685-4260
Program Coordinator: Mihaela Giurca
Lecturer, UW English Language Programs
Tel: (206) 221-3824
Instructors: Donald Marsh
C. Patrick Fleenor
Tieta Ralston
Mike Giambattista
Gordon Neumiller
Chris Fidler
George Atwater
Cameron Wiebe
Craig Spangler
Fred Pursell
Jerry Ralston
Laurie Blackburn, English Instructor
Classroom: U.W. Extension, Downtown Office
1325 4th Avenue (4th & Union), Ste 400
Website: http://faculty.washington.edu/mihaela/BUSIP/busipindex.shtml
INTRODUCTION
Business in today’s world economy is intertwined as never before. Competition is increasingly global and firms are becoming international in their sales, production, investment, financing and sourcing at an exponential rate. Technological advances in communications and the breakdown and removal of regulatory barriers have connected financial markets worldwide and revolutionized the financial services industry.
Negotiated reductions in tariff and non-tariff barriers to the movement of goods and services across national borders have led to a substantial increase in world trade over the last several decades, reaching almost every corner of the globe. New economic agreements among nations (EU, NAFTA, ASEAN, WTO) have greatly expanded the size of some market areas and fundamentally changed the market and strategic planning activities of many firms.
The internet is turning business upside down and inside out. It is dramatically changing the way companies operate. New business models are emerging, business relationships are redefined and new management techniques pervade marketing, production and distribution.
GOAL
The goal of this course is to assist students to achieve an understanding of the global environment in which businesses, particularly the small and intermediate firms, must now compete and in which managers are expected to perform.
The course is designed to help students meet these challenges through a format which will enhance their global literacy, sensitize them to the global characteristics of today’s business environment and assist in the development and refinement of the skills necessary to be successful in an international business career.
OVERALL LEARNING OBJECTIVES
During the quarter, students will need to utilize a variety of communication techniques: brainstorming, encoding, decoding, role playing, decision making, problem solving, library and internet research, report writing and more. The objectives of these efforts are to:
· Provide a foundation for understanding the processes and practices of international business in the 21st Century.
· Understand and develop the ability to deal with the array of critical decisions facing the
managers of companies engaged in international business.
· Develop a working familiarity with the availability and reliability of secondary data of both qualitative and quantitative nature relating to global business requirements.
· To evaluate the differences and similarities between domestic and international business operations and the unique requirements place on international business managers.
· Understand the importance and need for a close familiarity with foreign cultures and environments, and the impact of different economic and political systems, laws and regulations.
· Provide an experiential base for learning global business management, development and operations through participation in an international business simulation exercise.
This course is specifically designed for international students and professionals who are seeking to develop expertise in international business while improving their English skills for use in their professional or educational pursuits.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course differs from most international business courses in several ways.
Integrated Approach
In many cases, courses in international business adopt a functional approach to the subject, one that treats international business simply as a collection of separate business functions (international marketing, international finance, etc).
The approach of this course is to treat international business as an extension of business activities across national borders into the global marketplace, involving an integrated consideration of all business functions and how they relate to and build on each other. Although topics will be covered sequentially, the material has been organized and presented in a manner designed to help students understand how each logically leads to the next.
INSTRUCTORS
An international business course is normally taught by a single instructor. However, because of the intensive, concentrated format of this course, it will be taught by 9-10 different instructors, each covering a specific topic in one week. This provides the benefit of true expertise and experience in each functional area.
SCHEDULE
The daily schedule will be 9:00-2:30 or 10:30-4:00, Monday-Thursday with no Friday session except that adjustments will be made for weeks in which holidays occur (see course schedule). This time period will be allocated as follows:
· 9:00-12:00/1:00-4:00 – IBus Instruction. Class time will typically be divided among the following: lectures; discussion of cases, readings and current events; guest speakers; videos; internet exercises; student reports; and other instructional methods.
· 1:00-2:30/10:30-12:00 – ESL instruction. This period will likely include the following: facilitation of the IBus simulation exercise; preparation and preliminary discussion of cases or exercises which business instructors have assigned; and academic English language skills
GRADING
The course will be graded on an S/NS basis. However, each student’s performance will be evaluated weekly on the basis of standards established by each instructor and the advisory board. A level of measurable achievement, based on case analysis, review exercises etc., has been established for each instructor’s modal in order to provide students with an on-going indication of their performance. Students will be provided with a mid-term grade after the 5th week.
ASSIGNMENTS
Assignments for each week will consist of textbook readings, case evaluations and internet exercises.
· Textbook readings may be supplemented by information related to current events or examples of how course material affects IBus.
· When cases are assigned, students will be required to write a 1-page (no longer) evaluation of the case addressing the following four points:
1. What are the issues presented by the case?
2. What are the alternatives available to the firm?
3. What course of action do you recommend?
4. What is the basis/rationale for your choice?
SIMULATION EXERCISE
Students will participate in a simulation exercise to improve their understanding of the interaction among the strategies of multinational firms, local companies and host governments.
Student teams will be involved in interactive negotiations with the objective of developing a high technology manufacturing industry in a developing country through foreign investment, joint-venture, licensing agreements or other arrangements. While the industry, the companies and the countries involved in the simulation are hypothetical, they are based on real industries, companies and countries.