General provisions

The course is only available to students within Contract Education Programmes on Master level.

Entry requirements

Bachelor's degree 180 credits. The course is only available to students within contract education programmes on Master level.

Learning outcomes

The overall goal of the course is to develop the students’ ability to analyse different aspects of globalisation with a special emphasis on the economic consequences of internationalisation of trade and investment and the role of the MNC in that context. A special feature of the learning process will be discussions of current events or political actions concerning globalisation as reflected in the on-going debate in different media.

After the course the student will be able to orally as well as in writing independently discuss the topic i.e. the international firm in a global economy, by covering the following matters:

• Present a comprehensive picture of globalisation in terms of history and drivers.
• Contrast different views of the social and political consequences of globalisation.
• Explain the basic building blocs in old and new international trade theory and foreign direct investment theory.
• Explain why different models of the MNC offer different answers to the question of the economic, political, social, and managerial consequences of the multinational corporation as a firm.
• Analyse different market and industry specific characteristics and the social, political and managerial implications thereof.
• Ethical aspects of global business of today.
• Contribute and reflect on different angles that are being discussed in the on-going business news debate such as removal of production facilities between regions, political incentives to stimulate regional and industrial development.

Based on these skills the student will be able to present an appropriate analysis on any contemporary situation that challenge a firm acting in a global context.

Content

The course deals with global integration in terms of capital, trade, production, research and development, political institutions and people. Basic economic theories of international trade and investments are introduced and analysed. The history, the underlying drivers, and the present debate of the political and social impact of globalisation are presented. A prominent actor in the globalisation process, the multinational corporation (MNC), is focused specifically. Different perspectives of the emergence and characteristics of the MNC as a firm are discussed and compared considering the economic/political, social/ethical and managerial consequences of its existence. Consequences will be related to the on-going business news debate.

Instruction

This course contains four kinds of fora for learning; lectures, seminars, written case report, and web-based exams. They all are compulsory and embark on active participation. Seminars are except for individual performance also performed in teams where they are assigned to present the literature, lead seminars and support discussions in a resourceful way. Written case reports are performed in teams where the students are assigned to apply theory-based research on an issue that concern multinational companies. As for the web-based exams students are assigned individual questions. They also have to comment on the answers from other students (i.e. peer-to-peer judgements) for the purpose of improving these, as one way of contributing to the collective learning.

The attempt is to create an atmosphere where participants have an interactive dialogue in this area. An important object with the teaching approach is to strive to reach as high level of shared knowledge as possible. For this purpose every attempt by students to contribute to the collective understanding will be encouraged. A special feature of the learning process will be discussions of up to date events and/or political actions relating to the development of regional markets and industries as reflected in the on-going business news debate

The language of instruction is English.

Assessment

Grades will be given in accordance with the Swedish grading system. The following grades will be used: VG (passed with distinction), G (passed), and U (failed). The final grade of the course is determined after taking into consideration the different parts of the examination. The course consists of obligatory parts. Performance during the process towards learning goals is measured via:

• Active participation in seminars (individual)
• A written case report, focusing on applied theory-based analysis (individual)
• Web-based exam in combination with peer-to-peer judgements (individual)
• Student-lead literature seminars (team)

Examination includes active participation in seminars and completion of assignments given during the course. Grading criteria are presented in the study guide obtained at the beginning of the course. In addition, any remaining assignments and supplements must be completed and handed in at least within two weeks after the end of the course otherwise the entire course (including all assignments) has to be redone the next time the course is given, provided there is space in the course.

Uppsala University takes cheating and plagiarism seriously, and disciplinary action will be taken against any student suspected of being involved in any sort of cheating and/or plagiarism. The disciplinary actions take the form of warnings and limited suspensions.

NOTE: Only completed courses can count toward a degree.