International Business Environmental Analysis

he course provides a broad overview of the international business environment, and aims to identify, investigate and discuss various factors affecting the growth and development of the transnational enterprise. The course especially addresses the economic, political, institutional and geographical preconditions that play a role in a firm's international strategy and organizational considerations in different parts of the world. Scenarios of globalisation and the emergence of a 'borderless world' are confronted to parallel trends towards regionalism and nationalism, and are assessed and evaluated from the viewpoint of the transnational corporation. The role of location-specific factors in a globalised economy, and how these factors affect location and growth decisions among transnational corporations, are also analysed.

The first part of the course introduces core terminology in international business environment analysis, and provides an overview of various economic, political, institutional and geographical aspects that form important parts of international business environment analysis. The second part of the course consists of student team work assignments, aiming at further identifying, investigating and discussing key components in business environment analysis, viewed from the corporate perspective.