International Business Relations

1
International Business Relations

• Hwy-Chang Moon
• Professor of International Business Strategy
• The Graduate School of International Studies
• Seoul National University
• cmoon_at_snu.ac.kr
• Office 614 615
• Class
• Mon 230 530 pm
• Office Hours
• Mon 125 - 225 pm, Tue 400 600 pm or by
  Appointment
• Assistants
• Jimmyn Parc (jimmynparc_at_gmail.com)
• Wenyan Yin (beat01_at_snu.ac.kr)

2

• Course Description
• Part 1 deals with the basics of international
  business competitiveness that will help formulate
  effective strategies. As the business
  environments become more global and complicated
  than ever, paradigms such as traditional trade
  theories are no longer effective. The new
  competitiveness paradigms include the diamond
  model, its extensions, and stage models of
  international business.
• As an extension to Part 1, Part 2 covers the most
  fundamental aspects of international business
  relations. Emphasis is on the socio-cultural
  characteristics that influence business behavior
  and performance. This course deals with many
  real-world cases and examples, as well as
  conceptual models. Throughout the course,
  students will improve their analytical skills as
  well as learn state-of-the-art knowledge.

3

• Course Materials
• There is a reading packet of related articles and
  cases. Students should read the materials before
  class, so class meetings can be used for
  discussion rather than for lecture.
• Grading total 100
• Professional Behavior attitude, attendance,
  participation (20)
• One page summary of readings for each class (20)
  
• Group Project Oral presentation (20)
• Individual Project Written report (20)
• Final Exam (20)

4

• Project
• There are two projects a group presentation and
  an individual written report. Specific
  information about the projects will be given
  later. Students are expected to choose their own
  topics and group members.
• Assignments
• All assignments must be completed in the form of
  either Word or PowerPoint. No hand-written
  material will be accepted. All assignments are
  due at the beginning of class on the due date.
  Any late submission without a valid reason will
  be penalized.
• Attendance
• Students must attend all classes in order to
  receive full attendance credit and will lose
  points for absences regardless of the reasons.
  Students who miss more than two classes will not
  receive a grade. Latecomers and those chatting
  with other people distract the class and may be
  penalized.

5

• Class Schedule
• Part 1 International Competitiveness
• Class 1 (Sept 3) Introduction
• Why do we have to study International Business?
• What is competitiveness and how is it enhanced?
• Class 2 (Sept 10) The Diamond Model
• Porter 1990, The Competitive Advantage of Nations
• Five groups will be formed
• Class 3 (Sept 17) The Generalized Double Diamond
  (GDD) Model Group 1
• Cho and Moon 2000 (Chapter 4), Debate Porter vs.
  Rugman
• Moon, Rugman and Verbeke 1998, A Generalized
  Double Diamond Approach to the Global
  Competitiveness of Korea and Singapore
• Class 4 (Sept 24) No Class
• National Holiday
• Class 5 (Oct 1) Competitiveness of Firms and
  Industries Group 2
• Moon and Lee 2004, The Competitiveness of
  Multinational Firms Samsung vs Sony
• Jin and Moon 2006, Diamond Approach to the
  Competitiveness of Koreas Apparel Industry
• New York Times, 2006, U.S. Firm Has Korea Up in
  Arms (July 5)
• Class 6 (Oct 8) Competitiveness of Nations
  Group 3
• Cho, Moon and Kim 2006, Competitive Strategy to
  Enhance National Competitiveness

6

• Class 7 (Oct 15) Further Studies Group 4
• Snowdon and Stonehouse 2006, Competitiveness in a
  Globalised World Michael Porter on the
  Microeconomic Foundations of the Competitiveness
  of Nations, Regions, and Firms
• Minford 2006, Competitiveness in a Globalised
  World a Commentary
• Project Guidelines
• Manuscript Presentation Guidelines
• Topics
• Part 2 Culture on Competitiveness
• Class 8 (Oct 22) Culture and Prosperity Group
  5
• Porter 2000, Attitudes, Values, Beliefs, and the
  Microeconomics
• Krugman 1994, The Myth of Asias Miracle
• Class 9 (Oct 29) Western Perspectives Group 1
• Perlmutter 1969, The Tortuous Evolution of the
  MNC
• Hofstede 1983, The Cultural Relativity of
  Organizational
• Group Project One-Page Executive Summary Due
• Class 10 (Nov 5) Empirical Studies Group 2
• House, Javidan and Dorfman 2002, Understanding
  Cultures
• Brouthers and Brouthers 2001, National Cultural
  Distance Paradox

7

• Class 11 (Nov 12) Non-Western Perspectives
  Group 3
• Sunzi Bingfa, The Essentials of War
• Moon 1999, Education and Competitiveness of
  Japanese Firms
• Friedman 2000, The Lexus and the Olive Tree
  (Chapter 3)
• Class 12 (Nov 19) A New Model for Creating
  Values Group 4
• Moon 2004, Cooperation among Japan, Korea, and
  China through Sharing Business and Cultural
  Advantages
• Herbold 2002, Inside Microsoft Balancing
  Creativity and Discipline
• Fortune 2006, From Wharton to War (by Vesterman,
  June 8)
• Class 13 (Nov 26) Group Project
• Project Presentations
• Critical Comments and Discussions
• Class 14 (Dec 3) Can We Change Cultures? Group
  5
• Kerr and Slocum 2005, Managing Corporate Culture
  through Reward System
• Hofstede 2004, Retrospective
• Class 15 (Dec 10)
• Final Exam (Closed book/note)
• Individual Written Report Due

8
Class numberYour nameArticle author title

• Summary of the article(s)
• Uniqueness
• Main points
• Evaluation/Opinion
• Pros and Cons
• Possible extension