21717 International Management

Subject level: Postgraduate

Handbook description

This subject encourages participants to: study how people in other countries go about conducting business and managing their enterprises; ascertain the reasons behind their various management practices; assess their effectiveness; and determine the implications for Australian managers. The subject helps develop an integrated world view to provide a better basis for decision making within the international business arena.

Subject objectives/outcomes

On successful completion of this subject, students should be able to:

1. Understand the influence of international management theories and behaviour on the people within organisations within a particular culture and country
2. Understand the nature and importance of international relations as an influence on global business (and ebusiness) opportunities and trends
3. Demonstrate a detailed knowledge of the cultural issues affecting managerial and employee behaviour in a number of countries studied during the subject
4. Critique a broad knowledge of a range of organisational theories and management practices across a number of the countries reviewed during the course
5. Apply the lessons of cross-cultural understanding to a range of international management situations.

Contribution to graduate profile

International Management explores many of the fascinating aspects of managing across cultures. The subject aims to help students develop a range of personal strategies to enhance their ability to understand how managers in different countries conduct business and manage their staff. The course also aims to develop students' appreciation of the reasons behind a variety of management practices and cross-cultural interactions. The subject also addresses ways in which managers operating in offshore organisations can develop their managerial effectiveness.

Students will have the opportunity to develop some specialised management knowledge of several cultural groups and nations and explore their impact upon the global economy. Students will gain a more integrated world view which will give them a better basis for decision making within the international business arena.

Teaching and learning strategies

This subject will be taught using a combination of lectures and seminars. The classes will use printed and electronic material. Students will be expected to read widely in the international press and journals, surf the Internet and critically evaluate the sources in preparation of the assessments.

Content

• What is International Management?
• Exploring the environment of International Business
• Corporate Social Responsibility and Managerial Ethics in International Business
• Managerial cultural differences: management values and their implications
• International management theory and practice for intercultural communication
• Managing Diversity
• Cross Cultural Negotiations: bridging the gap between business and government
• Motivation and its variations between different cultural groups
• Leadership in multinational organisations
• Management Planning and Organising
• Decision Making and Implementation of Plans
• Managing the control process in international organisations
• Managing International Teams.

Assessment

Recommended text(s)

Holt D. and Wigginton K. (2002) International Management, 2nd ed, Orlando, Harcourt Brace.

Indicative references

Baylis, J and Smith, S. (1997) The Globalization of World Politics. Oxford. Oxford University Press.

Beddoes, Z.M. (1999) 'From EMU to AMU' Foreign Affairs. July/August 1999, 78, 4; 8-13

Bell, S. (1997) Ungoverning the Economy. New York. Oxford University Press.

Bernstein, P.L., (1996) Against the Odds: The Remarkable Story of Risk, New York. John Wiley and Sons Inc.

Chossudovsky, M. (1998). The Globalisation of Poverty: Impacts of IMF and World Bank Reforms. Sydney. Pluto Press.

Deresky, H (2002) International Management New Jersey. Prentice Hall.

Dong Zhi-Yong and Qi Ye. (2000). Competitiveness and Adaptability in International Trade. Shanghai. Remin University Press.

Ellwood, W. (2001). The No-Nonsense Guide to Globalization. London. New Internationalist Publications.

Estes, R. (1996). Tyranny of the Bottom Line. San Francisco. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

Feldstein, M. (1998) 'Refocusing the IMF' Foreign Affairs, march/April, 77, 2, 20-23

Fox, J. (2001). Chomsky and Globalization. Duxford. Icon Books.

Fuwei, Shen (1996). Cultural Flow Between China and Outside World Throughout History, Beijing. Foreign Lanaguage Press.

Heller, R. and Spedley, P. (2001) Riding the Revolution. London. HarperCollinsBusiness

Hill, Charles WL. (1997). International Business: Competing in the Global Marketplace Boston: Richard D Irwin.

Hobsbawm, E. (1994). Age of Extremes: A Short History of the Twentieth Century. London. Michael Joseph.

Hopkins, TK and Wallerstein, I. (1996). The Age of Transition: Trajectory of the World System 1946-2025, Sydney. Pluto Press.

Krugman, P. (1999). The Return of Depression Economics. New York. WW Norton and Company.

Kuttner, R. (1997). Everything for Sale: The Virtues and Limits of Markets. New York. Albert A Knopf.

Lechner, F. and Boli, J. (2000). The Globalisation Reader. Malden. Blackwell.

Martin, H. and Schumann, H, (1997) The Global Trap: Globalisation and the assault on prosperity and democracy, Sydney. Pluto Press.

McFarlin, D and Sweeney, P (2003) International Management, Boston. Houghton Miffin

Nelson, S and Pollard, D. (1995). The Unseen Treat: Treaty on European Union, Maastricht 1992, Oxford. Nelson and Pollard Publishing.

OECD, (2000). OECD Economic Outlook, Paris. OECD

Ormerod, P. (2000). Butterfly Economics: A New General Theory of Social and Economic Behaviour. New York. Pantheon Books.

Perkin, H. (1996). The Third Revolution: Professional Elites in the Modern World. London. Routledge.

Schneider, S. and Barsoux, J-L. (1997). Managing Across Cultures. Hemel Hempstead. Prentice Hall.

Thurow, L. (1999). Building wealth: The New Rules for Individuals, Companies and Nations in a Knowledge-Based Economy. New York. HarperCollins Books.

Wild, J., Wild, K., Han, J (2003), International Business. New Jersey. Prentice Hall.