Rapid globalisation has necessitated organisations at all scales to expand their operations across national borders. Hence, it has become imperative for organisations to identify and prioritize the choices available to explore new markets and growth opportunities in a multinational context. You will acquire the skills and knowledge required to develop organisational strategies in a global context to thrive and secure a sustainable competitive advantage. The module wil cover the following content:

Introduction to international business and multinational enterprise

Introduction to strategy process; vision, mission, values, planned and emergent strategies, balanced scorecard and strategy mapping, levels of strategy and alignment

Industry and environmental analysis; environmental uncertainty, macro and micro environmental analysis, industry definition and boundaries, strategic groups, competitor analysis; internal analysis – competitive advantage, resources and core competencies, dynamic capabilities, value chains and value networks

Business strategy – generic strategies, market development, blue ocean strategy

Corporate strategy – horizontal and vertical integration, related and unrelated diversification, portfolio analysis

Global and collaborative strategies - National competitiveness, international diversification strategies, strategic alliances

Globalisation and strategy; International planning process and types of international strategy

Competitive analysis; global perspective

Element 1: A 15-minute group presentation, weighted at 40% of the overall module mark and assessing LO2, will explore international business environmental factors and their implications for a selected case study organisation

Element 2: A 2000-word individual report, weighted at 60% of the overall module mark and assessing LOs 1 and 3, that will recommend strategic options appropriate in a multinational environment for a selected case study organisation.

Both assessment elements must incorporate application, critical analysis and evaluation of related theory, models and frameworks, and demonstrate your understanding of contemporary issues and their impact on organisations.

The learning strategy for full-time/part-time on-campus and corporate delivery modes requires students to commit to 200 learning hours (including assessment). Of this there will be 48 hours of class or workshop support and 152 hours of independent and self-directed study for students working alone or as part of a learning group.

Learning and teaching activities will include face-to-face which will include groupwork, formal teaching, case study analysis and students will be encouraged to share their workplace experiences with others. Online live webinars to take the form of tutorials involving opportunities for group discussion and presentation, flipped classroom opportunities, further groupwork and case study analysis. You will undertake formative assessments during the module to help you monitor your learning and provide you and us with ongoing feedback on your progress, that helps you prepare for the summative assessment(s) during or at the end of the module.

1. Explore various theoretical approaches to strategy in an international business context to describe the process of global strategic management.

University Learning Outcome

Knowledge and Understanding

2. Critically analyse business environmental factors to identify opportunities and challenges associated with international operations.

University Learning Outcome

Analysis

Application

3. Evaluate strategic choices in the context of a multinational environment and develop strategic options for organisations at corporate and business levels.

University Learning Outcome

Application

Problem solving

LinkedIn learning

The university library and learning resources – books and academic journals

The module VLE

Learning support materials

Electronic data bases

Online tools, internet

Open textbook library

Selected contemporary problem/practice-based case examples

Verbeke, A. and Lee, I. H. I. (2021) International business strategy: Rethinking the foundations of global corporate success. 3rd ed. Cambridge University Press.

Johnson, G., Whittington, R., Regner, P., Scholes, K. and Angwin, D. (2017) Exploring strategy: Text and cases

paperback. 11th ed. Pearson Education.

Peng, M. W. and Meyer, K. (2016) International business. 2nd ed. Australia: Cengage Learning, Australia (Hard copy in

the Library)Thompson, J., Scott, J. M. and Martin, F. (2014). Strategic management. Cengage Learning (eBook available in the library).

Globalisation is an integral part of today's business context. It is imperative to understand the various strategic decisions that companies take with regards to operations across borders. This module will discuss such international business strategies and theories and its application to real business case studies.