Royal Holloway School of Management

University of London

MBA in International Management - Full-time or Part-time

Elective Subjects and Dissertation

Japanese Multinationals in Europe: This unique course offers students the opportunity to listen to leading executives from major Japanese multinational enterprises operating in Europe. Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions, and learn from the practical and high level experience of the guest lecturers. In addition, they will be issued key readings and, during the linked seminar, analyse a number of key issues. Students will consider a range of case studies, the role of multinationals in the European economy, the aproaches and strategies of Japanese firms, the nature of entrepreneurship, and the influence of culture and human resources in international operations.

Asia Pacific Business: This course will focus on the ways in which history, culture, environment and politics have shaped the organisational evolution of business in the Asia Pacific region and will assess its ability to survive the global pressures of the 21st Century. Asian business initiatives in the 19th and 20th Centuries were built upon traditions and networks in an evolutionary manner. But can this approach be sustained in the future? In fact, it is only by making comparisons with American and European business that it is possible to assess the response of Asian business to these challenges. And finally, the course will examine the relationship between Asian business and the state.

European Business: The course examines the economic and political environment within which business operates in Europe. The primary focus is the European Union (EU) but consideration is also given to Europe’s place in the global political economy and to the EU’s relationships with the Mediterranean Rim countries and with the emergent market economies of central and eastern Europe. The course explores the nature and impacts of European Union policies and the single market in relation to European competitiveness, industry and labour market. After an introductory overview of the origins of the European project, EU’s institutional structure and policy-making process, the course focuses on the industrial and competition policies and on social Europe. The section on the European Monetary Union critically examines the viability of the EMU and its impacts on European business. Three lectures are devoted to in-depth analyses of the major economies of Europe, south European and transitional economies. Industrial policies, business structure and corporate governance practices are explored with country specific examples.

North American Business: North American Business, like the other regional electives, has links to other teaching elements in the second term. Tensions between the formation of regional trading blocks and the concept of multilateralism represent an example. North American Business is grouped around three nations – the United States of America, Canada and Mexico – which is a tighter focus of national interests than other regional trading blocks, namely the EU or ASEAN.

The North American Free Trade Agreement builds upon the earlier US-Canada FTA (between two G7 members) by including Mexico, a nation that is rated much below its two northern neighbours in terms of economic development.

The regional elective, in keeping with the international nature of the MBA programme, enables candidates to focus on the business environment in North America. A non-mechanistic approach is adopted. Rather than focusing merely on ‘how to do business in …’ checklists, there is an emphasis on the critical examination of political economy and cultural issues in the United States, Canada and Mexico from a variety of perspectives.

Candidates are encouraged to gain a fuller appreciation of the complex issues and concerns of supranational organisations like the World Trade Organisation, and cross-national trade agreements such as NAFTA and the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas.

Multinational Enterprise and the Global Economy: The combined global sales of multinational enterprises (MNEs) exceeded $9 trillion in 1997 and, according to United Nations figures, international investment by MNEs has now displaced trade as the most important mechanism for global economic integration. This course provides an overview of the development and contemporary vicissitudes of these key players on the international economic stage.

Attention is placed on the development of MNEs and the evolution of the ‘global economy’, trends in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), as well as on the underlying reasons for foreign investment. Therefore, the course attempts to convey key themes and explanations of international economic integration, and especially the importance of MNEs as the agents of this integration.

The course also addresses the implications of this global economy for the organisation and operation of multinational firms. Royal Holloway also consider the ethical and environmental dilemmas, and the politics of the relationship between multinationals and governments.

PROFESSIONAL COURSES

International Business Analysis: This elective is designed to broaden and deepen students’ understanding of international business. The combination of accounting, economics and political economy within the ‘Value Added’ and more conventional frameworks provide the basis on which you will analyse, understand and interpret corporate structure and behaviour.

The course aims to develop your understanding of key concepts and techniques that will allow examination, analysis and interrogation of both the internal (eg. labour share of value added) and external characteristics (eg. vertical integration) of a business.

Current topical debates are also introduced to allow students to contextualise understanding of international business and to provide options for improving corporate competitiveness.

International Business Law: This elective is designed to introduce students to Business Law – providing an analysis of ethics, probity and corporate responsibility and the important role law plays in business management. As the course progresses, you will study Company Law (company formation and constitution, capital, meetings, director’s duties and liabilities, insolvency, power); Contract Law (offer and acceptance; vitiating factors, content, discharge and remedies, warranties and indemnities, liabilities); and Employment Law.

The international element centres on the development of a European legal system and regulation within and between different countries. Royal Holloway also address the problems of regulatory arbitrage, the role of self-regulation and the creation of quasijudicial regulation agencies and professional bodies.

Management, Leadership and Teams: The course examines the role of teams in organisations, the factors influencing their performance and how leaders can manage organisations in the knowledge-driven economy.

By the end of this course you will understand the factors influencing group performance and be in a position to work with and promote collaboration among other team members. The ability to effectively manage group decision making and conflict and to develop effective plans and tactics for negotiation are pre-requisites for any aspiring manager.

Global Financial Markets: Global financial markets is concerned with the nature of the capital securities which are traded on the international money and capital markets and with the operation of those markets themselves.

Over the last 20 years there has been an explosion in the variety of securities and tradable assets, fuelled by deregulation and paralleled by an equally explosive growth in the technical and academic development of the discipline of finance. This development came about because of a number of important theoretical advances: the development of the theory of risk, the formal development of the concept of arbitrage and, of equal importance, the development of sophisticated information processing systems.

GROUP PROJECTS

Group Projects comprises two group presentations, each accompanied by written group reports. The presentations and reports focus on  salient management contexts, functions, and organisational outcomes. The group projects each draw on practical application of theory, with the first project focused on literature review and problem identification, and the second project focused on measurement and interpretation.

There is also a strong implicit focus on group dynamics and the course is an indirect test of your ability to work within teams. The group  project is thus a means to build experience and skills for completion of the dissertation.

BUSINESS RESEARCH

DISSERTATION

International Business Research Methods:  An introduction to the philosophical, conceptual and practical issues involved in conducting a research project. The course will provide students with the knowledge and practical tools to design and conduct an independent research project in an informed manner. By the end of this course you should understand the debates underpinning the process of conducting research and the generation of knowledge and be able to choose an appropriate research design and methods to investigate a research question.

The course will also enable you to understand the process of analysing different types of data and provide you with some practical experience of utilising both qualitative and quantitative data collection.

The dissertation is research-based and will require you to submit a 500-word research plan and a progress report before submission of the dissertation. The progress report does not form part of the final assessment, but is an essential study requirement.

Royal Holloway School of Management has considerable experience of supervising research by MBA students. The University will appoint a named academic supervisor to monitor and advise you on what the research objectives are and how they are being met. The supervisor will also be responsible for your final assessment. Selection of the supervisor will be made on the basis of your chosen subject matter. The supervisor will be responsible for the following:

• Assessing the 500-word dissertation proposal and giving appropriate feedback.

(The student will only be allowed to proceed with the project when the supervisor is satisfied with the proposal.)

• Providing consulting advice at the following milestones of the project:

– After completion of the initial research phase

– At the beginning of the writing-up phase

First marking of the dissertation:

Where you are conducting research for your employer, a company project sponsor will be identified who will monitor and advise on whether the research question is significant and important to the company.

They will also consider practical questions of access and confidentiality.

The same will apply where the student obtains a placement with an external organisation.

The assessed work required is a 12,000-15,000 word dissertation, which will include problem identification, analysis, recommendations and project diary.