Introduction
Both markets and production have globalized over the past decades. Firms face opportunities to reach new markets and to tap into advantages such as lower labor costs or the ability to achieve economies of scale. At the same time, dynamic competitive landscapes are increasingly difficult to navigate with new types of market actors and blurring geographical and organizational boundaries. The multinational firm increasingly competes through connectivity and strategic partnerships in addition to the traditional focus on owned and controlled firm-specific advantages.
This course focuses on understanding how external environments affect firms’ strategic decisions and performance. We introduce frameworks and tools to support key strategic decisions when operating in a global context addressing key questions such as: Why internationalize? How can firms assess and compare foreign markets? What makes one market more attractive than another market? How do institutional and cultural differences influence business? Which strategy is most suitable for global organizations? How can firms strategically use a global network? We also discuss the boundary conditions of existing theoretical perspectives for new types of organizations in digital and sharing economies as well as for other newcomers to the competitive landscape such as emerging market multinationals and firms with alternative governance structures.
The sessions are taught by faculty members at BI Norwegian Business School with extensive global experience and top tier research publications within the field.