choose one of the following three options
Each question will be marked out of a total possible 100 marks, and the final mark of this assignment will be your mark for the module.
For each question, please demonstrate knowledge from the assigned readings on the Reading List/discussions from Lecture and seminars. Discuss theory and examples, from the contents within this Spring 2018 MN7406 module.
Question options (choose only 1)
Option 1
Discuss at least 1 of the following 3 videos from the module lectures, by applying the meanings from the video to postcolonial theory, and to international business practice.
Remember that each of these video links are available within the Lecture slides, posted on Blackboard.
• Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s talk/transcript, ‘The Danger of a Single Story’https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?language=en
• Momondo, The DNA Journeyhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fw7FhU-G1_Q
• What happens when we stop putting people in boxes? –Tv2Denmark
Option 2
(1) Discuss examples of marginalised experiences of international management and business, specifically from articles/chapters on the Reading List and discussions in Lecture/seminars. Remember that we have talked about marginalised experiences as those experiences that have been overlooked, misunderstood, and/or silenced in mainstream coverage of international business.
Make connections to the theory that is discussed in the readings about these experiences (in other words, don’t simply describe the experience, but its importance within the theoretical frameworks/purposes of the article).
Part (1) should be approximately ½ of the essay, including the Introduction.
(2) Taking as a starting point these specific marginalised experiences, how might we imagine alternative ways of doing international business? For instance, for marginalised individuals who are exploited or ignored, how might placing their voices and experiences at the centre of debates shift our thinking about international business?
Option 3
(1) Outline an essentialist approach to understanding one of the following categories: group, culture, nation, identity, gender.
Critically compare this to a social constructionist (or non-essentialist, e.g. Nathan 2015) account of the same category.
Part (1) should be approximately ½ of the essay, including the Introduction.
(2) Next, discuss the practical consequences of using essentialist vs social constructionist (or non-essentialist) approaches to understanding international business and management?
To support your discussion, you may contrast the culture model of Hofstede, to the critical models of Venaik and Brewer (2016), or to Nathan (2015). [continue on next page…]
Alternatively, you may explain how the identity theory of intersectionality challenges essentialism, drawing upon various management and business studies about intersectionality in the Reading List, as well as video resources in the Lecture about intersectionality.
Part (2) should be approximately ½ of the essay, including the Conclusion.
