MSc in International Business and Emerging Markets
From the course handbook: “Participants will be required to submit an individual critical reflective essay of no more than 3000 words which explores the practicalities of an aspect of the management of international strategy implementation. This will require students to focus on material covered in the second half of the course (lecture sessions 6-9/ semester weeks 8-11) of the course.”
Week 8 Partnerships, alliances, networks and relationships as influencers ofinternational business
Week 9 Organizing a strategic resource base for sustainable international businessactivity 8 & 9
Week 10 The strategic role of knowledge and innovation in managing an internationalbusiness
Week 11 Implementing strategies for International business
From the course handbook: “The format of the essay will be:
1- define the specific question of the essay by selecting a focal topic, and identifying a case firm (not the same one as studied for the group work) which will be used to illustrate arguments
? How does corporate culture influence International Strategy of HSBC
2- explain and define the key aspects of the factor to be managed within international strategy using theory and concepts from the course literature and also original reading
– Seek out at least c. 5-10 key supporting papers from relevant journals – “Follow the references” – from both textbook and key papers, look for any further reading that would help you describe, explain and evaluate your chosen topic’s impact on international strategy
3- describe how the focal topic seems to be managed at the selected case study firm, and any resulting performance effects
– Research a suitable case example(selected HSBC) to help you explain your insights from literature – Identify a case organisation for your individual work: Note down any reference sources – websites, media, journals, government papers etc. – which provide relevant insights. Write a short piece of descriptive text introducing your case organisation and how the topic of interest seems to influence international strategy in this specific case
4- critically comment on theory-practice by comparing the case data with literature (important part)
– Compare theory and practice to build insights – This is the most important part of the writing task – doing this well is vital for gaining a good grade – With your knowledge of the topic from literature and the case organisation from your research, look for ways in which:
o You can illustrate theory with examples from practice
o You can explain events from practice using points of theory – This discussion section gives you a chance to build an argument – using explanation and evaluation IN ADDITION to description in order to justify your point of view – Any assignment that gains a distinction pass will have a well-developed discussion section with this sort of content
5- draw implications for managerial practice as a result of the critical commentary
– Draw conclusions – Tie the main points arising in your discussion section back to the original question to make some conclusions E.g. if the opening question was “how can innovation affect international strategy?”, seek to identify 2 or 3 ‘answers’ to this question in a concluding few paragraphs – These ‘answers’ will most likely be tentative as they are linked to limited reading and a single case – Please do not write about proving anything e.g. “the case of organisation Z proves that innovation influence international strategy… etc.” – Look for managerial implications or theoretical insights which are wellsupported by the rest of your document
Essays will be assessed on the following criteria:
i. Presentation of an effective piece of writing which addresses a clearly stated question in line with assignment requirements
ii. A theoretically sound review of related concepts from literature, including original sources (beyond the course material)
iii. Use of a convincing, relevant case study data to communicate practical illustrations of the factor to be managed
iv. A justified, coherent critical comparison of theory and practice
v. Identification of a set of managerial implications which are justified by the essay content
vi. Appropriate formatting, style, referencing and original thinking
