International Business: State-of-the art theories, methods and topics

Copenhagen Business School , CBS, Denmark

Updated: about 2 years ago
Deadline: 28 Jan 2022

1169958

Course
International Business: State-of-the art theories, methods and topics

Faculty
  • Christian Geisler Asmussen (CGA), Copenhagen Business School
  • Dana Minbaeva (DM), Copenhagen Business School
  • Marcus Møller Larsen (MML), Copenhagen Business School
  • Bo Nielsen (BN), University of Sydney & Copenhagen Business School
  • Torben Pedersen, Bocconi University & Copenhagen Business School
  • Bent Petersen (BP), Copenhagen Business School
  • Larissa Rabbiosi (LR), Copenhagen Business School
  • Grazia Santangelo (GS), Copenhagen Business School
  • Wolfgang Sofka (WS), Copenhagen Business School

Course coordinator
Professor Grazia Santangelo, Copenhagen Business School

Prerequisites
The course is design for students coming from different backgrounds with an interest in international business and its applications to different fields and topics. Although a basic knowledge of management, strategy, and economics is helpful, no specific prerequisites are required. Students are expected to attend the entire course and take the final exam.
The course is offered in collaboration with EIASM . Upon registration you need to upload the following documents:
  • curriculum vitae demonstrating your capabilities of doing research;
  • a letter of recommendation of your local faculty supporting the application;
  • a two-page description of your doctoral research, indicating the general objectives.

Aim

The course aims to offer a systematic foundational knowledge of the theoretical building blocks of international business research, the most updated debates on theories and methods, and an overview of topics and areas of research in the field. The ultimate goals is to develop an ability to identify opportunities for future research. The course is organized into two parts. The first part focuses on different theoretical perspectives. In the second part, state-of-the-art research on specific topics and areas is discussed.

Course content

Teaching style

Lectures and workshops where students are expected to present and discuss pre-assigned readings.

Lecture plan

Lectures and workshops where students are expected to present and discuss pre-assigned readings.

24 January 2022                   Why and how companies became multinationals

24 January 2022*                  Internalization theory

25 January 2022                   Behavioral perspectives on international business

25 January 2022*                  Multilevel theories and models in International business

26 January 2022                   Dynamics and flexibility of foreign operation modes

26 January 2022*                  International human resource management

27 January 2022                   Knowledge transfer across borders

27 January 2022*                  International business and knowledge protection

28 January 2022                   Nonmarket strategies In international business

28 January 2022*                  Backlash against globalization

*Afternoon sessions


Tentative schedule

Morning sessions: 9-12
Afternoon sessions: 14:30-17:30

Learning objectives
  • To be able to demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of theories and topics relevant to international business literature.
  • To be able to demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of key concepts, assumptions, causal relationships and processes relevant to international business literature.
  • To be able to critically review assigned readings.
  • To be able to develop new ideas and approaches that advance some portion of theory and research.

Exam

At the end of the course each student is requested to hand in a 3-5-page proposal, which will be assessed on a pass/no-pass basis. The proposal is expected to identify a research question, theoretical framing, and preliminary hypotheses. Although empirical testing is not required, a plan for hypothesis testing must be included (sample selection, type of data to be used, variable operationalization, methodology).

Other

Start date
24/01/2022

End date
28/01/2022

Level
PhD

ECTS
5

Language
English

Course Literature

• Alcacer, J., & Chung, W. 2007. Location Strategies and Knowledge Spillovers. Management Science, 53(5): 760-776.
• Asmussen, C. G. and Fosfuri, A. 2019. Orchestrating corporate social responsibility in the multinational enterprise. Strategic Management Journal, 40(6): 894-916.
• Asmussen, C.G., Foss, N.J., and Pedersen, T. 2013. Knowledge Transfer and Accommodation Effects in Multinational Corporations: Evidence from European Subsidiaries. Journal of Management, 39(6): 1397-1429.
• Ballesteros, L., Useem, M., & Wry, T. (2017). Masters of disasters? An empirical analysis of how societies benefit from corporate disaster aid. Academy of Management Journal, 60(5), 1682-1708.
• Benito GRG, Petersen B, & Welch LS. Forthcoming. Dynamics of operation modes: Switches and additions. In Mellahi K, Meyer K, Narula R, Surdu I, & Verbeke A (Eds.), Oxford Handbook of International Business Strategy. Oxford University Press. 
• Beugelsdijk, S. & Mudambi, R. 2013. MNEs as border-crossing multi-location enterprises: The role of discontinuities in geographic space. 44, 5(413-426).
• Brandl, Kristin; Jensen, Peter D. Ørberg & Lind, Manya Jaura (2018). ’Advanced Service Offshore Outsourcing: Exploring the Determinants of Capability Development in Emerging Market Firms’. Global Strategy Journal, 8(2): 324-350.
• Cuervo-Cazurra, A. and Narula, R., 2015. A set of motives to unite them all? Revisiting the principles and typology of internationalization motives. The Multinational Business Review, 23(1), pp.2-14.
• D’Agostino, L. M., Laursen, K., & Santangelo, G. D. (2012). The impact of R&D offshoring on the home knowledge production of OECD investing regions. Journal of Economic Geography, 13(1), 145-175.
• Darendeli, I. S., & Hill, T. L. (2016). Uncovering the complex relationships between political risk and MNE firm legitimacy: Insights from Libya. Journal of International Business Studies, 47(1), 68-92.
• Dunning, J.H., 2000. The eclectic paradigm as an envelope for economic and business theories of MNE activity. International Business Review, 9(2): 163-190.
• Dunning, J. & Lundan, S. 2008. Multinational Enterprises and the Global Economy, Second Edition, pp. 93-109.
• Dunning, J. 2000. The eclectic paradigm as an envelope for economic and business theories of MNE activity, International Business Review 9: 163-190.
• Eden, L., & Dai, L. 2010. Rethinking the O in Dunning’s OLI/eclectic paradigm. Multinational Business Review, 18(2), 13-34.
• Edstrom, A., & Galbraith, J. R. 1977. Transfer of managers as a coordination and control strategy in multinational organizations. Administrative Science Quarterly, 22: 248-263.
• Elia S, Larsen MM, Piscitello L. (2019). Entry mode deviation: A behavioral approach to internalization theory. Journal of International Business Studies,https://doi.org/10.1057/s41267-019-00235-7.
• Farndale, E., Brewster, C., Ligthart, P. and Poutsma, E. (2017). The effects of market economy type and foreign MNE subsidiaries on the convergence and divergence of HRM. Journal of International Business Studies, 48: 1065–1086
• Haakonsson, Stine J.; Jensen, Peter D. Ørberg & Mudambi, Susan (2013) ’A co-evolutionary perspective on the drivers of the international sourcing of pharmaceutical R&D to India’. Journal of Economic Geography, 13(4): 677-700.
• Hennart, J.F. 2015. A transaction cost theory of the TNC, in Lundan, S. (ed), Transnational Corporations and Transnational Governance. London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 25-52.
• Hennart, J.F. 1993. Explaining the swollen middle: why most transactions are a mix of ‘market’ and ‘hierarchy.’ Organization Science 4(4): 529-547.
• Hennart, J.F. 2009. Down with MNE centric theories: Market entry and expansion as the bundling of MNE and local assets, Journal of International Business Studies 40(9): 1432-1454. 
• Hitt, M.A., Beamish, P.W., Jackson, S.E. & Mathieu, J.E. (2007). Building Theoretical and Empirical Bridges Across Levels: Multilevel Research in Management, Academy of Management Journal, Volume 50(6): 1385-1399.
• Kim, K., Pathak, S. and Werner, S. (2015). When do international human capitalenhancing practices benefit the bottom line? An ability, motivation, and opportunity perspective. Journal of International Business Studies, 46: 784-805
• Klein, K.J, Dansereau, F. & Hall, R.J. (1994). Levels Issues in Theory in Theory Development, Data Collection, and Analysis, Academy of Management Review, Volume 19(2): 195-229.
• Johanson, J. & Vahlne, J.-E. 1977. The international process of the firm: A model of knowledge development and increasing foreign market commitments. Journal of International Business Studies, 8(1): 23-32.
• Larsen MM, Manning S, Pedersen T. 2013. Uncovering the Hidden Costs of Offshoring: The interplay of complexity, organizational design, and experience. Strategic Management Journal, 34(5): 533-552.
• Maggioni, D., Santangelo, G. D., & Koymen-Ozer, S. MNEs’ location strategies and labor standards: The role of operating and reputational considerations across industries. Journal of International Business Studies, 1-25.
• Maitland, E., & Sammartino, A. (2015). Decision making and uncertainty: The role of heuristics and experience in assessing a politically hazardous environment. Strategic Management Journal, 36(10), 1554-1578.
• Minbaeva, D. (2019) HRM in Emerging Markets. In R. Grosse & K. Meyer. The Oxford Handbook of Management in Emerging Markets. Oxford Publishing
• Narula, R. 2010. Keeping the eclectic paradigm simple. Multinational Business Review 18(1): 35-50
• Narula, R. 2012. Do we need different frameworks to explain infant MNEs from developing countries? Global Strategy Journal, 2(1), 41-47.
• Narula, R. & Santangelo, G.D., 2012. Location and collocation advantages in international innovation. Multinational Business Review, 20(1): 6-25.
• Narula, R, Asmussen C, Chi, T., & Kundu, S. 2019. Applying and advancing internalization theory: the multinational enterprise in the 21st century, Journal of International Business Studies, forthcoming
• Papageorgiadis, N., Cross, A. R., & Alexiou, C. 2014. International Patent Systems Strength 1998–2011. Journal of World Business, 49(4): 586-597.
• Pedersen, T. & Shaver, J. M. 2011. Internationalization revisited: The big step hypothesis. Global Strategy Journal, 1(3-4): 263-74.
• Petersen B, Benito GRG, & Welch LS. 2019. Mode flexibility: What are the tradeoffs and how to deal with them? AIB Conference paper.
• Petersen B, Asmussen CG, & Hilmersson M. 2019. Reciprocal use of real options as a mode of entry. AMA Conference paper.
• Powell, T. C., Lovallo, D., & Fox, C. R. (2011). Behavioral strategy. Strategic Management Journal, 32(13), 1369-1386.
• Oh, C. H., & Oetzel, J. (2017). Once bitten twice shy? Experience managing violent conflict risk and MNC subsidiary‐level investment and expansion. Strategic Management Journal, 38(3), 714-731.
• Reiche, S. and Minbaeva, D. (2019) HRM in Multinational Corporations. In Wilkinson, A., Bacon, N., Lepak, D. and Snell, S. The SAGE Handbook of HRM, 2nd edition.
• Roth K, Morrison A. 1990. An Empirical Analysis of the Integration-Responsiveness Framework in Global Industries. Journal of International Business Studies, 21(4): 541-564.
• Roth, K., & O'Donnell, S. 1996. Foreign subsidiary compensation strategy: An agency theory perspective. Academy of Management Journal, 39: 678-703.
• Rousseau, D.M. (1985). Issues of level in organizational research: Multi-level and Cross-level Perspectives, in Research in Organizational Behavior, Volume 7: 1-37.
• Rugman, A. and Verbeke, A. 2001. Subsidiary-specific advantages in multinational enterprises. Strategic Management Journal 22(3):237-250.
• Santangelo, G.D. (2020) Internationalization process perspectives: Revisiting the link between market knowledge and market commitment in Mellahi K, Meyer K, Narula R, Surdu I, & Verbeke A (Eds.), Oxford Handbook of International Business Strategy. Oxford University Press. 
• Santangelo, G. D. & Meyer, K. E. 2011. Extending the internationalization process model: Increases and decreases of MNE commitment in emerging economies. Journal of International Business Studies, 42(7): 894-909.
• Santangelo, G. D. & Stucchi, T. 2018. Internationalization through exaptation: The role of domestic geographical dispersion in the internationalization process. Journal of International Business Studies, 49(6): 753-6
• Sofka, W., Shehu, E., & de Faria, P. 2014. Multinational Subsidiary Knowledge Protection—Do Mandates and Clusters Matter? Research Policy, 43(8): 1320-1333.
• Schubert, T., Baier, E., & Rammer, C. (2018). Firm capabilities, technological dynamism and the internationalisation of innovation: A behavioural approach. Journal of International Business Studies, 49(1), 70-95.
• Jensen, Peter D. Ørberg (2012). ‘A passage to India: A dual case study of activities, processes and resources in offshore outsourcing of advanced services’. Journal of World Business, 7(2): 311-326
• Kumar K, van Fenema PC & von Glinow MA (2009). ‘Offshoring and the global distribution of work: implications for task interdependence theory and practice’. Journal of International Business Studies, 40: 642–667.
• Stringfellow, A, Teagarden, MB, Nie, W. (2008). ‘Invisible costs in offshoring services work’. Journal of Operations Management, 26(2):164-179.
• Zhao, M. 2006. Conducting R&D in Countries with Weak Intellectual Property Rights Protection. Management Science, 52(8): 1185-1199.
• Witte, C. T., Burger, M. J., Ianchovichina, E. I., & Pennings, E. (2017). Dodging bullets: The heterogeneous effect of political violence on greenfield FDI. Journal of International Business Studies, 48(7), 862-892.
• Wettstein, F., Giuliani, E., Santangelo, G. D., & Stahl, G. K. (2019). International business and human rights: A research agenda. Journal of World Business, 54(1), 54-65.

Fee
DKK 6,500 (EUR 875). This course is offered in collaboration with EIASM. For PhD students who are currently enrolled an EIASM member institution, there is a reduced fee of DKK 5,025 (EUR 675)

Minimum number of participants
14

Maximum number of participants
20

Location

Contact information

For questions regarding the content of the course:
Course Coordinator
Professor Grazia Santangelo - [email protected]


For questions regarding the administration of the course:
CBS PhD Support
Nina Iversen
[email protected]
3815 2475

Registration deadline
03/12/2021


The selection among the applicants will be conducted by Course Coordinator and Faculty. They will review the following documents which should necessarily complement each application form:

  • the applicant’s curriculum vitae demonstrating his/her capabilities of doing research;
  • a letter of recommendation of his/her local faculty supporting the application;
  • a two-page description of his/her doctoral research, indicating the general objectives.

It is only possible to upload one file upon registration and as such the above files must be collected in a single file. 

Please note that the registration is binding after the registration deadline.

The course is planned as an in-person course. If there is a lockdown or other Covid-related measures in place at CBS at the time of the course, which will make the in-person format impossible, the course will move to fully on-line format.

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