Course Objectives

This course has been designed to appeal to students who wish to gain an international perspective on the environment faced by business organisations. In today's business environment, with the pressures of an evolving global economy, managers must take into account many ways in which differences are apparent when compared with the domestic scene. It is essential to look beyond the traditional domestic concepts in order to compete effectively in the global environment. Managers must adapt their approaches to take account of the strong international competition, which is increasingly apparent and which is critical to successful business performance. They also need to be informed as to how firm strategies may be developed. Whatever your major maybe, it is a must for business students to learn the international dimensions of business activities in order to be successful in today's business world. That is why this course is one of the core requirements for business students.

On completion of this course participants should be able to:

• Appreciate the dimensions of international business activities
• Discuss the significance of the international environment
• Exhibit familiarity with a range of writers and theorists
• Explain how external and internal cultures influence activities
• Apply skills relevant to managers of multinational corporations and those active within SMEs
• Maintain an awareness of global dimensions such as standardisation and differentiation and how organisations develop their policies

Course materials are listed below. Please log in to view these items.

Course Comments

"Great experience overall. Very intellectually stimulating." Hitesh Kewlani, Spring 2010

"I enjoyed the guest lecturer - kept things interesting and interacted with the class." Anon., Spring 2010

"Very down-to-earth professor. Interesting lectures. Shared lots from personal insight." Bogdan Semida, Spring 2010

"I enjoyed the class and learned quite a lot." Anon., Spring 2010

Faculty Information

Dr Roy McLarty (MBA, DMS, PG Dip, PhD M Inst M.) is on the Faculty of Norwich Business School in the University of East Anglia.  He lectures on two subjects Marketing and Entrepreneurship, having considerable experience of both. His Doctorate focused on small and medium sized enterprises and expressly considered graduate skills and competences within SMEs. Academic experience extends to a Visiting Professorship with Prague University in the Czech Republic. Roy has published widely in the national and international arenas mainly on topics also relating to strategy and SMEs.  For many years he was Director of Economic Development for the county of Essex in the UK.  Currently he is Course Director of the MBA Programme at the Norwich Business School.

Course Syllabus and Materials

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