040156 UK Organization of the International Firm (2020S)

The objective of this course is to familiarize students with a range of theoretical perspectives on the strategy and organization of international firms and practice their application to the real-life cases of the global companies originating in Austria and beyond. In particular, the course provides the participants with an overview of three theoretical approaches – Industrial organization, Resource-based and Institutional theory – and consequently uses these perspectives for analyzing the strategic decisions faced by the multinational enterprises (MNEs).
The main topics focus on the analysis of the business-level and corporate-level strategies of the MNEs and their organizational structures. Together with the initial overview of the global environment and final lecture devoted to the issues of corporate social responsibility (SCR) the structure of this course allows to build a comprehensive picture of a modern MNE, seen through the theoretical prisms of leading theories in the field.
The course is organized primarily in form of ONLINE lectures, accompanied by several assignments and ONLINE presentation of the case studies.
Participants are strongly encouraged to share their opinions during ONLINE lectures and discussions, with participation being an important part of evaluation.
Most of the assignments are expected to be completed in teams, which are formed in the beginning of the course.
The ONLINE exam is conducted at the end of the course and consists of three to four open-end questions, covering the main topics learned in the course.

The objective of this course is to familiarize students with a broad range of theoretical and practical perspectives on the strategy and organization of international firms. It gives an overview of the theoretical approaches to facilitate the understanding of political, economical and cross-cultural impacts in managing international firms globally. The emphases are raised in 1) cross culture variables effecting negotiations and communications, 2) strategic market entry modes such as, direct and indirect export, licensing, strategic alliances (non-equity and equity arrangements), greenfield investments and mergers & acquisitions etc., 3) organizational structures and control systems fitting to different strategic stages, 4) global human resource management practices and, 5) corporate governance practical and theoretical underpinnings.