Syllabus Summer 2005
The course objectives are to understand cultural, social, infrastructurial, and international
elements that impact the building, engaging, and facilitiating of business exchanges between the U.S. and various European countries.
Students are expected to write a term paper that demonstrates their understanding of and skills
at analyzing opportunities and threats as well as sources of competitive advantage, appreciating
different styles of management, and comparing the socio-cultural differences and political para-
meters when ‘doing business’ with the European countries.
This paper should provide a foundation for understanding ‘doing business’ in Europe, including:
o Issues related to the European Union and its impact on Trade and Businesses in the EU
o Laws and regulations related to doing business with European countries
o The role of European Central Banks in maintaining stability in the money supply
o Intern’l Finance issues, e.g. financing international trade, foreign currency fluctuation risks
o Differences in organized labor & managing with different types of labor unions in Europe
o ‘Comparative’ Marketing, e.g. comparing the 4 Ps for a product (e.g. Champaign vs. Sekt, tourism, insurance etc. across Europe or between a European country and the equivalent in the USA
o Ethics
– Corp. Governance or, say,, Democracy in European Businesses (e.g. ‘Mitbestimmung’)
– Environmental Issues
– Age, gender, and other factors regarding employees
o Cultural Differences and their impact on management style
– Rituals, e.g. greetings, styles of meetings, decision-making processes, negotiating
– Gender roles at work and family structures across Europe
– Interpersonal relationships at work, e.g. between layers of mgmt. hierarchy
– Values and their impact on organizational structures and behavior, e.g. being process vs. results oriented, having higher or lower power distance
– Other
o Competitive advantages of a European area in a chosen industry (based on M. E. Porter?s Diamond of National Competitive Advantage), e.g. comparing two European regional clusters & industries, such as steel production in the greater Lille region with automotive production in ‘Southern’ Germany; or life sciences in Switzerland with luxury goods in France, such as LVMH, Dior, CHANEL, Christian Luxcriox; or private or central banking with banking systems/cultures across Europe (UK, Germany, Switzerland, and possibly, the USA)
o Alternatively, exploring the general attractiveness a particular industrial sector (including Porter’s five Forces) in one or two European countries and thereby analyze the PESTEL categories in that country regarding opportunities and threats for doing business there.
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REQUIREMENTS:
Length: Approximately 15 to 20 pages. Typed, double-spaced.
Contents: Paper should be complete with:
1. Title page
2. Table of contents
3. Executive summary (single spaced, no more than one page)
4. Introduction
5. Body of paper (see outline below)
6. Conclusion
7. Bibliography
8. Appendices
PAPERS WILL BE ACCEPTED AS EMAIL ATTACHMENTS ONLY.
Information sources:
additional secondary research (the requirement is 10 (ten) additional
sources)
Topics:
1. European Union (required for all)
2. Two elective topics from the list provided in the syllabus
3. Personal Statement: overview
Suggested Outline:
* Title page
* Table of contents
* Executive summary (single spaced, no more than one page)
* Introduction
* Body of paper
* European Union
* Topic 1 (elective)
* Topic 2 (elective)
* Personal impressions and reflections on what was learned
* Conclusion
* Bibliography
* Appendices
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My Message:
For the last 2 bulleted points on the syllabus, my prefered 2 elective topic would be on either the steel industry and car industry OR steel industry and the luxury industry, whichever way the writer thinks would be good, I trust in your ability more than mine. For the steel industry, please mention Arcelor, the prof was asking for it as it is massive in Europe though it’s not written on the syllabus. If writing about the car industry please mention Porche and Daimler Chrysler as Daimler has a lot of major brands underneath its wings, such as Mercedes, Maybac etc. And VW too, apparently it’s a major thing in Europe. In whichever way, the management tools such a PESTEL, 5 forces, diamond etc is required to be applied to them. For example, explaining why Germany is pretty good in car making and how attractive this industry currently is (great problems due to huge overcapacities…).
I’m not too sure about the citation style, though MLA is the only one i know. Is that the standard for undergraduate? I will leave it in your professional hands.
I’m required to write a minimum of 15 pages. After title page, content page, executive summary, bibliography and appendices, that’s 10. Also minus the overview of personal statement, that’s 9, so the body of the paper would be 9. I’m sure you will be charging for contents, summary and appendices but i’m wondering would you charge me for title page as well? If you do please let me know, i will send the payment as soon as possible. For now, i’m calculating everything to be 12 pages.
THANK YOU!!!
There are faxes for this order.