Course Name and Number:

544PP: International Management and Marketing. IMM

Required Prerequisites:

There are no required prerequisites.

General course idea:

This course trains future managers, business leaders and policy makers about how to navigate an increasingly complex and risky world. It is not just about learning standard management theories and best practices, it is also about discussing together and inventing new ways for students to become responsible managers and decision makers. Contemporary world complexities include climate change, tax avoidance, pandemics, pollution, modern slavery, economic and social inequalities, sustainability challenges at large. This course's key aim is to constitute a "wakening call" for students on the need to address grand sustainability challenges in their future jobs. 

The teaching style is topic-based, case-based, participatory and project oriented. Students taking this course should not see themselves as mere "absorbers" of codified concepts, but as living and thinking individuals, who will have to take complex business decisions and who are expected to learn, discuss and face the paradoxes and tensions that are inherent when business decisions have to be taken in highly uncertain and risky environments like the ones we are currently living in.

We will cover all dimensions of business operations, from design to production, organization of value chains, communication and distribution phases. Most of the discussion will take an international perspective.

Required Readings:

The course textbook is Giuliani E. INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT AND MARKETING, Create McGraw-Hill ISBN 9781307679854. It will be available in libraries, and online on Amazon, IBS and Hoepli, among others.

Additional materials will be available on the E-learning course website.

All participants will be expected to keep abreast of contemporary developments in international management, marketing, corporate social and environmental responsibilities and challenges by reading the relevant press (e.g. The Economist, Forbes, Fortune, Business Week, Foreign Affairs) and other newspapers or journals.

Course Description:

The course “Core Topics” include the following:

Environmental Foundation

• Globalization and International Linkages
• The Political, Legal, and Technological Environment
• Ethics, Social Responsibility, and Sustainability

The role of Culture

• The Meanings and Dimensions of Culture
• Managing Across Cultures
• Organizational Cultures and Diversity
• Cross-Cultural Communication and Negotiation

International Strategic Management:

• Strategy Formulation and Implementation
• Entry Strategies and Organizational Structures.
• Managing Political Risk, Government Relations, and Alliances
• Management Decision and Control

“Critical topics” include a focus on Rethinking Capitalism (Henderson 2019); Government Policy and International Trade; Foreign Direct Investment and Regional Economic Integration. Additional materials to be used as “Critical topics” will be communicated in due course.

Learning Objectives:

Our specific learning objectives for the course include:

1. To understand different definitions of and perspectives on international management and marketing.
2. To appreciate how to run or manage an international company responsibly, that is, addressing major issues in the sustainability debate, especially those involving preservation and enhancement of the natural environment (air, water, land) and the respect of human rights.
3. To appreciate the importance of taking into account different actors, including international organization, national governments, local and global communities, and NGOs, in making managing and marketing decisions.

Instructional Method:

The lectures are normally organized as follows:

• Wednesdays are full time teaching. Wednesdays’ lectures are meant to provide grounding in the “core topics” – and (when possible) setting the ground for “critical topics”.
• Thursdays are expected to involve a guest speaker followed by a discussion or by other activities (video-documentary watch with specific issues to be discussed online). Invited speakers are likely to be professors, policy makers and practitioners. Thursdays are normally focused on s.c. “critical topics”, that is, issues that are meant to offer additional insights, spark critical thinking around and beyond “core topics”.
• Fridays are used to assess students’ progress in understanding the week’s core + critical topics (via online tests, questions and answers to students, and other activities) and to provide students with training about how to write the CEO letter and the final essay (see “Evaluation Methods”).

In more general terms, the class will be conducted as a seminar. On Thursdays (and occasionally on the other days too), selected students are expected to take an active role in leading discussion and providing critical commentary. Each class will involve discussion and dialogue as major elements in the learning strategy. Students may be asked to prepare for the class, by reading assigned materials in advance.

Timetable and organization of lectures:

Class sessions are online in a dedicated channel (HERE Link to Course)

Wednesdays 15:45-17:10

Thursdays 15:45-19:00

Fridays 15:45: 17:10

For more info check here: https://www.ec.unipi.it/didattica/orario-lezioni/

Students are expected to attend every class session.

Office Hours: Due to Covid-19, physical meetings should be avoided. Consult me on Thursdays.

Learning Assessments:

The course includes a combination of assessments, which are weighted to give a final mark.

Friday tests                                          25%

These consists of regular evaluations based on online tests organized every (or every second) Friday.

Class participation                                10%

These consists of + or – scores depending on the replies given by students to questions and activities assigned to them by the instructor. Good replies give students right to a +1, bad answers or non-answers imply a – 1. Students who intervene in class without being explicitly invited to do so can also accumulate +. 5+ correspond to 1 full point to be added on the final mark.

Plant care                                            5%

During the course, students are expected to take care of a plant of their choice (vegetable plant, flower, which can be grown both outdoor – e.g. in a veggie garden – or indoor), based on the principle that, if they are not able to grow a plant, they will not be able to manage a company in a responsible way. Students will be regularly asked to report about the well-being of the plant, about whether vitamins are used to grow it or address pests or other issues. Evaluations are based on the level and quality of care and wellbeing of the plant. Students should refrain from using pesticides or other toxic chemicals to fix the plant’s problems.

CEO Letter Group Project                      20%    

This is a group assessment. It consists of preparing a letter to a CEO (of a firm TBD) where the students provide qualified information about the sustainability weaknesses of the company and provide the target CEO with suggestions about how to improve such weaknesses. Groups are expected to work on the Letter during the course period and to have it ready for evaluation by the end of the course in May 2021. All approved letters are eventually sent to the target CEO.

Essay                                                   40%

This is an individual assessment. Each student will be given a question/topic to answer/elaborate based on the course content and additional materials made available through E-learning.

Essays can be submitted between 10 and 5 days prior to each exam date within an academic year time since the end of the course (i.e. up until the April session 2022 for IMM 2020-21). Beyond that limit students are expected to take a full exam via modalities to be communicated based on what is allowed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Scores of the Friday tests, class participation and CEO Letter Group will be retained for 3 years. However, I highly recommend students to take the exam within a solar year since the end of the lectures. No exceptions in exam modalities for exchange students or students from other degree courses who are expected to align with the course schedule and rules. Students not attending class regularly, should write to elisa.giuliani@unipi.it to explain the reasons for their absence and agree on an ad hoc exam modality.

Academic Integrity:

The Code of Ethics of the University of Pisa addresses cheating, fabrication of submitted work, plagiarism, handing in work completed for another course without the instructor’s approval, and other forms of dishonesty. Students are advised that all their submitted essays or reports will be checked for plagiarism through a dedicated software.

Last updated 17 February 2021