15.220 International Management, Spring 2002

Companies today confront an increasing array of choices of markets, of locations for value adding activities, and of modes of crossing borders. This course focuses on the international dimensions of strategy and organization, and provides a framework for formulating strategies in an increasingly complex world economy, and for making those strategies work effectively. The first section of the course provides the basic frameworks for understanding competitiveness in international business at the level of the industry, location, and firm. These frameworks identify the opportunities presented in a dynamic global environment. But taking advantages of those opportunities faces enormous managerial challenges, and the second section of the course focuses on using and deepening those analytical tools in the context of specific problems and contexts. The goal of this course is to provide the foundations for taking effective action in the multi-faceted world of international business.