The course aims at providing the basics for understanding the global international business environment and main factors affecting the competitiveness of multinational enterprises in the global marketplace. The course presents internationalization theories , main drivers of internationalization, factors affecting the market selection process, the entry strategies and location choices. It also provide the framework for understanding the crisis of the globalization process in the present geopolitical framework and discusses the implication on international business and interntationalization strategies of companies. The managerial implications associated with building the organization and managing the operations of multinational enterprises in a global economy are also discussed, paying attention to the impact of national/regional difference in political economy, industrial policy and culture on firm’s strategic choices. The role and different forms of “psychical distance” in the internationalization processes are also analyzed and discuss with the support of selected case studies. The course will also provide a critical analysis of the impact of Covid-19 pandemia on both international markets and internationalization strategies of firms.

On completion of the course, students are expected to be prepared both to confront the unique challenges of global business and to understand the main special problems involved in conducting international business. Students have to prove to be able to discuss, adopting a critical approach, the various theories of internationalization, the key determinants of strategy development in an international context, the alternative ways of organizing and managing the multinational enterprise.