INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

The course is focused on the analysis of the MNEs global network. The purpose of the course is to provide a deep analysis of the organisational design of MNEs and of those SMEs which have started a process of internationalisation. The topics covered in the course include the following items: a focus on the MNE "core" activities, the consolidation of the MNE business value chains, and the entry of SMEs, localized in advanced countries, in emerging markets with high rate of growth. Some emblematic cases will be discussed like: a) those of some EU and US companies, distinguishing the processes of internationalization market-driven from the processes of internationalization labour cost-driven, and b) the entry of some American and European SMEs in emerging countries. The last issue presented is related to the advantages of in-sourcing strategies in US and in Europe. Existing research in internationalization tends to adopt a conservative view of relatively fixed country specific advantages and disadvantages. However, firms may change their internal configuration shifting them and advocating industrial policy intervention. The course using a combination a country case studies, and nested multiple firm cases, explores the phenomena of rapid SME internationalization, small born global firms in high-tech sectors, R&D relocation and reverse innovation processes. The fragmentation of the value chain is nowadays a major theme in economics and management. The "slicing up" of the whole value chain represents a major change in the new post-Fordist paradigm of production.