Mn3301modernbusinessincomparativeperspe
2013-2014
MN330: Modern Business in Comparative Perspective
Lecturers
Robert Fitzgerald (course leader)
Jos Gamble
Ailson Moraes
Sigrun Wagner
r.fitzgerald@rhul.ac.uk
j.gamble@rhul.ac.uk
a.moraes@rhul.ac.uk sigrun.m.wagner@rhul.ac.uk Themes
The course asks students to consider fundamental questions:
Why have some nations succeeded economically, while others have not? Why do the world’s living standards vary so considerably?
To what extent are these variations in national wealth and human opportunity explained by differences in national business systems and managerial organization?
Have the causes of economic and managerial change been unique and national or general and global in their origin?
How do we find the means to explain such large-scale, highly complex events and trends?
The course is based on the detailed study of five major economies, chosen for their significance and size, and for the lessons they might reveal. These countries are the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain and
China. The aim is explicitly to compare the experiences of these nations, explore similarities and differences in their economic and managerial organization, and seek explanations for variations in long-term performance.
We will consider influential interpretations of national economic success and cases of international competitiveness. We will review issues from a number of levels: from the nation state to localities, individual industries, firms, and core business functions. We will evaluate the international dimensions of business, national characteristics, and selected firm studies in combination, in order to provide generalizations grounded in evidence.
Since management and business do not operate in a vacuum, it follows that the course will draw on a range of intellectual and analytical traditions: the political, institutional, cultural and historical will be placed alongside the economic and the organizational.
The course offers you the prospect of thinking
MN330: Modern Business in Comparative Perspective
Lecturers
Robert Fitzgerald (course leader)
Jos Gamble
Ailson Moraes
Sigrun Wagner
r.fitzgerald@rhul.ac.uk
j.gamble@rhul.ac.uk
a.moraes@rhul.ac.uk sigrun.m.wagner@rhul.ac.uk Themes
The course asks students to consider fundamental questions:
Why have some nations succeeded economically, while others have not? Why do the world’s living standards vary so considerably?
To what extent are these variations in national wealth and human opportunity explained by differences in national business systems and managerial organization?
Have the causes of economic and managerial change been unique and national or general and global in their origin?
How do we find the means to explain such large-scale, highly complex events and trends?
The course is based on the detailed study of five major economies, chosen for their significance and size, and for the lessons they might reveal. These countries are the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain and
China. The aim is explicitly to compare the experiences of these nations, explore similarities and differences in their economic and managerial organization, and seek explanations for variations in long-term performance.
We will consider influential interpretations of national economic success and cases of international competitiveness. We will review issues from a number of levels: from the nation state to localities, individual industries, firms, and core business functions. We will evaluate the international dimensions of business, national characteristics, and selected firm studies in combination, in order to provide generalizations grounded in evidence.
Since management and business do not operate in a vacuum, it follows that the course will draw on a range of intellectual and analytical traditions: the political, institutional, cultural and historical will be placed alongside the economic and the organizational.
The course offers you the prospect of thinking