SHEB707 International Business Strategies
Annotation:
The unit is aimed at the students enrolled in the Bachelor's Program in Business Studies, Specializations of Marketing, Finances and Accounting or Management. The aim of the course is to acquaint students with the basic techniques and strategies of companies when conducting international operations and/or entering new markets. The course is comprised of two parts.
The first part is aimed at presenting and analyzing the main instruments and techniques of the companies in their international activities in two directions: 1) maintaining the international positions of the companies already operating on the international markets; 2) strategies for entering new markets / new products of companies starting international activities.
The second part of the course focuses on the analysis of merger and acquisition processes, their valuation and corporate-level effects. The focus on mergers and acquisitions is due to the fact that they are an essential technique for expanding business activities, incl. in international markets. In the second part of the course, students will understand in detail the nature of merger and acquisition policy as a part of the corporate development strategy. Important financial and economic indicators will be introduced, calculated when deciding for merger and acquisition, incl. transaction pricing and synergy assessment.
Lecturers:
Asst. prof. Ralitsa Dimitrova, PhD
Asst. Prof. Elena Spasova, PhD
Course Description:
Competencies:
Students who complete this course:
1) will know:
• the key characteristics of the main strategies in international business in terms of pricing, R&D, entering new markets
• the concept and benefits of mergers and acquisitions as a way of restructuring the enterprise and expanding its business internationally.
• the basic approaches and methods for valuating the value of the company
• the main ways of financing business combinations
2) will be able to:
• Implement the main steps in analyzing new markets and assessing their potential
• Come up with different strategies for maintaining / expanding the international positions of the company
• Analyze and evaluate the investment attractiveness of a target company in an international merger or acquisition
• Evaluate the value of the company, in particular the value of the brand as a company asset, in a merger and acquisition.
Prerequisites:
Students are required to have the following knowledge and/or skills:
• Finances, management and economics.
Types:
Full-time Programmes
Types of Courses:
Lecture
Language of teaching:
English
Topics:
- Business internationalisation. Factors for internationalisation.
- Strategies for retaining existing international positions: Strategic collusion in international business. Collusive and non-collusive models. Game theory and strategic collusion.
- Strategies for retaining existing international positions: Price strategies in the company's international operations. Predatory and restrictive pricing. Transfer pricing. R&D policies
- Strategic Planning when starting external operations: seeking new markets and seeking new production and sourcing
- Strategies for entering new markets. Defining target markets. New market entry approaches.
- Internationalisation strategies for production and sourcing.
- Market concentration. Relevance for international business and corporate internationalization. Measuring market concentration in merger and acquisition controls.
- Factors for mergers and acquisitions. Effects of M&As. Defensive measures against business combinations.
- Analysis of the investment attractiveness of the company for the purposes of M&As.
- Financing M&A Transactions. Payment methods.
Bibliography:
1. Grunig, R., Morschett, D. Developing International Strategies, 2nd Ed., Springer, 2017
2. Lipczynski, J., J. Wilson and J. Goddard. 2005. Industrial organization. Competition, strategy, policy. Second Ed., FT Prentice Hall.
3. Gillon, J.A., Pearson, L. Developing Strategies for International Business, Palgrave, 2004
4. Reed S.F, Lajoux, A.R. The art of M&A, McGraw Hill, 2007
5. Carlton, D. W., Perloff, J. M. Modern Industrial Organization, 4th edition, Pearson, 2015
6. Internationalization. Firm Strategies and Management. Edited by Wheeler, C., McDonald, F., Greaves, I. Palgrave, 2003.
7. Andrew J. Sherman, Milledge A. Hart, Mergers & acquisitions from A to Z, 2nd ed., 2006
8. J. Fred Weston, Samuel C. Weaver, Mergers and acquisitions, THE McGRAW-HILL
EXECUTIVE MBA SERIES, 2001
Assessment:
Semester grading:
o 50%: test on the first part of the course
o 50%: test on the second part of the course
Exam session grading:
o 50%: test
o 50%: case study / practical assignment