2011-2012

MN330: Modern Business in Comparative Perspective

Lecturers

Luciano

Robert Fitzgerald (course leader)

Ailson

Chikako

Sigrun

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 deeply about the nature of modern economies and the differences between national business systems. It will provide a critical understanding of key theories, and suggest ways of analysing both complex information and evidence drawn from differing situations and contexts. The course asks you to recognize the varied dimensions of modern business, and to acquire the higher-order understanding and reflection that should underpin managerial decision-making.

In summary, this course is concerned with the economic success of nations and competition in the modern international economy. It has the ambitious task of explaining the achievements of the world’s advanced economies, and does so by exploring the character of their institutions and businesses through the application of comparative methods. Then, it takes the analysis one step further by elucidating the historical origins of differences in national institutions and corporate capabilities, and by considering the long-term relationship between trends in the international economy, the economic development of nations, and the nature of business systems.

As a result, we focus on a number of themes at different stages of the course:

  • The key differences in the managerial objectives and business structures of enterprises found in different nations.
  • The relationship between business systems (management, the nature of decision-making, strategies, employment, production systems, technology) and national institutions (government, finance, and education).
  • The relationship between (i) differences in business systems and national institutions and (ii) rates of economic growth and national competitiveness.
  • The explicit and considered use of comparative analysis, in order to determine those factors that have been substantive causes of national economic success in different countries.
  • The reasons why national institutions and business systems vary between nations, the processes by which differing business systems emerge, and the longer-term consequences of their particular formation.
  • The need for detailed empirical knowledge of those nations being investigated, and the usefulness of theories and concepts with which to organize and interpret such information.

Aims

The aims of Modern Business in Comparative Perspective can be summarized:

  • Describing the economic success of nations, performance and competition in the modern international economy.
  • Explaining the achievements of the world’s leading economies by exploring the character of their institutions and businesses through the application of comparative methods.
  • Elucidating the historical origins of differences in national institutions and corporate capabilities.
  • Considering the relationship between trends in the international economy, the economic development of nations, and the nature of business systems.

In paying particular attention to the evolution of economic and business systems in the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, and China, a number of topics are studied in turn:

  • The value of comparative analytical methods.
  • The ideas of major international, historical and comparative business theorists.
  • Macro-economic patterns and determinants of economic growth.
  • Institutions and social capital.
  • Business organisation, culture, and the state.
  • Industries, firms, clusters and networks.
  • Business systems: operational, financial, and human.
  • Competitiveness, productivity and living standards.
  • National versus transnational causes of economic success and firm-level competitiveness.

The approach adopted is, to re-iterate, internationally comparative. This means that no issue or topic is examined purely from a local or single perspective. Economies, industries, firms and business functions are compared and contrasted with a view to discovering similarities and differences in experience, and, more importantly, the underlying reasons for such similarities and differences.

Outcomes

One important outcome, at the end of the course, is to uncover the essential determinants of economic performance and its links with the success of individual firms, whole industries and national economies. We need, by this stage, to be conscious of the difficulties involved in proving any general interpretation, let alone a theory.

Anyone who is interested in understanding the global forces shaping their lives requires a frame of mind that is rooted in an internationally comparative perspective. In other words, anyone who seeks to comprehend determinant economic forces and business practice - those factors that underpin standards of living and the quality of life - has to engage in a complex, intellectual process. During the course, you must begin to understand the importance of this insight, and utilise it in your assignments and activities.

You will, therefore, have to acquire the ability to think comparatively between nations, industries, firms, and functions. In dealing with a topic, you must assimilate a wide range of relevant empirical information, and apply it through the use of theories and concepts. The aim is to use these skills to gain an understanding of economic development and its institutional and organizational roots amongst major countries. You will, as students, need to read widely and in accordance with the published reading and seminar programme. Nonetheless, these readings are only a starting-point for the information and insights you will need on the major economies, corporate case studies, and leading theories.

Textbook

As there is no course textbook, please refer to the provided course readings, and look carefully at the bibliography by theme at the end of the course guide. You will, however, find the following books useful as leading works on comparative business or for the overview they provide.

1. For the relevance of its analysis: C Smith, B McSweeeney and R Fitzgerald, Remaking Management: Between Global and Local (Cambridge University Press, 2008).

Important note: make sure that you read chapter 4 specifically, but also chapters 1-3.

2. For its information on the world economy and its structure: P.Dicken, Global Shift: the Internationalisation of Economic Activity (2003) 338.09 DIC

3. As the leading work on comparative business: M.E.Porter, The Competitive Advantage of Nations (London: Macmillan, 1990) 338.6048 POR

4. As another major work on comparative business: A.D.Chandler, Scale and Scope: The Dynamics of Industrial Capitalism (Harvard University Press, 1990) 338.644 CHA

5. As a basic but incomplete comparison of business practices, using limited perspectives, but offering an introduction to certain topics, C.I.Koen, Comparative International Management (McGraw Hill. 2005).

Course Organisation

The course is taught by means of lectures and seminars. Lectures deal with broad intellectual and macro-economic themes, and with major international differences incorporate organisation and business functions.

Seminars will be based on collections of readings that will be available on Moodle.You are expected to begin preparing and reading for the seminars from the beginning of the course in September.

Lectures take place in the Windsor Auditorium at 4-5 pm on Tuesdays.

The first lecture will be held on the 27th September. Please look carefully as the course programme and schedule below.

The first seminars are held in the week beginning the 17th October. Please refer to the departmental timetables for the times and days of the MN330 seminars. You will be asked to sign up for one of the seminars, and it is important and expected (for seminar organization, but also if you wish to be awarded a presentation mark) that you consistently attend the seminar for which you are formally registered.You must sign up for your presentation group during seminar 1, held, depending on which one you have been allocated, between 17th October and 21stOctober.

As attendance at all seminars is vital, a register at each session will be kept.You will need to register and notewhich seminarto attend before the 17thOctober.The lectures will help you in your preparation for the first and following seminars, but you should use the intervening time between the beginning or the course and the first seminar to undertake at least the indicated preparatory reading.

Course Requirements

The course makes extensive demands on participants, requiring, alongside the ability to think deeply, the capacity to work intensively and professionally. You will need to communicate your results and thoughts within seminars, and to do so in an effective manner. You will require a combination of study and human skills. You are expected:

  • to attend at all times
  • to read widely and critically as a follow-up to lectures and as preparation for seminars
  • to contribute actively to class discussion in seminars.

In a course such as this, which deals with big ideas and broad themes, you have to contemplate and study methodically if you are to benefit fully. In seminars, the tutor will require individuals to make expositions on key points whenever asked. This one reason among many why it is essential to keep up with the reading programmes.You are encouraged to use library and other research resources, sinceyou cannot rely merely on material made available onMoodle for assignments and examination preparation. As suggested above, you should use the reading list organised by theme towards the end of this study guide. Consequently, you will have to develop good research and library skills.

Lecture, Seminar and Assignment Overview

Week Beginning /
Lecture
/ Seminar
26thSeptember 2011 / 1. Comparative Business and National Economic Success (27th September) /
No seminar. Preparation and reading for seminars
3rdOctober 2011 / 2. Concepts and Frameworks for Comparative Analysis (4thOctober) /
No seminar. Preparation and reading for seminars
10th October 2011 / 3. Modern Economic Growth (11th October) / No seminar. Preparation and reading for seminars
17th October 2011 / 4. Global Production and Trade (18th October) / 1. Comparative Methods and National Economic Success
Advice on presentations and assignment
24th October 2011 / 5. Location, Clusters and Globalization (25th October) /
No seminar. Preparation and reading for seminars
31st October 2011 / 6. Business Organisation and Corporate Capabilities (1stNovember) /
2. National Competitive Advantage and its Critics
Study groups confirmed. Presentation topics allocated.
7th November 2011 / 7. The Transnational Corporation (8th November) / No seminar. Preparation and reading for seminars
14th November 2011 / 8. The State and National Competitiveness (15th November) /
3. Scale, Scope and the Business Environment
21stNovember 2011 / 9. Human Resources: Patterns (22ndNovember): / No seminar. Preparation and reading for seminars
28th November 2011 / 10. Human Resources (29thNovember): / 4. Comparing Industries: National and International Factors
5th December 2011 / No lecture
Term ends 9th December 2011 / No seminar. Preparation and reading for seminars
16th January 2012 / 11. Patterns of National Business Systems (17th January) / No seminar. Preparation and reading for seminars
23rdJanuary 2012 / 12. Late Development and National Competitiveness (24th January) / No seminar. Preparation and reading for seminars
30thJanuary 2012 / 13. Business Systems and Causal Factors (31st January) / 5. Presentations: Human Resources and the State
6th February 2012 /
14. National Culture and the Spirit of Capitalism (7th February)
/ 6. Late Industrialisation and National Institutions
13th February 2012 /
15. Technological Innovation (14th February)
/
No seminar. Preparation and reading for seminars
20thFebruary 2012 / 16. Production and Operating Systems (21stFebruary) / 7. Presentations: National Culture and Transnational Business
27thFebruary 2012 / 17. Finance, Shareholding and Stakeholding (28th February) / 8. Presentation: Technological Innovation.
5th March 2012 / 18. Finance and Corporate Governance (6th March) / Assignment preparation
12th March 2012 / 19. Systems, Firms and National Competitiveness (13th March) / 9. Revision Class
Assignment preparation
NB This is the last week for making appointments with the course staff to discuss your assignment.
19thMarch 2012 / 20. Interpreting and Understanding Modern Business (20th March)
Revision lecture / Assignment preparation
Term ends 23rdMarch 2012 / Assignment due 22nd March 2012

Seminar Information

Seminar 1:Comparative Methods and National Economic Success

Essential material for this seminar is available on Moodle.

Consider the following questions and issues:

  • What do you think are the advantages of comparative analysis?
  • What particular problems do you foresee at this stage in applying comparative thinking?
  • What are the main points of similarity between the US and British business systems?
  • In what fundamental ways are the German and Japanese business systems different to the Anglo-American form?
  • Carefully re-consider the view held by some that the US and British economies are similar. Are you aware yet of any major differences between them?
  • Carefully re-consider the view that the German and Japanese have important characteristics that are similar. Do you know yet of the major differences between them?
  • How unique are government, finance system, corporate governance, or human resources that make up the business system in China?

Seminar 2:National Competitive Advantage and its Critics

Essential material for this seminar is available on Moodle.

Consider the following questions and issues:

  • Evaluate Porter’s concept of the Diamond and the factors that contribute to the development of National Competitive Advantage. Why is the diamond so important to Porter’s ideas about national competitive advantage?
  • How do national considerations (factor and demand conditions) and industry-level considerations (firm strategy, structure, and rivalry; related and support industries) inter-act to create dynamic or declining clusters?
  • Do you accept Krugman’s argument that the concept of national competitiveness is false? Why?
  • Do you accept Porter’s view that the state cannot make a substantial contribution to national competitive advantage?
  • In a world that is increasingly ‘globalized’, do the sources of economic success now rest on the internationality of firms rather than on their location within a geographical cluster or specific region?

Seminar 3:Scale, Scope and the Business Environment

Essential material for this seminar is available on Moodle.

Consider the following questions and issues:

  • Explain what Chandler means by the term ‘managerial enterprise’.
  • To what extent does Chandler’s analysis explain long-termUS economic success?
  • What does Chandler mean by the phrase ‘personal capitalism’? Do you accept his analysis of British industrial capitalism and its failings?
  • In what ways did and do the business structures of large Japanese companies vary from the USA? Why?
  • What is the relevance of Chandler’s concepts to explanations of Chinese business?

In addition, the seminar will compare Chandler’s core ideas and concepts to those of Porter.

Seminar 4:Comparing Industries: National and International Factors

Essential material for this seminar is available on Moodle.

Presentation Topics: Using key theories and the available case evidence, analyze the competitiveness and structure of leading global industries, and compare and contrast influential critical success factors.

Consider the following questions and issues:

  • How important have the textile and steel industries been to the industrialization of leading economies?
  • To what extent have US and European textile industries failed to compete against Asian rivals?
  • Is the textile industry founded on distinct national clusters?
  • What are the critical success factors in the steel industry? How do we explain the rise of steel multinationals from India and Brazil?
  • To what extent are steel multinationals ‘global’ rather than national?
  • Has competitive advantage in semi-conductors and electronics shifted to Asia? Why, and in wha sense?
  • Which nations are internationally competitive in pharmaceuticals? Why?
  • Examine the critical success factors in the aerospace industry and the usefulness of Porter’s framework.
  • Why are the US and Europe the leading centres in aerospace? How and why have the competitive fortunes shifted between them?
  • To what extent are automobile multinationals ‘global’ rather than national?
  • Explain the success of US, British and European international banks.
  • Compare similarities and differences in the critical success factors of leading industries.
  • In what ways and why do the critical success factors of industries change and shift between nations?

Seminar 5:Presentations on Human Resources and the State

Please refer to relevant bibliography at end of course guide.

Two study groups from each seminar will present on a topic for 30-35 minutes each, followed by questions and answers. Details on the structure of presentations can be found below. A mark will normally be awarded to the presentation group as whole, but variations may be made for strong or weak individual performances during the presentation, or validated and inadequate contributions made to the work of the group.

All groups must present a report of 1500-2000 words, written collectively, to the seminar tutor on the day of the presentation, as well as being submitted to Turnitin. Marks are based on individual and group performance at the presentations in combination with the report. The presentation is worth 10% of the final course marks for each student.