Internationales strategisches Management

The field of strategic management is equally important for the practice of internationally active companies and for business management theory. Dealing with the strategic aspects of international corporate management seems not only attractive, but also necessary. Long-term survival on the market and the achievement of sustainable competitive advantages are generally not primarily due to indicators such as the size or age of a company, but rather to its successful strategies in global competition. The development and implementation of strategies are therefore key tasks for the management of internationally active companies.

In order to create a broad and comprehensible basis for understanding international strategic management, this lecture will first explain important terms and areas of responsibility in the context of international corporate management. The next step is to discuss the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on strategy development. In addition to the motives for internationalization, selected theoretical approaches to explain international corporate activity will be discussed. A process model of strategic management in international companies is then presented and its key phases discussed in detail. Important instruments and decision-making aids for strategic management in international companies are presented and illustrated using concrete practical examples. The event will also focus on the discussion of viable strategies in global competition, the investigation of the influence of digitalization on strategy development and the associated analysis of digital platform strategies as well as the investigation of the responsibility of internationally active companies for sustainable development.

The course consists of a lecture and a tutorial. The entire course will be held in German. Due to the restrictions in teaching due to the COVID-19 pandemic, both the lecture and the tutorial will take place completely digitally. In the winter semester 2020/2021, there will be no face-to-face teaching for MIBAS.

Teaching will be largely asynchronous. This means that the content of the lecture and tutorial will be made available in the form of videos and can be accessed by students at a time of their choice. From a methodological point of view, PowerPoint slides are used as a framework for discussing the content to be discussed. These slides will be included in the lecture and tutorial videos. The set of slides will be made available in German and can be downloaded by the course participants on STiNE or OpenOLAT. These slides serve more as a visual “stimulus” and not as a substitute for a lecture manuscript. Students are therefore strongly advised to supplement the lecture slides with their own notes.

However, there will also be individual sessions with synchronous teaching in both lectures and tutorials. Synchronous teaching means that students take part in a course digitally and live via Zoom. The synchronous appointments are intended to enable lecturers and course participants to get to know each other and exchange ideas. In the tutorial, synchronous teaching enables a participatory teaching format that is intended to create space for independent thinking and work.

The online teaching for the entire course is organized with the help of OpenOLAT. It is therefore important that students register for the course not only in STiNE but also in OpenOLAT:

https://www.openolat.uni-hamburg.de/url/RepositoryEntry/117473499

The lecture "International Strategic Management" covers the following topics in detail:

1.       Introduction

1.1.    Purpose and Tasks of Strategic Management in Internationally Active Companies

1.2.    Motives of Internationalization

1.3.    Concept of Strategy and Theoretical Approaches to Internationalization

1.4.    Digitalization and the Innovator's Dilemma

1.5.    Research Areas and Paradigms in International Strategic Management

 2.      A Conception of International Strategic Management

2.1.    Overview of the Concept

2.2.    Formulating the Vision and Setting Strategic Goals

2.3.    Segmentation of the Business

2.4.    Strategic Analysis as a Prerequisite for Formulating Strategies

2.5.    Strategy Determination in Global Competition

2.6.    Strategy Implementation and Strategic Control

2.7.    Strategic Management and Ethical Reflection

3.       Outlook

The content and the structure of the lecture is closely based on the following book:

Kreikebaum, Hartmut/Gilbert, Dirk Ulrich/Behnam, Michael (2018): Strategisches Management, 8. überarbeitete Auflage, Stuttgart.

Print:
ISBN 978-3-17-031111-4

E-Book-Formate:
pdf: ISBN 978-3-17-031112-1
epub: ISBN 978-3-17-031113-8
mobi: ISBN 978-3-17-031114-5

With regard to the basic texts, the 7th edition (2011) of the above-mentioned textbook can also be used as an alternative for in-depth study.

The exam takes the form of a take home exam (open book). The questions can be answered in German or English. A retake date will be offered.

The exam will also be administered via OpenOLAT. Detailed instructions on the technical implementation will be made available to students early on in the semester.

Important:

-   Registration for the exam and, if necessary, deregistration takes place via STiNE!
-   Only exams taken by students who are registered for the exam via STiNE will be assessed.
-   Students who are registered for the exam via STiNE but do not upload their answers to the Take Home Exam to OpenOLAT will be deemed to have failed the exam unless they can provide evidence of technical problems (e.g. screenshots, logging of the internet connection and IP addresses used in the router, evidence of unexpected construction work or power supply failure by the provider, etc.).

Students are strongly advised not to delay submitting their exams until the last minute. In addition, course participants abroad must take into account that all times apply to the time zone UTC+1 (Hamburg)!

The exam will be the same length as a 90-minute face-to-face exam. However, students will be given a period of five days to complete the exam. Students can use the OpenOLAT forum on the first two days of the processing period to ask questions about the exam.

The processing period for the exam is between the following dates
3.3.2021, 08.30 a.m. - 7.3.2021, 11.59 p.m. (UTC+1, Hamburg).