At the W. P. Carey MBA we offer the opportunity to our students to participate in a variety of International Electives abroad which are listed and described below. We also offer a Business and the Public Policy Process course in Washington, D.C. Throughout the year we have information sessions about these courses to inform students about the cost, application process, course dates, and curriculum.
Review the current list of elective offerings for the coming year, including upcoming international electives.
For questions regarding our International electives or the Washington, D.C. elective, please contact Shawnna Wishman at (480) 965-9429 or via email at shawnna.wishman@asu.edu
Upcoming International Electives - Partial Listing
- Transitioning economies of Southeast Asia in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia
- The Changing Business Environment in Europe - Germany
- Toulouse, France and Barcelona, Spain
- Doing Business in China in Shanghai and Beijing, China
- Linz, Austria and Prague, the Czech Republic
- Applications Solutions and International Implementations in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Doing Business in Argentina in Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Business in the Balkans - Transitioning Southeast Europe
Understanding Washington: Business and the Public Policy Process
Course Objectives:
The primary objectives of this course are: (1) to introduce students to the interactive concepts of marketing, political economy, and culture, (2) to enable students to understand cultural, political, legal and economic issues and appropriate business practices at corporate, national, transnational and global levels, (3) to provide insights on effective marketing and management decision making in unfamiliar or cross-cultural settings, particularly with respect to distinct Southeast Asian contexts, and (4) to give students unique experiences with cultural immersion.
Proposed Itinerary:
The course, while largely germane to marketing, also addresses other dimensions of the entire global business domain, including finance, law, policy, agribusiness, manufacturing, advertising, etc. Previously, a number of site-lectures and tours were conducted regarding finance (Bank of Thailand), agribusiness (e.g., Heineken), law (e.g., Russin & Vecchi), consumer products (e.g., Procter and Gamble), manufacturing (e.g., Nike and Saigon Cosmetics), education (Ho Chi Minh City Technological University), tourism (e.g., Saigon Tourist; Raffles Group), consulting (e.g., Dataconsult), government and policy (e.g., Royal Government of Cambodia).
The trip will have at least one full free day in each place enabling students to set their own agenda for that day; many evenings are "free" as well. Some people have shopped (gems and jewelry were big winners in Vietnam and Thailand); others took day-trips, visited cultural sites, followed-up with particular industries or contacts, walked around the cities, etc. Regardless, cultural and experiential immersion is required on these open days.
The course this year includes three countries: Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. They are markedly different countries, varying considerably on their socioeconomic development, culture and language, political orientation, and marketing/business landscape.
Course Overview:
The course is designed for MBA students interested in International Business, Finance and Corporate Strategy. The language of instruction is English.
This course is offered by our partner the Otto Beisheim School of Management at WHU located in Vallendar, located just outside of Koblenz in the valley of the Rhine River. This three-week program, directed by Professor Michael Frenkel, offers a four credit-hour class focusing on the following topics:
- European Integration: The Single European Market of the EU and European Monetary Union
- Doing Business in Eastern Europe
- Restructuring Companies in Transition Economies
- European Corporate Governance
- Labor Markets in Europe
- The Environment of Mergers and Acquisitions: European Competition Policies
- European Financial Markets
As a part of this program, WHU, offers an introductory German language course during the afternoon of the first week of the program which is complimentary for all participants.
Course Objectives:
This program serves as an overview of marketing and doing business internationally, with a focus on the European Union. Students will learn about economics, political and business life in economic integration zones, with particular reference to the EU. The course is held on the ASU Tempe Campus and at the Ecole Superieur du Commerce in Toulouse, France and Barcelona, Spain. The language of instruction is English.
Course title: Global Marketing (in Tempe at ASU Campus)
Course description: The objective of the course is to give students knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in global marketing settings. Students will gain an appreciation and understanding of difference in marketing in one's home country and marketing globally.
Once completed the students will understand the following topic areas:
- How rapid adoption of technology has fundamentally changed marketing dynamics
- New competitive paradigms that come with global marketing
- Issues of economic integration zones, particularly the European Union
Course Title: Banking and Finance (in Toulouse)
Course description: This course aims to cover the main dimensions of acquisition valuation, especially European finance. Students will gain a working practical knowledge of valuation tools used in International Business Apply Theory to solve international financial cases. Once the class is completed, students will have an understanding of the nature and operations of European and international financial methods.
Course Title: Management (in Barcelona)
Course description: This course aims to sensitize students to the skills involved in managing across cultural differences. Students will gain the ability to adapt to different cultural environments and to manage effectively in an intercultural context. Upon completion of the course, students should understand how national culture influences organizational structures and management styles, the relationship between culture/language perception and communication, the issues confronting HRM process in Europe, and the challenges of increasing labor mobility within Europe.
Course Objectives:
This course examines the business challenges and opportunities that are present in China. Today, China is one of the most attractive business environments in the world, with $60 billion in foreign direct investments in 2005, alone. While China has lured investors, many multinational corporations face challenges operating in China's complex business environment. This course exposes students to various frameworks to understand international business, focusing particularly on China and its unique circumstances. This course is a pre-requisite for the trip to China. As such, we will focus on understanding the firms and industries that we will be experiencing firsthand.
Proposed Itinerary:
The course begins with travel to Beijing for company visits that could include IBM, Microsoft, Motorola, Starbucks, or UPS. Cultural experiences in Beijing could include a trip to the Great Wall of China and the Forbidden City. Following this, the group travels to Shanghai. Corporate visits in Shanghai could include Intel, Honeywell, F+G, Pudong Development Bank, HSBC, Shanghai Stock Exchange, Shanghai Automotive, BaoSteel, and the Suzhou Industrial Zone. Lectures at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics (SUFE) are planned.
Course Objectives:
This course is designed to help students better understand how institutional settings affect business practices. Emphasis will be centered on comparison of European and North American institutional settings including formal and informal institutions and the organizational players who affect business practices in these regions. This course may be particularly beneficial for students who have not lived or worked outside North America.
Course Overview:
In this course we will focus on institutional differences and prospects for institutional change. Institutions create the context or the setting for business activity. Institutions can be formal public policies, like laws and government regulations, and also informal norms, social values, and cultural differences. We will develop and use a simple framework to help discover the relevant policies and norms that exist in different locales. We will also examine the key organizations that can enforce existing institutional arrangements and that can encourage or resist change in institutional settings. These organizations can sometimes be allies or adversaries for particular businesses. The framework known as the Policies, Norms and Organizations Framework (PNO) will help organize our thinking and our efforts to collect information about differences from one country or locale to another.
Course Objectives:
In today's environment there are thousands of software solutions that are available for organizations. As a result, fewer firms are starting with blank pages and writing their software from scratch. In many cases, firms are purchasing a product, and making that product fit their business only by changing the flexible features of the software. In other cases, firms purchase a package and its source code, and then work to modify the product to meet their specific needs.
The first goal of course this is to provide an organizational structure to categorize currently available software by how they organize the business' data. Secondly, we will demonstrate how to match organizations with software that will meet their needs. Third, you will become familiar with information sources to guide future software decisions. Finally, we will consider the complexities involved with international implementations. We will look at a wide range of systems, study their characteristics, and learn from business people actually using or recommending the packages.
Proposed Itinerary:
While in Australia, the class will be composed of 50% ASU MBA students and 50% graduate students from the University of Melbourne. These students typically have extensive work experience, and are attracted to Melbourne from around the world, with a large portion of the students coming from Asia. To get the most out of class for all students, the typical sessions will use a wide range of techniques to explore the topics. There will be case discussions to stimulate idea and information exchanges among the students, and to explore cultural issues facing organizations. There will be guest speakers (including corporate users of IT and software vendors with innovative solutions to business problems) who will share their experiences in IT and in international careers. Finally, time in the afternoons will be used to work on the team projects. Teams will comprise of students from both universities.
Course Objectives:
Students will earn six credit hours of advanced coursework by completing the Doing Business in Argentina course. The course has two components. The first component is on the ASU Tempe Campus. The second component is a nine-day trip to Buenos Aires where a five-day course will be completed at our partner school, the Universidad Torcuato diTella.
The course in Buenos Aires draws from the wide range of Universidad Torcuato Di Tella's faculty expertise, concentrating on the specific conditions for business in Argentina. It is designed for MBA students with an international focus, interested in learning how to understand business opportunities in Latin America, particularly in Argentina.
The course covers subject including:
- The Argentinean Socio - Cultural Environment
- Foreign Trade: Mercosur, U.S. and Europe
- Marketing
- Legal and Fiscal System
- Business Strategy in Argentina
The trip also includes corportate ivsits, cultural activities, and social events with UTDT MBA students.
Countries to be visited:
This is a new elective course available to W. P. Carey MBA students. We will be visiting Greece. The potential itinerary may also include visits to Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and/or Turkey. These countries will be chosen by the professor of this course depending on costs, business opportunities, and political developments.
Course Objectives:
The W. P. Carey MBA is pleased to offer this new international elective in one of the most dynamic and compelling regions of the world: The Balkans - Transitioning Southeast Europe. Students will visit cultural landmarks (UNESCO sites such as Dubrovnik and the Parthenon), businesses (local and global), Governments (U.S. Embassy commercial attaché), and will participate in academic seminars (University of Zagreb, Aristotle University). The purpose of the course is to introduce students to the interactive concepts of marketing, political economy, and culture, and appropriate business practices at the corporate, national, transnational and global levels. Outcomes will include (1) insights on effective marketing and management decision making in distinct Southeast European contexts, and (2) unique and unforgettable life experiences with cultural immersion.
Government taxes, regulates, negotiates the terms of international trade and investment, and sets economic policy. Its policies may help or harm an entire industry or they may affect one company disproportionately. This seminar provides a hands-on understanding of how federal policy is developed and of the many players within the public policy process, which is indispensable to business executives and to the development of sound business strategies. Participants will gain a comprehensive understanding of how regulatory, economic, tax, and trade policies are made. Taken as a whole, the experience helps prepare executives to contribute to the public policy process as:
- Users of public affairs resources - Washington offices, issues analysts, lobbyists, lawyers, compliance officers, accountants, etc.
- Participants in corporate grassroots programs or political action committees
- Direct representatives of their companies to Washington, D.C.
This is a 3 credit hour program. Prior to departure, students are required to attend the appropriate 4-hour on-campus course session conducted by Associate Dean Gerry Keim. In addition, the seminar director will email students a packet of brief readings several weeks prior to the seminar which students are required to complete. During the program, the faculty leader may add presentations or group projects for participants to complete and each faculty member or guest lecturer may provide additional material for participants to review. The program will conclude with a written exam. This is an intensive learning opportunity.
