1. International Business Relations (p)
Hwy-Chang Moon
Professor of International Business & Strategy
The Graduate School of International Studies
Seoul National University
Office: 614 & 615
Class
Tue 2:30 – 5:30 pm
Office Hours
Monday & Tuesday 1:25 - 2:25 pm or by Appointment
Assistants
Euijae Kim
Isabelle Lee

2. Course Description
Part 1 deals with the basics of international business competitiveness that will help formulate effective strategies. As the business environments become more global and complicated than ever, paradigms such as traditional trade theories are no longer effective. The new competitiveness paradigms include the diamond model, its extensions, and stage models of international business.
As an extension to Part 1, Part 2 covers the most fundamental aspects of international business relations. Emphasis is on the socio-cultural characteristics that influence business behavior and performance. This course deals with many real-world cases and examples, as well as conceptual models. Throughout the course, students will improve their analytical skills as well as learn state-of-the-art knowledge.

3. Course Materials Grading [total 100%]
There is a reading packet of related articles and cases. Students should read the materials before class, so class meetings can be used for discussion rather than for lecture.
Grading [total 100%]
Professional Behavior: attitude, attendance, participation (20%)
One page summary of readings for each class (20%)
Group Project: Oral presentation (20%)
Individual Project: Written report (20%)
Final Exam (20%)

4. Project Assignments Attendance
There are two projects: a group presentation and an individual written report. Specific information about the projects will be given later. Students are expected to choose their own topics and group members.
Assignments
All assignments must be completed in the form of either Word or PowerPoint. No hand-written material will be accepted. All assignments are due at the beginning of class on the due date. Any late submission without a valid reason will be penalized.
Attendance
Students must attend all classes in order to receive full attendance credit and will lose points for absences regardless of the reasons. Students who miss more than two classes may not receive a grade. Latecomers and those chatting with other people distract the class and may be penalized.

5. Part 1: International Competitiveness
Class Schedule
Part 1: International Competitiveness
Class 1: (Sept 1) Introduction
Why do we have to study International Business?
What is competitiveness and how can we enhance it?
Class 2: (Sept 8) The Diamond Model: Theory
Porter 1990, The Competitive Advantage of Nations
[Five groups will be formed]
Class 3: (Sept 15) Application: National Level [Group 1]
Porter 2003, Building the Microeconomic Foundations of Prosperity: BCI
Porter and Ketels 2003, UK Competitiveness: moving to the next stage
Class 4: (Sept 22) Application: Industry Level [Group 2]
Porter Students 2007, Taiwan: Semiconductor Cluster
Porter Students 2007, The Transport and Logistics Cluster in the UAE
Porter Students 2007, Tourism in the Dominican Republic
Class 5: (Sept 29) The Generalized Double Diamond (GDD) Model [Group 3]
Cho and Moon 2000 (Chapter 4), Debate: Porter vs. Rugman
Moon, Rugman and Verbeke 1998, A Generalized Double Diamond Approach to the Global Competitiveness of Korea and Singapore
Jin and Moon 2006, Diamond Approach to the Competitiveness of Korea’s Apparel Industry

6. Class 6: (Oct 6) Empirical Studies [Group 4]
Moon and Lee 2004, The Competitiveness of Multinational Firms: Samsung vs Sony
Moon and Kim 2006, Enhancing Cooperation between Korea and Japan
Cho, Moon and Kim 2008, Characterizing International Competitiveness…
Class7: (Oct 13) Project Guidelines
Manuscript & Presentation Guidelines
Topics
Part 2: Culture on Competitiveness
Class 8: (Oct 20) Culture and Prosperity [Group 5]
Porter 2000, Attitudes, Values, Beliefs, and the Microeconomics …
Krugman 1994, The Myth of Asia’s Miracle
Class 9: (Oct 27) Western Perspectives [Group 1]
Perlmutter 1969, The Tortuous Evolution of the MNC
Hofstede 1983, The Cultural Relativity of Organizational…
Group Project: Due One-Page Executive Summary
Class 10: (Nov 3) Empirical Studies [Group 2]
House, Javidan and Dorfman 2002, Understanding Cultures …
Brouthers and Brouthers 2001, …National Cultural Distance Paradox
Moon and Kim 2008 (Working Paper), Are we correctly defining and measuring uncertainty avoidance cultural dimension?

7. Class 11: (Nov 10) Non-Western Perspectives [Group 3]
Sunzi Bingfa, The Essentials of War
Moon 1999, Education and Competitiveness of Japanese Firms
Friedman 2000, The Lexus and the Olive Tree (Chapter 3)
Class 18: (Nov 18) A New Model for Creating Values [Group 4]
Herbold 2002, Inside Microsoft: Balancing Creativity and Discipline
Fortune 2006, From Wharton to War (by Vesterman, June 8)
Moon 2004, Cooperation among Japan, Korea, and China through Sharing Business and Cultural Advantages
Class 13: (Nov 24) Group Project
Project Presentations
Critical Comments and Discussions
Class 14: (Dec 1) Can We Change Cultures? [Group 5]
Kerr and Slocum 2005, Managing Corporate Culture through Reward System
Business 2.0 Magazine 2006, Cyworld Attacks (July 27)
Hofstede 2004, Retrospective
Class 15: (Dec 8)
Final Exam (Closed book/note)
Due Individual Written Report (both hard copy and soft file via )

8. Class number Your name Article author & title
Summary of the article(s)
Uniqueness
Main points
Evaluation (the last one paragraph)
Any constructive opinion
Possible extension