Course Content and Overview

This course provides students with a systematic approach to global competition that will enable them to create economic value and implement strategies on a global scale, even as they navigate unprecedented uncertainty caused by shifts in geopolitical and technological trends.

The course provides a platform to address the following questions:

• How can firms use their geographic footprint to build and sustain a competitive advantage? What strategies are available when competing across markets?
• How can firms split activities across geographies? What is a global product? How do offshoring decisions impact the creation and sustainability of competitive advantage? How can a leading firm preserve its ability to capture value within a fragmented value chain? How can laggard firms improve their share of value captured?
• How can firms develop a location strategy that boosts and preserves their competitive advantage? How can firms use their geographic strategy to limit their competitors?
• What is the perfect time and pace for global expansion?
• How can firms manage international M&A, alliances, and joint ventures? What challenges and opportunities do new firms face abroad? What challenges and opportunities do established firms face abroad? How can local firms compete with global giants?

The course brings together a coherent, research-based set of concepts, frameworks, tools, and practices for training managers to tackle these questions and take advantage of the multiple opportunities that a more globalized environment brings. By analyzing the challenges managers face when making decisions about location (where?), timing (when?), activity (what?), and implementation (how?), to propel global value creation (why?), the course equips students to formulate and execute successful global strategies.

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