International Entrepreneurship / International Entrepreneurship

The Academic Board of Business Administration, Odense
Teaching activity id: 9260801.
Teaching language: English.ECTS / weighting: 10 ECTS / 0.167 full-time equivalent.
Examination language: English.
Exam activity id: 9260802.Approved: 29-09-17.
Period: Spring 2018.
Grading: Internal grading.
Assessment: 7-point scale.
Offered in: Odense.
Subject director:
Associate Professor Erik Rasmussen, Department of Marketing & Management.

Prerequisites:
Students who follow the course, are expected to:
  • have knowledge about basic theories and models from International Business
  • be able to apply social scientific methods to conduct empirical studies
  • be able to apply models and theories on real-life case studies
  • be able to use the business economic theory on selected models and explain the models ' assumptions and properties

Purpose:
Many signs indicate that the global venture model has become a mainstream option for entrepreneurial companies when the world and competition move so fast that founders need to think globally from the start. But building a startup as a global business requires managers with skills and strategy much different from their predecessors of even a generation ago. If you are a global entrepreneur you have to think much earlier and much faster.

The classical picture of an entrepreneur as someone with a local business has thus changed in the last ten years. Entrepreneurs with particular talents and ambition are increasingly looking to sell their products around the world. No stay-at-homes, this new breed of entrepreneur are "born global". Where in the past entrepreneurs would build their new venture in a domestic market before expanding globally, these same entrepreneurs have the opportunity and challenge of participating in a highly internationalized market from the moment they are founded.

The objective of this course is to enable the student to use her/his knowledge in the process of identifying new, global business opportunities - typically using ICT based business models.

The student will be able to identify various aspects and importance of international entrepreneurship and how it differs form other international business aspects.

Content - Key areas:
The course contains the following themes:
  1. Introduction to the research area ”International Entrepreneurship”
  • What is "International Entrepreneurship"?
  • The crossing of two research streams
  • Outline of the course, examination etc.

  1. International Entrepreneurship
  • The classical international entrepreneurship research
  • The decision-making process for launching International New Venture (INVs)
  • Identifying and evaluating new market opportunities
  • Business, legal and cultural considerations
  • Cross-national comparisons (climate for entrepreneurs, regulationsm assistance etc).

  1. Internationalisation processes of INV's
  • The Born Global research
  • Internationalisation of INVs (modes of entry etc.) - theory & evidence
  • The role of the founder(s)
  • Alliances, co-operation, agents and other entry modes
  • Regional and global firms

  1. Strategy - INV business models
  • Dynamic entrepreneurial market environments
  • Business models of INVs (life cycle, expansion strategies)
  • Role of ICT in the development of INV business models
  • New ways of doing business in the internet age

  1. Themes and examples from the INV research and real life
  • The role of gender and social capital in the foundation of INVs
  • The dynamic capabilities of INVs
  • Social entrepreneurship
  • Case Studies - visits from Danish entrepreneurs and founders of INVs

Goals description (SOLO taxonomy):
The student must be able to use the models, methods and theories from the course to analyze the international entrepreneurial behavior of small and medium sized firms.

From this the student must be able to compare different types of firms and explain the causes behind the firms' behavior. In relation to a new case of an international entrepreneurial firm the student must be able to generate managerial implications and recommendations applying the models, methods and theories of the course.

Furthermore the student must be able to generelize at a level extending beyond the actual case, e.g. as a reflection of how to use existing theories and models in other areas than international entrepreneurship.

Literature:
A number of articles. Will be announced at the beginning of the course.
App. 50 articles and 700 pages

Time of classes:
Spring.


Scheduled classes:
2x2 hours per week in 11 weeks.

Form of instruction:
In order to obtain the course's purpose, it is the learning objective for the course that the student demonstrates the ability to:
  • Demonstrate skills, so that they are able to apply methods and theories from the course on a number of case studies
  • Be able to demonstrate knowledge of the course's topics, so that they are able to identify and account for differences in concepts and theories
  • Describe relevant forms of organizing international entrepreneurship

The lecture form is designed to create consistency and an overview of the course. In this connection, group work is used to develop the students' analytical skills. In addition, case studies are used as a background for training in the use of the tools of the course. The case studies will be discussed in the class and the form of examination will be a case study.

These teaching activities results in an estimated distribution of the work effort of an average student as follows:

Lectures: 44 hours.
Preparation for lectures: 106 hours.
Workload in connection to the exam: 10 hours.
Case study work: 110 hours.
Total: 270 hours.

Time of examination:
Ordinary examination in June.
Reexamination in August.

The form of the reexam is subject to change. This will be announced 14 days befiore the reexam takes place.

Registration for the course is automatically a registration for the ordinary examination in the course. Cancellation is not possible. If the student does not participate in the examination, the student will use an examination attempt.

Examination conditions:
Students having passed the course International Management (course id. 8461901) as a compulsory course do not need to take the course International Entrepreneurship. This only applies to students where International Entrepreneurship is a compulsory course.

Form of examination for the certificate:
Take-Home.

Supplemental information for the form of examination:
Duration: 24 hours.
Location: Home assignment.
Internet Access: Necessary.
Hand in: Via SDU-assignment in the course page in Blackboard.
Extent: 1 student: 10 pages.
Exam Aids: All exam aids allowed. It is not allowed to communicate with other students/groups.

Up to 3 students in a group. For each student the maximum number of pages is increased with 5 pages.
It must be specified in the preface who is responsible for which parts of the term paper, so an individual evaluation is possible.

Programmes:
cand.merc. International Business and Management
2nd semester, mandatory. Offered in: Odense
cand.merc. International Business and Law
2nd semester, mandatory. Offered in: Odense
cand.merc.- remaining profiles
All Semesters, elective subject. Offered in: Odense