Early trade; Short distance and long distance trade; The ‘Age of Discovery’; The core and the periphery economy; Industrial revolution and explosive growth; The establishment of the IMF and the World Bank; GATT and the World Trade Organisation; The global shift in international business; The opening up of new markets for business.

What is globalisation? The new policy consensus; International trade policy; Free trade and protectionism; The globalisation of markets; The globalisation of production; Drivers of globalisation; The changing demographics of the world economy; Culture and international business; Ethics in international business; The globalisation debate, winners and losers? Globalisation versus localisation; Managing in the global market place.

What is outsourcing? Reasons for sourcing globally; Global sourcing arrangements; The importance of global sourcing; Finding global sources; The increasing use of electronic purchasing for global sourcing; Problems with global sourcing.

Recent activities and the future of the IMF; Financial crises and the implications for international business; The Mexican currency crisis; The Russian rouble crisis; The East Asian financial crisis; Understanding Capital Markets; Capital Flows; Barriers to Capital Flows; The Expansion and Globalisation of Financial Markets.

Global strategy; Exporting, Importing, FDI; The competitive challenges facing international managers; Profiting from global expansion; Pressure for cost reductions; Strategic choice and Strategic alliances; Making alliances work; Partner selection; Alliance structure; Managing the alliance.

Regional and Cultural differences in labour conditions; Types of staffing policies; Sources of managers; Selection and training; Expatriates; Language training; Guidelines for performance appraisal; National differences in compensation; Salaries, allowances and bonuses; International labour relations.

The big players globally; The primary movers and shapers of the global economy; Global clustering of MNC by industry; The geography of MNC production networks; The relationship between governments and MNCs; The relationship between MNCs and host economies; The relationship between MNCs and home economies; Attracting multinational corporation investment; Foreign direct investment; MNCs and trade; Taxation of MNCs.