The Center for Global Business and Political Economy was created to advance understanding of the interdependency of business and the global political economy, and to help people learn how to do business in diverse environments around the world. The Center will support research as well as innovative curriculum development and delivery. The Center was inaugurated with presentations of ongoing and recently published international research by Lally faculty members. Research covered behavior in multinational teams as well as case studies on doing business in Argentina, Egypt, and Sri Lanka.
Research on Decision Making Behavior in International Teams
As corporate teams become increasingly international, we need to move beyond studies of inter-group differences in nationality and toward studies of intra-group diversity in nationality. In addition to in-person multinational teams, long-distance, virtual teams are emerging as a prominent organizational structure in international settings, with firms seeking to coordinate R&D and other activities in multiple locations.
Lally Professors Lois Peters, William Tracy, Dmitri Markovitch, and David Gautschi presented new research on decision making behavior in multinational work teams. Their research utilizes a customized management simulation for five to six teams of three people, who must make multiple management planning decisions. After running a pilot simulation with Lally alumni on campus, the team recently conducted two field simulations in China. One, at Remnin University in Beijing, included Lally’s Executive MBA XXII class and Chinese MBA students, the other was conducted at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou. Upcoming field studies are planned at IIT Kanpur in India, National Chengchi University in Taiwan, Tribhuvan University in Nepal, HEC in France, EPFL in Switzerland, and Judge School/Cambridge University in the U.K.
Summary of Recently Published International Cases in Collaboration with INSEAD
Jonathan Story, Lally’s Marusi Professor of Global Business, has recently published several international case studies in collaboration with INSEAD, a leading European business school.
These include:
- El Castillo: The Eco-Fairy Castle Describes a small family-run hotel—the only ecotourist facility in Argentina. Topics covered: Country and business risk, family business, crafting business strategy to local conditions, and the hotel industry.
- Environmental Quality International in SIWA Describes a private Egyptian firm investing in sustainable development in the Siwa oasis, near the Egyptian-Libyan border. Topics covered: development, sustainability, modernization, culture and tradition, country/project assessment and risk, crafting strategy to local conditions.
- MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry Describes a family-owned manufacturer of women's apparel in Sri Lanka. Topics covered: family business, corporate social responsibility as a strategic tool in global competition, leadership, manufacturing strategy, development of corporate capabilities, global politics of the textile industry.
- The Triangle: Business, Markets and Politics Provides an overview on the global context of business. The three corners of the triangle are the business, the markets and politics. Conducting business in the world today requires leadership to focus on running the business (leadership, culture, vision, capabilities, innovation) and on the competition, but that is far from sufficient for operating in a semi-integrated world economy.
Professor Story’s cases and teaching notes are available from ecch, the largest source of management case studies in the world.