module specification

To succeed in doing business in the global community contemporary business managers and leaders need to be aware of the cultural differences and also of the regulatory framework within which national and global business operates.   This module addresses how to take a good business idea and expand nationally, internationally or even globally, the sociological, economic and legal implications of growing a business beyond start-up and across national borders and where to take a newly developed business application.  It also considers how to exploit markets that may have different concepts of business ethics, corporate social responsibility and sustainability.

This module continues the entrepreneurial thread developed at level 5, considers the issues involved in business growth and addresses the legal and regulatory implications of developing a business both nationally and globally.  It provides students with a platform from which to examine the opportunities and challenges leaders and managers face when developing a global business, particularly in developing economies such as the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, China) and MINTs (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, Turkey).  It also explores the regulatory framework pertaining to internal corporate governance, global corporate innovation and international knowledge transfer together with wider ethical and CSR issues and considers these factors from both a national and international perspective.

Corporate Environment (L4) or equivalent

The module aims to:
1. Develop an understanding of business growth and development and the opportunities presented by globalisation
2. Develop an understanding of the legal and regulatory framework in which  global management and trade operate.
3. Understand and analyse the role and functions of domestic and international organisations in governance and business regulation
4. Enable the student to develop analytical and problem-solving skills relevant to global business and ethical issues
5. Enable the student to make informed and critical judgement on the effectiveness of socially responsible business strategies and policy actions applied globally
6. Explore and understand the role and impact of stakeholders on the formulation of corporate and business level strategies

Management Framework
• Going global- developing the business plan for greater growth
• The challenges of business regulation under globalisation
• Multinationals, Transnationals – corporate governance and extra-organisational regulation
• Business perspectives on globalisation and global governance, strategic implications for managing resources and operations internationally
• Challenges of growing the business internationally – cross cultural and supply chain issues
• The regulatory framework
• Role and function of stakeholders in the law making and regulatory process ( feedback through lobbying and participation)
• Role and function of international institutions in creating the regulatory framework for government and business, and dispute resolution
• Framing the international regulatory business environment – role, function and value of feedback through lobbying and participation in law-making at institutional level
• Corporate responsibility
• Cultural and ethical underpinnings of international business operations – theories and problems of practice

Legal and Regulatory Framework
• Overview of Legal Principles:
o English Legal System and
o Consumer Protection in the Law of Contract and Tort
• Business Ethics –
o Definition, relevant ethical approaches and models
o Role of Ethics in Business
o Ethical issues including whistleblowing, etc.
• Corporate Social Responsibility –
o Historical development of CSR
o Theories of CSR,
o implementing CSR,
o the legal aspects of CSR, etc.
• Corporate Governance –
o  the corporate governance structure,
o  corporate governance reform,
o corporate liability (civil and criminal)
o comparative corporate governance.
• Regulation –
o Regulatory Instruments: Bank of England, Financial Conduct Authority, Sarbanes Oxley Act 2002, Dodd Frank Act Securities Exchange Commission, United Kingdom Bribery Act 2010.
o International Regulatory Instruments – OECD Guidelines, etc. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act 1977, etc.
The module’s learning and teaching strategy has been designed to develop the following set of skills:
Academic writing,
Academic reading,
• Evaluating sources
• Problem solving and decision-making
Critical thinking;
• Interpersonal working with others
• Self assessment/reflection
• Self time management
• Managing others
• Managing across cultures.

This module takes as its opening point the Business Plan developed at level 5. The module will provide students with the knowledge and skills to take their Business Plan forward both nationally and/or internationally.  

The module will be delivered through weekly 3-hour workshops which will utilise distributive blended learning and problem-based learning approaches to encourage students to develop collaborative and self-directed learning skills.

Students will participate in a business simulation through which they will experience some of the challenges encountered by leaders and managers as they develop their business idea.    

Teaching will be delivered through a combination of lectures, workshops and tutorials. Key principles and themes will be conveyed through lectures from which specific PBL tasks will be set. The workshops will be used to provide interactive discussion and analysis of the key points and presentation of task analysis at the end of the PBL cycle.  The workshops will be enhanced by various related activities during the course of the academic year.

 Upon successful completion of the module’s assessment, the student will be able to:

1. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of how organisations grow and develop and the opportunities and challenges of managing internationally and across cultures
2. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the legal and regulatory framework within the context of management and corporate development
3. Identify and critically evaluate business strategies for managing resources and operations internationally
4. Critically analyse the impact of domestic and international institutions and organisations and demonstrate an understanding of the issues involved in resolving disputes in global business
5. Communicate effectively in context by demonstrating the ability to explain and apply theories of global governance and ethics
6. Identify, analyse and evaluate the various models of stakeholder participation  including theories of corporate social responsibility within the  management and regulatory framework
7. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of wider theoretical developments in the field of business organisation and the interplay between these and wider business systems and global capitalism
8. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the sources of regulation and law, and the concept of governance

Formative assessment will be continuous throughout the module based on a variety of PBL tasks which in turn will inform one element of summative assessment. 

Participation and performance in the business simulation will inform the reflective report required for the second summative assessment.

The final assessment component will be a 2 hour examination and will assess students knowledge and understanding of the global business regulatory framework.

Main textbooks:
Bartlett, C A and Beamish, P W (7th edition, 2013) Transnational Management – Text, Cases, and Readings in Cross-Border Management, McGraw-Hill, New York: USA
Beauchamp, Bowie and Arnold, Ethical Theory, (2009), 8th ed., Pearson
Branine, M (2011) Managing Across Cultures – Concepts, Policies and Practices, Sage, London: UK,
Cannon, T. (2012), Corporate Responsibility, 2nd ed., Pearson
Carroll & Buchholtz (2011), Business and Society: ethics and Stakeholder Management, 8th ed.,
Crane, et al (2008),The Oxford Handbook of Corporate Social Responsibility, OUP
Halbert, T, Ingulli, E (8th edition, 2014), Law & Ethics in the Business Environment, South-Western Cengage Learning (international edition)
Mallin, C. (2012), Corporate Governance, 4th ed OUP
McBarnet, D., Voiculescu, A., and Campbell, T. (2009), The New Corporate Accountability, Corporate Social Responsibility and the Law, Cambridge.
Morrison, J (3rd edition, 2011) The Global Business Environment – Meeting the Challenges, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke: UK
Mujih, E. (2012), Regulating Multinationals in Developing Countries, London, Gower
Pinto, A., Evans, M. (2013), Corporate Criminal Liability (3rd Edition), London, Sweet and Maxwell
Riches and Allen Keenan and Riches, Business Law (2011) 10th ed. Pearson.

Additional Reading:
Adams, A. (2013),Law for Business Students, 7th ed., Pearson
Aglietta, M., (1985), A Theory of Capitalist Regulation: The US Experience, New York, Shocken
Bainbridge, S, (2012), Corporate Governance after the Financial Crisis, Oxford, OUP
Baldwin, R., Cave, M., Lodge, M. (2013), Understanding Regulation: Theory, Strategy, and Practice, (2nd ed)  OUP
Clegg, S., Kornberger, M., Pitsis, T (2011) Managing and Organisations: An Introduction to Theory and Practice. (3rd Edn) Sage:UIK
Coyle, B (2008) Corporate Governance Essentials, ICSA Publishing
Crouch, C., Maclean, C. (eds) (2011), The Responsible Corporation in a Globalised Economy, Oxford, OUP
Daniels, J D, Radebaugh L H, Sullivan D P (13th edition, 2011) International Business – Environments and  Operations, Global Edition, Pearson, New Jersey: USA, 882pp
Dicken, P. (2010), Global Shift: Mapping the Changing Contours of the World Economy (6th ed.), Lon, age
Elger, A., Smith, C. (2005), Assembling Work: Remaking Factory Regimes in Japanese Multinationals in Britain, OUP
Emadi-Coffin, B. (2002) Rethinking International Organization: Deregulation and Global Governance, Routledge
Forlin, G., Smail, L. (eds) (2014), Corporate Liability: Work-Related Deaths and Criminal Prosecutions (3rd ed.), London, Bloomsbury.
Gereffi, G., Kornzeniewicz, M. (eds) (2000),  Commodity Chains and Global Capitalism, Westport CT, Praeger
Hall, R., Soskice, D. (2001), Varieties of Capitalism: The Institutional Foundations of Comparative Advantage, OUP
Klein, N. (2010), No Logo, (revised ed.), London, Flamingo
Lane, C., Probert, J. (2009), National Capitalisms, Global Production Networks: Fashioning the Value Chain in the UK, USA and Germany, Oxford, OUP
Meyer, E, Ashleigh, M., George, J.M., & Jones, G, R.(2007) Contemporary Management. (European Edn). UK: McGraw Hill.
Milberg, W., Winkler, D. (2013), Outsourcing Economics: Global Value Chains in Capitalist Development, Cambridge, CUP
Moore, M. (2013), Corporate Governance in the Shadow of the State, Oxford, Hart
Nelson, B. (2005) Law and Ethics in Global Business, Routledge
OECD, (2013), Interconnected Economies;  Benefitting from Global Value Chains, Paris, OECD
Solomon, J. (2010), Business Law, 7th ed. Harlow, Pearsons
Whitley, R. (2007), Business Systems and Organisational Capabilities, Oxford, OUP
Whitley, R. (2000), Divergent Capitalisms: The Social Structuring and Change of Business Systems, Oxford, OUP
Wright, M., Siegel, D., Keasey, K., Pilatotchev, I. (eds), (2013), The Oxford Handbook of Corporate Governance, Oxford, OUP
Yeung, K., Morgan, B. (2007), An Introduction to Law and Regulation, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press
Zerk, J. (2011), Multinationals and Corporate Social Responsibility, Cambridge, CUP