Part A: Course Overview
Course Title: Strategic Foreign Direct Investment of Firms
Credit Points: 12.00
Course Coordinator: Prof Fuming Jiang
Course Coordinator Phone: +61 3 9925 4186
Course Coordinator Email: Fuming.jiang@rmit.edu.au
Course Coordinator Location: Building 080, Level 09, Room 067, Melbourne campus
Course Coordinator Availability: On appointment
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
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Course Description
This course provides an introduction to the theories and practices related to foreign direct investment (FDI) by firms and the theories surrounding multinational enterprises (MNEs). The course topics will cover business aspects such as the decisions, strategies, and FDI planning and implementation. You will acquire a deeper understanding of the fundamental theoretical and practical issues of FDI. These include factors influencing FDI, entry mode decisions, location choices, cross-border mergers and acquisitions, headquarter-subsidiary relationships, international joint ventures, competition and collaboration between foreign subsidiaries and local firms, and FDI performance.
The course is focused on two main themes:
1. how a firm’s external and international factors affect its FDI decisions, strategies, and operations; and
2. how senior executives analyse the external and internal information to make informed decisions.
The course will equip you with essential knowledge and skills required for developing and managing FDI strategies of firms, effectively preparing you to work in or with MNEs.
Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development
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On successful completion of this course, you will be able to:
CLO 1: Critically analyse and review theories related to foreign direct investment (FDI) and multinational enterprises (MNEs).
CLO 2: Identify and analyse macro and micro institutional conditions that may affect firms’ various FDI strategies, operations, and performance.
CLO 3: Analyse how managers make sense of the information available to them and seize the opportunities in their decision-making and implementation of FDI strategies.
CLO 4: Analyse how and when foreign subsidiaries engage in competition or collaboration with their local and other international competitors.
CLO 5: Analyse the challenges and develop strategies for effectively managing various entry modes, including international joint ventures, wholly owned subsidiaries, and merger and acquisition.
CLO 6: Demonstrate effective communication and negotiation skills in team and/or group environment essential for managing multinational businesses.
Overview of Learning Activities
A range of individual and group activities are designed to help you achieve your learning outcomes. These may include lectures and tutorials or seminars, group discussions, practical scenario and/or case analysis, individual study and research. Presentation and case project by students individually and./or in groups may be required as part of the learning process.
Overview of Learning Resources
Various learning resources are available online through MyRMIT Studies/Canvas. The lecture notes and workshop notes are posted on Canvas.
RMIT Library provides extensive resources, services and study spaces. All RMIT students have access to scholarly resources including course related material, books, e-books, journals and databases. Contact: Ask the Library for assistance and information on Library resources and services: http://www.rmit.edu.au/library.
Study support is available for assistance with assignment preparation, academic writing, information literacy, referencing, maths and study skills.
Additional resources and/or sources to assist your learning will be identified by your course coordinator and will be made available to you as required during the teaching period.
Overview of Assessment
The assessment alignment list below shows the assessment tasks against the learning outcomes they develop.
Assessment Task 1: 20% (Individual)
Linked CLOs: 1, 2, 3
Assessment Task 2: 30% (Individual)
Linked CLOs: 1, 2, 3, 4
Assessment Task 3: 50% (Group)
Linked CLOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Feedback will be provided throughout the semester in class and/or in online forums through individual and group feedback on practical exercises and individual consultation.