World Economy and Business

Course guarantor:

Tomáš Evan

Lecturer:

Tomáš Evan

Tutor:

Tomáš Evan

Supervisor:

Department of Software Engineering

Synopsis:

The course introduces students of technical university to the international business. It does that predominantly by comparing individual countries and key regions of world economy. Students get to know about different religions and cultures, necessary for doing business in diverse societies as well as indexes of economic freedom, corruption and economic development, which are needed for the right investment decision. Seminars help to improve on the knowledge in the form of discussions based on individual readings. It is advised to take bachelor level of this course BIE-SEP as a prerequisite.

Requirements:

Student needs to create and present working paper of specific structure to pass. There are two written exams (30 and 60 percent) of a mix of multiple choice and open-ended questions. Active participation during seminars is also required (10).

Syllabus of lectures:

1. Introduction to course. Level of economic development; why are some countries rich and some poor? Natural resources, culture or economic institutions and policies

2. Religion and language, describing differences and history, causes of misunderstandings and conflicts

3. Cultural differences ? economic and managerial point of view, Hofstede cultural dimensions

4. Economic geography, the most important natural resources in Europe and the World.

5. Population as a resource (HR), human capital, economic impact of depopulation (Europe, East Asia)

6. Basic economic characteristic (GDP, TFP, indebtness, openness of economy, inflation, unemployment) of selected particularly European countries

7. Economic institutions and policies in reaction to globalisation

8. Influence of democracy (Democracy index EIU) and political freedom (The Freedom house index) on business environment

9. Economic freedom in the world (Index of economic freedom from The Heritage foundation and The Frazer Institute, The Economic freedom of the world)

10. Definition and distribution of corruption (CPI from Transparency international) and quality of business environment (World Bank index - Doing business: The Ease of doing business and distance to frontier)

11. Human Development Index (UNDP) as an arguably best indicator of successful institutions and macroeconomic policies

12. Cost and benefits of MNCs (strategies, M&A, technologies)

13. Ethics in international business

Syllabus of tutorials:

1. Economic institutions and policies as a main factor for economic development; Olson M. (1996): Big bills left on the sidewalk: why some nations are rich, and others poor.

2. Effectivity of economic cooperation in potentially conflict environment; Huntington S. (1993): Clash of Civilizations. Foreign Affairs, introduction, Summer 1993.

3. Comparison of cultures with 5 cultural dimensions of Hofstede

4. Comparison of larges importers and exporters of key resources

5. First and second demographic transformation, practical impact of population decline and ageing of population in developed world, changes on market of goods and services

6. Practical part of working paper ? PC lab, regression a correlation

7. Test I.

8. Analysis of Democracy Index and The Freedom House index

9. Analysis of Index of economic freedom and The Economic freedom of the world index

10. Analysis of CPI and Doing business index

11. Analysis of HDI

12. Presentation of working papers

13. Test II.

Study Objective:

Study materials:

Internet based indexes. Readings.

Other resources, available to students for every topic

Cavusgil, S.T., Knight, G., Rieselberger, J., International Business: The New Realities, 2013.

Evan, T., Chapters of European Economic History, Praha 2014.

Note:

Further information:

https://moodle-vyuka.cvut.cz/course/search.php?q=mi-sep&areaids=core_course-course

No time-table has been prepared for this course

The course is a part of the following study plans:

• Master specialization Software Engineering, in English, 2021 (elective course)
• Master specialization Computer Security, in English, 2021 (elective course)
• Master specialization Computer Systems and Networks, in English, 2021 (elective course)
• Master specialization Design and Programming of Embedded Systems, in English, 2021 (elective course)
• Master specialization Computer Science, in English, 2021 (elective course)
• Study plan for Ukrainian refugees (elective course)
• Master Specialization Digital Business Engineering, 2023 (elective course)
• Master Programme Informatics, unspecified Specialization, in English, 2021 (elective course)
• Master specialization Computer Science, in English, 2024 (elective course)