(MGT7100) International Business Strategy

MSc International Business Semester 1

(2023-2024)

 End of Term Paper: Individual Essay (100%) Deadline: Tuesday 5th December 2023 Word Limit: 2,500 words (+10%).

This assignment is worth 100% of your overall module grade. You are required to answer an essay on the below question:

Critically apply insights from two sessions in the module to the context of HQ-subsidiary relationships.

The context of your essay is critically analysing the HQ-subsidiary relationship (session 7) and you are using ideas from two other sessions (apart from session 7) in the module to do this. Please note you may draw on ideas from across sessions to formulate your argument, but you should focus on two (maximum) to allow for more depth. You should consider the compatibility of your chosen perspectives and how they help us understand various dynamics at the HQ-subsidiary relationship interface (control, influence,knowledge, embeddedness etc.).Examples may include how a resource-based (session3) or institutional based view (session 4) impacts the HQsubsidiary relationship.You can apply specific theories or ideas from a particular session, rather than trying to include all information or frameworks from that session. For instance, you may choose to focus on FSAs or LSAs as specific constructs from sessions 3 or 4. You may also seek to explore how staffing (session 8), specifically expatriation or other forms (inpatriation, travel etc), are used to share competencies and knowledge between HQ and subsidiaries. More examples of these types of combinations and ideas will be explored throughout the module. In developing your essay, it is important to demonstrate the depth of understanding of complex ideas and how they apply to the HQ-subsidiary context. This is an academic essay and should be mainly theoretical in focus, applying critical insights from theories and constructs introduced throughout the module. Further examples will be provided in class on relevant ideas for the essay. Dedicated discussion sessions within seminars will be held to talk through ideas for the essay. Note-taking in class on a weekly basis will also be important for crafting your essay idea as the module progresses. Academic clinics will also be held later in the semester to discuss essay ideas. You should look to use examples to reinforce key arguments. Examples should be from real-world firms/scenarios and you can either focus on one case firm or draw on examples from many firms. Examples should only be used to demonstrate key arguments and should be kept succinct. See the grading criteria below for further guidance.

The essay should not exceed 2,500 words (+10%). References or tables are not included in the word count. These essays should be submitted through Canvas which is connected to Turnitin.

All sources must be referenced appropriately and the essays should draw heavily on readings and theories from class.

Some general points that are built into the grading rubric below (Appendix 4)

 and will be important 

for incorporating into the essay include:

- Demonstrate knowledge of HQ-subsidiary relationship literature with reference to important concepts such as embeddedness, influence, control, and knowledge.

o Identify the central actors in the HQ-subsidiary context and how their roles have evolved over time in relation to network theory and concepts like embeddedness, influence, control and knowledge flows.

- Demonstrate knowledge of at least 2 other sessions (outside of session 7) and apply this to critically analyse the HQ-subsidiary context. Some of these concepts may include capabilities theory and FSAs (session 3), institutional theory and LSAs (session 4), 

human capital theory and global staffing approaches (session 8),

 emerging market multinationals and the unique nature of their HQ-subsidiary relations (session 6)

- Demonstrate critical/analytical abilities in applying theory and readings from within and outside the module to the HQ-subsidiary context.

- Evidence of originality of thought in connecting various concepts and theories from across the module in a succinct and critical manner.

- Creating a well-informed argument by synthesising, integrating and applying a large volume of readings and information from across the module.

- Application of ideas/concepts through examples of real world firms. Examples can be of one case firm or across many companies. Not every idea/concept needs an example.

Each example should be kept brief and sourced appropriately (a couple of sentences maximum to illustrate the point being made).

- Developing a clear and logical structure with an introduction, main body and conclusion, clear themes and sub themes, signposting, transition of arguments and an overall coherent thread.

Please note, the above is a broad roadmap and there is no strict right or wrong answer or outline to follow for this essay. You are being provided with a context for room to manoeuvre rather than a rigid answer guide a priori. The choice of concepts or sessions will be up to you. You should come to seminars prepared to ask questions about your ideas so that you can receive feedforward on how to develop and formulate your plan. This is particularly important from session 7 onward. It may also help to read ahead in the module so that you can begin to develop your ideas earlier.

Important Instructions – Read Carefully!

Turn-itInUK

1. You are required to submit your essays through Canvas which is connected to Turnitin. Do not submit your essays separately through Turnitin! For guidance on how to interpret the originality report and similarity index produced by the service please see Appendix 1 at the end of this document.

Formatting

1. The document should have a coversheet that includes the module title, your name, student number and the number of words used. Please use the template in appendix 3 of this document. N.B.
2. All assignments must be word processed with 1.5 line spacing. Please use Garamond, font size 12, black typeface on white paper and please insert page numbering.

Word Count

1. As suggested, students may submit written assessments which are up to 10% over the indicated word limit for the piece. This includes all tables and figures and excludes the title page, references list and appendices.
2. If students submit a piece of work that is more than 10% over the word count, the piece will only be assessed up to the end of the page on which the maximum word count is reached. This is to ensure equality in assessment and not disadvantage students that have remained within the word count limit for a given piece of assessment.

Assessment Criteria

1. At a more practical level, this assignment will be assessed using the criteria set out in the postgraduate student handbook.

Referencing Instructions

1. You must use the Harvard referencing system and a reference list must be provided.
2. See appendix 2 below for more guidance on referencing.

Late Submission Penalties

1. Late submissions will be penalised according to University regulations. See the short guide to the regulations governing originality and administrative aspects of assessment at the end of this document and your student handbook.
2. In accordance with University regulations, work that is submitted after the official deadline will have 5% per working day, or part thereof, deducted from the final mark. 
3. This excludes days that the University is officially closed. Work that is submitted 5 or more working days after the deadline will be given a mark of zero.
4.  Extensions may be given by submitting an extenuating circumstances form (see induction slides). Please familiarise yourself with the guidance on penalties for late submission in the University Calendar 2023/2024.

1. You should retain a copy of your assignment to be read in conjunction with the assessment sheet, I have this document, which will be returned to you within three weeks of the submission date. The original copy of the assignment submitted will be retained by QMS.

Appendix 1-Understanding Turn-it In (http://www.turnitinuk.com/en_gb/) Using ‘Turn-it In UK’ through Canvas

In academic work you are encouraged to use the ideas and work of others. However, copying ideas and work of others without proper acknowledgement is regarded as one of the most serious academic related offences. If you are in any doubt of what may amount to plagiarism, contact the module coordinator before submitting work. Please familiarise yourself with the guidance on plagiarism in the University Calendar 2023/2024.TurnitinUK originality checking software is an online service that enables institutions and staff to carry out electronic comparison of students` work against electronic sources and other students` work. The system produces an “originality report” which shows the text in the student’s essay which matches electronic sources.

Student Training Video on How to use TurnitinUK: http://www.turnitinuk.com/en_gb/training/student-training Considerations

A first important point is that it will not tell you how much plagiarism is present in your work. The service identifies all the writing in your document that is similar or identical to existing written pieces, including previous student essays and academic work more broadly to name just two sources. So when you use the originality report the percentage score shows you how much of the text you have written is from existing sources, including quotes that you’ll have cited, common sentences referring to specific 

text/ideas and material that you have gotten from another source and not cited an original source for referencing purposes

 (this last one would be plagiarism).

The report is thus an assessment of how much original material (or material from other original sources) is in your essay. So it will identify quotes and language that is identical or very similar to other people’s writing in other assignments that have been submitted, journals and a variety of other sources. So you submit your document and get a score, obviously if its 100% you have contributed nothing original... this is a problem! On the other hand a score of 0% is equally problematic, as you need to use other work to write a good essay. This makes the service a good way for you to assess how you cite and where referencing may need to be improved.

It`s a tool, so finally you need to use your judgment in determining where you are and are not sufficiently referencing original sources. So remember just because some text is highlighted does not mean it is an issue, it means you should reflect on whether citing is required and if so have you done it correctly. These details will be discussed further in tutorial sessions hence the importance of full attendance.

Referencing and TurnItIn workshops are provided throughout the year and all students should attend. As well as this students should contact Learning Development Services (LDS) for further support on this. Equally if you are in doubt you may ask your Module Coordinator.

Students agree that by taking this course papers may be subject to submission for textual similarity review to iParadigms for the detection of plagiarism. All submitted papers will be included as source documents in the iParadigms reference database solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of such papers. Use of the TurnItInUK service shall be subject to such Terms and Conditions of Use as may be agreed between iParadigms and the Institution from time to time and posted on the TurnItInUK site.

Appendix 2 - Introduction to Referencing

Referencing is something with which you may or may not be familiar. However it is an essential skill to master in academic work. It is expected (and essential) that you acknowledge the sources of information in your work and the more you reference, the wider you demonstrate that your reading is.

Sources of academic references are usually provided by the module coordinator and examples of suitable journals for further readings are normally provided in each course outline. Academic references are predominantly peer reviewed journal articles or textbooks. Academic journals are sources such as the Academy of Management Journal, British Journal of Industrial Relations, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Journal of World Business, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Operations Management etc. (See ABS listing for further references https://charteredabs.org/academic-journal-guide- 2018/) which publishes scholarly, peer-reviewed articles written by experts. These articles should be accessed online through the library. (You may not have full text access to journal articles if you simply search online or use Google Scholar).It is these articles that you should draw on to reference your work. As outlined above, the minimum number of academic references expected for each level and assignment depends largely on the word count for each assignment. 

If you fail to meet the minimum requirements for academic references this will have implications for your assignment grade. Please be aware that each module coordinator may have particular preferences within these guidelines.You should be supplementing these academic references with other legitimate and quality sources such as industry and company reports (please note industry and company reports, trade journals and newspaper articles are useful sources of information but are not considered academic references).

Under no circumstances should you be using poor quality sources such as personal blogs, Wikipedia or any plagiarism websites such as ukessays.com, essaywritingserviceuk.co.uk, essayace.co.uk etc. (this is not an exhaustive list).

A STUDENT WHO DOES NOT PROVIDE REFERENCES CAN TECHNICALLY BE GUILTY OF PLAGIARISM

Within the management subject area, the Harvard referencing system is the one generally followed. This includes both in-text referencing and a references list (at the end).

In-Text Referencing –

- When you reference the ideas/thoughts of other authors in your writing without quoting them directly (called paraphrasing), the sources where you got this information are placed at the end of the sentence in the form of (Author, Year). Alternatively you can say something like “Author (year) argues that”. For example:

….International business is a multidisciplinary subject (Cavusgil, 2013)…..

OR

…..Cavusgil (2013) believes that international business is a multidisciplinary subject….

- However, when you quote directly from a source, the part that is quoted directly should be included in inverted commas in-text (e.g. “Management is a complex subject”). The quote then is referenced as Author (year: page). Alternatively,if you have not included the Author’s name in the main sentence, this reference would have been written as (Author name, year: page). For example:

“Culture is understood through the context model” (Hall, 2005: 23)

OR

Hall (2005: 23) says that “Culture is understood through the context model”.

- Where something is written by two authors you write it as, for example, ‘Donaghey and Teague (2005)’. For example:

Donaghey and Teague (2015) argue that management is simplistic… OR…

studies show that management is simplistic (Donaghey & Teague, 2015).

- If there are more than 2 authors it is written as the (first Author’s name et al. year) e.g. Bloisi et al (2005). For example:

Bloisi et al (2005) believe that management is complex … OR …

it is argued that management is complex (Bloisi et al. 2005)

Reference list

Once you have written your essay with the references, you need to produce a reference list at the end. This should be a full list of sources cited in the text, arranged in alphabetical order. 

It is not simply a case of author’s name and year. The following format should be used:

• For a book

Author Surname, Initial (year) Title City: Publisher

E. g. Bessette, J. (1994) The Mild Voice of Reason: Deliberative Democracy and American National Government. Chicago: University of Chicago Press

• For books which have had more than one edition: Author Surname, Initial (year) Title Edition City: Publisher

E.g. Mullins, L (2005) Management and Organisation Behaviour. 6^th Edition, Prentice Hall, London

• For a Journal article

Author Surname, Initial (year) “article title” Journal name volume number, volume part, pages

E.g. Baccaro, L. (2003) “What is Alive and What is Dead in the Theory of Corporatism British”. Journal of Industrial Relations, 41 (4): 683-706

NB - WHEN TWO AUTHORS APPEAR, YOU GIVE BOTH NAMES. WHERE YOU USE ET AL IN THE TEXT (IE 3 OR MORE) YOU GIVE ALL NAMES IN THE REFERENCE LIST.

The list is then arranged alphabetically at the end of the whole document , by the author’s names. For example:

Reference List

Baccaro, L. (2002) “Civil society meets the state: a model of associational democracy” International Institute for Labour Studies Discussion paper Working Paper No. DP/138/2002, Geneva

Bessette, J. (1994) The Mild Voice of Reason: Deliberative Democracy and American National Government Chicago: University of Chicago

Elster, J. (ed), (1998), Deliberative Democracy, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

O’Donnell, R. (2000) “Public Policy and Social Partnership” in Dunne, Ingram and Litton Questioning Ireland Dublin:IPA

Sabel, C. (1996) Local Partnerships and Social Innovation: Ireland. Dublin: OECD.

This is a simplistic introduction to the Harvard referencing system so please see the following links for a more detailed explanation of this approach to referencing. The Learning Development Services (LDS) at Queen’s is another useful avenue that provides guidance and advice for referencing and other issues such as essay writing and structuring etc.

http://www.qub.ac.uk/cite2write/harvard.html

Plagiarism

In academic work you are encouraged to use, build on and challenge the ideas and work of others. However, copying ideas and work of others without proper acknowledgement is regarded as one of the most serious academic related offences, plagiarism. You should also be aware that directly copying the language and wording used by other sources and referencing these sources may still be considered plagiarism.

 You should aim to have a healthy balance between direct quotes and paraphrasing in your own words when referencing sources. 

If you are in any doubt of what constitutes plagiarism, there are a number of things that you can do. Firstly, you can make an appointment for an individual meeting or enroll for one of the courses on referencing and plagiarism with Learning Development Services, based in the Student Guidance Centre. You can also contact the module coordinator before submitting work to seek specific guidance on referencing and you can use TurnItIn in a developmental way,you can submit your work early and then view the Similarity Report which will highlight areas that might need additional attention before final submission. Please familiarise yourself with the guidance on plagiarism in the University Calendar 2023/2024 and if you are unsure on this you need to consult with your module coordinator.