Yihan Wang about opportunities and challenges

– Professor Wang, what type of strategies do you plan to discuss in the course?

The course “Strategies of Multinational Enterprises” focuses on the corporate governance structure of multinational enterprises (MNEs), their motives and approaches of their internationalization process, as well as the opportunities and challenges in the current changing global business landscape.

In the first half of the course, we will explore how multinational enterprises leverage their economic and technological power in cross-border trade and investment activities to achieve their strategic goals in the global competition. Specifically, we will discuss the criteria of entry mode selection in foreign market penetration, as well as how the MNEs leverage headquarter-subsidiary relationship in acquiring local insights and reduce market risks in various host countries.  

In the second half of the course, we will discuss how ongoing global issues, such as digital revolution, sustainable development and geopolitical tensions affect the internationalization process of MNEs. On the one hand, we have observed the positive impact of technological breakthroughs in ICT sectors and increasing awareness of ecological integrity and social equity on the transformation of business models of MNEs. On the other hand, we will also discuss how the ongoing geopolitical tensions reshape the global economic order and influence MNEs’ decision-making in the era of “deglobalization”.

– Thank you. And a question surely interests students a lot: how are they going to be graded?

In the final assessment, the participants will work on a case study about an European telecommunication company’s investment in the 4G/5G infrastructure in the emerging Asia. In this case, the participants will incorporate the knowledge they learn from the lectures and conclude the strategic implications for MNEs’ exploration and exploitation in the fast-evolving global business environment.