McCombs School of Business
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I B 378 International Business Operations
Department of Marketing
Please describe how students will engage in independent investigation and presentation of their own work through the course. Please explain specifically how your course engages students in the process of inquiry in your discipline.
Students engage in three team-based research projects, two of which require an oral presentation and one that requires both a written paper and oral presentation. For each of these three projects, students are required to submit a written project management document that outlines division of labor for the project. Within this context, each student is responsible for independently completing the body of work for which they are responsible and presenting it to the class (and in a written report where applicable) as part of their group. Each area of work contains research, analysis, synthesis and presentation.
What kinds of projects, artifacts, presentations, or performances do your students produce as a result of engaging in this process of inquiry?
The students have three products of their independent inquiry in the course. For one project, they present an oral presentation outlining the political, economic, cultural, and legal characteristics of a particular area of the world from the perspective of international business operations. For a second project, students present both a written paper and oral presentation analyzing a particular industry in a region of the world in great detail. For example, students might present an analysis of the automotive industry in the European Union. As their final project, students prepare an oral presentation responding to a very specific business problem centered on globalization being faced by local business. As part of their investigation, students are encouraged and provided with opportunities to interact and question actual executives from the companies being analyzed.
Please explain what independent work students will do in this course. If students are engaged in collaborative or team-based projects, explain how every student will exercise responsibility for and independence with some portion of the project.
As described in Question 1, for each team assignment, the initial requirement is that a project management document be submitted outlining a division of labor for the assignment at hand. Within this context, each student is responsible for independently completing the body of work for which they are responsible and presenting it to the class (and in a written report where applicable) as part of their group. Each area of work contains research, analysis, synthesis and presentation. This results in both individual accountability and team-based learning.
What pedagogical strategies do you use to prepare students to undertake the inquiry process in your course? If applicable, how does the work that students produce in this course build upon skills or knowledge they have developed in previous coursework?
IB 378 is the capstone course for the International Business major. As such, in order to successfully complete all assignments in this course (individual case assignments and team-based activities), students will have to draw from their business foundation and integrate past concepts from not only IB courses but also all other core business courses in Finance, Marketing, Management, etc in order to solve complex business problems. These problems range from market analysis, international trade, strategic analysis, and economic policy to organizational behavior, multiculturalism, marketing and public policy. Pedagogical strategies include research, case discussions, current events analysis, lecture, and class debates.
Please specify what percentage of the students’ grade is based on the process of inquiry described above. Note that for a 3-hour course, at least one-third of the course grade must be based on the students’ independent investigation and presentation of their own work. (Students’ independent work must constitute one-half of the grade for 2-hour courses and all of the grade for 1-hour courses.)
The three assignments described that relate that heavily rely on the process of inquiry account for 45% of a student’s final grade in the course.