Maastricht University - School of Business and Economics

This course improves students’ understanding of the complexities presented by managing businesses in an international environment. It begins with a historical background of globalization and the development of institutions to support international transactions. Potential similarities and differences between countries in economic development, political and legal systems, culture, government policies on trade, and in accepting foreign investments are discussed. Differences in national monetary systems and capital markets are considered with reference to globalization and the integration of world markets. The second part of this course reviews the role of location, the strategy and organization of multinational corporations (MNCs), cross-border alliances and international mergers and acquisitions, and the formation of international knowledge networks for technology creation. The course concludes with ethical issues faced by international businesses. The course uses Hill’s 14th edition of ISE International Business: Competing in the Global Marketplace. Students also need to register on the Harvard website (www.hbr.org) and purchase assigned cases using a link included in the course manual.

Ethics is characterized by a discourse on moral values, norms and standards, and the decision-making on the basis of sound argumentation. This ethics course confronts students with ethical and responsibility dilemmas which they study, reflect on, and discuss in small groups. Students who complete this course master the core insights of business ethics theory and corporate responsibility. All participants should have a basic understanding of the functioning of organizations, management of and co-ordination within organizations, organizational ecology, co-ordination mechanisms in industries, and of economic order.

Taking the perspective of women and entrepreneurship, this course takes a different approach to the role of the individual in the entrepreneurial process.  This course acknowledges that there are differences between the way men and women go about being entrepreneurs by focusing on entrepreneurship with different gender, economic, and cultural contexts and exploring which lessons one may draw from these different contexts, both from an academic as well as from a practical perspective. Rooted in a strong academic base, the course considers entrepreneurial concepts in different contexts leading to context-rich learning and a better appreciation of diversified entrepreneurial solutions.

This course offers an intensive introduction into the field of economic psychology. After a review of basic principles of rational decision-making under uncertainty, the first part of the course gives an overview of psychological research related to judgment and decision-making. Examples include insights from psychology on how decision-makers assess probabilities and how they evaluate the outcomes resulting from their decisions. Actual patterns of judgment and decision-making are compared to basic principles of rational decision-making in order to detect systematic behavioral regularities and biases of real decision-makers. The second part of the course deals with examples of how psychological regularities influence economic decision-making in the field and the importance of these regularities for law and policy. Finally, the course gives an introduction to the field of neuroeconomics.

This course provides students with the necessary sensitivity when applying theoretical models. The traditional model of the homo economicus is ubiquitous in microeconomic theory. Economic agents are assumed to be rational utility maximizers with self-regarding preferences and unlimited processing capacities. Common sense and the results of economic experiments show that this is not always the case. Often people behave differently than predicted by theory. This course deals with the following problem statements: 1) When does microeconomic theory apply and when does it lose its predictive power? 2) If it does not apply, what concepts and models can be used to either extend or substitute the current theory to describe human behavior? Specifically, students discuss the following issues: non-expected utility theory; inter-temporal choice; social preferences; reciprocity; levels of analytical reasoning; the role of mistakes; mental accounting; heuristics; and neuroeconomics.

The course Technology Entrepreneurship offers a study of core entrepreneurial challenges of turning science into products and products into businesses. The course adopts a strongly entrepreneurial lens, meaning that the course looks at important technology commercialization activities through the eyes of a potential technology entrepreneur or investor. The course focuses on how science-based research and technological breakthroughs can be transformed into new business. The course discusses topics including the process of market opportunity identification and evaluation in the context of new technologies; the frontier of current knowledge when it comes to creating value from technological inventions and managing early-stage commercialization processes; and putting into practice the theoretical conceptualizations of the entrepreneurial opportunity identification and evaluation process.

You will explore and apply theoretical concepts of cognitive psychology to develop an understanding about what enables professionals to become top performers in their field. Throughout the course, you will develop the skill to apply theoretical concepts to(business) practice, cases, as well as to your own experiences and educational situation. This transfer will be done through modeling complex situations and formulating specific implications and recommendations. You will also learn to manage your own and others' learning with a special emphasis on feedback-seeking.

Description

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE INFORMATION ABOUT THE TEACHING AND ASSESSMENT METHOD(S) USED IN THIS COURSE IS WITH RESERVATION. A RE-EMERGENCE OF THE CORONAVIRUS AND NEW COUNTERMEASURES BY THE DUTCH GOVERNMENT MIGHT FORCE COORDINATORS TO CHANGE THE TEACHING AND ASSESSMENT METHODS USED. THE MOST UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION ABOUT THE TEACHING/ASSESSMENT METHOD(S) WILL BE AVAILABLE IN THE COURSE SYLLABUS.

When do smart people make stupid decisions? Why can't you force people to be creative? How do you become an expert at something? And why do some experts fail, make mistakes, or become overconfident in decision making? The present course analyzes and examines how people make decisions in business and everyday life. Based on insights from cognitive psychology we explore how professionals make decisions and learn in different work settings. Specifically we will study such topics as cognitive biases, creativity, learning from failure, and expertise development. The course provides a strong foundation in cognitive psychology that can contribute to your understanding in many different domains, such as (behavioral) economics, finance and marketing.

Literature

An e-reader has been compiled with introductory book chapters, academic articles and non-fiction book chapters.

Prerequisites

Students need to be interested in issues of decision-making, learning and human performance. An advanced level of English is crucial to engage in all activities in this course.