MANA 7397 - Global Leadership - Fall 09

COURSE OBJECTIVES

The primary purpose of this course is to provide students with a multifaceted view of what it takes to become a global leader. We will discuss the roles of global leaders, the competencies they need to develop, and the challenges they face.

REQUIRED READINGS

• Morgan McCall and George Hollenbeck. The lessons of international experience: Developing global executives, Harvard Business School Publishing, 2002. Available at www.amazon.com and other e-bookstores.
• Digital Casebook provided by Prentice Hall. CoursePack Title:  Global Leadership. CoursePack ID:  309472. Page Count: 194. CoursePack ISBN: 0558290426. Online-only Price: $110.60. This pricing also includes additional case supplements that will be distributed in class.

To purchase and access your online CoursePack, you will need to do the following:

• Go to: http://www.xanedu.com/login.shtml?PackId=309472
• If you have previously registered for another CoursePack, log in. If not, click the “register” link underneath the “Students” heading. Complete the registration page, and click Continue.
• Confirm your CoursePack selection, and click Continue.
• Complete your billing information, confirm and click Continue.
• After completing the purchase pages, you will be taken to your CoursePack.

If you have questions or need assistance, please call XanEdu Customer Service at 1.800.218.5971.

BLACKBOARD VISTA

Blackboard is a password-protected online course management system. In this course, the instructor will use Blackboard to:

• Upload class handouts for students to download. Case PowerPoint presentations will be uploaded every Friday after the case has been taught.
• Assign additional recommended readings.
• Post grades. Each student will view his/her individual grades.

Starting on the first day of classes, students can use their PeopleSoft ID, to log on to Blackboard Vista courses by going to http://www.uh.edu/webct and clicking the blue “Blackboard Vista” button.

A student’s initial password uses the format mmddyyx! where mmddyy is the student’s birthdate with a 2-digit year, and the letter ‘x’ is the first letter of the student’s last name in lower case. The exclamation point is part of the password and must be entered. For example, new student Joan Smith born on April 1, 1984 would have an initial password of 040184s!. User names and passwords are case sensitive. Students must change their passwords the first time they log on to Blackboard.

COURSE EVALUATION

Assignment		Points
Class Contribution		25
Group Midterm Report		20
Quiz (based on book)		15
Individual Term Papers:
	• Becoming a global leader	15
	• Global leader interview + presentation	25
Total		100 points

Grade	Points	Grade	Points
A	100-93	C+	79-77
A-	92-90	C	76-73
B+	89-87	C-	72-70
B	86-83	D	69-60
B-	82-80	F	59-  0

Class Contribution

The participation grade is based on attendance and in-class contributions. Students are not expected to have all the right answers in every case. Nor are they expected to dominate the discussion in every class. However, they are required to be prepared and contribute regularly to the classroom discussion.

The following evaluation scheme is designed to encourage participation by judging both the quality and quantity of participation. Classroom participation should demonstrate: (1) evidence of careful preparation of cases and readings; (2) clarity and conciseness of recommendations; and (3) strong and convincing analysis to support recommendations. The quality of the discussion in class will depend on how well students have prepared and how willing they are to share the results of their analysis with the class. It is not possible to get a high participation grade solely on the frequency of participation.

Excellent Performance: A

• initiates information relative to topics discussed
• accurately exhibits knowledge of assignment content
• demonstrates excellent listening by remaining on the “same page” as the rest of the class as demonstrated by comments
• brings up questions that need to be further explored
• clarifies points that others may not understand
• draws upon practical experience or personal opinion, as appropriate
• offers relevant/succinct input to class
• actively participates in classroom exercises
• demonstrates ability to apply, analyze, evaluate, and synthesize course material
• prepares all assignments on time, thoughtfully

Good Performance: B

• regularly participates in discussions
• shares relevant information
• gives feedback to classroom discussions
• consistently demonstrates knowledge of reading assignments
• demonstrates ability to analyze/apply course material
• demonstrates willingness to attempt to answer questions
• prepares most assignments on time, with some thoughtfulness

Fair Performance: C

• participates in group discussion when solicited
• demonstrates some knowledge of course material
• offers clear, concise information relative to class assignment
• offers input, but tends to reiterate the intuitive
• attends class regularly
• prepares most assignments on time with some thoughtfulness

Poor Performance: D

• occasional input, often irrelevant, unrelated to topic or fails to participate even when specifically asked (in large/small group discussion)
• reluctant to share information
• does not follow the flow of ideas
• drains energy from class goals
• behaves toward others in a disruptive fashion, for example, sarcastic comments aimed at others who are attempting to participate
• does not attend class regularly
• fails to prepare assignments on time or with thought

It is expected that you will be present and prepared for every session and share your views in the classroom discussion. I will feel free to call on any individual at any time. Since so much of the learning from a case-based course occurs in the classroom, class attendance and participation is critical. If you must miss a session it is your responsibility to (1) advise me of your absence by email, (dvera@uh.edu) and (2) arrange with your classmates for briefings, to pick-up hand-outs, etc. You should understand that frequent absence will damage your class contribution grade.

Occasionally, some students find it difficult to participate effectively in class because of language or other challenges. Please speak with the instructor if class participation is a significant concern for you.

Group Midterm Report (Take-home Case):

I will assign a case as a take-home exam. The class will be divided into groups of 5 students for the group midterm report. You will have 2 weeks to form your own groups and to give me lists of the requested members - after that time, I will form the groups.

Your group will have 1 week to analyze the case and submit one response per group. Your response must respect the following guidelines: maximum 6 pages (excluding exhibits etc.), times new roman 12-point font, and double line spacing.  The expectation of the written report is that you will put yourself in the position of the decision-maker in the case and decide what to do. No collaboration across groups is permitted for the midterm report.

Quiz:

The quiz will consist of 30 multiple-choice questions based on the material in the book. Please bring a RED scantron form and pencils to class on the day of the quiz.

Term Papers:

The term paper consists of two parts:

Part 1: Thought piece on becoming a global leader (3 pages, double space, 1-inch margins)

Consider the following scenario. A multinational company offers you a job that includes a 2-year international assignment in a European country. Write a thought piece reflecting on the global leadership capabilities that you already have and those you still need to develop. In addition, what can you do and what can your organization do to help you to become a global leader? What is your action plan for the short and long term in order to be successful in your international assignment? Additional guidelines for this assignment will be provided in Blackboard Vista.

Part 2: Global leadership interview (8-10 pages, double space, 1-inch margins):

1. Contact and interview an executive or manager with international experience. An interview protocol will be available in Blackboard Vista. The term paper needs to include the manager answers to the questions and a final section with the lessons on global leadership learned by the student by performing this interview. Please attach an appendix with the manager’s CV and contact information (not included as part of the page limit).

The term papers should be an original piece of work, written by the student for this class. Students are to work individually on the term paper. An excellent paper will: 1) meet the stated requirements; 2) be relevant to the class content; 3) be well written; 4) be well organized; 5) be free of spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors; and 6) be well referenced when applicable.

ASSUMPTIONS AND EXPECTATIONS

You are expected to be fully engaged in the entire learning process. This means devoting time and energy to preparation before class, including learning team meetings, listening to others during class discussions and engaging in class discussions. Most of the case studies we will be working on in this course are undisguised. We will be dealing with real people and the real company. This encourages engagement in the case situations and facilitates follow-up on developments subsequent to the case events. It also creates some potential disadvantages that I would like to ensure we minimize. The process of analyzing, discussing and learning from cases depends in a significant way on discovery - discovering what the real opportunities and problems in the case are as it currently stands, discovering and evaluating the possible ways of dealing with them, and discovering the lessons that can be drawn for continuing use. The value of this process is diminished if we short-circuit it by jumping ahead to find out ‘what happened’ before we have done our best to understand the case. Similarly, we lose something when someone with special knowledge of the situation does not respect the necessary process of analysis.

Unless explicit instructions are received from your instructor to the contrary, your preparation must be limited to the information provided by your instructor(s) for your segment or module, plus your own experience and that of your class peers. Class contributions should be based exclusively on your preparation and discussions with members of your group or classmates, and not augmented with information obtained anywhere else. Information related to cases that has been obtained from sources other than your instructor is not permitted to be used for class contribution purposes. Such prohibited information includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• Hand-outs, including follow-on (“B”) cases
• Exam or report feedback (related to a particular case) for other students or provided in other cohorts or years
• Notes, spreadsheets, etc. specific to cases (obtained before the case has been taught) prepared by students in other cohorts or years
• Company information that is not provided in the case (and that is not derived from your own experience)
• Teaching notes

If it is determined that such prohibited information is used in class discussions, such an incident will be deemed to be a violation of the college’s code of professional conduct.

The study questions assigned with each case and included at the end of the syllabus are designed to guide and stimulate your analysis and preparation. They are not “assignments” to be handed in. The textbook and readings assigned are your responsibility. They will not usually be covered in detail during class but will be utilized as they apply to the issues at hand. ‘Lecturettes’ may be used throughout the course to supplement the case discussion.

To assist in class participation and knowing your names, name cards will be used for each student. Except for emergency situations, please turn off all pagers and cellular phones.

Using your computer during class for personal activities such as reading/writing email, writing letters, surfing the Web, playing games, etc. is also unprofessional, distracting and counter-productive and violates our norms.

DEADLINES AND LENGTH LIMITS

If for extreme circumstances you are going to be late in submitting an assignment, you are expected to contact me. Lateness will result in a penalty in the grade for the project. The penalties are as follows:

• Minor delay (<1 week)                    -10 points
• Major delay (1 week or more)          you receive 0 points for the assignment

A similar policy is in place for projects that exceed length limits. Minor excesses (10% or less) will normally result in penalties of -5 points, and significant excesses (more than 10%) in a penalty of -10 points.

ACCOMMODATIONS FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

The C. T. Bauer College of Business would like to help students who have disabilities achieve their highest potential. To this end, in order to receive academic accommodations, students must register with the Center for Students with Disabilities (CSD) (telephone 713-743-5400), and present approved accommodation documentation to their instructors in a timely manner.

COURSE EVALUATIONS

The C.T. Bauer College of Business requires all its instructors to be evaluated by their students. The results of these evaluations are important to provide feedback to instructors on how their performance can be improved. We encourage students to provide feedback to instructors through the evaluation process.

ACADEMIC HONESTY

The University of Houston Academic Honesty Policy is strictly enforced by the C.T. Bauer College of Business. No violations of this policy will be tolerated in this course. A discussion of the policy is included in the University of Houston Student Handbook which can be found at http://www.uh.edu/dos/hdbk/acad/achonpol.html. Students are expected to be familiar with this policy.

PLAGIARISM

Students must write their reports and assignments in their own words. Whenever students take an idea, or a passage from another author, they must acknowledge their debt both by using quotation marks where appropriate and by proper referencing such as footnotes or citations. Plagiarism is a major academic offence. All required papers may be subject to submission for textual similarity review to the commercial plagiarism detection software under license to the University. All papers submitted will be included as source documents in the reference database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently submitted to the system.

TENTATIVE COURSE SCHEDULE

Date	Topic	Required readings
Aug. 27	Introduction	Chapter 1
Sept. 3	What is a global executive?	Cases: From regional star to global leader Riding the Celtic tiger The case of the floundering expatriate Chapter 2
Sept. 10	Global journeys	Case: John Meredith and Hutchinson Port Holdings Chapter 3 Deadline to form groups
Sept. 17	The lessons of international experience	Case: Kimberly-Clark Andean region: Creating a winning culture Chapter 4
Sept. 24	The lessons of international experience (cont’d)	Case: Taran Swan at Nickelodeon Latin America (A)
Oct. 1	Experiences that teach global executives	Case: Larson in Nigeria Chapter 5 Group Midterm case assigned
Oct. 8	Making sense of culture	Case: Establishing an “ECL” culture in China Chapter 6
Oct. 15	When things go wrong	Case: Joe Willis: Feeling the heat in Thailand Chapter 7 Group Midterm case due
Oct. 22	Developing global executives: The organization’s role	Case: LG group: Developing tomorrow’s global leaders Chapter 8
Oct. 29	Developing global executives: The individual’s part	Case: Frans Ryckebosch: An international Manager (A) Chapter 9 Quiz
Nov. 5	Improvisation and global leadership	Case: Honda (A) and (B)
Nov. 12	Strategy implementation and global leadership	Case: Silvio Napoli at Schindler India (A)
Nov. 19	No class	Work on individual term papers
Nov. 26	No class	Thanksgiving
Dec. 3	Interview Presentations	Individual term papers due

STUDY QUESTIONS

Minicases:

• From regional star to global leader
  1. Can Jianguo make the transition?
• Riding the Celtic tiger
  2. Should John choose country or company?
• The case of the floundering expatriate
  3. Can Frank Waterhouse help Bert Donaldson become effective in his job? Should he try?

John Meredith and Hutchinson Port Holdings

1. Identify the key elements of Meredith’s leadership style.
2. Evaluate the company’s success to date in fostering leadership throughout the organization.
3. Discuss ways in which the company could improve upon its leadership development activities.

Kimberly-Clark Andean region: Creating a winning culture

1. What did Nacach do in K-C Andean Region to change into a winning culture?
2. What should be done at K-C to keep that culture after Nacach tenure.
3. Do you think the changes at K-C Andean Region could work out of Latin America?

Taran Swan at Nickelodeon Latin America (A)

1. Describe the culture at Nickelodeon Latin America. Be specific.
2. How did Swan go about building that culture? ( Consider the interrelationships among Nickelodeon Latin American’s context, design factors, culture and outcomes.)
3. Describe Swan’s leadership style. What impact has it had on the culture?
4. What are the challenges that Swan faces at the end of the case? What actions should she take? Should she assign an interim director?

Larson in Nigeria

1. What are the three major issues (in order) confronting David Larson?
2. How would you recommend that each be handled?

Establishing an “ECL” culture in China

1. Analyze the culture-learning process at ECL.
2. Identify the cultural issues in ECL China and comment on ECL’s strategy managing cultural differences.
3. ECL China aims to speed up the development of local capabilities. What are the key success factors in the process of developing local capability?

Joe Willis: Feeling the heat in Thailand

• What issues does Willis face at Fastco?
• What actions should he (or the management team) take and why?
• Does a manager need to manage differently in different geographic locations.

LG group: Developing tomorrow’s global leaders

• As an adviser to Mr. Kim and the HR Team, would recommend more study of the issue or would you recommend moving ahead full speed?
• What are the needed chartac teristics of future global leaders within LG?
• How should high potential individuals be identified and developed within LG?
• Can the same answers be applied to both Korean and non-Korean future leaders?

Frans Ryckebosch: An international manager (A)

• What were the major challenges for Mr. Ryckebosch in the development of his international management career?
• How did Mr. Ryckebosch develop himself to be a professional international manager and manage his career?
• Should he move to Hong Kong? Why or why not?
• How did Xerox do managing its international growth/international human resources? What would you like to do differently?

Honda (A) and (B)

• Compare and contrast the two descriptions of Honda Corporation’s start-up.
• What concept of strategy is implied in each case?
• What do these cases tell us about the job of general manager?

Silvio Napoli at Schindler India (A)

• Was Silvio the right choice for general manager of Schindler’s India operations?
• As Luc Bonnard how would you evaluate Silvio’s first seven months as general manager of the Indian company? What advice would you offer?
• What advice would you give to Silvio regarding his decision on nonstandard glass wall elevator that has been ordered?
• How should he deal with the challenges he is facing over transfer prices and limited technical cooperation from the European plants?