Cannes, France - Course Descriptions - International Business

Course Information

Contact Hours and Credits

Availability

Full Description

• Students meet 3.5 hours/week.
• Open to students of all levels.

Objective

This course is designed as a series of workshops to familiarise participants with essential aspects of business in a European context. It follows two inter-related lines:

• The transformation of the French economic, social and business environment since 1970
• The increasing integration of the European economies

Participants discover that one can no longer consider the French economy and business separately from the European economic environment.

Detailed Program

France

• Post-war social and economic tranformation
• The role of the French State in the economy
• Politics and business
• The dilemma of the Welfare State: unemployment, health, retirement
• French business culture

Europe

• Origins and development of the EC
• Doing business in the Single Market
• Relations between the EC and GAIT, USA, Japon, 3rd World, E. Europe
• EC Institutions and relations with Governments
• R and D and staying ahead
• The European Monetary System
• Maastricht political and monetary union
• Common Agricultural Policy

French business in the European context

• Agriculture
• Auto industry
• Computing
• Aerospace
• Banking and Insurance

Lecture on a Topic of the Program

The International Business program is designed as a workshop with principal input from the course instructor. Group tasks will be assigned and short oral reports made on the group's findings.

Students will read texts in advance to help them prepare for each session. Evaluation is on the basis of a series of 2-page essays. Students are expected to participate actively in each session. There are no specific pre-requisites for the course, but participants will be expected to stay up to date with French and European business and economic news by regularly reading the business and general press.

Bibliography

There is no textbook for the course. Students will read texts in advance to help them prepare for each session. These texts are taken from “The Economist”, “International Business”, “Fortune”, “Financial Times”, EC Information services etc. Statistics, tables and charts are frequently from French sources, but translation is given where necessary.

Of particular relevance are:

• “France: The Economist Guide” (Hutchinson, London - 1992)
• “Guide to 1992” Owen R & Dynes M. (Times Books, London - 1991)
• “Fact Sheets on the European Community” (European Parliament, Luxembourg - 1992)
• “Europe” (Economist Books, London - 1992)
• “Tableau de l’économie française” (INSEE, Paris - 1993)
• “Le guide de l’Europe des 12” Boucher F & Eclikenazi J (Nathan - 1992)