BUU44510 International Business & The Global Economy 2025/26

(10 ECTS) 

Lecturer:

Mr. Nick McIlroy

Email: mcilron@tcd.ie 
Office Hours: By appointment 

Available to Exchange Students

Module Description

This module deals with the environment in which international business decisions are made. It addresses the managerial issues arising from the international transfer of people, resources, capital and knowledge, and the critical issues that a firm and its employees encounter when engaging in international business.

Note: Some students will only attend one semester of this module (referred to hereafter as One- Term students), although the majority will attend both semesters (Two-Term students).

Learning & Teaching Approach

The entails the following learning and teaching elements:

• Two one-hour lectures each week (all students)
• Preparation and Presentation of Case Studies from the recommended textbook. These presentations will be made during the Tutorial Sessions in nominated weeks of semester one (all students, in teams)
• Researching and writing up a Case Study and Teaching Note (Two-term students only, in teams)
• Reading assigned materials in the required textbook as well as an array of other required readings (all students)
• Reviewing and absorbing the lecture materials (all students)
• Preparing for two one-hour examinations (Two-term students)
• Preparing for one one-hour examination (One-term students)

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this module, you should have attained:

• An understanding of globalization and the forces driving this
• A sensitivity to different cultural, socio-economic and legal environments encountered in the international
• An ability to formulate strategies designed to support the conduct of successful international operations in diverse
• A critical appreciation of the key factors driving international business and the global economy and that distinguish the conduct of international

Relation to Degree

This module provides an overview of the means of conducting international business, with an emphasis on what makes international business different from domestic. It considers the effects of the social systems within countries on the conduct of international business and presents the major theories explaining international business transactions and the institutions influencing those activities. The module provides an understanding of the financial exchange systems and institutions that measure and facilitate international transactions and describes the dynamic interface between countries and companies attempting to conduct international business. It addresses the overlaying international operating concerns of where to go, whether and how to collaborate with other companies and how to control the company as it expands internationally. It considers the management of and concerns about international activities that fall largely within functional disciplines. As such, the module incorporates and builds on much of the learning that students will have accumulated in their earlier courses in the social sciences and in the functional areas of Business Studies.

Workload

Recommended Texts/Key Reading

Required core course textbook: International Business: Environments and Operations by Daniels, Radebaugh, Sullivan and Click, 17th edition, Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2022 and hereinafter referred to as DRSC. This text addresses the environment of International Business and provides coverage of the basics of International Business. Earlier editions are also fine.

All course notes and many of the additional readings will be available online on the module Blackboard site.

General Supplemental Readings You are also strongly encouraged to become a regular reader of the Financial Times for its exemplary coverage of international business. Other useful sources pertinent to International Business include the business sections of the world’s main newspapers, international datasets, international consulting companies, trade associations, the world’s international institutions, and international business journals.

Course Communication

Please note that all course related email communication must be sent from your official TCD email address. Emails sent from other addresses will not be attended to.

Assessment

Biographical Notes

Nick McIlroy is a Teaching Fellow within the Trinity Business School. In addition to having several years lecturing experience as Visiting Professor at the triple-accredited ESSCA School of Management’s Shanghai campus, he has a broad range of management experience in both Public and Private sectors, practicing in a global business environment. Nick has lived and worked in East and Southeast Asia, Australia, Europe and the USA. His research and consulting interests focus on EU-Asia trade and investment relations, agribusiness, and migrant networks and entrepreneurship.  Nick is a graduate and scholar of Trinity College, and a fluent speaker of Mandarin.