LAS460 International Business and East Asia

Spring Semester 2025/26

15 credits

Module Organiser: Dr. Christina Maags (c.maags@sheffield.ac.uk)

Overview

International Business and East Asia comparatively examines East Asian national markets and the regionalization and internationalization of East Asian businesses. The course is based on the premise that to understand international business in East Asia, one needs to obtain an understanding of each national market (including the nature of the firm, its structure and strategy), before analyzing regional production networks and trade relations and their impact on the global economy. In doing so, the module aims to encourage students to reflect more deeply and critically on their own understanding of the globalization of East Asian business

Topics Covered in the context of East Asia countries

• East Asian economies and their national competitiveness

• East Asian Firms: Types, Structures and Strategies

• Internationalization of East Asian firms

• Contemporary trade relations between East Asia countries

• Trade with East Asia countries

Skills Development

On successful completion of this module, you will be able to demonstrate:

• Knowledge and understanding – A critical understanding for the institutional and cultural embeddedness of trade practices and FDI from East Asia.

• Critical thinking – The ability to work across disciplines when describing and analyzing complex theoretical and empirical perspectives on East Asian trade and FDI;

• Independent learning – The ability to gather information and evaluate a range of source material on discussions in class and in individual presentation for the topic selected;

• Communication skills – The ability to express your ideas on trade and FDI issues critically in seminar discussions and in individual presentation.

Study Hours

The University recommends that you spend 150 hours working on a 15-credit module. This will include:

• Lectures 1 hour/week

• Seminars 1 hour/week

• Independent study 126 hours (about 10.5 hours/week for 12 weeks)

• Essay and Exam preparation 54 hours