Asian Business Environment

1 Name of Course/Module: Asian Business Environment

Course Code: MGT502

Name(s) of academic staff:

Rationale for the inclusion of the course/module in the programme In examining Japans long-term (one to two centuries), middle-term (since World War II), and short-term (a decade) economic development and income distribution, analyse (1) U.S.- Japanese productivity growth differentials, (2) Japans industrial, services, and agricultural sectors, (3) Japanese economic institutions, (4) the role of government in Japanese development, (5) foreign trade and investment in Japan, especially its bilateral economic relationships with the United States, and (6) the applicability of Japan's strategies to other economies.

Semester and Year offered: Semester 3. Year 1

Total Student Learning Time (SLT)

Face to Face

Total Guided and Independent Learning

L = Lecture T = Tutorial P = Practical O= Others

L 40

T 20

P 20

O 80

160

Credit Value: 4

Prerequisite (if any)

Objectives The main goal of the course is to understand Japans rapid economic growth since 1868 and from World War II to the 1990s; the collapse in Japans economic growth during the 1990s; the potential revival of growth during the early 21st century; and strategies for economic reform. The module emphasizes the reasons for Japans earlier economic development success never the less stresses that the protectionism and industrial policies that contributed to success during catch-up from 1945 to 1990 no longer worked in the 1990s when Japan was a mature economy. Students will argue that, although these policies increased the gap between Japan and the United States in 2000, Japan will successfully reform during the early years of the 21st century; hence forth the turn of the economy will remain in the hands of monetary planning.

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Learning outcomes The goal of the course is to provide an overview of Japans primary business institutions and practices, with a focus on high tech industries. It covers basic business institutions such as the banking system, industrial groups, corporate governance systems, and government - business relations, showing how they differ from that of other countries.

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Transferable Skills: Technical Project Management Communication Research

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Teaching - learning and assessment strategy Coursework Project Lecture Tutorials Research Dissertation

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Synopsis Business in the modern sense of the word was introduced into Japan in the second half of the nineteenth century. However, by the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Japanese thinkers had already developed a variety of interesting approaches to issues such as the causes of inflation, the value of trade, and the role of the state in economic activity. Later, Western economic ideas were grafted onto these roots to provide the basis of debate between Marxist and neoclassical economists in early twentieth - century Japan.

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Mode of Delivery Lecture, Tutorial, Workshop and Seminar.

Assessment Methods and Types Components One Assignment Final Total Marks 50 50 100

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Mapping of the course/module to the Programme Aims Develop a basic knowledge of modern Japanese history Understand contemporary Japanese political economy Understand the main sources of Japanese economic success and weakness Compare Japanese capitalism to that of other nations Develop a rudimentary appreciation of Japanese language and culture

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Mapping of the course/module to the Programme Learning Outcomes The course introduces basic technology concepts such as network externalities, dominant standards, and increasing returns to help explain Japanese corporations ability to compete in some industries better than in others. The course aims to help the student understand how Japan changed from a nation with relatively high growth rates and many internationally competitive industries up through the 1980s to one with low growth rates and lacklustre competitiveness since the 1990s. The broadest objective of the course is to provide the student with important background on the business system of the worlds second largest economy and to encourage critical writing and thinking skills developed through lectures, discussions, a paper, and examinations.

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Content outline of the course/module and the SLT per topic Refer to the Lecture Plan

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Main references supporting the course Japanese Investment in the World Economy: A Study of Strategic Themes in the Internationalisation of Japanese Industry (New Horizons in International Business) by Roger Farrell (2008). Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing Globalizing Japan: Ethnography of the Japanese Presence in Asia, Europe, and America by Sylvie Guichard Anguis (2007). Publisher: Taylor & Francis

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Other additional information Students will be given notes.

Lecture Plan

No

Subject Description Introduction to the Course History: Japans Economic Bumpy Road to Revival The Incredible Shrinking Japan Overcoming the Dual Economy

Lecture

On Campus Tutorials Practical

Independent Student Learning Practical Tutorials Total

Principles of Marketing This provides an introduction to the theory and practice of marketing. Students are familiarised with key concepts and issues of marketing, giving them a thorough grasp of marketing decisions and what factors affect them.

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The Incredible Shrinking Japan Overcoming the Dual Economy What are the chief elements of what de Vries calls "the age of crisis"? What evidence points to a decline or consolidation of the peasant agricultural economy?

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Japanese comparative data Monetary Magic Bullets Are Blank Japan Cannot Export Its Way Out Understanding the Japanese Economy What is 'proto-industry' and did it create a new class?

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The Linchpin of Reform Imports: Not Enough Competitors Foreign Direct Investment 1. The Firms costs Factors of production; cost curves; short run versus long run; economies of scale 2. Production and the competitive

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equilibrium Competitive supply; entry, exit and market supply; extending the model; factor demand; General equilibrium model; competitive equilibrium and further reflections on economic efficiency.

The Labours of Sisyphus Growth Superstar to Laggard The Banking Crisis

Economic

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Does de Vries think that mercantilism played an important role in the success of particular national economies? The budget constraint; indifference curves; utility; deriving demand curves from individual behaviour. Labour supply and savings: a further application of consumer theory The work decision; the savings decision; human capital; wage differentials; more on the indifference curve.

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1. Exchange and the case for the free market Pareto optimality; the invisible hand; markets as generators of the common good; Exchange and the Edgeworth Box; more on indifference curves 7 2. The Economic case for government Market failure: externalities; public goods; missing markets. Government Failure Incentives and the efficiency of government; public choice; politicians as economic agents; democracy, bureaucracy and the voting paradox. 4 2 2 0 8 16

Sushi as a Business Financial Integration: The Iceberg Cracks What is Structural Reform? Japans Agricultural Economy Why trade and urbanization dynamic economic forces and what are is the relationship between European and international trade?

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The United States is Not Japan How the United States Can Help? Japanese Currency and Economy Why did Britain rather than the Dutch Republic have the first industrial revolution?

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Deregulation and State Enterprises: The Momentum Is Clear, the Destination is Not Managing 2 Household and business manager Human resource management Changing role of management Monitoring the business Financial Reform: Big Bang Versus Financial Socialism Reform: No Competitiveness Not Enough Competition Even Less Policy

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