Course Title: International Trade

Part A: Course Overview

Course Title: International Trade

Credit Points: 12.00

Terms

Course Code	Campus	Career	School	Learning Mode	Teaching Period(s)
BUSM2136	Malaysia Institute of Managemt	Postgraduate	660H Graduate School of Business and Law	Face-to-Face	Offsh 2 07
BUSM2355	City Campus	Postgraduate	660H Graduate School of Business and Law	Face-to-Face	Sem 2 2007, Sem 1 2008
BUSM4029	RMIT Vietnam Hanoi Campus	Postgraduate	660H Graduate School of Business and Law	Face-to-Face	Viet3 2009
BUSM4030	RMIT University Vietnam	Postgraduate	660H Graduate School of Business and Law	Face-to-Face	Viet2 2013

Course Coordinator: Prof Clive Morley

Course Coordinator Phone: +61 3 9925 0136

Course Coordinator Email: clive.morley@rmit.edu.au

Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities

None

Course Description

In this course you will  study both international trade, the exchange across national borders of goods, services and factors, and the impact of this trade on domestic and global economies. The significant pressures in the world economy, the proliferation of regional trade arrangements in various parts of the world, including Asia-Pacific. A special emphasis in this course is placed on trade issues in developing economies and the close relationship between direct investment and international trade.

There is a prescribed textbook that forms the key reading, but some additional reading will be required, especially for the research project.

Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development

You will acquire theoretical knowledge and some approaches and techniques in strategy development and strategic management in an international context through provision of lectures and set reading. 

By the end of this course, you will be expected to have:

• Gained a knowledge of where international trade fits in your national economy, the East-Asian region and the remaining global economy, through the review of several basic concepts in economics and international economics;
• Acquired a broad grounding in the concept of global trade and its rationale;
• Developed an understanding of the process of globalisation of production and markets, with international trade as a major component of this process;
• Gained an insight into the main trade policy instruments implemented by various governments of the world with a view to exercising their stabilisation role in the operation of their national economies;
• Acquired comprehension of recent trends in international trade in goods and services and the main reasons for such trends;
• Developed some mastery in assessing the impact of government trade policies on trade flows at national and company level;
• Gained an understanding of multilateral and regional trade arrangements, as well as the international financial framework in which small and large firms operate;
• Developed a better knowledge about the process of regional trade integration confronting developing countries, especially those located in the East Asian region;
• Acquired a deeper awareness of the direct relationship between foreign direct investment and international trade, and; 
• Developed competencies that will allow students to contribute to the formulation of appropriate trade strategies.
  
  

Overview of Learning Activities

Learning activities will include workshops, lectures, case studies and web based research.

Overview of Learning Resources

A separate reference list is included in the Course Advisory notes which will be available on the DLS prior to the first class.

Overview of Assessment

• A research project as the main piece of assessment, provides the opportunity for you to demonstrate creative solutions to an in-company problem. Other assessments will be advised.
• You are encouraged to be critical of both the theoretical aspects and application of analytical processes and techniques of the course.
• In the major project assignment, you have the responsibility for studying the current strategy and current international environment of an organisation, then assessing and selecting:
• Opportunities for internationally competitive positioning
• A suitable strategy to fulfil the identified international opportunities
• Critical implementation issues and creating strategic choices to effectively manage these.
• A series of specific recommendations for further improvement of international competitiveness.

Course Grades Available
The course uses the following RMIT grading codes to indicate the overall performance, namely:
HD High Distinction = 80-100%
DI Distinction = 70-79%
CR Credit = 60-69%
PA Pass = 50-59%
NN Fail = 0-49%