Online forums will be conducted during the Semester.

These are analogous to tutorials in a traditional course.

You are required to participate actively in these, and your contributions will be assessed.

A. CASE STUDY FORUM:

Students must read every case study and make a post expressing your opinion, connecting current discussions by other students, relating to concepts learned in the video lectures, readings, your work experience or material from the case study. There is no word limit for the post. For each case study the forum will only be open for 2 weeks, which means that the forum for the first case study will close end of week 3 .

B. EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISE FORUM:

These are comprised of application tasks and reflective activities. Reflective tasks are exercises designed to encourage reflection on Unit topics and associated readings.  Each lecture will have one experiential exercise, and one video reflective task. Students must read these and post their perspectives in these forums. A rubric for online presentation is used to mark online participation which can be seen on iLearn. Each of these forums will close after 3 weeks .

LATE SUBMISSIONS

No extensions will be granted.

Students who have not submitted the task prior to the deadline will be awarded a mark of 0 for the task, except for cases in which an application for special consideration is made and approved. 

Weekly (Case Analysis- Group work)

Every week nominated student groups will submit the case analysis through Turnitin.

The case analysis should address the following:

A. Introduction

A brief of the case environment, company, industry, country, culture and case problem

B. Body

Should include the following sections: Identification of major stakeholders and their problems, objectives and concern, recommended solutions, managerial implications.

C. Conclusion

Briefly summarize the essential complexities posed in this case and the practical implications and lessons learned.

D. Case question

Every case will have questions at the end which will serve as a direction to analyse the case. You do not have to answer these questions. 

Detailed marking rubrics can be seen on iLearn and a document titled "How to analyse a case study" will provide further guidance.

This is a group activity and one student from the group will upload their case analysis though Turnitin as stated below.

SUBMISSION PROCEDURE (Group)

Students are required to submit an electronic copy of their assessment to Turnitin via the Internet as part of the submission process for assignments. Your assignment will then be automatically compared to work of your classmates, previous students from Macquarie and other universities, with material available on the Internet, both freely available and subscription-based electronic journals. Before submission, name your electronic file in a Word document with your surname and student number, e.g., Smith20101309. Please make sure that only one member of your group submits the report to Turnitin for plagiarism check. The word doc will then have his/her surname and student number.

LATE SUBMISSIONS

No extensions will be granted.

Students who have not submitted the task prior to the deadline will be awarded a mark of 0 for the task, except for cases in which an application for special consideration is made and approved.

THE EU CULTURE

Britain may be in the front line of the Euro crisis, but it is not the only country affected.

The Euro zone is a massive market for businesses from the United States, China, India, Japan, Russia and the other major world economic powers. China has considered lending money to Europe, they are that concerned that the Euro may collapse. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which was set up to help countries in economic difficulty, set aside hundreds of billions of dollars for a bailout of some of the Euro zone countries. The wider world is so keen to see the Euro survive -even if that means it has fewer members- for the following reasons:

To preserve the Euro zone’s massive consumer market. A staggering 322 million Europeans use the Euro every day. It’s the currency of seventeen nations. Besides daily activities, these people use the Euro to buy goods and services from overseas - if there was a collapse in its value, and then they would be less able to buy imports.

To prevent a global recession. A collapse of the Euro or a situation where some European governments would be unable to repay their debt would have a huge, negative impact on the world economy. It would resemble the financial crisis of 2007 and 2008 (in truth, it could be much worse than that). At the very least, businesses around the globe would think twice about investing and taking on new staff while others might start to trim their operations and cut jobs. A global economic recession would be highly likely.

To protect the world financial system. Banks around the globe have invested in the government debt of Euro zone countries. These banks also hold large amounts of Euros. If the current crisis gets much worse, then the government debt and currency that they hold will fall in value, which could undermine their own financial wellbeing. It could be like the 2007 and 2008 financial crash all over again, with the global banking system under threat. This would be bad news for everyone.

It’s not just the 322 million people in the Euro zone which depend on their currency - there are 150 million people in African countries whose currencies are pegged to value the Euro. If the Euro zone fragments and the value of the Euro collapses, these African countries will see the value of currency collapse too.

Against a backdrop of ongoing Euro zone volatility, companies are continuing to review their exposures in Europe, including the nature and extent of their Euro-related contracts, and are asking what measures they can put in place to protect their assets and limit cash flow threats. This uncertainty has affected business confidence in different ways in nations across the world. Please read the following extracts and papers in the context of the task outlined below:

http://www.pwc.com/us/en/issues/eurozone-business-impact/index.jhtml

http://www.economist.com/node/2156423

http://www.internationalbusinessreport.com/2012/eurozone_impact.asphttp://ijbssnet.com/journals/Vol_3_No_9_May_2012/28.pdf

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/obrien-browne/a-different-take-on-the-e_b_1212418.html

http://www.cresc.ac.uk/publications/deep-stall-the-euro-zone-crisis-banking-reform-and-politics

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/wealth/greek-default-crisis-is-all-about-cultural-differences-in-the-eurozone/story-e6frgac6-1226144883522?nk=cf03e3e1d001f23c28dfa397616fecfd

http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/audit-services/publications/eurozone-crisis-impact.jhtml

YOUR TASK:

You are a consultant tasked with a submission developing a comprehensive analysis of the impact of the Euro crisis on "THE WORLD" in general and "AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS" in particular to assist them with their strategy in the Euro zone. Whilst doing this your focus will be on the "CULTURE" of the European country you select and you will analyse the situation based on the cultural dimensions and cultural theories that you study in class.

Your report should encompass all risks: Political, Cultural, Social, Legal, Economic and provide advice on their impact to Australia business operating in EU. Please note you can select any country of your choice in the EU. In particular you are required to critique, analyse and assess the following four issues with CULTURE as a basis:

i. Global impact of Euro crisis on businesses and industries in EU, Australia and the World.

ii. Country (EU country of your choice) specific economic, political, legal, cultural, social and cultural characteristics and history

iii. Possible implications and contingency planning for Australian business

iv. Role of culture in the EURO crisis

WORD LIMIT

2500 words +/- 10%, including references.

GUIDELINES FOR WRITTEN ASSESSMENTS

All assignments submitted for assessment must adhere to the following standards

1. Cover Page

For each of the assignment, you must use a cover (or title) page that provides the following information:

(a) Your full name and student number;

(b) Contact details: email address;

(c) Unit code and name

(d) Assignment number and assignment title;

2. Presentation of Assignments

Assignments should meet normal academic and professional standards of presentation, including:

(a) All pages, excluding the cover page, should be numbered;

(b) Page margins should be at least 2.5 cm on all four edges and 1.5 line spaced;

(c) Times New Roman font type and font size of 12 points should be used.

(d) Harvard referencing system should be used.

3. Submission Procedure (Individual)

Students are required to submit an electronic copy of their assessment to Turnitin via the Internet as part of the submission process for assignments. Your assignment will then be automatically compared to work of your classmates, previous students from Macquarie and other universities, with material available on the Internet, both freely available and subscription-based electronic journals. Before submission, name your electronic file in a Word document with your surname and student number, e.g., Smith20101309.

4. Late Submissions

No extensions will be granted. Students who have not submitted the task prior to the deadline will be awarded a mark of 0 for the task, except for cases in which an application for special consideration is made and approved. All assessments are mandatory.

Detailed marking rubrics can be seen on iLearn.

The final exam will be an open-book online exam.

You will have 3 hours to complete.

All chapters from the textbook are assessable.

There are two sections:

A. 1 Case Study (marks 10)

B. Essay Questions (marks 30)

Essay questions will include:

·     experiential application questions

·     questions from lecture topics

A sample exam can be found on iLearn.