TEACHING PLAN FOR
•
CULTURE AND
BUSINESS IN MIDDLE
EAST & AFRICA
1. Basic description
Name of the course: Culture and Business in Middle East & Africa
Area: International business
Profile: Middle East & Africa
Academic year: 2014-2015
Term: 2nd
Degree / Course: Bachelor’s Degree in International Business and Marketing
Code: 40201
Number of credits: 4
Total number of hours committed: 100
Teaching language: English
Lecturer: Lluís Lluch
Timetable:
Mondays’ Classes:
13:00 – 15.15
Wednesdays’ Seminars: 13:00 – 13:55
Office hour: Wednesday 19:00h
2. Presentation of the course
Introduction and overview of the business environment in the Africa & Middle East
region. Students will learn about the opportunities in the African markets,
mechanisms of introduction of products and services, business management models
following the cultural particularities of this countries, and experiences from
international companies and International Area Managers in doing business in these
markets considering all business aspects (marketing, finance, legal, logistics and
operations). Some of the key aspects that will be discussed in class include
 To recognize how cross-cultural differences affect and impact on the ways of
doing business in Africa & Middle East.
 Have a general understanding of the importance of history and religion have
on the everyday lives of the people and how this affects the way business is
conducted.
 Have gained specific knowledge and some specific skills, the course should
enable the students to avoid the pitfalls that usually plague cross-cultural
relationships in the business world.
 To understand that the ways and means of doing business in Africa & Middle
East are fundamentally different from Western concepts.
 Due to case method learning, the course will enable students to be better
prepared for life in the international business environment.
 Demonstrate, through written work and class practice discussions, an
understanding of key issues in the African business environment.
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
Understand the effect of culture on business management and practice, the
difficulties associated with overcoming the assumptions of one's native
culture when operating in a different culture, and the skills that are required
to overcome those assumptions and conduct business effectively in another
culture
2
3. Competences to be achieved in the course
General competences
Instrumental competences
G.I.1. Ability to search, analyse, assess
and summarise information.
G.I.2. Ability to relate concepts and
knowledge from different areas.
General personal competences
G.P.1. Ability to adapt, lead and work in
a
group
that
is
multicultural,
interdisciplinary, competitive, changing
and complex in nature.
Generic systemic competences
G.S.2. Ability to observe.
G.S.7. Promotion of and respect toward
multicultural values: respect, equality,
solidarity, and commitment.
Specific competences
Disciplinary competences
E.D.2. Recognise and asses the duties of
international economic institutions and
their impact on business activity.
E.D.3. Understand and recognise the
geopolitical,
social
and
cultural
dimension of a wide range of economic
activities.
E.D.4. Provide an economic and political
perspective of different areas in the
world
and
facilitate
a
critical
comprehension
of
their
current
processes.
E.D.5. Identify the economic, cultural,
political,
legal,
democratic
and
technological environments that may
represent opportunities and threats for
the development of business at a
worldwide level.
Professional competences
E.P.13. Improvement of communication
and negotiation skills, both oral and
written.
E.P.16. Adapt the communication style
to different audiences, understand
cultural differences in communication
and convey multicultural abilities.
E.P.20.
Ability
to
confront
and
understand the business culture and
environment and propose real solutions
to specific problems in the organisation.
The above competences interrelate with the basic competences set out in Royal
Decree 1393/2007, namely:
a. competence to comprehend knowledge, on the basis of general secondary
education
b. competence to apply knowledge to day-to-day work in international
management or marketing, in particular, ability to develop and defend arguments
and to solve problems
c. competence to gather and interpret relevant data, enabling the development
of critical judgements on the economic and social reality
d. competence to communicate and transmit information (ideas, problems,
solutions) to a specialised and non-specialised public
e. competence to develop learning activities in a relatively autonomous manner.
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In order to establish a correspondence between the basic competences and those
developed in the degree, these are grouped according to two criteria. Thus, the
competences developed in the subject are structured into those that are seen as a
development or specification of basic competences and those that define the
professional profile of the graduate, with respect to general and specific
competences.
Basic competence: understanding of knowledge
I. General competences G.S.2
II. Specific competences E.D.3
Basic competence: application of knowledge
I. General competences G.I.2
II. Specific competences E.D.5
Basic competence: gather and interpret data
I. General competences G.I.1
Basic competence: communicate and transmit information
II. Specific competences E.P.13, E.P.16
Competences that define the professional profile which are not included under basic
competences
In general, these competences combine the following key elements
professionalising students in the area of international business and marketing:
for
- provide students with the capacity to adapt to dynamic teams and environments
- provide students with the capacity to create their own integral vision of the
operation of a business or international marketing project
- provide students with the capacity to take complex decisions and carry out
negotiation processes
I. General competences G.P.1, G.S.7
II. Specific competences E.D.2, E.D.4, E.P.20
Own competences of the subject
Capacity for adapting to and to empathise with a business environment operating in
Africa & Middle East, including adapting the business strategy to the cultural,
institutional, and economical particularities of this region.
4. Contents
Understanding society, geopolitics and culture and how to adapt to those with
specific elements of economic and business organisation.
This course is designed to provide an understanding of business in an African
context..
Students use management, economy and business knowledges acquired from prior
courses, coupled with basic strategic management techniques, to chart the future
direction of different organizations and markets in Africa. The major responsibility
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of students in this course to justify and identify differences in doing business in
Africa with respect to the students’ home countries. As well the student should
know how to adapt the home country business model to be competitive and
succesfull in the objective markets.
• Introduction to International Business and Culture
• The New International Economic Order.
• Country Analysis Frameworks
• Africa & Middle East Cultural Particularities
• Culture and Negotiations in Sub-Saharan Africa
• Market Entry Strategy in Africa & Middle East
• Effects of the rise of China in Sub-Saharan Africa
• Consumer profile
• South African, Morocco, UAE, Nigeria Markets
• Sub-Saharan Africa Products, Services and Companies.
Teaching and Learning
The lecturer on each topic of this course will present lectures in ppt slides and
videos during first part of the class. Lectures: will be taught knowledge and skills of
Africa & Middle business, raising common situations in the intercultural business
environment and first person experiences of negotiation and business development
in the region.
Each team will present the case during second part of the class.
All students are expected to read and study the assigned cases and technical notes
according to the schedule in this syllabus.
A great emphasis is placed on the interaction between theoretical and practical
aspects of strategic human resource management and development. The case
method is used to sharpen analytical skills and team problem-solving abilities.
Experiences and cases from different situations will be shared and developed
through classroom and seminars discussions. Students are expected to participate
in the class and seminars activities. The lecturer, in terms of preparation for
discussions of cases and technical notes, presentation skills and participation, will
evaluate the contribution.
5. Assessment
Assessment
elements
Case
presentation
Case debate
Group
Project
assignment
Time
period
Each
team
once in
the
course
Weekly
in each
Seminar
y
Session
On
going
Type
of
assessment
Assessment agent
Compul.
Lectur
er
O
pt
Selfassess
Type of
activity
Coasses
s
Grouping
Weigh
t (%)
Indiv
Grou
p (#)
X
X
X
Applicat
ionbased
X
X
X
Applicat
ionbased
X
X
X
Applicat
ionbased
and
synthes
X
20 %
15 %
X
25 %
5
is
Final exam
(needed
minimum 5
points over
10)
Week
(4th to
the 8th
of
March)
X
X
Synthe
sis
X
40 %
Case Presentation:
First session 8 teams will be appointed. The team members will work together in
both, Case Presentation and Course Assignment.
The oral presentations will be graded on content, delivery and implementation of
tools learned during the course. Case presentation evaluation will be provided after
the last team delivers their presentation.
Team will be evaluated in accordance with the case presentation is interesting,
lively, special, upbeat, mature, clear, and practical. Any tool can be used to make
your oral presentation as interesting and informative as possible.
Speakers will be evaluated in accordance with the knowledge on the issues under
discussion, its capacity to answer the questions from the classmates and teacher,
the oral capabilities, and for not reading during the presentation. Do no read
directly any part of the presentation, as it will affect very negatively the grade.
All members of the team will speak during the case presentation.
During each case presentation, the class will ask the presenting team questions,
solicit further explanation of any unclear parts of the presentation, point out any
mistakes in the analyses presented.
Case debate Seminars:
After Team Case presentation, lecturer will place some assignment questions for
the Seminar.
This part of the grade will reflect the individual contributions to seminar
discussions. It will largely be based on the knowledge and understanding of the
course material that you will display during these discussions and the ability to
apply them meaningfully to contribute to the seminar discussions. Class attendance
is a necessary, although not a sufficient, condition for class participation.
Everyone needs to attend class and to participate in these class discussions.
Course assignment:
In the second session, the 8 projects will be assigned to each of the groups in class.
In the last session teams will present their work and findings to the class for up to 15
minutes. The team will deliver the document and presentation to the lecturer in hard
copy and mail. The works wont be longer than 4 DIN4
Final exam:
The final examination is a necessary condition to obtain a quantitative rating of the
course. Failure to attend the final exam, the student will be rated as "not
submitted".
The minimum grade on the final exam in order to consider the other elements that
make up the qualification of the subject will be 5.0 points. Failure to achieve this
minimum score on the final exam, the course mark will be only the final exam.
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Extraordinary final exam:
Students who have failed the course will be admitted to a retake of the final exam. In this
case, the grades of the application-based activities (case presentation, case debate and
course assignment) earned during the term are preserved, and the retake concerns
exclusively the final exam. Therefore the overall grade will result from:
Preserved grades for application-based activities
New grade: Retaken Final Exam
60 %
40 %
6. Bibliography and teaching resources
Basic bibliography: Africa Rises: How 900 Million African Consumers Offer More Than You
Think. Author: Vijay Mahajan. Pearson Prentice Hall (http://www.amazon.com/Africa-Rising-MillionAfrican-Consumers/dp/0132339420)
Business
Model
Generation
Osterwalder & Yves Pigneur
(http://www.businessmodelgeneration.com/book)
Authors:
Alex
Teaching resources: Technical notes and cases will be poste on Moodle before the class in
which they are due, including documents from IESE, Harvard Business Review, The
Economist, Harvard Business School, Local Journals from Africa & Middle East
7. Methodology
Face-to-face (in the classroom)
Directed (outside the classroom)
Independent (outside the classroom)
All students are expected to actively participate in seminar and class discussions. It is
expected that students will have completed the assigned cases in advance since it will
provide a foundation for the discussion in “class and seminars”.
Teaching lessons
Course learning combine core information supported by technical notes and practical cases.
Previously to every lesson, the students will be invited to prepare the cases detailed for each
class.
In the lessons the teacher will focus on explaining the contents and competences of the
course, even if in a practical way.
The teacher will then answer the doubts that the students may still have about the lesson
material.
From the second session every team will prepare a full case presentation with an index
proposed by the teacher at the before class.
After class, students will work intensively in Technical notes and case assignments for
Fridays´ Seminars.
Seminars
Seminars based on method case discussions enriching the basic contents.
The students will be invited by the teacher to further analyse the last topic contents with
specific technical notes, which will be useful to prepare the seminars.
The students will work combining topics and cases preparation, to be able to answer and
propose solutions to the case assignments.
8. Scheduling activities
Allocation of hours between theory and practical lessons:
2 h of lecture and 1 h of seminar (beginning in the second week of class)
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Scheduling activities under the curriculum, from:
In the classroom: Lecture classes, Seminars, Face-to-face tutorials, “Regulated” practical
classes (lab…)
Outside the classroom: Group work, Individual work (reports, exercises…), Independent
study
Week
Topics
Activity in the classroom
Grouping/type of activity
1
The New
International
Economic
Order. Africa
And Middle East
12-01-2015
Course presentation,
organization,
teams
Wednesay1s Seminars
Activity outside the classroom
Grouping/type of activity
1 hour.
Article Debate: Cracking
the Next growth Market:
Africa
Reading of materials regarding
the subject matter, such as the
most important:
3 hours
Case preparation 3 hours
Lecture, questions & answers:
What I expect from students
What students can expect
from me
Topic:
order.
The
new
economic
2 hours
2
Africa and
Middle East
Political &
economic
structures.
19-1-2015
2h hour of specific topic
activities: lecture, questions &
answers.
1 hour.
Case
debate:
Kencat:
Selling Wine in East Africa
15min. Preparation of case
3
4
Country
Analysis
Frameworks –
Building
Up
Innovative
Business Model
to Access every
Country.
The base of the
Pyramid
in
Africa, meeting
the challenge.
Cultural
particularities
and business
style in Africa
26-01-2015
2 hour of specific topic:
lecture, questions & answers.
15min
minutes
Team
1
presentation Case: KENCAT
Case: How to adapt the
framework
of
a
Catalan
product
to
the
cultural
framework of East Africa
Topic Summary: 15 minutes
1 hour.
Article debate: Profits at
the bottom of the Pyramid
Reading of materials regarding
the subject matter, such as the
most important:
3 hours
Case preparation 3 hours
(Team 1, Case Presentation: 7
hours)
09-02-2015
2 hour of specific topic
activities: lecture, questions &
answers.
1 hour.
Case Debate: Danimal in
South Africa: Management
Innovation at the Bottom
of the pyramid
Reading of materials regarding
the subject matter, such as the
most important:
3 hours
Case preparation 3 hours
(Team 3, Case Presentation: 7
hours)
1 hour.
Case: INDITEX & MANGO
How fashion adapts to the
cultural particularities of
Middle East
Reading of materials regarding
the subject matter, such as the
most important:
3 hours
Case preparation 1 hour
(Team 2, Case Presentation: 7
hours)
15min. Preparation of case
5
Cultural
particularities
and business
style in Middle
East
02-02-2015
2 hour of specific topic
activities: lecture, questions &
answers.
15min. Preparation of case
8
Market Entry
Strategy in
Africa & Middle
East
16-02-2015
2 hour of specific topic
activities: lecture, questions &
answers.
15min. Preparation of case
Effects of the
rise of China in
Sub-Saharan
Africa.
23-02-2015
2 hour of specific topic
activities: lecture, questions &
answers.
Europe and
USA, new
approach in
Africa
15min. Preparation of case
Consumer
profile
02-03-2015
2h hour of specific topic
activities: lecture, questions &
answers.
6
7
8
1 hour.
Case
Debate:
Gallina
Blanca – Star Africa –
Successful Introduction of
Gallina Blanca in West
Africa
1 hour
Case Debate: China in
Africa – The Case of Sudan
16-11-2012
Class Debate: The rise of
the African consumer
15min. Preparation of case
9
South African,
Morocco, UAE,
Nigeria Markets.
09-03-2015
2h hour of specific topic:
lecture, questions & answers.
15min. Preparation of case
10
Project:
Innovation
products for
African
markets.
16-03-2015
Innovation project for Africa.
Development of the project in
class. Selection of products.
1hour.
Case
Debate:
Inditex:
Outsourcing in Tanger
Reading of materials regarding
the subject matter, such as the
most important:
3 hours
Case preparation 3 hours
(Team 4, Case Presentation: 7
hours)
Reading of materials regarding
the subject matter, such as the
most important:
3 hours
Case preparation 1 hours
(Team 5, Case Presentation: 7
hours)
Reading of materials regarding
the subject matter, such as the
most important:
3 hours
Case preparation 3 hours
(Team 7, Case Presentation: 7
hours)
Reading of materials regarding
the subject matter, such as the
most important:
3 hours
Case preparation 3 hours
(Team 8, Case Presentation: 7
hours)
Team Course Assignment:
hours (during the course)
Case preparation 2 hours
10
The project must be delivered by
groups: 30/3
Week
final
exams
9