Business Strategy in a Global Environment: A Capstone Project that Integrates Ethical and Cross-Cultural Considerations

Business Strategy in a Global Environment: A Capstone Project that Integrates Ethical and Cross-Cultural Considerations

Submitted by

Catherine Giapponi
Management Department
Charles F. Dolan School of Business
Fairfield University
1073 North Benson Road
Fairfield, CT. 06824 [e-mail] Carl Scheraga
Management Department
Charles F. Dolan School of Business
Fairfield University
1073 North Benson Road
Fairfield, CT. 06824 [e-mail] ABSTRACT

Undergraduate and graduate capstone courses at business schools are designed to integrate student knowledge and learning across all disciplines. Many capstone projects focus on U.S. corporations, with specific emphasis on the integration of information from the business functional areas and knowledge derived from the liberal arts core. Designing projects that challenge students to examine and wrestle with strategic decision making in the global environment can be challenging but provide rich opportunities for student learning. Many of our business students will be confronted with strategic decisions that require a critical examination of ethical considerations within the context of cross-national and cross-cultural differences.
Therefore, the development of learning opportunities that enable students to confront complex global issues and challenge their underlying assumptions about business decision making is important in developing future leaders. The purpose of this paper is to share our experiences with a business strategy capstone project that afforded the opportunity to adapt a capstone project framework to analyze a complex global decision in an undergraduate and MBA course. The projects enabled students to explore and critically analyze Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, or Cisco
System’s business strategies related to internet censorship in China.

INTRODUCTION
Teaching Business Strategy
There are significant challenges in teaching capstone business strategy

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