Entrepreneurial innovation and international growth are two preconditions to sustained competitive advantage. Especially in small and medium economies like Austria, companies must expand beyond their national borders at a very early stage. Leveraging your competitive advantage in foreign markets requires in depth knowledge about these markets and a financial strategy that accounts for the additional risks in cross-border business. In an ever accelerating, globalizing world, companies must sustain their entrepreneurial initiatives through supportive internationalization and financial strategies. This course uses a real life example of an entrepreneurial corporate partner company to teach how to apply international strategic management in an entrepreneurial environment. Students will develop recommendations for strategic product innovation, international expansion and financing strategies. The corporate partner company will be VARTA Microbatteries, a German battery manufacturer, which seeks to expand its product line and internationalize into foreign markets.

During the course, students

• Study academic theories on International Entrepreneurship, International Business and International Finance
• Apply these theories to a real-life case company
• Learn to work on interdisciplinary tasks and business cases
• Work in teams to develop business cases for the case company
• Develop their analytical capabilities using real-company data
• Pitch their entrepreneurial and financial concepts to company representatives

Attendance is mandatory in ALL sessions.

In the Core Sessions 1 & 2, lecturers present the academic foundations of

    (1) International Business (Markets)                   
    (2) International Entrepreneurship (Products)  
    (3) International Finance (Capital)                      

Each of the three topic is covered by two competitive student groups of four students. During this period, students should work intensively with their groups to develop their business cases for the case company.

The two core sessions are followed by a group coaching session with academic supervisors Prof. Puck and Dr. Müllner.

In the Mid-term presentation session, student groups present their mid-term presentations (30 minutes) in a competitive manner. The task for the mid-term presentation is to look back, analyze and discuss Varta’s past expansions into markets (groups 1 & 2) products (groups 3 & 4) and it’s past Finance strategy and performance (groups 5 & 6). Students should apply academic concepts and theories from the corte session.

The mid-term presentation session is followed by Coaching Session II which starts with a written exam on the core sessions.

The final, Touchdown Session is held in the Montana Tech Headquarters. Six student teams present their competing business cases to academic faculty and company representatives (30 minutes). The task for the mid-term presentation is to look forward and pitch expansion strategies into potential markets (groups 1 & 2) products (groups 3 & 4) and develop a forward-looking finance strategy to support these growth projects (groups 5 & 6).

· Theory exam                                                              30 %                19.05.2020

· Mid-term presentation (group):                                  20 %                05.05.2020

· Competitive case presentation (group):                      50 %                09.06.2020

· In class contribution (bonus points)                          10 % bonus     throughout course

Jakob Müllner            e-mail:  Jakob.muellner@wu.ac.at