Master 2020/2021

Research Seminar "Global Challenges for International Business"

Type: Compulsory course (Master in International Business)

Area of studies: Management

Delivered by: Department of Management

Where: St.Petersburg School of Economics and Management

When: 1 year, 1-4 module

Mode of studies: offline

Instructors: Jasenko Ljubica, Dmitrii Trubnikov

Master’s programme: International Business

Language: English

ECTS credits: 6

Contact hours: 48

Course Syllabus

Abstract

This module aims at providing students with knowledge, practical skills and experience to conduct both applied and fundamental research with a substantial emphasis on quantitative studies in business. The module aims to enable students to carry out their individual projects as well as contribute to collective research. The Research seminar covers the most relevant issues of a research process that might be valuable for students. The key idea of the course is to provide insights into philosophy and basics of pure academic as well as applied studies in management and economics. The module is designed to provide students with knowledge, skills, positive values and competencies to solve nontrivial problems and creative tasks in the frame of business studies.

Learning Objectives

• to be able to conduct a critical analysis of a relevant literature
• to know how to design a research: identify a research problem and question, set clear research purpose, put forward hypotheses
• to choose appropriate research methods, collect and analyze data
• to obtain an empirical evidence and evaluate critically results
• to draw conclusions, provide discussion of the research results

Expected Learning Outcomes

• understand the process of publication of research results
• able to use reference management systems
• know specificity of working with LaTeX
• be able to distinguish between “good journals” and “predatory journals”
• know the main academic journals in the research field
• know the main types and methods of literature review
• able to identify strengths and weaknesses in academic reasoning
• know the main trends in international business studies
• familiar with the mainstream topics in the international business area
• know how to implement modern methodological approaches
• can formulate clear and comprehensible research questions
• able to write an effective research plan
• able to develop a prospectus for future master’s thesis

Course Contents

• Research essentials
  academic journals and academic competition, citation databases, peer review and publication, research dissemination, academic conferences, open access and copyright, reference management systems, open source and LaTeX
• Working with literature
  primary and secondary sources, types of literature reviews, writing a review article, systematic reviews, meta-analysis
• State of the Art in International Business research
  main trends in international business studies, interdisciplinary research, contemporary methodological approaches
• Research methods in business studies
  methodological differences, quantitative vs. qualitative, from methods to conclusions, avoiding common mistakes

Assessment Elements

• In class participation 1 Module
• In class participation 2 Module
• In class participation 3 Module
• In class participation 4 Module
• Exam

Interim Assessment

• Interim assessment (4 module)
  0.2 * Exam + 0.2 * In class participation 1 Module + 0.2 * In class participation 2 Module + 0.2 * In class participation 3 Module + 0.2 * In class participation 4 Module

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

• O’Gorman, K., & MacIntosh, R. (2015). Research Methods for Business and Management : A Guide to Writing Your Dissertation (Vol. Second edition). Oxford, England: Goodfellow Publishers. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=2229969

Recommended Additional Bibliography

• HU, C.-P., & CHANG, Y.-Y. (2017). John W. Creswell, Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.BCEBF1CE
• Kottwitz, S. (2011). LaTeX Beginner’s Guide. Packt Publishing.
• Snyder, H. (2019). Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.07.039