Assignments:
1. Read and study the required textbooks and come to classroom sessions ready to discuss different aspects of international business management topics.
2. Observe and analyze Turkish management practices in different industrial settings.
3. Interview and interact with Turkish/Expatriate managers of Turkish and foreign firms doing business in Turkey.
4. Write four, two-page reflection papers.
Graduate (C566) Assignment
(This is a team assignment)
At the beginning of the course, teams of four or five students each will be formed. Each team comprising graduate students will be required to write a research paper of up to 20-25 pages. The research paper will consist of two parts: in the first paper each team will research Turkey's macro business environment: the cultural-social, political-legal, economic environments, government fiscal and monetary policies, and the foreign direct investment environment in Turkey. Each team will then select a specific industry in Turkey on which the research findings will be applied, and thus determining whether that selected industry is investment worthy. Teams will carry out a major part of the data collection for the research paper during the trip. (More details are given in the last two pages of the syllabus.) They will finalize the paper when they return and are required to submit their paper before the end of the semester.
Undergraduate (D496) Assignment
(This is an individual assignment)
Write a four-page, double-spaced, research paper on one of the following topics. The research paper should have at least four non-web based scholarly references (the first listed book above can be one of the references). You may include as many web-based reference works as you deem necessary. You should also include at least one topical interview with a Turkish person. Whichever topic you choose for your research paper, it is essential that you analyze the implications the topic has for doing business in Turkey. Here are the topics:
a. Turkish Accession into the EU. Turkey has been trying to become a member of the EU (EC, European Common Market, etc.) since the 1960's. Only recently has the EU opened accession negotiations with Turkey and there is no guarantee that Turkey would be admitted as a full member of the EU any time soon. (Read: Hill, "Islamic Capitalism in Turkey," p. 115.) In contrast, countries like Bulgaria, Romania, and Cyprus were a virtual shoe-in when they applied soon after the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe. What does the EU have against Turkish membership and what implications that does the issue have for doing business in Turkey?
b. The New Turkish Policy of Turning Back to the East. Perhaps because of frustrations at the slow pace of EU accession, for the last five or so years, Turkey has started an extensive and highly successful campaign of engaging and doing business with the Middle East and the Muslim World. Assess this policy and its implications for doing business in Turkey.