Study Abroad

Taipei, Taiwan

Program Outline

Faculty

Dr. Chien-Ping Chen (chenc@uhv.edu), School of Business at the University of Houston-Victoria.

Course

ECO 6300 Special Topics in Managerial Economics: IT manufacturing in the World Supply Chain (Taiwan Study). It counts as one of electives for all MBA concentrations including general business, finance, accounting, management, and marketing.

Text

McGuigan, Moyer, & Harris, Managerial Economics: Application, Strategy, and Tactics, 11th ed. Thomson South-Western , ISBN 0324421605

Program (Course) Objective

The course equips UHV MBA students to be able 

1.      to conduct real-world international study and understand Chinese working ethics/culture;

2.      to understand how the IT industry works in the world supply chain model;

3.      to estimate demand function and cost function in IT industry with statistical tools;

4.      to develop decision-making for IT manufacturers in cost management, output rate, and pricing with game theory

5.      to develop skills in team work with international participants and conflict resolutions to accomplish a shared purpose.

Grading Scale

Your letter grade is determined by using the grade distribution that follows. Your percentage is found by dividing your total points by the total points available.

Course Assessment

Attendance and Quiz (20%): Attendance in ALL classes for the FULL CLASS PERIOD is expected. Absence in any class is not tolerated, and will result in your grade being lowered. Students will take two quizzes in Taiwan (5% each). The quizzes will be multiple-choice questions only.

Discussion (15%): Each student is expected to take an active part in classroom discussion activities. I expect you to share your thoughts and insights with your classmates for the topics given in class. I will keep a record each class for your frequencies as well as quality in participation. Sources for discussion topics will come from the textbook, the current issues from Business Week, and the business field trips in Taiwan.

Group Presentation (20%): Each student will be assigned to a group with 2~3 students. In the period in Taiwan, we will visit at least 2~3 IT component manufacturers to learn their production process and how to meet the demand. I will assign each group to present either a particular firm’s demand estimation/cost analysis, or the Porter's five forces analysis for the industry by MS Excel and PowerPoint in the end of semester. Presentation format and grading rule will be available in my WebCT supplemental website in May.  Each student in group is expected to participate in presentation and all students in the same group will receive the same grade.

Term Paper (20%): Each student will turn in an industry analysis term paper which focuses on IT manufacturing industry in Taiwan and is limited within 16 pages. The submission of term paper is due after coming back to the U.S. The detailed instruction of the term paper will be available in May on my WebCT supplemental website.     

Final Exam (25%): It will be given in Taiwan and contain 60 multiple-choice questions in 3-hour test duration. It is a comprehensive test covering all materials in the study abroad period. The grade and answer key will be released on my WebCT supplemental website.       

All the course related materials, including lecture notes and instruction of term paper, will be available in my WebCT supplemental website after 5/1/2009.