Research Methods in International Business Management Assignment -

1. Choose a topic in international business (IB) management - a business issue which relates to cross-border or IB* - on which to base this essay.

2. Select three key papers that take different approaches to conducting research in this topic area.

3. Based on these papers, critically discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the different research methods that have been used to examine your chosen IB topic.

Your chosen topic must meet the definition of IB research outlined in the following adapted from the Journal of International Business Studies (JIBS) that IB research includes:

• the activities, strategies, structures or decision-making processes of multinational enterprises (i.e. firms that have operations in more than one country);
• interactions between multinational enterprises and other actors, organizations and institutions (this may include organisations such as the UN, non-profit organisations and social enterprises, as well as actors such as civil society);
• the cross-border activities of firms (e.g., intra-firm trade, finance, investment, technology transfers, offshore services, CSR or management of the global value chain);
• how the international environment (e.g., cultural, political, economic) affects the activities, strategies, structures or decision-making processes of firms (including such things as CSR, cross-cultural communications, global HRM or leadership);
• comparative studies of businesses, business processes and organizational behaviour and change in different countries and environments (including such things as cross-cultural CSR, communications, global HRM or leadership);
• the international dimensions of organizational forms (e.g., strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, and network organisations) and activities (e.g., entrepreneurship, knowledge-based competition, corporate governance, CSR, HRM, leadership).

In addition, please note that this includes non-profit/public sector/non-governmental and international organizations (e.g. UN). Word Length: 2000 words.