assignments- article review of business magazine

The point of having you subscribe to the print and digital versions of The Economist for 12 weeks is to get you reading and thinking about international business in today’s world. The Economist, however, is not strictly speaking an IB journal. It deals with a wide range of fields--politics, economics, culture, society, literature, the law, etc. Yet, I guarantee, as you get into the habit of picking up the current issue and reading the articles of your choice, your knowledge base of the international environment in which multinational firms do business will increase qualitatively. Plus, I hope our classroom discussions will increase your intellectual curiosity about different countries.

The Economist Assignments

As you read the weekly Economist articles related to international topics and issues, you are responsible for filling in the information as outlined in the excel template that I have designed for this purpose (as explained in class). Read as many articles per issue as you want. Read about any topic that you like. I expect you to read about a wide variety of countries and a wide variety of topics. For example, don’t read ONLY business-related articles, ONLY political ones, or ONLY about one specific country. Cast a wide net. Just bear in mind that this is an international business class and I am interested in your learning about topics that shed light on the institutional environments worldwide. Do not write about articles that deal predominantly with a U.S. focus (e.g., U.S. politics). Be sure that there is a dominant international side to your entries. Do not write “the U.S.” in the Focal Country Column. At the same time, do not write “international,” or “multinational” as vague categories. You need to write the specific name of one country, or 2, or 3 (etc.) that the article directly deals with.

Note: an entry = a completed row (comprised of 8 columns) that gives the requested information about one article

Mechanics

1. What you see when you submit the assignment in COMPASS is what I see when I read your work. If you cannot see it properly, either can I. Therefore, double check your submission to be sure that I can clearly read your Word document and that it is correctly formatted into 8 columns.

2. Proofread. While I do not mind the occasional typo, too many grammatical or spelling errors detract from my ability to seamlessly read your writing and will negatively affect your grade.

3. Double check that the final two columns add value. This is where I concentrate my reading and this is where you should concentrate your efforts. What struck you/what you learned and the types of questions you ask after reading an article inform me about how deeply you thought about what you read.

Grading

Grading these assignments is not a science. If you follow directions and write thoughtful entries, you should receive full credit. Here is a non-exclusive list of things that I deduct points for:

· 2 points off if you use bullet points.

· 2 points off if I have to download your assignment in order to read it;

· 2 points off (for each entry) for many grammatical errors/typos, etc.

· 4 points off if your “What you learned” section (penultimate column) is sub-par (for each entry);

· 4 points off if your “Questions I have”(final column) section is sub-par (for each entry);

· 4 points off if you copy text from another source (= plagiarizing) or from one of your previous submissions;

· 10 points off if an entire entry (row) is missing, 20 points off if 2 entries (rows) are missing, etc.

· 10 points off if the entire entry (row) is about an article that deals with the U.S. or an American issue. This is an international business class; your articles should reflect what you are learning about the institutional environment of countries outside of U.S. borders.

CAVEAT: This is not the type of assignment you can cram in the night or even a week before the due date. It requires a steady, consistent effort over time. It is most efficient to read daily if possible. Try to write your entries weekly. Otherwise you may forget what you read and end up re-reading the same article several times. Let me know if there is any way I can help; email me any questions you have.

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