COURSE NUMBER: MBA 290G.1* Cross-listed with COE and SIMS

COURSE TITLE: International Trade and Competition in High Technology

UNITS OF CREDIT: 2

INSTRUCTOR: Charles C. Wu

E-MAIL ADDRESS: charleswu@aventechcapital.com

CLASS WEB PAGE LOCATION (HTTP URL): www.professorwu.com

MEETING DAY(S)/TIME: Thursdays, 2:00-4:00 PM

PREREQUISITE(S): None

CLASS FORMAT: Lectures, Cases and Guest Speakers

REQUIRED READINGS: Study.net course reader of cases and article reprints. Class handouts.

BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE (midterm, final, paper(s), project(s), class participation, or a mixture):

Course grades will be based on both team activities (50%) and individual activities (50%). Team activities will be decided primarily by assigned case openings and extra credit projects. Individual activities will consist of class participation, email questionnaire responses, in class quizzes consisting of open book/open internet case analysis and extra credit projects.

Extra credit projects will consist of either research questions assigned during class and/or projects approved by the professor.

ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES:

The rise and fall of the high-technology industries of the 1990s reflect broader changes in markets, production, organization, and business models, as well as the operation of government policies. These broader changes, which include but go well beyond the Internet revolution itself, suggest that the industrial economy is being fundamentally transformed by the diffusion of innovations in technology and business models across the industrial and industrializing economies. At the same time, these changes cannot be understood without a deeper examination of the factors that created competitive advantage at the national level in many of these industries during the previous three decades. This course explores the broad changes in "who is winning, who is losing, and why" in global markets for high-technology goods ranging from semiconductors to Internet services.

This course seeks to make sense of the decline and prospective recovery of U.S. high-technology industries, the evolution of innovation and technology strategies and policies in Asia and Europe, the historic and current roles of governments in shaping markets for high-technology goods, and the impact on business strategies of recent developments in early-stage capital markets. Our general approach views technological innovation and competition as dynamic processes that reflect choices and policies made by firms and governments. Modern technologies develop in markets that are international in scope, often imperfectly competitive, and subject to influence by a variety of economic and political stakeholders. We will use an eclectic mix of practical, historical, and theoretical perspectives throughout the course in examining these issues. From time to time, we will be joined by venture capitalists, corporate executives, and technologists engaged in global high-technology markets for discussion of these issues.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH:

Charles C. Wu has more than 15 years of experience as an international venture capitalist. Charles is currently a managing director of New America Partners, a private equity firm focused on cross-border investment opportunities in China and the US. Prior to joining New America Partners, Charles was founder and managing director of the Panasonic Digital Concepts Center, Matsushita’s premier corporate venture capital and incubator effort. He was also Vice President and the first US hire at Vertex Venture Holdings, a $1B Singapore venture capital fund with investments in the US, Europe, and Asia where he drove Vertex’s investments in internet, software and services companies. He holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a BS in Computer Science and Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.