CMGT 531 Communication and the International Economy Fall 2008

CMGT 531 Communication and the International Economy Fall 2008 Instructor: Jonathan Aronson aronson@usc.edu Office KER 2nd floor 213-743-1943 Office hours: Monday 1-2, 5-6:30 Course desc

CMGT 531 Communication and the International Economy

Fall 2008

Instructor: Jonathan Aronson aronson@usc.edu Office KER 2nd floor (213-743-1943) Office hours: Monday 1-2, 5-6:30

Course description: This course looks at how changes in the

technological and political-economic environment have transformed the terms of competition in the communication and information technology (ICT) industries on a global scale It focuses on the strategies of companies across a variety of ICT sectors: broadcasting, film, telecommunications, the Internet, video games, social networks, and the music industry The course begins with a discussion of the emergence of a global information economy and the role of ICTs in global markets Leadership and governance issues are introduced In the second part, we focus on specific ICT sectors and look at real-world examples though a series of case studies

Career relevance: As the revolution in communication technologies

creates global markets, the ability to understand the international

dimension of the commercial decisions with which organizations are

confronted has become a critical managerial skill Whether you pursue a career in Hollywood, an Internet start-up, advertising, government, or the non-profit sectors you will be faced with decisions that cut across political, economic, and cultural borders How should you expand internationally? How important is having locally produced content? What are the

regulatory and cultural barriers that need to be considered in your

strategy? This course is designed to provide students the analytical tools

to address these types of questions by focusing on the global forces

shaping communication markets (understood broadly) and the global

economy and how firms are adapting their international strategies to

these changes

Class structure: The course will follow a seminar teaching style, which

implies keeping lectures to a minimum and stressing class discussions around the case studies, since they represent the kind of real-world

situation you are likely to face in your career Each meeting will be divided

in two parts (with a 10-minute break in between) The first part will be more lecture-oriented, while the second will be dedicated to the case

studies and will be often led by the students (see below)

Course requirements: There are four requirements for the course:

1 Class participation Students are expected to make informed

contributions to class discussions and in-class activities What does it take

to make informed contributions? First, do the readings before class

Second, students should follow the ICT industry news

2 Take-home mid-term There will be a short take-home mid-term It

will be handed out on October 15 and will be due the next class (October 20)

3 Case study presentation Student will work in groups to present

and lead discussion on the weekly case studies (the size of the groups will depend on the number of students in the class) Each group will be

assigned one case study Cases will be assigned on a first-come first-served basis Please let me know your first, second, and third preferences for the case study by September 15

4 Class project Students will work individually or in groups on a

project to develop a case study related to the topics covered in class A one-page synopsis of the project should be submitted by October 1

Students will present their projects to the class in the last two weeks of classes Presentations must be business-like (30 minutes suggested), and include visual aids and a written report (20 double-spaced pages

suggested)

Grading: Requirements will be weighed as follows:

Class participation 20%

Take-home mid-term 20%

Case study presentation 20%

Class project 40%

Course reading material

Books You May Wish to Order on Amazon.com: (I do not order

through the USC bookstore – Too expensive.)

Aoki, Keith James Boyle, and Jennifer Jenkins Tales From the Public Domain: Bound by

Law? Durham, NC: Duke Law School, 2006 (A Comic Book) ($5.95)

Carr, Nicholas (2007) The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, from Edison to

Google

($25.95/$15.77 Amazon)

Chandler, Alfred (2001) Inventing the Electronic Century New York: Free

Press (Not Critical, used on Amazon under $5)

Hamilton, James T (2004) All the News That’s Fit to Print Princeton:

Princeton University Press (Less Critical) ($22.95/used on Amazon from

$13.66)

Jenkins, Henry (2006) Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media

Collide

New York: NYU Press ($29.95/$19.77 on Amazon)

Shapiro, Carl & Varian, Hal (1999) Information Rules Boston: Harvard

Business School Press (Not required but good to have on your shelf) ($38/used from $3 on Amazon)

Shirky, Clay (2008) Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing

Without

Communications New York: Penguin ($25.95/$17.13 on Amazon)

Zittrain, Jonathan (2008) The Future of the Internet And How to Stop It

New Haven: Yale University Press ($30.00/$19.80 on Amazon)

Books for Which There are Free Online Versions

Benkler, Yochai (2006) The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production

Transforms

Markets and Freedom Yale Available at: http://www.benkler.org

Cowhey, Peter Jonathan Aronson, & John Richards (2009) Transforming

Global Information

and Communication Markets: The Political Economy of Innovation

Cambridge: MIT Press (will be provided online)

Lessig, Lawrence (2004) Free culture New York: Penguin Press Available

at

http://www.free-culture.cc/freeculture.pdf

Von Hippel, Eric (2006) Democratization of Innovation Cambridge: MIT

Press

Available at: http://web.mit.edu/evhippel/www/democ1.htm

There is a course reader and readings you will download from the Internet

Important dates:

Assignment Due by

Case study preferences September 15

One-page project synopsis September 29

Take-home mid-term due October 20

Bill Gates’ Birthday October 28

Class project presentation December 1

Final project report due December 8

Academic Integrity:

The Annenberg School for Communication is committed to upholding the University's Academic Integrity code as detailed in the SCampus Guide It

is the policy of the School of Communication to report all violations of the code Any serious violation or pattern of violations of the Academic

Integrity Code will result in the student's expulsion from the Annenberg Communication School

Disability Accommodation:

A brief announcement from the Office of Civil Rights: Students requesting academic accommodations based on a disability are required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from the DSP when adequate documentation is filed Please be sure the letter is

delivered to me as early in the semester as possible DPS is open Monday-Friday, 8:30

5:00 The office is in Student Union 301 and their phone number is (213) 740-0776

CMGT531: Class Schedule

Part I: The New World Information Economy

Week 1 (August 25): Introduction to the class: Is the World Flat? Tom Friedman and His Critics

Friedman, Thomas L (any edition), The World Is Flat Review

Chapters 2 and 3

Week 2 (September 1): No Class: Labor Day

Week 3 (September 8): Globalization, Leadership, and Innovation: Winning in the 21 st Century

Shapiro, Carl & Varian, Hal (1999) Information rules Boston:

Harvard Business School Press Chapter 1: The information economy pp

1-18 and skim the rest

Von Hippel, Eric (2006) Democratization of Innovation Cambridge:

MIT Press

pp 1-17 and skim the rest Available at:

http://web.mit.edu/evhippel/www/democ1.htm

Anderson, Chris “The Long Tail,” Wired 12:2 Available at:

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.10/tail_pr.html

Week 4 (September 15): The Building Blocks of the New Information Economy:

Hardware and Software (Necessary for the Delivery of Content)

Benkler, Yochai (2000) “From Consumers to Users: Shifting the Deeper Structures of Regulation Toward Sustainable Commons and User Access,” Available at: http://www.law.indiana.edu/fclj/pubs/v52/no3/benkler1.pdf

Look through Benkler’s The Wealth of Networks, Intro and Part 1

Available at: http://www.benkler.org/

wealth_of_networks/index.php/Main_Page

Chandler, Alfred, (2001) Inventing the Electronic Century Chapters

3-4, pp 50-131

Part II: Drivers of Change

Week 5 (September 22) The beginnings of New Media: The

telecommunications industry

Carr, Nicholas (2007) The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, from Edison to

Google

Week 6 (September 29): The Emerging New Information Economy: Incremental or Revolutionary Change?

Cowhey, Peter Jonathan Aronson, and John Richards, (CAR), Transforming

Global Information

and Communication Markets Introduction, Chapters 1 thru 4.

Week 7 (October 6) Political Economy of Communication and Trade

Cowhey, Peter Jonathan Aronson, and John Richards, (CAR), Transforming

Global Information

and Communication Markets Chapters 5 thru 7.

Week 8 (October 13) Drivers of Change: Wireless, Mobile, and the Internet

Cowhey, Peter Jonathan Aronson, and John Richards, (CAR),

Transforming Global Information and Communication Markets Chapters 8.

Kohiyama, Kenji “A Decade in the Development of Mobile

Communications in Japan (1993-2002), in Ito, Okabe, and Matsuda (eds.)

(2006), Personal, Portable, Pedestrian pp 61-74 Cambridge: MIT Press.

David, Paul (2002) The evolving accidental information

super-highway Oxford Review of Economic Policy 17(2): 159-187 Available at:

http://oxrep.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/17/2/159

Week 9 (October 20) The Future of the Internet (I)

Zittrain, Jonathan (2008) The Future of the Internet And How to Stop It

New Haven: Yale University Press

Week 10 (October 27) The Future of the Internet, Globalization, and Governance

Cowhey, Peter Jonathan Aronson, and John Richards, (CAR),

Transforming Global Information and Communication Markets Chapters 9

and 10

Case study: Internet in China or India

Part III: Sectoral Examinations

Week 11 (November 3) The Broadcast and global Film industry

Jenkins, Henry (2006) Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media

Collide

New York: NYU Press

Case study: Broadcast/Film Industry

Week 12 (November 10): The Music Industry and Intellectual

Property

Lessig, Lawrence (2004) Free culture New York: Penguin Press

(chapter 5: 62-79, the rest is optional) Available at

http://www.free-culture.cc/freeculture.pdf

Boyle, James “The Second Enclosure Movement and the Construction

of the Public Domain,” Available at:

Keith Aoki, James Boyle, and Jennifer Jenkins, Tales From the Public Domain: Bound

by Law? Durham, NC: Duke Law School, 2006 (A Comic Book)

Case study: Finding the Balance: Intellectual Property in the Digital Age

Week 13: (November 17): The Video Games, Virtual Worlds, Web 2.0 and Social Networking

Ito, Joichi Online Video: Available at:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5160442894955175707&q=joi+ito&total=66&start=0&num=10&so=0&ty pe=search&plindex=0

Shirky, Clay (2008) Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing

Without

Communications New York: Penguin ($25.95/$17.13 on Amazon)

Rheingold, Howard Smart Mobs Ch 7 pp 157-182.

Case Study: Second Life and Public Diplomacy

Week 14 (November 24) Back to the Future: The Radio, Book, and Newspaper Industry

Girard, B (2003) Radio and the Internet: Mixing media to bridge the divide Available at http://www.comunica.org/1-2-watch/pdf/chapter1.pdf

Hamilton, James T (2004) All the News That’s Fit to Print Chapter

7-9 pp 190-263

Case Study: The Future of the Book

Week 15 (December 1) Project presentations.