This course explores the interplay between geopolitics and multinational enterprises (MNEs). You will examine the nature of geopolitics, its influence on MNE strategies, methods to manage geopolitical impacts, MNEs' effects on geopolitics, and emerging trends. A foundational grasp of geopolitics enables critical analysis of the global political landscape MNEs navigate. Then you will investigate geopolitics' coevolution with MNE practices, starting with its traditional impact on business, and then advancing to contemporary risk management strategies and cutting-edge topics like MNEs' geopolitical influence. Through this, you will gain theoretical and practical tools to address the geopolitics-MNE dynamics-vital in today's geopolitically charged environment. Learning activities of this course foster an open, cooperative, inquiry based, and tech-savvy co-learning environment, preparing you to become MNE, government, and international leaders for global challenges over the next 10-20 years.

Transition Statement

This course has been renamed from Political Economy of Global Business to Geopolitics and Global Business Practice from Semester 1, 2026. However, implementation of the revised course content is being phased in across RMIT's offshore offerings. Offerings in RMIT Vietnam for Trimester 1 and Trimester 2 2026 will deliver the content previously delivered under Political Economy of Global Business, with a planned transition to the revised Geopolitics and Global Business Practice content from Vietnam Trimester 3 2026.

The course description for the previous Political Economy of Global Business course is provided below:

The purpose of this course is to consolidate and deepen student understandings of global business and the political, economic, and social environment in which it operates. Students will study the material, ideological, financial, geopolitical, and environmental dimensions of this environment, noting how they have changed significantly over time, and the ways in which they continue to do so. The culmination of this will be a conceptualisation of global business which is just as dynamic as that context. Students will build on their prior knowledge of global business to learn about industrial structures and networks common in today’s global economy, including global value chains, global production networks, platform businesses, and intangible capital. The course will also look at trends in labour practices, trade policy, environmental practices, financialisation, and offshoring common in the global economy today. Current firm practices in these areas will be studied in their real-world context, with a critical analysis of both their role in constituting today’s international political economy, and their prospects of survival within it going forward. The course’s activities and assignments are designed to facilitate rounded theory application and peer learning in a friendly, open atmosphere. Assessments include both individual written research tasks, and authentic group presentations in a simulated work environments.