Type of Credit: Elective
Credit(s)
Number of Students
The rise of Big Tech is disrupting long entrenched industries across the world, giving rise to new multifaceted challenges for the next generation of tech business leaders. When companies enter new markets, they inevitably confront new, and often unfamiliar, problems operating across bor- ders and encounter different regulatory and cultural systems. Big Tech firms wrangle with such challenges more than most due to their limited pre-existing global infrastructure and ambitious growth objectives.
Challenges we will consider include:
• To what degree are global Big Tech companies responsible for the political and social impact of how their technology is used, whether intended or not?
• What strategies can executives deploy to manage unexpected problems arising from Western tech platforms operating in new countries abroad?
How are U.S. companies (e.g. Amazon, Facebook) and Chinese firms (e.g. Alibaba, Huawei) engaged in uniting or dividing the global Internet landscape? To what extent do they support or challenge government policies and goals as they expand?
• Is the world bifurcating into distinct universes of technology platforms divided by national origin? How do executives and politicians decide which platform to embrace and how they should be regulated?
• How will the rise of Big Tech reshape international economic and political relationships?
• To what degree are global Big Tech companies responsible for the increase of income or wealth inequality over the years?
This course considers such questions by examining global business issues through the lens of industry structure, cross-border intellectual property, global supply chains, and the intersection of government and industry. My aim is to provoke intelligent, respectful conversations over business leaders priorities and responsibilities, asking students to think deeply about trade-offs rather than finding a single solution that fits all scenarios. Students will focus on figuring out the right questions for executives to ask and analyze how to uncover practical solutions to complex problems.
We will draw lessons from real-life problems faced by global technology companies, primarily those headquartered in Silicon Valley and China, and analyze their successes, failures, and opportunities. We will draw on current news events to understand how executives and policy makers today are grappling, successfully and unsuccessfully, with these issues.
We are passionate about this subject and will share insight from first-hand experience advising and reporting on these companies. We expect each student to bring their own personal experiences as a technology user, future business leader and global citizen to our classroom discussion every session. Given the complex and global nature of the subject matter, we ask that all members of the class respect diverse political views and cultural perspectives, which are encouraged to be shared. While we may have strong points of view, ultimately we are working together to find solutions.
能力項目說明
Name Cards
Students will display name cards at the start of every class. This will help us get to know each other and facilitate discussion. Our teaching assistants will work with you all to create name cards after the class roster is finalized.
Learning Teams
Students will form learning teams of five to six students at the start of our second session. Each learning team should sit together during class and will be your team for the group project and weekly small group discussions. To facilitate a sharing of diverse perspectives, each learning team should include at least two Taiwanese students and two international students. At a minimum each team must include at least one Taiwanese student and one international student. You may choose your own team members.
Mentoring Session
During the semester, I will offer mentoring sessions with learning teams - preferably lunches near campus or lunchboxes in the International Building, depending on your learning team’s schedule. You can sign up for time slots in groups with our teaching assistants. This is your opportunity to ask questions and discuss career objectives and future opportunities. It is my opportunity to learn more about your interests, experience, and gauge how the class is progressing. This is a supplement to office hours appointments.
| 教學週次Course Week | 彈性補充教學週次Flexible Supplemental Instruction Week | 彈性補充教學類別Flexible Supplemental Instruction Type |
|---|---|---|
Schedule of Classes
Introduction: The Rise of Big Tech Around the World
September 13: Introduction - The Rise of Big Tech
Session 1: Introduction to Course / Meet Your Professors
Session 2: Survey - What Do We Think?
September 20: The Digital Divide - A Tech Cold War Between the U.S and China
Prep Before Class: Bain Technology Report 2022; SCMP China Internet Report 2022
Session 3: Reading Discussion
Session 4: Understanding the Technology Cold War
Silicon Valley and China’s Business Culture and Approach to Global Growth
September 27: The View from Silicon Valley and its Quest for Monopoly Power
Prep Before Class: Zero to One by Peter Thiel
Session 5: Reading Discussion
Session 6: Applying Business Concepts to Technology
October 4: Building a Global Internet Platform at Scale
Prep Before Class: Amazon Shareholder Letter 2020+1997; Amazon Empire: The Rise and Reign of Jeff Bezos documentary
Session 7: Reading Discussion
Session 8: The Power of Scale in the Digital Economy
October 11: How China’s Internet Leaders See the World
Prep Before Class: Alibaba: The House that Jack Ma Built by Duncan Clark or Crocodile in the Yangtze Documentary
Session 9: Reading Discussion
Session 10: Guest Interview - Shirley Lin, first Alibaba investor
October 18: Into the Lagoon: China's Response to U.S. Tech Competition
Prep Before Class: NY Times - How China is Changing Your Internet; Seizing Core Technologies by Adam Segal
Session 11: Reading Discussion
Session 12: The WSJ Investigative Reporter’s Guide to Research
October 25: EU-Taiwan Commission on TikTok Safety and Security
Session 13: Reading Discussion + Preparation for Huawei Hearing Session 14: Commission Hearing on TikTok Exercise
November 1: Emerging Taiwan Media Voices and Chinese Disinformation Efforts
Prep Before Class: Ghost Island Media Podcasts and WSJ article on China disinformation
Session 15: Guest Interview – Emily Y. Wu - Ghost Island Media
Session 16: Guest Interview – Joyu Wang – The Wall Street Journal
Due November 7 noon: ”Billion Dollar Bet” assignment
November 8: Investing Amid the Global Digital Divide
Prep Before Class: Review “Billion Dollar Bet” for Q&A
Session 17: Guest Portfolio Manager Q&A Session 18: Guest PM Q&A Pt. 2
The Impact of Big Tech's Rise on Business, Society and Politics
November 15: Government and Policy: Technology, Data, and Crisis Preparation
Prep Before Class: The Fifth Risk excerpt by Michael Lewis
Session 19: Reading Discussion
Session 20: Introduction to The Briefing Group Project
November 22: Data and Privacy: Secrets and Surveillance in the Digital Age
Prep Before Class: Edward Snowden podcast (Part One + Two; United States of Secrets documentary (Part One + Two)
Session 21: Reading Discussion
Session 22: TBD
November 29: China’s Surveillance State: Social Control and Big Tech
Prep Before Class: Surveillance State book excerpt
Session 23: Reading Discussion
Session 24: Guest Interview
December 6: Making Money: Cryptocurrency and Blockchain
Prep Before Class: The Meaning of Decentralization; Bitcoin: A Peer-to- Peer Electronic Cash System
Session 25: Reading Discussion Session 26: Guest Interview
December 13: Taiwan’s Semiconductor Industry: Observations on Today and Tomorrow
Session 27: Lecture on Semiconductor Industry in Taiwan
Session 28: Student Q&A with Prof. Carew
Global Digital Divide
December 20: Alphabet Anti-Trust Hearing
Session 29: Reading Discussion + Preparation for Alphabet Hearing
Session 30: Hearing on Alphabet Exercise
December 27: Student Presentations (Pt. 1)
Session 31: The Briefing Final Project Presentations (Pt. 1)
Session 32: Q&A
January 3: Lessons Learned: Assessing Big Tech’s Future
Session 35: Student Presentations (Pt. 2)
Session 36: The Big Course Takeaways - Your Views Now vs. Then
We look forward to a great semester and appreciate you signing up for the course.
Grading
There will be no final exam, but rather a series of assignmentsand projects over the course of the semester. This makes itessential for you to stay engaged throughout the course.
Grading will be as follows:
Weekly Reading Takeaways 20%
Congressional Hearing Exercises 20%
Individual Assignment - The Billion Dollar Bet 20%
Group Project - The Briefing 20%
Engagement + Contribution to Learning 20%
Total: 100%
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