RSM 2082: Prosperity & Competitiveness - Fall 2011   Tags: creative_economies, economic_geography  

Professor Richard Florida
florida@rotman.utoronto.ca

Brian Hracs, PhD
brian.hracs@rotman.utoronto.ca

RSM 2082

Prosperity and Competitiveness

Fall 2011

INSTRUCTOR: Richard Florida - florida@rotman.utoronto.ca

T.A.:  Brian Hracs - brian.hracs@rotman.utoronto.ca

ASSISTANT:  Marisol D'Andrea - marisol.dandrea@rotman.utoronto.ca

MPI Data Librarian:  Kim Silk - kimberly.silk@rotman.utoronto.ca

COURSE MEETINGS

Mondays: 4:20 - 6:20 PM

Rotman Central - Room 151

OFFICE HOURS

Mondays, by appointment.

To schedule a meeting, contact Marisol D'Andrea at marisol.dandrea@rotman.utoronto.ca. 

COURSE OBJECTIVES

This course is designed to help you understand the role of firms and communities in prosperity and competitiveness.  It has four key objectives:

• To help you understand the key differences between competitiveness and prosperity for firms and communities.  
• To help you better understand how and why firms locate where they do, the role of location in corporate strategy and performance.  
• To help you understand the various assets that communities have to offer firms.   
• At a more personal level, this course will give you the tools you need to help you select the best place for your career and life.

COURSE OVERVIEW

Geography and business locations play increasingly important roles in corporate strategy and performance. Communities provide access to key customers and end-users; talent and innovation; specialized infrastructure and clusters of firms. Location matters greatly to business performance, but selecting a suitable location is no longer a simple matter of cost.  The world is spiky: depending on your industry or line of business, key assets and resources are likely to be concentrated in certain locations across the world.

Business leaders, managers and entrepreneurs need to understand how to evaluate locational assets and determine where to locate different business functions. At the same time, these same leaders also need to understand how to best relate to the communities in which they are located.

This course will impart this understanding of the role of location in business performance through the use of case studies, core concepts and findings from more than three decades of my own research and extensive experience working with companies, nations, regions and cities. The course integrates academic theory and real-world examples of the forces that shape business location, business competitiveness and community prosperity.  Its basic aim is to help you better understand the powerful role of geography and location and help you make better location decisions in both your professional and personal life.