This subject focuses on the specifics of strategy and organization of the multinational company, and provides a framework for formulating successful and adaptive strategies in an increasingly complex world economy. Topics include the globalization of industries, the continuing role of country factors in competition, organization of multinational enterprises, and building global networks. This particular version of the subject is taught and tailored specifically to those enrolled in the MIT Sloan Fellows Program.

Many of our readers will no doubt already be familiar with MIT˘ď‹ď_s excellent OpenCourseWare (OCW), which offers free college-level curricula online to the public. The OpenCourseWare site is well worth a browse, as it offers courses on a variety of useful and engaging subjects such as business, health and medicine, mathematics, fine arts and science. This particular course, which was originally offered to undergraduate students in the spring of 2012, looks at the science behind global warming. Content includes lecture notes, assignments and student projects. The content could be used as a springboard for instructors teaching similar classes, or may prove useful to curious individuals looking to learn more about this timely and important topic.

This course provides students with a scientific foundation of anthropogenic climate change and an introduction to climate models. It focuses on fundamental physical processes that shape climate (e.g. solar variability, orbital mechanics, greenhouse gases, atmospheric and oceanic circulation, and volcanic and soil aerosols) and on evidence for past and present climate change. During the course they discuss material consequences of climate change, including sea level change, variations in precipitation, vegetation, storminess, and the incidence of disease. This course also examines the science behind mitigation and adaptation proposals.

Analyzes changes in the international economy and their effects in the politics, economy, and society of advanced and emerging countries. Topics to be explored include: the independence of national governments; wage inequality; unemployment; industrial production outside national borders and its consequences for innovation, efficiency, and jobs; fairness in trade; and mass culture versus local values.

Tracing the evolution of international interactions, this course examines the dimensions of globalization in terms of scale and scope. It is divided into three parts; together they are intended to provide theoretical, empirical, and policy perspectives on source and consequences of globalization, focusing on emergent structures and processes, and on the implications of flows of goods and services across national boundaries -- with special attention to the issue of migration, on the assumption that people matter and matter a lot. An important concern addressed pertains to the dilemmas of international policies that are shaped by the macro-level consequences of micro-level behavior. 17.411 fulfills undergraduate public policy requirement in the major and minor. Graduate students are expected to explore the subject in greater depth through reading and individual research.

This course explores how and why Japan, a late-comer to modernization, emerged as an industrial power and the world's second-richest nation, notwithstanding its recent difficulties. We are particularly concerned with the historical development of technology in Japan especially after 1945, giving particular attention to the interplays between business, ideology, technology, and culture. We will discuss key historical phenomena that symbolize modern Japan as a technological power in the world; specific examples to be discussed in class include kamikaze aircraft, the Shinkansen high-speed bullet train, Godzilla, and anime.

This course explores the values (aesthetic, moral, cultural, religious, prudential, political) expressed in the choices of food people eat. It analyzes the decisions individuals make about what to eat, how society should manage food production and consumption collectively, and how reflection on food choices might help resolve conflicts between different values.

Fundamental principles of biochemistry. Analysis of the mode of action and structure of regulatory, binding, and catalytic proteins. The tools and analytical methods that biochemists use to dissect biological problems. Analysis of the mode of action and structure of regulatory, binding, and catalytic proteins.

Detailed examination of the grammar of a language whose structure is significantly different from English, with special emphasis on problems of interest in the study of linguistic universals. A native speaker of the language assists when possible. From the course home page Course Description This course is designed to allow participants to engage in the exploration of the grammatical structure of a language that is unknown to them (and typically to the instructors as well). In some ways it simulates traditional field methods research. In terms of format, we work in both group and individual meetings with the consultant. Each student identifies some grammatical construction (e.g. wh questions, agreement, palatalization, interrogative intonation) to focus their research: they elicit and share data and write a report on the material gathered that is to be turned in at the end of the term. Ideally, we can put together a volume of grammatical sketches. The first three to four weeks of the term, our group meetings will explore the basic phonology, morphology and surface syntax for a first pass overview of the language, looking for interesting areas to be explored in more detail later. During this period individual sessions can review material from the general session as well as explore new areas. At roughly the fifth meeting, individual students (typically two to three per session) guide the group elicitations to explore their research topic.

This video lesson highlights how science can be learned from daily life experiences. It emphasizes the ways in which simple laws of physics can be understood from personal observations and experiences, and in fact it demonstrates that we use these laws as if they were built into our instincts. The video also introduces Newton's laws of motion. The title, Gravity at Work, comes from a fascinating example of two laborers working at a construction site in Pakistan. In this lesson, Newtonian equations of motion are used to determine the velocities and height achieved by the projectile in a very simple and basic manner.

This course provides a challenging introduction to some of the central ideas of theoretical computer science. It attempts to present a vision of "computer science beyond computers": that is, CS as a set of mathematical tools for understanding complex systems such as universes and minds. Beginning in antiquity--with Euclid's algorithm and other ancient examples of computational thinking--the course will progress rapidly through propositional logic, Turing machines and computability, finite automata, GĚŚdel's theorems, efficient algorithms and reducibility, NP-completeness, the P versus NP problem, decision trees and other concrete computational models, the power of randomness, cryptography and one-way functions, computational theories of learning, interactive proofs, and quantum computing and the physical limits of computation. Class participation is essential, as the class will include discussion and debate about the implications of many of these ideas.

This course examines systematically, and comparatively, great and middle power military interventions, and candidate military interventions, into civil wars from the 1990s to the present. These civil wars did not easily fit into the traditional category of vital interest. These interventions may therefore tell us something about broad trends in international politics including the nature of unipolarity, the erosion of sovereignty, the security implications of globalization, and the nature of modern western military power.

Fundamentals of subsurface flow and transport, emphasizing the role of groundwater in the hydrologic cycle, the relation of groundwater flow to geologic structure, and the management of contaminated groundwater. Topics include: Darcy equation, flow nets, mass conservation, the aquifer flow equation, heterogeneity and anisotropy, storage properties, regional circulation, unsaturated flow, recharge, stream-aquifer interaction, well hydraulics, flow through fractured rock, numerical models, groundwater quality, contaminant transport processes, dispersion, decay, and adsorption. Includes laboratory and computer demonstrations.

This course examines the economic, political, social, and spatial dynamics of urban growth and decline in cities and their key component areas (downtown, suburbs, etc.). Topics include impacts of industrialization, technology, politics, and social practices on cities. Students will examine the role of public and private sector activities, ranging from zoning and subsidies to infrastructure development and real estate investment, in affecting urban growth and decline. Readings are both theoretical and empirical, with considerable thought paid to comparative and historical differences.

This video lesson uses the technique of induction to show students how to analyze a seemingly random occurrence in order to understand it through the development of a mathematical model. Using the medium of a simple game, Dr. Lodhi demonstrates how students can first apply the 'rules' to small examples of the game and then, through careful observation, can begin to see the emergence of a possible pattern. Students will learn that they can move from observing a pattern to proving that their observation is correct by the development of a mathematical model. Dr. Lodhi provides a second game for students in the Teacher Guide downloadable on this page. There are no prerequisites for this lesson and needed materials include only a blackboard and objects of two different varieties - such as plain and striped balls, apples and oranges, etc. The lesson can be completed in a 50-minute class period.

This video lesson uses the technique of induction to show students how to analyze a seemingly random occurrence in order to understand it through the development of a mathematical model. Using the medium of a simple game, Dr. Lodhi demonstrates how students can first apply the 'rules' to small examples of the game and then, through careful observation, can begin to see the emergence of a possible pattern. Students will learn that they can move from observing a pattern to proving that their observation is correct by the development of a mathematical model. Dr. Lodhi provides a second game for students in the Teacher Guide downloadable on this page. There are no prerequisites for this lesson and needed materials include only a blackboard and objects of two different varieties - such as plain and striped balls, apples and oranges, etc. The lesson can be completed in a 50-minute class period.

How are math, art, music, and language intertwined? How does intelligent behavior arise from its component parts? Can computers think? Can brains compute? Douglas Hofstadter probes very cleverly at these questions and more in his Pulitzer Prize winning book, "Godel, Escher, Bach". In this seminar, we will read and discuss the book in depth, taking the time to solve its puzzles, appreciate the Bach pieces that inspired its dialogues, and discover its hidden tricks along the way.

This class introduces the student to the use of small telescopes, either for formal research or as a hobby.

Background for and techniques of visual observation, electronic imaging, and spectroscopy of the Moon, planets, satellites, stars, and brighter deep-space objects. Weekly outdoor observing sessions using 8-inch diameter telescopes when weather permits. Indoor sessions introduce needed skills. Introduction to contemporary observational astronomy including astronomical computing, image and data processing, and how astronomers work. Student must maintain a careful and complete written log which is graded. In this seminar we explore the background and techniques of visual observation and imaging of the Moon, planets, and brighter deep-space objects using 8-inch telescopes. (Some sample images appear in our "photo album".) Telescope work begins with visual observing, then we advance to CCD (charge-coupled device) cameras. Each class observing session meets one evening a week. Whenever weather conditions permit us to observe outdoors we do so! In cloudy weather we'll try some astronomical computing and image processing indoors instead. Either way, virtually all the work for the seminar is done during the evening sessions, so students must attend section every week in order to pass. Past experience has been that if you're really enthusiastic about hands-on out-under-the-sky astronomy, enough to be willing to deal with dressing warmly, tinkering with equipment, and committing one evening a week, 12.409 is great fun! One student wrote, "Unlike most seminars, you will earn your units and, unlike most other MIT courses, you will look forward to doing it!" But we'll be direct: 12.409 is not for everyone, and in past years many whose interest was merely casual found themselves unwilling to devote one entire evening every week to the class. If your interest is only casual then consider whether a more typical astronomy survey subject might be a better choice, since it'll have more outside preparation time that you can rearrange at your discretion and less in-class time that you can't.

This course introduces students to both passive and active electronic components (op-amps, 555 timers, TTL digital circuits). Basic analog and digital circuits and theory of operation are covered. The labs allow the students to master the use of electronic instruments and construct and/or solder several circuits. The labs also reinforce the concepts discussed in class with a hands-on approach and allow the students to gain significant experience with electrical instruments such as function generators, digital multimeters, oscilloscopes, logic analyzers and power supplies. In the last lab, the students build an electronic circuit that they can keep. The course is geared to freshmen and others who want an introduction to electronics circuits. This course is offered during the Independent Activities Period (IAP), which is a special 4-week term at MIT that runs from the first week of January until the end of the month.