LEGAL STRATEGIES FOR INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Law course taught at ISUGA International Business School (Quimper, France)
Academic year: 2025–2026 — Period: January-February 2026
Programme: Master’s degree in international business development (EQF Level 7 / Master’s level – Year 2)
Official title (FR): Mastère Manager du Développement d’Affaires à l’International spécialisation Marchés asiatiques (BAC+5 – RNCP niveau 7)
Level: Master’s degree – Year 2 (EQF Level 7)
Group: ISUGA M2 2025–26
Lecturer: Franck BEAUDOIN, Avocat
Duration of the course: 15 hours / 3 sessions
Updated on 23 January 2026
📋 Syllabus and Course Guidelines
🎯 Objectives
This course aims to equip students with the legal knowledge, analytical tools and strategic perspective required to integrate legal considerations into international business development strategies. By the end of the course, students will be able to:
• Integrate legal, regulatory and institutional constraints into international business development strategies.
• Assess how legal frameworks, geopolitical dynamics and regulatory environments influence strategic decision-making in an international context.
• Identify, evaluate and manage legal, regulatory and geopolitical risks affecting international expansion.
• Anticipate the impact of evolving legal and regulatory trends on international business models.
• Adapt international development strategies to complex and changing legal environments.
• Contribute to the preparation of an international business plan by developing a coherent, legally sound and strategically informed approach.
🧭 Course rationale and structure
This course, taught in English, addresses the international dimension of business law from a strategic perspective. It focuses on private international law, European Union law and French law, and adopts a multidisciplinary approach covering contract law, commercial law, distribution law, company law, intellectual property law and the law applicable to the processing of personal data. It examines how legal frameworks shape companies’ international activities and influence strategic business choices in an international context.
The course forms the third and final stage of a coherent learning path in international business law. Following a Bachelor-level course focused on the identification of legal issues (Legal guide to doing business internationally) and a Master 1 course centred on the operational use of international business law (Operating and developing internationally), this course adopts a strategic perspective. It focuses on the integration of legal considerations into international business development strategies and strategic decision-making.
📚 Course outline
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS LAW
LEGAL STRATEGIES FOR INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
🗓️ In-class sessions schedule
| SESSION | THEMES | DURATION | DATE |
|---|---|---|---|
| SESSION 1 | Incorporating legal considerations and strategies into international business planning. Objectives: • Understand how legal considerations shape international business planning from the outset. • Identify and prioritise the main legal issues relevant to an international development project. • Structure a simplified international business case by integrating legal constraints and opportunities. • Prepare students for the individual in-class assessment, focused on partner selection and the legal aspects of a simplified business plan. | 5 hours | 22 January 2026 |
| SESSION 2 | Adapting the business strategy based on legal considerations. Objectives: • Analyse how legal constraints and opportunities may require adjustments to an initial business strategy. • Develop the ability to adapt an international development strategy based on legal considerations. • Understand the impact of legal choices on governance, responsibility and long-term strategic options. • Build methodological foundations for the group business plan by refining and justifying strategic legal choices. | 5 hours | 4 February 2026 |
| SESSION 3 | Understanding emerging trends and geopolitical stakes affecting international business development Objectives: • Identify emerging legal, regulatory and geopolitical trends affecting international business development. • Assess how these trends influence international business strategies and partner selection. • Integrate uncertainty, regulatory evolution and geopolitical risk into international business planning. • Support the preparation of the group business plan and oral presentation by providing a broader strategic and prospective perspective. | 5 hours | 6 February 2026 |
| FINAL EXAM |
💻 Online lessons to be completed
The following table indicates the minimum online lessons to be completed. Students are encouraged to explore additional online lessons for a deeper understanding.
When only the module title is indicated, all lessons within that module are to be completed.
| MODULES / lessons | Suggested study time |
|---|---|
| Overview of international business law | 15 minutes |
| Advanced insights into international contract law | 15 minutes |
| Contractual liability in international business | 15 minutes |
| International payment and financing instruments | 15 minutes |
| Thinking internationally: legal issues in business operations | 20 minutes |
| Operating internationally | 20 minutes |
| Developing internationally | 20 minutes |
| International institutions and global governance | 20 minutes |
| Risks and compliance in international business | 20 minutes |
| Current trends in international trade | 20 minutes |
Suggested study time is provided for guidance only and reflects a reasonable workload for a transversal reading of the online materials.
🧩 Teaching method
The course is delivered face-to-face and is based on an active learning approach.
During class sessions, students have access to an online learning platform developed by the lecturer (i-law.co), which provides online lessons and exercises supporting the course.
Each theme is introduced orally by the lecturer and supported by slides designed to simplify and illustrate legal concepts through a legal design approach. Students are expected to participate actively during these sessions, to ask questions, and to engage in discussions. Interactive activities such as quizzes, polls and role plays are organised to encourage participation and collective reflection.
Students are invited to study the online lessons available on the i-law.co platform and to complete individual online exercises, including both theoretical questions and practical case studies. As a general guideline, online lessons should ideally be reviewed before the corresponding in-class session in order to prepare for and fully benefit from the discussion, and, where relevant, after the session to consolidate and deepen understanding.
Collective case studies are also organised during the course to apply the knowledge acquired to practical international business situations.
📑 Personal work required for students
Prerequisites: Students are expected to have acquired the legal foundations of international business law at Bachelor level and to be familiar with the operational legal issues typically addressed during the first year of the Master’s programme.
During the sessions, students are expected to participate actively in class discussions.
Each student must complete all online lessons individually.
Personal work and restricted use of artificial intelligence (AI) – All questionnaires, assignments and assessments must be completed individually, without the use of AI-generated content.
The use of digital tools (including AI) is permitted only:
- for personal or documentary research outside the context of an assessment, or
- where an activity explicitly authorises such tools for pedagogical purposes (e.g. critical analysis of AI-generated text).
📊 Assessment
Assessment is organised at programme level and is primarily based on the preparation of a business plan focusing on international development.
🚀 GET STARTED!
📨 1 – Register
Please provide an email address that clearly identifies you (first name and last name).
👥 2 – Join your group
👉 https://i-law.co/join-group/?group-code=uSO26iJDffVX
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