Experiencing International Business and Management

Exercises, Projects, and Cases

Betty Jane Punnett

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781317470809
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

Revised and updated, this popular book adds a real-life dimension to courses in international business and management. It's designed for instructors who want to go beyond the facts and figures in standard textbooks, and helps students learn how to interact with people in different cultures in the global business environment. The book begins with a description of the key role of experiential learning in the classroom, along with a brief overview of key concepts in international business. The main part of the text consists of 25 hands-on experiential exercises, 7 projects, and 5 mini case studies - all designed for in-class use. This edition features updated data and information in many of the exercises, projects, and cases, and includes 5 completely new exercises and cases. For the first time, the author has identified the exercises that work particularly well with students in off-site locations. An Online Instructors Manual is available for adopters.

Exercises

DOI: 10.4324/9781315704425-2

Exercise 1 Defining an International Company

Aim

This exercise can be a good introduction to the topic of international business. It also can be used to help you summarize what has been learned about international companies.

Time

This exercise should take students about 30 minutes of outside preparation and about 60 minutes of class time.

Assignment

Individual: Imagine that you can categorize companies as “domestic” or “international.” A “domestic” company would be one that relies very little on international activities—most inputs/supplies are sourced domestically, operations are all domestic and markets are domestic; an “international” company is one that relies substantially on international activities. Do some library or Internet research on the differences between domestic and international companies and make a list of the characteristics of an organization that would probably differ for domestic and international companies; be as exhaustive and imaginative as possible.

G roup: Discuss the characteristics identified by group members. The group should decide which characteristics are most useful and develop a list of criteria to be used for judging whether or not a company is international. Please use the worksheet provided. For example, your group might consider “ratio of foreign sales to domestic sales” an important distinguishing characteristic and decide that once a company reaches foreign sales of 20 percent of total sales, it should be considered international. Once your group has decided on a list of characteristics and criteria, move on to the rest of the exercise. Here you are asked to develop a definition of an international company and to consider if there are degrees of internationalism; that is, do you feel it is helpful to distinguish between a multinational, an international, a transnational, and a global company? Use the Worksheet for Exercise 1 on the next page to address these issues.

Worksheet for Exercise 1

Part 1 Distinguishing Between a Domestic and an International Company

Part 2 Definition

Use the space below to formulate a definition of an international company. (This definition should be a synthesis of the characteristics and measurement criteria identified in Part 1.)

Exercise 2 Moving from Domestic to Global

Aim

The objective of this exercise is to consider different forms of internationalization and ways in which a company might normally develop over time.

Time

This exercise will take about 90 minutes of class time, or it can be assigned as an individual, out-of-class exercise. If the exercise is to be done in class, students should bring to class their definitions of the forms of entry as identified below.

Group Assignment

Picture a small, family-owned and managed firm that manufactures specialized dolls and sells these dolls locally. The firm is initially a purely domestic firm. Use the Worksheet for Exercise 2 provided to identify a pattern of international entry for this firm. Include the following forms of international entry in your discussion: wholly-owned subsidiaries, global integration, proactive exports, licensing, reactive exports, joint ventures, strategic alliances, and outsourcing. Define each form of entry and describe its advantages and disadvantages. Hand in a group worksheet.

Individual Assignment

Using the same worksheet, complete the exercise above individually. Hand in an individual worksheet.

Worksheet for Exercise 2

Definitions of International Form...