Trident BUS401 full course (all case and SLPs)

Module 1 – Case
THE LEGAL AND POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Assignment Overview
Walmart has recently announced plans for expansion to China. Already a
retail giant in the United States, they now hope to tap into a growing and
potentially lucrative new market. However, such expansion is not without risks.
Doing business in China is a much different environment than doing business in
the United States for a wide variety of reasons. China is not a democracy, it
is a one-party state that enforces strict restrictions on the press and on the
Internet. Corruption is also a big concern among businesses that invest in
China.
Furthermore, the Chinese government has announced plans for a series of
ambitious new reforms that add to the level of uncertainty and may change the
business environment for international firms. These reforms include an
increasingly high profile crackdown on corruption, reforms in regulations that
impact the role of state-owned enterprises, freedom of migration to large
cities, a decreasing role of state-owned enterprises, and many other reforms
that may significantly change the business environment in China.
Read the following three articles and do some of your own additional
research on Walmart and the new environment in China:
Best, D. (Oct. 24, 2013). China: Walmart emphasizes plan to still expand
in China. Just – Food Global News. [Available in ProQuest]
Evans-Pritchard, A. (Nov. 16, 2013). China strides towards free market
future. The Daily Telegraph. [Available in ProQuest]
China’s Third Plenum: A Primer (Nov. 8, 2013) Voice of America
News [Available in ProQuest]
China’s Bolsters Corruption Crackdown (Dec 13, 2012). Voice of America
News / FIND. [Available in ProQuest]
Case Assignment
After researching these issues, write a 4- to 5-page paper answering the
following question:
·
How will the new reforms in China impact the success of Walmart’s
expansion plans?
In your answer, consider the following issues:
A. The risks involved
in expanding to China—include political and legal risks as part of your answer
along with other risks that you think may be relevant.
B. How specific
aspects of China’s reform plans and political changes will impact the business
environment that Walmart will face. Include proposed regulatory reforms and the
recent crackdown on corruption in China as part of your answer.
C. The potential
benefit of Walmart’s expansion to China.
Helpful Tips:
·
First read in-depth the background materials for Module 1.
·
Identify key concepts in the background materials, write a list, and
study them.
·
Read the case in-depth and conduct additional research, if necessary.
·
Develop arguments by applying the concepts of international business
from the background materials to Walmart’s expansion plan in China.
Assignment Expectations
·
Answer the assignment questions directly.
·
Stay focused on the precise assignment questions; don’t go off on
tangents or devote a lot of space to general background materials.
·
List supporting references and cite sources in proper format. See this
link for Trident’s basic writing guidelines: .trident.edu/files/Well-Written-Paper.pdf”>Student Guide to Writing a High-Quality Academic Paper.
Module 1 – SLP
THE LEGAL AND POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT OF
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
For your SLP this session you will first need to pick a country that you
are interested in. For each module, you will examine a different aspect of
doing business in this country of your choice.
For SLP 1, you will be looking at the institutional environment of your
country of choice. This will include various legal and regulatory requirements
in this country faced by businesses, the political system in this country, and
other factors such as corruption.
The World Bank has being doing an extensive study of the ease of doing
business. Their “Doing Business” annual report is available on ProQuest and at
the doingbusiness.org webpage. This will give you a pretty
detailed picture of various aspects of the institutional environment in your
country.
In addition to the Doing Business report, use at least one other source.
For example, Transparency International does an annual report on corruption
around the world. The World Bank also publishes a set of Worldwide Governance
Indicators including indices of political stability, rule of law, and several
other institutional factors that may impact doing business in a country. These
are just suggestions, you may find other sources as well.
Once you are doing your research on the country of your choice, write a
2- to 3-page paper covering the following issues:
1. The overall picture
of how easy it is to do business in this country.
2. Type of government
and level of political stability.
3. The
legal/regulatory system in this country and whether or not it is conducive to
doing business.
4. The impact of
corruption on doing business in this country.
Remember, this is NOT a term paper due at the end of
the course. Rather, this is done module by module.
SLP Assignment Expectations
·
Select a country for your SLP.
·
Discuss the legal and political environment in this country and how it
impacts doing business.
·
Use the World Bank’s Doing Business report on your country and at least
one other source as part of your research on this country.

Module 2 – Case
THE FINANCIAL AND ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Assignment Overview
DirecTV is one of the largest providers of satellite television in the
world. It is a U.S.-based corporation but has subsidiaries throughout Latin
America in countries such as Argentina, Chile, and Venezuela.
Latin America is volatile part of the world with issues of political
strife and often extreme economic fluctuations. Inflation and currency exchange
rates are often especially volatile in this part of the world. DirecTV Latin
America even filed for bankruptcy protection in 2003 due to its many woes from
the unrest and economic hardship in this part of the world. The company is
currently doing much better but still faces a lot of risks.
Using the online library, do some research on DirecTV and its operations
in Latin America. Here are a some articles to get you started:
Ramachandran, S. (Feb. 14, 2013). DirecTV Profit Rises on Latin America
Growth. Wall Street Journal (Online),New York, NY [Available
in ProQuest]
Yao, D. (Feb 25, 2014). DIRECTV faces currency devaluation risks in
Venezuela. SNL Kagan Media & Communications Report [Available
in ProQuest]
Case Assignment
After researching DirecTV and reviewing the background materials on
international financial management, write a 4- to 5-page paper addressing the
following questions:
1. What major
political events in Latin America are the biggest threat to DirecTV’s financial
performance? What steps can be taken to protect against these risks?
2. What major
international financial or economic risks in Latin American economies should
DirecTV’s financial management team worry about the most? What can they do to
hedge against these risks?
3. What major business
risk from international competitors do you think DirecTV might face? What can
it do to protect against these risks?
Assignment Expectations
·
Answer the assignment questions directly.
·
Stay focused on the precise assignment questions; don’t go off on
tangents or devote a lot of space to general background materials.

Module 2 – SLP
THE FINANCIAL AND ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT OF
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Do some research on the currency and banking situation in your country.
We normally think of currency and banking risks as being something
confined to third-world or developing countries. But events in the past few
years such as the Euro crisis or the financial crisis in the United States have
shown that not even the wealthy, developed countries are without risks on the
financial side. So it is important for any company doing business in your
country to carefully consider the risks that they face.
After you’ve done some research about financial issues in your country,
write a 2- to 3-page paper covering the following issues:
1. The currency of
your country. Is it stable? Does the exchange rate fluctuate a lot?
2. The banking system
in your country. How safe is this system? Any recent banking crisis in your
country?
3. Overall does the financial
system in your country make it easy or difficult to do business? What kind of
steps would you recommend for a company doing business in your country to hedge
or minimize its financial risks?
SLP Assignment Expectations
·
Continue to write about the country you selected in Module 1.
·
Write 2–3 pages focused on issues 1–3 above.
·
Try not to rely on just one source—use multiple sources from the library
if possible.
·
Use appropriate writing style (organization, grammar, and spelling—see
writing guidelines) and include both a bibliography and in-text citations.
odule 3 – Case
THE CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Assignment Overview
The number one semiconductor company in the world, Applied Materials,
recently merged with the world’s number three semiconductor company, Tokyo
Elecktron. The stock prices of both companies went up significantly after the
merger was announced, which shows that investors welcome this move that may
create synergies and help both companies battle declining revenues in the
semiconductor industry. However, even though there are potential benefits to
this merger in terms of operational synergies, the human side of a merger can
often be difficult. Furthermore, Japanese and American cultures are widely
perceived as being extremely different from each other, which may add to the
difficulties in managing the human side of this merger.
For this assignment, review the following two articles and do some of
your own research on these two companies:
McClatchy, S. (Sep 2013) Applied Materials to merge with Tokyo Electron, Tribune
News Service, Washington [Available on ProQuest]
Negishi, M. (Sep 2013) Deal-shy Tokyo Electron chief pushed for sale to
Applied Materials; Tetsuro Higashi’s decision was based on experience watching
Japanese peers flounder, Wall Street Journal(Online), New York, N.Y
[Available on ProQuest]
Case Assignment
Once you’ve finished researching these companies and reviewing some of
the key concepts of cross-cultural management in the background materials,
write a 4- to 5-page paper answering the following questions:
1. What do you think
the biggest challenge in terms of cross-cultural management will be in the
merger of these two companies? Remember to consider the issue of differences in
national cultural values between Japan and the United States.
2. What steps do you
recommend be taken to help ease cultural differences between the two companies?
Assignment Expectations
·
Answer the assignment questions directly.
·
Stay focused on the precise assignment questions; don’t go off on
tangents or devote a lot of space to general background materials.

Module 3 – SLP
THE CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
For your Module 3 SLP, find out as much as you can about the national culture
of your country. A good place to start is Hofstede’s indices on national
culture:
.com/countries.html”>http://geert-hofstede.com/countries.html
No need to consider all six dimensions of national culture, but pay
close attention to individualism and power distance.
Keep in mind that it is controversial to try to quantify national
culture, so don’t rely only on Hofstede for this paper. Do some additional
research and try to find additional information about the cultural aspects of
doing business in your country.
Then write a 2- to 3-page paper addressing the following issues:
1. What do Hofstede’s
measures of national culture tell you about doing business in your country?
2. What other
information besides Hofstede have you been able to find about culture in your
country? How does this impact doing business?
3. Overall, does the
national culture of your country make it easy or difficult to do business? What
cultural pitfalls might an American company investing in your country face?
SLP Assignment Expectations
·
Continue to write about the country you selected in Module 1.
·
Write 2–3 pages focused on issues 1–3 above.
·
Try not to rely on just one source—use multiple sources from the library
if possible.
·
Use appropriate writing style (organization, grammar, and spelling—see
writing guidelines) and include both a bibliography and in-text citations.

Module 4 –
Case
INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Assignment Overview
Arik Air is one Nigeria’s largest
airlines and one of the largest airlines in all of Africa. Its employment
situation is a bit unique in that close to 10 percent of its employees are
expatriates. Recruiting and retaining expatriates to work as pilots or other
positions in Nigeria can require higher salaries than are typically paid to
local workers. However, disparities in wages between expatriates and local
employees can lead to resentment. Overall, the human resource situation for a
company that operates globally and hires globally such as Arik Air can be quite
complicated.
Do some research on Arik Air and
the human resource situation in Nigeria. Below are a few articles to get you
started:
Arik Air customer base soars
(Jan. 31, 2014). AllAfrica.com. Washington. [Available in
ProQuest]
Nigeria loses N500 billion
annually to expatriate pilots. (Jan. 24, 2014). AllAfrica.com [Washington]
24 Jan 2014.
Fajana, S., Owoyemi, O.,
Elegbede, T., & Gbajumo-Sheriff, M. (2011). Human resource management
practices in Nigeria. Journal of Management and Strategy, 2(2), 57.
Now suppose that Arik Airlines
has been purchased by an American company, which now has to develop a plan to
address the issue of hiring and maintaining a well-qualified pilot staff and
making all of Arik’s employees feel welcome under the new American parent
company. Also, suppose that you have been tasked with coming up with a solid
human resource plan for the new American owners of Arik Air. You need to make
major decisions such as how much to rely on local staff, how much to rely on
employees from the United States or other countries, and how to deal with the
sensitive issue of how an American company manages local employees who may be
resentful of their new owner. In order to do this, you will need to use what
you’ve learned in the background materials in this module as well as what
you’ve learned in the previous modules about assessing the local environment of
a country.
Case Assignment
In a 4- to 5-page paper, present
a strategic human resource plan considering the following issues:
1. The economic/political
environment in Nigeria—how will this influence the difficulty in hiring local
staff or recruiting expatriates to come work in Nigeria? How will this
influence your strategy?
2. Nigeria’s national culture—what
implications will cultural differences between the United States and Nigeria
have on your strategic plan? What difficulties do you anticipate, and how do
you propose to deal with them?
3. How much should the American
company rely on local pilots and managers vs. expatriate pilots and managers?
Keep the issue of potential local resentment of expatriates in mind.
Remember that your paper should
reflect an integration of both what you learned in the background materials
about the key general aspects of international human resource management, and
what you’ve specifically learned about the unique issues involved in managing
human resources in an airline in Nigeria. Your task is to apply the
background materials to the specific issues that would be faced by an American
company if it were to purchase Arik Air.
Assignment Expectations
·
Answer the assignment questions directly.
·
Stay focused on the precise assignment questions; don’t go off on
tangents or devote a lot of space to general background materials.

Module 4 – SLP
INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
This SLP will focus on human resources and human resource strategies,
policies, and practices that may impact on the ease of doing business in your
country.
Find out as much as you can about the human resource situation in your
country. For example, how well educated is the workforce? What is the
unemployment rate like? Also, try to find out as much as you can about labor
regulations or common human resource practices in your country. For example,
some countries have greater unionization than others. Some countries also have
strong restrictions against worker dismissals.
In addition to looking for articles about human resources in your
country, international organizations such as the World Bank or the OECD have
data on some indicators of education and/or labor market regulations. Doingbusiness.org also
includes information about labor market regulations and minimum wages, and some
advocacy groups such as the Fraser Institute or the Heritage Foundation publish
“economic freedom” reports that include labor market regulation information on
each country.
When you have finished researching the human resource situation in your
country, write a 2- to 3-page paper addressing the following issues:
1. The general skill
and education level of the country.
2. The types of labor
market regulation that exists in your country, such as minimum wages, or ease
of dismissing workers.
3. Your overall
assessment of the human resource situation in your country. Feel free to
include other issues besides labor market regulations or education if you find
anything relevant in your research.
SLP Assignment Expectations
·
Continue to write about the country you selected in Module 1.
·
Write 2–3 pages focused on issues 1–3 above.
·
Try not to rely on just one source—use multiple sources from the library
if possible.
·
Use appropriate writing style (organization, grammar, and spelling—see
writing guidelines) and include both a bibliography and in-text citations.

Module 5 – Case
INTERNATIONAL MARKET SELECTION AND MARKET ENTRY
Assignment Overview
Zipcar is a highly successful new company specializing in a brand-new
model for automobile rental services, allowing their customers long-term and
flexible access to shared vehicles on a daily or hourly basis. Zipcar’s
innovative model allows those who sign up for their membership services to
share cars with other members on a flexible basis, creating a cost effective
alternative to car ownership. Since its founding in 2000, it has grown to
become a major player in the U.S. automobile rental market and has expanded
internationally to Canada, the U.K., Spain, and Austria, and offers rental
services to almost 1 million customers.
Read the following two articles and do some of your own additional
research on Zipcar:
Zipcar expands in Sacramento becoming 26th major metro market: Based on
strong demand, Zipcar increases number of vehicles, will open office (Nov. 6,
2013) PR Newswire (available on ProQuest)
Esswein, P. M. (July, 2011). Zipcar: Robin Chase. Kiplinger’s
Personal Finance, 65, 1 (available on ProQuest)
Zipcar, Inc.; Zipcar acquires leading car sharing service in Austria,
CarSharing.at. (July 25, 2012).Mergers & Acquisitions Week , 196.
(available on ProQuest)
Case Assignment
Now suppose you have been hired by Zipcar to come up with an
international strategic plan. Write a 4- to 5-page strategic plan for Zipcar
that addresses the following issues:
1. What country or
countries should Zipcar enter next beyond the five countries they already
operate in? Explain your reasoning for this selection based on criteria from
the background materials.
2. What mode of entry
should Zipcar use to enter the country or countries that you chose? For
example, should it use a joint venture, franchising, a greenfield strategy,
something else?
Assignment Expectations
·
Answer the assignment questions directly.
·
Stay focused on the precise assignment questions; don’t go off on tangents
or devote a lot of space to general background materials.
Module 5 – SLP
INTERNATIONAL MARKET SELECTION AND MARKET ENTRY
For this final SLP, you will be doing research on what kind of
strategies American companies have taken in investing in the country that you
chose for Module 1.
Locate at least one American company that operates in the country you
selected in Module 1. Find out as much as you can about this company, with
special attention on the strategies they took in entering this country and the
experiences that they faced.
In a 2- to 3-page paper, cover the following issues:
1. How did this
company enter this country? What strategies did they use?
2. What kind of
experiences did they have in this country—positive and negative?
3. What additional
strategies do you recommend for this company in this country?
SLP Assignment Expectations
·
Continue to write about the country you selected in Module 1.
·
Write 2–3 pages focused on issues 1–3 above; no need to devote a lot of
space to general background information.
·
Try not to rely on just one source—use multiple sources from the library
if possible.
·
Use appropriate writing style (organization, grammar, and spelling—see
writing guidelines) and include both a bibliography and in-text citations.