10.6 End-of-Chapter Questions and Exercises

These exercises are designed to ensure that the knowledge you gain from this book about international business meets the learning standards set out by the international Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International).Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business website, accessed January 26, 2010, http://www.aacsb.edu. AACSB is the premier accrediting agency of collegiate business schools and accounting programs worldwide. It expects that you will gain knowledge in the areas of communication, ethical reasoning, analytical skills, use of information technology, multiculturalism and diversity, and reflective thinking.

Experiential Exercises

(AACSB: Communication, Use of Information Technology, Analytical Skills)

  1. One of the reasons that firms expand across borders is to expand the impact and value created by their strong brands. Pick a local company and develop a vision for how it can expand its brand globally. What seem to be the opportunities and barriers to doing this? Review the short YouTube video on global branding by Sanjay Sood, a UCLA professor, and see how you might qualify your recommendations. The video is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X26WHNRhqPk.
  2. Visit the corporate websites of Splash Corporation, CEMEX, Procter & Gamble, and 3M. How does it appear that these firms have organized their global business operations? What are their similarities and differences, and what might explain those similarities and differences? How might you characterize their business, corporate, and international strategies?
  3. Outsourcing and offshoring are important parts of international strategy, yet they also have a clear ethical dimension. View the trailer for Outsourced: The Movie at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LImhTTFu4b8 and the opening sample video clips (starting with “Todd’s First Training”) at http://www.outsourcedthemovie.com/Clips/ms_educlips.html. What stereotypes do the videos highlight? What does it appear Todd is learning from this experience?

Ethical Dilemmas

(AACSB: Ethical Reasoning, Multiculturalism, Reflective Thinking, Analytical Skills)

  1. What are the ethical implications of outsourcing or offshoring business activities?
  2. You have been hired by Procter & Gamble (P&G) to work in their cosmetics product development group. P&G is aiming to grow its business by identifying new products where demand is growing quickly in emerging markets. Through a Filipino classmate from your college days, you learn about the skin-lightening product market and how rapidly it is growing in emerging markets. What are some of the ethical considerations you might want to take into account as you evaluate this market and make recommendations to your colleagues at P&G?
  3. You are a quality-control manager for Toyota Motor Corporation in the United Kingdom. Over the past six months, you have forwarded information to Toyota’s headquarters in Japan about possible brake problems but have seen no action taken. In your heart you believe that the company is just being careful to confirm what the problems actually are and is not intentionally covering up the problem. This morning you read a piece in USA Today about Toyota vehicles in the United States experiencing similar problems. What action do you take?