I. Assessment Requirements
There are thirteen seminars held during the teaching of the module, each supporting and extending a particular subject area in the module. For each seminar the student is required to complete a specific task, described in detail in the module Workbook, in the Drop-Box folder for each seminar, and in this document.
Ideally the student will complete each seminar task before the seminar is held, so that they can receive feedback on the work they have done and the results of their analysis can be used in discussion with the seminar group.
II. Assessment Details
Seminar 1
Consider Figure 2 on page 6 of the module workbook (World Economic Forum 12 Factors of Country Competitiveness). For your home country, or another country that you are familiar with, select three of the ‘Efficiency enhancers' and evaluate them for that country. As a reminder, the six efficiency enhancers are; higher education and training, goods market efficiency, labor market efficiency, financial market development, technological readiness and market size. The World Competitiveness Report for 2012 is in the NOW Learning Room with more details on these factors from pages 4 through 7.
Seminar 2
Go to https://data.worldbank.org/data-catalog/world-development-indicators
Download the WDI spreadsheet on the right hand side of the page under Resources - called WDI (Excel)-ZIP. It is a very large file, so choose carefully where and when to download.
For your own country or a country of your choice and for the United Kingdom, compare the following data for the years 2002 to 2012.
• GDP per capita, PPP (constant 2005 international $)
• Internet users (per 100 people)
• Population aged 65 and above (% of total)
What do the trends for these data sets look like? Can you think why the two countries may be different or may be the same? What does the data tell you if you were an international business?
There is a short ‘How to' guide on NOW for using the WDI spreadsheet if you get stuck.
Seminar 3
Locate ‘Worksheet for Porter's 5 Forces Analysis' pdf document in NOW Learning Room (under Global Strategy - Situation Analysis).
Using either i) a company that you know well (i.e. you've worked for them, or have family links to them), or ii) a well-known global company.
Select a part of the company, by product line (e.g. LCD televisions for Sony) or by geographic region (e.g. North Africa for Coca-Cola). Do not analyze the whole company! Look at the company's website, check recent news articles about them (on the BBC website, Financial Times, Aljazeera, China Daily etc.). Save a copy of the 5 Forces worksheet on your computer and fill it out for the part of the company you have selected. In the circles enter a number between 1 and 5 representing how strong that force is (1 is very weak and 5 is very strong), in its effect on that part of the company.
For each force note your thoughts about why you have rated each force from 1 to 5.
Seminar 4
It is believed that one aspect of Apple's business strategy which has made its products and services very successful is ‘transcreation'. Find out what ‘transcreation' means in the context of the Apple business, and identify for your country, or a country with which you are familiar, what Apple has done in terms of transcreation for the products and services it sells in that country.
Seminar 5
Read the case study ‘Hong Kong Disneyland' in Shenkar, O. & Luo, Y. (2004) "International Business", Wiley (pages CA-42 to CA-53 towards the back of the book). A copy of the case study is also available in the Learning Room in NOW.
Since the book was published, the theme park opened in September 2005 and has expanded regularly since.
For each of the five stakeholder groups we have reviewed above, note;
• What would be positive for them about the proposed Disneyland Theme Park in Hong Kong?
• What would be negative for them about the proposed Disneyland Theme Park in Hong Kong?
You can include information from other sources as well as the case study text (for example the Hong Kong Disneyland website, business news items, or academic studies on the park.
Seminar 6
Using Hofstede's five dimensions of culture, examine two cultures with which you are familiar; e.g.
• Your own culture and the culture of the United Kingdom
• Your own culture and the culture of the United States
• The culture of the United Kingdom and.... etc.
Use the information on his website https://geert-hofstede.com/ In what way are the two cultures similar?
In what way are the two cultures different?
What impact could the differences between the two cultures have on the way in which business is done between companies from the two cultures?
Seminar 7
Access the World Trade Organisation statistics ‘Time series on international trade' at https://stat.wto.org/StatisticalProgram/WSDBStatProgramHome.aspx?Language=E. Select either one of the commodity items (e.g. food, fuels, iron and steel etc.) or one of the commercial services (e.g. travel, financial services, construction etc.) as the ‘subject'. Select your home country, or a country with which you are familiar as ‘reporter' and selected world as ‘partner'. Select both imports and exports as ‘trade flow'. Select the last 10 years of available data (typically 2004-2013), then click on view data.
How does the commodity or service trade change over time?
Why do you think that would be? What factors will affect the trade?
Which partner countries are likely to be the main exporters / importers of those trade items? What do you think will happen to that trade in the future?
Seminar 8
Read HARDY, J. (1998) "Cathedrals in the Desert? Transnationals, Corporate Strategy and Locality in Wroclaw", Regional Studies, Vol. 32, No. 7, pp. 639-652 (copy in NOW)
Why might this area of Poland be an attractive place for FDI by foreign multinational companies?
Identify ‘linkages' and ‘spillovers' that could be said to have either a positive or negative effect on the area described in the case study.
Since this article was written in 1997, Poland joined the EU in 2004. Which aspects of what was included in the article may be different after 2004?
Seminar 9
Via Nottingham Trent University's library website, access the MINTEL market research database. Find the report entitled ‘Mobile Phones -UK - February 2014'
Analyse the report for the following key areas: age profile of ownership of smartphones and basic mobile phones, how much the top 5 phone manufacturers spend on advertising per year, and what are the top 5 factors behind a person's decision to choose a particular handset.
Seminar 10
Read Richard Ivey School of Business, (2009) "Cherries with charm: Turkey's Alara Agri", HBSP, Cambridge, Mass. (Focus on first nine pages).
Describe how in the UK, and Belgium/Germany the customer segment ‘cherry buyers' was defined. In what way were they different and in what way were they the same?
What aspects of the differences between ‘cherry buyers' in the two regions (UK and Belgium/Germany) could the importer Alara Agri influence and which could he not?
Which other fruits or vegetable buyers could be segmented in this way?
Seminar 11
Read Deshpande, R., Misztal, K. & Beyersdorfer, D. (2014) "The Swatch Group" Harvard Business School case study, 9-512-052
Compare the two main brands owned by the Swatch Group - Omega and Swatch - and evaluate how they are marketed, specifically in terms of the 4 Ps.
Seminar 12
Read Rasiah, R. et al (2011) "Moving up the global value chain in button manufacturing in China", Asia Pacific Business Review, Vol.17, No.2, pp.161-174
The paper indicates a number of instances of vertical and horizontal integration in the button manufacturing value chain.
• Where were those instances of integration initiated by the businesses themselves?
• Where were those instances of integration initiated by the regional or local governments?
• How do you think the value chain of button manufacturing in China will evolve next?
Seminar 13
Read Ibrahim, S.E. & Ahmed, K.H. (2011), "Key Drivers for Sustainable Operations in Developing Countries: A Textile Case Study from Egypt", Proceedings of PIMET '11, August 2011.
The authors of the paper propose a model where three stakeholder groups - the government, the community and customers - bear influence on an organisation. On page 7 of their report they compare how these stakeholders exert influence in different ways between developed countries and developing countries.
Consider a large company in your own country. Think about how those three stakeholder groups exert influence on the company in terms of the sustainability of their supply chain.
Are they the same? Are they different and if they are, in what way?