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QUESTIONS
FOR
CASE
STUDY ASSIGNMENT
Iternational
Business
Licensed
for use by the students of the
Executive MBA Program,
The Icfai University.
Not to be reproduced.
Executive MBA Program,
The Icfai University.
Not to be reproduced.
QUESTIONS FOR CASE
STUDY ASSIGNMENT
International
Business
ANSWER
THE QUESTIONS FOR ANY TEN CASE STUDIES
Questions
for 18 case studies are given below. Each case study assignment has 2 questions.
Students are required to answer questions for any 10 case studies (20 answers).
Students are advised to submit answers for all 10 cases in one go, for results
to be adjudged in one instance.
6
should be from the first 12 case studies (Set A: No. 01 to 12) involving BRIC
countries, and 4 should be from the remaining 8 case studies (Set B: No. 13 to
20).
Each
case study assignment has 2 questions. Students are required to answer
questions for exactly 10 case studies (20 answers).
Students
are advised to submit answers for all 10 case studies in one go, for results to
be adjudged in one instance.
Set
A: Case Studies on International Business involving BRIC Countries
01. Gazprom – Naftogaz Ukrainy
Dispute: Business or Politics?
a. Study the vulnerability of Gazprom’s
exports to Europe with respect to its long-term commitments of gas supplies to
European countries. What can such a company do to reduce its dependence?
Answer: In both economic and political terms, energy resources form the
strongest link between Russia and the outside world. As most of Russia’s energy
exports go to the European Union, the relationship between these two players is
often referred to as a situation of strong energy interdependence. Russia, providing
more than 30% of gas and oil imported to the EU, is its most important
supplier. In 2013 Russia exported 153.9 million tonnes of oil (66% of its total
export), 139 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas (70%) and 60.5 million
tonnes of coal (50%) to the EU, and therefore has the structural power to
b. Ukraine heavily subsidized its
domestic gas consumption. At the same time, it wanted to break free from the
Russian influence and become a market-oriented economy. How can this be
achieved given its dependence on the subsidized gas imports from Russia?
Discuss the painful transitions of such economies, when they are forced to
reduce subsidies and increase the prices of gas and other basic services.
Answer: The strong asymmetry and lack of parallelism in structures, which
also function as leadership of energy sectors, characterise the EU–Russia
relationship. These differences, reinforced by diverging approaches to
international relations, prevent closer energy cooperation and construction of
mutual trust. While discussing the Russian energy approach, it has to be
underlined that there is no abstract decision making at the Kremlin. Hence it
is necessary to make reference to Vladimir Putin and his entourage,
02. The Indian Rupee-US Dollar
Exchange Rate: The Economic Impact of a Strengthening Currency
a. Analyze the case and present the
implications of rupee appreciation on the exports and on the Indian economy.
Answer: The Indian rupee has appreciated by nearly 10% since late 2006,
posing an acute dilemma for Indian policymakers. In some ways, the present
strength of the currency, which is now hovering just above the symbolic
Rs40:US$1 mark, is an enviable problem. It suggests that the country's
attractiveness to foreign investors is increasing and signals optimism about
the Indian economy more generally. However, the
b. What are the various ways in which
exchange rate management is facilitated?
Answer: Do you think Indian government fix the value of Indian Rupee
against US dollar? If not, who fixes it? RBI? No; at present none of these
entities fix the value of Indian Rupee. Now the value of Indian Rupee (or any
other currency) is determined by market. Yes, Market! The demand and supply
forces in currency market. If the demand for Indian currency is high, Indian
rupee will have high value, and if demand is low, it will depreciate.
Also, understand
that a high value for Indian currency means, the exchanged rate of Indian rupee
against US dollar will be less. Or to explain with an example : Rs.40 against 1
US dollar means high value for Indian rupee when compared with Rs.70 against 1
US dollar.
So, if market
forces determine the value of a
03. The US-China Exchange Rate
Stand-Off
a. Analyze China’s exchange rate policy
and its impact on the US and the world economies. What, in your opinion, are
the main factors behind the huge trade deficit that the US has with China?
Answer: A major cause of the rapidly growing U.S. trade deficit with China
is currency manipulation. Unlike other currencies, the Chinese yuan does not
fluctuate freely against the dollar.2 Instead, China has tightly pegged its
currency to the U.S. dollar at a rate that encourages a large bilateral trade
surplus with the United States.
As China’s
productivity has soared, its currency should have adjusted, increasing in value
to maintain balanced trade. But the yuan has instead remained artificially low
as China has aggressively acquired dollars and other foreign exchange reserves
to further depress the value of its own currency. (To depress the value of its
own currency, a government can sell its own currency and buy government
securities such as U.S. Treasury bills, which increases its foreign reserves.)
China had to purchase $337 billion in U.S. Treasury
b. If China allows the Yuan to move
freely against the US Dollar and reach its true value, what, according to you,
will be the impact on the economies of both countries as well as on the world
economy?
Answer: Currency manipulation is one practice that violates the rules of the
international trading system set out in the GATT and WTO agreements (Stewart
and Drake 2010). Other Chinese government policies also illegally encourage
exports. China extensively suppresses labor rights, which lowers production
costs within China. An
04. Embraer: The Brazilian Aircraft
Manufacturer’s Turnaround and Growth
a. The competition between Bombardier
and Embraer had far reaching effects, even affecting relations between Canada
and Brazil. Comment on the issues in the Bombardier-Embraer face off, and
analyze the relative competitive position of the two companies. What are the
implications of international competition on the trade and diplomatic relations
between countries?
Answer: Brazil–Canada relations have been cordial but relatively limited,
although the relationship between the two countries has been gradually evolving
over time.
Prior to the
1820s Brazil and Canada were both colonies of European powers, and had no
direct contacts. Brazil's independence was much earlier than Canada's, and
British control of Canada's relations with foreign governments lasted
b. Analysts believed that the future
prospects for Embraer were mixed. Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of
Embraer, and comment on the opportunities and threats that affected Embraer’s
future prospects and potential.
Answer: Outside of trade policy, relations have been much warmer. The
foreign-policy making groups in each country tend to value multilateralism and
human security. Canada is not necessarily opposed to Brazil's main goals of
international recognition as a great power, and regional integration in South
America. Canada's main goal in the region is to prevent the emergence of
hostile trade blocs
05. McDonald’s Russia: A Jewel in the
McDonald’s Emerging Market Operations?
a. Explain the entry and expansion
strategies of McDonald’s in Russia. What are the major reasons for McDonald’s
instant popularity in Russia that continued to grow over the years?
Answer: McDonald’s shook up its leadership this week as it struggled to
keep up with changing consumer tastes, appointing Steve Easterbrook, a veteran
of UK high street restaurant chains, to replace Don Thompson as chief
executive.
FT reporters
around the world take a market-by-market look at the challenges facing the company.
b. Critically analyze the challenges
McDonald’s could face in the country in the future. What should the company do
to overcome these challenges?
Answer: Mc Donald's is one of the world's largest chains of fast food
restaurants. They operate thirty two thousand restaurants serving more than
sixty million customers daily. The key to rapid and successful international
expansion of Mc Donald's is the franchise model pioneered by them.
Mc Donald's
recognized early in their life that overseas market required an extremely high
degree of local responsiveness and that they
06. Carrefour’s Misadventure in
Russia
a. According to Thierry Garnier, Member
of the Carrefour Group Executive Committee, “We are confident that retail
business in Russia has considerable long-term potential, and the market is
strategically important for the development of our company.” In the light of
the above statement, what factors led Carrefour to suddenly exit the Russian
retail market.
Answer:
b. Critically analyze the Russian
retail market in the light of Porter’s five forces model. Do you think the
market is lucrative enough to attract more foreign players? Explain.
Answer:
07. Sakhalin-1 Project: Delivering
Excellence in Project Execution
a. Explain the significance of the
Sakhalin-1 project to Russia in particular and to the world’s oil and gas
industry in general.
Answer: The Sakhalin-I project, a sister project to Sakhalin-II, is a
consortium to locate and produce oil and gas on Sakhalin Island and immediately
offshore, in the Okhotsk Sea, from three fields: Chayvo, Odoptu, and
Arkutun-Dagi.
In 1996, the
consortium completed a
b. Discuss the technical and
environmental challenges faced by the team of the Sakhalin-1 project. How did
they overcome these challenges?
Answer: For the past few years everyone at the conference has agreed that
the expansion of the Sakhalin-2 LNG plant at Prigorodnoye in the south of the
Island, which is also the subject of an annual pilgrimage for conference
delegates, was a ‘no-brainer.’ The problem was that the Sakhalin-2 project did
not have sufficient gas reserves to supply a third train. At the St Petersburg
International Forum on 18 June Gazprom and Shell signed an Agreement of
Strategic Cooperation to include global asset swaps that would enable
08. Volkswagen’s Marketing Strategy
in India
a. Volkswagen Group India found out
through its research that the Volkswagen brand was not well known among the
Indian consumers. The company launched an integrated marketing campaign to address
the issue. Analyze this campaign and explain how it would increase the brand
awareness of Volkswagen in India.
Answer: Raj Sawant, Business Head of Automark Motors, a Volkswagen dealer
in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, said, "There are already over 170 advance
bookings across India, and we have started delivering the cars as well. Going
by the initial euphoria, we expect to sell around 300 Beetles in 2010."
Volkswagen Group
India, the Indian subsidiary of leading automobile manufacturer, Volkswagen AG (Volkswagen),
based in Wolfsburg, Germany, had entered the Indian passenger car market in
2001 by launching its car brand - Skoda. In 2007, two of its other brands Audi
and Volkswagen, were also launched in India.
Over the years,
Volkswagen Group India not
b. Volkswagen Group India expected that
the launch of a compact car, Polo, and a low priced car, UP! would help it to
capture a significant share of the Indian passenger car market. Do you think,
by launching these models, the company will dilute its brand positioning as a
luxury car maker in India? Take a stand and justify it.
Answer: The central aspect of this model is to highlight the competitive
rivalry within an industry. There are 2 main types of competitors internal and
external. The internal competition refers to the direct pre-existing
competition of a brand in the same product class while external competition
includes suppliers and customers
09. Mylan’s Acquisition of Matrix
a. Comment on Mylan’s strategy of
inorganic growth in the context of the global generic drugs market.
Answer: In January 2007, Mylan Inc. (Mylan), one of the largest US generic
drug makers, acquired a 71.5 percent stake in Matrix Laboratories Ltd.
(Matrix), India, a leading Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) supplier
globally, for a cash and stock deal of US$736 million. The Mylan-Matrix deal
was the largest acquisition in the Indian pharmaceutical industry and was
viewed by analysts as a step toward backward integration for My
b. Discuss the rationale behind Matrix’s
decision to be acquired by Mylan. Discuss the benefits gained by Matrix and the
bottlenecks it had to face as a result this acquisition.
Answer: In 2007, US-based Mylan Inc, a $7-billion generic drug maker,
bought Matrix Laboratories, Hyderabad, for $736 million. In the seven years
since, it has invested around $3 billion on acquisitions in India. It now
regards India not just as a global sourcing hub, but also as a market. More
than half its global employees are in India, as are 14 of its total 38 plants
worldwide approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
At a global
level, Mylan is trying to carve out a niche in the lucrative injectables
market. It is here that its most recent acquisition in India, Agila
Specialties, for $1.6 billion last year makes a difference. Injectables are
more
10. Brilliance Auto: A Chinese
Automaker with Global Ambitions
a. What strategies did Brilliance Auto
adopt to foray into international markets? What are the major hurdles that
Brilliance Auto needs to overcome, if it is to succeed in the European and the
US auto markets? What can it do to overcome these?
Answer:
b. Discuss Brilliance Auto’s efforts to
introduce its vehicles in markets across Asia and Africa. Would the company be
better off investing resources in growing its market share in these countries,
instead of concentrating its efforts in Europe and the US?
Answer:
11. Troubled Times for the Chinese
Toy Industry
a. In 2007, the Chinese toy industry
had to deal with a number of product recalls. According to some officials in
the Chinese government, the recalls were orchestrated by countries that were
against large-scale imports of Chinese toys. Do you agree with this assessment?
Justify.
Answer:
b. In the context of the given case
study, analyze the problems and challenges faced by the Chinese toy industry.
What can China do to maintain its position in the global toy industry? Also,
discuss the regulatory hurdles that may come in the way of the future
development of the Chinese toy industry.
Answer:
12. Pfizer’s Intellectual Property
Rights Battles in China for Viagra
a. Describe the challenges faced by
Pfizer in protecting its IPRs in China? Do you think China has been doing
enough to provide adequate protection to IPRs? Do you agree with analysts that
the Viagra patent litigation in China is indicative of China’s growing
appreciation of the need to protect IPRs? Give reasons for your answer.
Answer:
b. Imagine that you are the CEO of a
pharma company with a large product portfolio of successful drugs. It has been
proposed that your products should be introduced into the Chinese markets.
Discuss the various considerations before you, keeping in mind the market
conditions, the IPR problems, and your responsibilities towards your stakeholders.
Answer:
Set B: Case Studies on International
Business not involving BRIC Countries
13. The European Union and
Immigration from New Member Countries
a. Discuss the types of immigration
regimes in the old EU economies, and their impact on the growth of their
economies and welfare systems.
Answer:
b. In a free market, the market forces
are supposed to determine the supply of and demand for labor. But in EU, where
there are virtually no barriers to the free movement of goods or services or
capital, how did restrictions come to be imposed on the free movement of labor?
Discuss the pros and cons of such restrictions.
Answer:
14. The South African Economy: Coping
with the Legacy of Apartheid
a. What, in your opinion, were the
factors that led to the eventual demise of the apartheid system? To what extent
are South Africa’s economic problems a legacy of apartheid? Could they have
also been caused by external factors, over which the government had little
control? Justify your arguments with lucid explanations.
Answer:
b. How can South Africa’s problems of
income disparities, poverty, and unemployment be tackled? Can these problems be
tackled together, effectively? Or, would solving one problem (say, that of
unemployment) make another (say, income inequalities) worse?
Answer:
15. The Softwood Lumber Dispute
between Canada and the United States
a. Critically analyze the 2006 Softwood
Lumber Agreement. What impact did the lumber dispute have on the trade
relationship between the US and Canada?
Answer:
b. Canadian lumber companies paid lower
stumpage rates than their American counterparts. Do you regard this as a type
of subsidy? Justify. What role do subsidies play in making an industry
competitive?
Answer:
16. MTV Networks: The Arabian Challenge
a. Experts felt that one of the biggest
challenges faced by MTV while launching MTV Arabia was the prevalent culture in
the Arab world. Discuss the Arab culture. How was it expected to pose a
challenge to MTV?
Answer:
b. Critically analyze MTV’s strategy in
the Middle East. Comment on its entry strategy and also its strategy of
providing mixed content to the market. Do you think MTV will be able to succeed
in this market? Justify.
Answer:
17. Royal Ahold NV – The US
Foodservice Accounting Fraud
a. Elaborate on the circumstances that
led to the accounting scandal at US Foodservice.
Answer: The case highlights the role of USF's management in the accounting
fraud who intentionally booked higher promotional allowances to show higher
income in order to get extra bonuses. It also examines the reasons that lead to
accounting frauds such as poor financial and accounting controls, weak internal
control system of the parent company over its subsidiaries, lack of
transparency in accounting procedures and linking of management's compensation
with the achievement of revenue targets.
Royal Ahold NV,
the world's third-largest supermarket operator, ousted its chief executive and
chief financial officers and said it will have to
b. What were the reasons for huge
differences in the income reported by Ahold according to the Dutch GAAP and the
US GAAP? Explain.
Answer: On March 7, Ahold reported net earnings of EUR 1.1 billion using
Dutch GAAP, the accounting standard Ahold has used for decades. As required by
the SEC, Ahold performs a reconciliation at the end of the fiscal year of its
results under Dutch GAAP to US GAAP. Due to differences between Dutch GAAP and
US GAAP, accounting standards related to goodwill, derivatives, and real estate
gains our results were materially impacted, resulting in US GAAP net earnings
of EUR 120 million, after preferred
18. Crisis Management at Toyota
a. Discuss the crisis management
strategy of Toyota with special focus on its PR approach in the United States.
Answer: Crisis management is a critical organizational function. Failure can result in serious harm to
stakeholders, losses for an organization, or end its very existence. Public relations practitioners are an
integral part of crisis management teams.
So a set of best practices and lessons gleaned from our knowledge of
crisis management would be a very useful resource for those in public
relations. Volumes have been written
about crisis management by both practitioners and researchers from many
different disciplines making it a challenge to synthesize what we know about
crisis management and
b. Giving a brief overview of the
crisis, present your opinion on whether a spate of recalls and the subsequent
PR fiasco seriously sullied the Toyota brand that had been synonymous with
quality and reliability. What lessons can you draw from the crisis? If you were
the PR manager of Toyota, how you would have handled this crisis? Give reasons
for your approach.
Answer: There are plenty of definitions for a crisis. For this entry, the definition reflects key
points found in the various discussions of what constitutes a crisis. A crisis is defined here as a significant
threat to operations that can have negative consequences if not handled
properly. In crisis management, the
threat is the
19. BP’s Continuing Safety Problems:
The Gulf of Mexico Crisis
a. Critically analyze the Gulf of
Mexico oil spill and its impact on the environment. What could BP have done to
prevent the explosion on the oil rig? In your opinion, will the oil spill in
the Gulf of Mexico eventually lead to the company’s collapse? Take a stand and
justify.
Answer: The Deepwater Horizon oil spill (also referred to as the BP oil
spill, the BP oil disaster, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, and the Macondo
blowout) began on 20 April 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico on the BP-operated
Macondo
b. Discuss the approach adopted by BP
to resolve the crisis. Do you think BP acted responsibly in dealing with the
disaster or did it try to cover up the whole crisis only to later on downplay
the consequences? Critically discuss.
Answer: The Deepwater Horizon rig, owned and operated by
offshore-oil-drilling company Transocean and leased by oil company BP, was
situated in the Macondo oil prospect in the Mississippi Canyon, a valley in the
continental shelf. The oil well over which it was positioned was located on the
seabed 4,993 feet (1,522 metres) below the surface and extended approximately
18,000 feet (5,486 metres) into the rock. On the night of April 20 a surge of natural
gas blasted through a concrete core recently installed by
20. Coca-Cola’s Business Practices:
Facing the Heat in a Few Countries
a. Discuss the nature of the
allegations that led to the boycott of Coca-Cola’s products by universities in
the US.
Answer: Criticism of Coca-Cola has arisen from various groups, concerning a
variety of issues, including health effects, environmental issues, and business
practices. The Coca-Cola Company, its subsidiaries and products have been
subject to sustained criticism by both consumer groups and watchdogs,
particularly since the early 2000s.
In 2003, the
Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a non-governmental organisation in
New Delhi, said aerated waters produced by soft drinks
b. As one of the world’s leading
multinational corporations with an iconic brand, what kind of strategies should
Coca-Cola use to face the boycott especially in the face of increasing consumer
activism?
Answer: For many years Coca-Cola faced criticism in connection with the low
wages and poor conditions for migrant workers employed at its Minute Maid
subsidiary. Conditions improved somewhat after Minute Maid signed a contract
with the United Farm Workers in 1972. Coca-Cola sold off its Florida citrus
groves in 1994, ending its contractual relationship with the UFW.
Many, but not
all, of the hourly workers at Coca-
Dear students get fully solved
assignments
Send your semester &
Specialization name to our mail id :
help.mbaassignments@gmail.com
or
call us at : 08263069601
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