International Business Strategy Course Outline

Lecturer: Dr Alberto Feduzi Room 442, DeFiMS E-mail: af19@soas.ac.uk Office hours: Wednesdays 2-3pm Tutor: Mr Edward Buckingham E-mail: eb34@soas.ac.uk Method of delivery: This course consists of 2-hours lecture and 1-hour tutorial per week. Lectures Students are required to prepare for the lecture by reading the recommended materials and the case study scheduled for each topic. Students are expected to participate actively in case presentation and group discussion. Handouts of lectures can be downloaded from http://ble.soas.ac.uk one day before the corresponding lecture takes place. Please use your SOAS login name and password and then select the Course Name: International Business Strategy. The articles in the reading list are available at the website of the course (http://ble.soas.ac.uk) or at SOAS Library (hard copy). Additional updating may be introduced later on. Tutorials Before coming to the tutorials please read the cases thoroughly and make notes on one of the four questions assigned to you at the start of term. You will be expected to do this each week. Participation and debate is expected in this class. Each assigned question will be discussed for less than five minutes so prepare concise answers and recommendations. For the person presenting the case please expect that your classmates will have interpretations of the case ready to discuss with you. You will be expected to present a case once during the term. You should spend no more than 30 minutes presenting the case in PowerPoint or equivalent. The presenter is expected to capture the key points in these discussions in the tutorial summary and discussion. Students are not required to seek materials outside the case study and the assigned readings. WHEN YOU SUBMIT YOUR SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION ON THE BLE MAKE SURE THAT YOUR WORK IS ORIGINAL. ALL SUBMITTED WORK IS AUTOMATCALLY EXAMINED BY PLAGIARISM SOFTWARE.
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Week 1 Lecture 1: Introduction to Strategy (Tuesday Jan 8th) Readings: Bachmann, J. W. (2002). Competitive Strategy: Its OK to be different, Academy of Management Executive, 16, 61-65. Barney, J. (1991). Firm Resources and Sustainable Competitive Advantage, Journal of Management, 17, 99-120. Brandenburger, A. and Nalebuff, B. (1995). The Right Game: Use Game Theory to Shape Strategy, Harvard Business Review, July-August, 57-71. Kim, W. C., and Mauborgne, R. (2004). Blue Ocean Strategy, Harvard Business Review, October, 76-84. Mintzberg, H., and Waters, J. A. (1985). Of Strategies, Deliberate and Emergent, Strategic Management Journal, 6, 257-272. McGahan, A. M., and Porter, M. E. (1997). How Much Does Industry Matter, Really?, Strategic Management Journal, 18, 15-30. Peng, M. W., Wang, D. YL., and Jiang, Y. (2008). An institution-based view of international business strategy: a focus on emerging economies, Journal of International Business Studies, 39, 920936. Peteraf, M. (1993). The Cornerstones of Competitive Advantage: A Resource Based View, Strategic Management Journal, 14, 179-191. Porter M. (1996). What is Strategy?, Harvard Business Review, NovemberDecember, 61-78. Porter M. (2008). The Five Competitive Forces that Shape Strategy, Harvard Business Review, January, 79-93.

There is NO tutorial in the 1st week.

Week 2 Lecture 2: Expanding Abroad (Tuesday Jan 15th) Readings: Bartlett, C. A. and Beamish, P. W. (2011). Transnational Management: Text, Cases, and Readings in Cross-Border Management (Sixth Edition). McGraw-Hill. (Chapter 1)
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Case: Jollibee Foods Corporation (A): International Expansion Questions: 1. How was Jollibee able to build its dominant position in fast food in the Philippines? What sources of competitive advantage was it able to develop against McDonalds in its home market? 2. How would you evaluate Tony Kitcheners effectiveness as the first head of Jollibees international division? Does his broad strategic thrust make sense? How effectively did he develop the organization to implement his priorities? 3. As Noli Tingzon, how would you deal with the three options described at the end of the case? How would you implement your decisions? Tutorial 1 (Tuesday Jan 15th) 2 hours tutorial for all students How to do a case? Please read the case distributed to you at the first lecture and think about what you would do if you were responsible for the team. Be ready to present a solution verbally when you get to the tutorial.

Week 3 Lecture 3: Understanding the International Context (Tuesday Jan 22nd) Readings: Bartlett, C. A. and Beamish, P. W. (2011). Transnational Management: Text, Cases, and Readings in Cross-Border Management (Sixth Edition). McGraw-Hill. (Chapter 2) Case: Global Wine War 2009: New World versus Old Questions: 1. How did the French become the dominant competitors in the increasingly global wine industry for centuries? What sources of competitive advantage were they able to develop to support their exports? Where were they vulnerable? 2. What changes in the global industry structure and competitive dynamics led France and other traditional producers to lose market share to challengers from other countries in the late 20th century? 3. What advice would you offer today to the French Minister of Agriculture? To the head of the French wine industry association? To the owner of a mid-sized, well regarded Bordeaux vineyard producing wines in the premium and super premium categories? 4. What advice would you offer today to the Australian Minister of Agriculture, the head of the Australian wine industry association, and the owner of a mid-sized vineyard in the Barossa Valley producing premium and super-premium wine? 5. What advice would you offer today to the US Secretary of Agriculture, the head of a major US wine industry association, and the owner of a mid-sized vineyard in the Napa Valley producing premium and super-premium wine?
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Tutorial 2 (Tuesday Jan 22nd) Case: Lincoln Electric Questions: 1. Put yourself in CEO John Stropkis shoes. Should Lincoln Electric expand into India by investing in a major production facility there? 2. If you were to expand into India, would you enter through acquisition, a greenfield site, or some type of joint venture? Which factors would inform your decision among these entry mode choices? 3. In which countries is Lincoln Electric likely to be most successful or least successful? Why? How would this guide your own choice of where to place Lincoln Electrics production facilities abroad? 4. When Lincoln Electric goes to India and other countries, what factors should determine how much it adapts its core incentive pay-for performance management practices to local labor market norms? Should Lincoln Electric follow the adage when in Rome, do as the Romans do, or should it seek to always replicate the recipe behind its success in the home plant in Cleveland?

Week 4 Lecture 4: Developing Transnational Strategies (Tuesday Jan 29th) Readings: Bartlett, C. A. and Beamish, P. W. (2011). Transnational Management: Text, Cases, and Readings in Cross-Border Management (Sixth Edition). McGraw-Hill. (Chapter 3) Case: GEs Imagination Breakthroughs: The Evo Project Questions: 1. What is your evaluation of Immelts new organic growth strategy? Why change GEs existing successful strategy? Is it reasonable to expect that a $125 billion global giant can significantly and consistently outperform the underlying economic growth rate? 2. Is Immelt betting on the right things to drive growth in GE? Can he hope to change a company whose growth was driven by acquisitions and productivity improvement into an organic growth company dependent on innovation, entrepreneurship, and risk-taking particularly in such a large and complex organization? 3. How have the Locomotive IBs been able to survive in the wake of the failure of the AC 6000, the initial difficulty in obtaining orders for Evo, the continual redefinition of the global Evo product, and the failure to make Hybrid commercially viable? 4. What action should the Transportation business take regarding the Hybrid locomotive?

Tutorial 3 (Tuesday Jan 29th)

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Case: The Globalization of CEMEX Questions: 1. What benefits have Cemex and the other global competitors in cement derived from globalization? More broadly, how can cross-border activities add value in an industry as apparently localized as cement? 2. How specifically has CEMEX managed to outperform its leading global competitors in the cement industry? Please focus on comparing it with Holdebank, which is the other large competitor principally focused on cement. What does this comparison and the other data in Exhibits 4-8 suggest about the competitive game being played out among the major international competitors? 3. What accounts for the sequence in which CEMEX entered foreign markets? How do the markets it has entered recently compare with the markets that it entered early on? 4. What recommendations would you make to CEMEX regarding its globalization strategy going forward? In particular, what kinds of countries should it focus its future expansion on?

Week 5 Lecture 5: Developing a Transnational Organization (Tuesday Feb 5th) Readings: Bartlett, C. A. and Beamish, P. W. (2011). Transnational Management: Text, Cases, and Readings in Cross-Border Management (Sixth Edition). McGraw-Hill. (Chapter 4) Case: Philips versus Matsushita: Competing Strategic and Organizational Choices Questions: 1. How did Philips become the leading consumer electronics company in the world in the post-war era? What distinctive competence did they build? What distinctive incompetencies? 2. How did Matsushita succeed in displacing Philips as No. 1? What were its distinctive competencies and incompetencies? 3. What do you think of the change each company has made to date-the objectives, the implementation, the impact? Why is the change so hard for both of them? 4. What recommendations would you make to Gerald Klesterlee? To Eumio Ohtsubo? Tutorial 4 (Tuesday Feb 5th) Case: The Global branding of Stella Artois Questions: 1. Does it make sense for Interbrew to develop a global brand? 2. Does Stella Artois appear to be the right choice as the companys flagship brand? 3. Interbrews strategy has focused on developing cities as markets rather than on the more traditional view of countries as markets what are the pros and cons of this approach?

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What would intebrew have to do to succeed with Stella in the major urban market closest to where you are from? Will these requirements vary much between major cities? What role could the internet play in developing Stella Artois as a global brand?

Week 6 Lecture 6: Creating Worldwide Innovation and Learning (Tuesday Feb 19th) Readings: Bartlett, C. A. and Beamish, P. W. (2011). Transnational Management: Text, Cases, and Readings in Cross-Border Management (Sixth Edition). McGraw-Hill. (Chapter 5) Case: McKinsey & Company: Managing Knowledge and Learning Questions: 1. How was this obscure little firm of accounting and engineering advisers able to grow into the worlds most prestigious consulting firm fifty years later? What was the unique source of competitive advantage developed by James McKinsey and later Marvin Bower? 2. How effective was Ron Daniel in leading McKinsey to respond to challenges identified in the Commission on Firm Aims and Goals? What contribution did Fred Gluck make to these required changes? 3. Judging by the evidence in the three mini-cases of front-line activities in the mid-1990s, how effective has the firm been in its two-decade long change process? 4. What is your evaluation of Rajat Guptas four-pronged approach to knowledge development and application within McKinsey? As a senior partner, what specific advice would you give him?

Tutorial 5 (Tuesday Feb 19th) Case: World Vision Internationals AIDS Initiative: Challenging a Global Partnership Questions: 1. What are the sources of World Visions rapid growth and program effectiveness? How and why did these change over the past 50 years? As it entered the twenty-first century, what were World Visionss greatest assets and strengths? Its biggest limitations and liabilities? 2. Why has it taken world vision so long to configure its worldwide partnership organization structure and governance processes? What do you think of the federated partnership model they have settled on? How appropriate are the governance processes and mechanisms? 3. What advice would you give to the international Board regarding the AIDS hope Initiative? Should WVI pursue this as a major strategic priority? What advantages do you see? What concerns do you have? 4. If the international Board approves the initiative, what advice would you give to World Visionss management (Dean Hirsch, Rick Tearns, Wilfre Mlay, Ken Casey)? How should they implement this new priority? Specifically, how should they deal with the resistance that have encountered both inside and outside the organization?

Week 7 Lecture 7: Engaging in Cross-Border Collaboration (Tuesday Feb 26th) Readings: Bartlett, C. A. and Beamish, P. W. (2011). Transnational Management: Text, Cases, and Readings in Cross-Border Management (Sixth Edition). McGraw-Hill. (Chapter 6) Case: Eli Lilly in India: Rethinking the Joint Venture Strategy Questions: 1. Did Eli Lilly pursue the right strategy to enter the Indian market? 2. Carefully consider the evolution of the joint venture. Evaluate the three successive IJV leaders. Identify the unique challenges faced by each. 3. How would you assess the overall performance of the JV? What did the partners learn from the IJV? 4. What action would you recommend regarding the Ranbaxy partnership? What are the implications of your recommendation? How would you implement this? Tutorial 6 (Tuesday Feb 26th) Case: Siemens AG: Global Development Strategy (A) Questions: 1. How would you characterize Siemenss global development strategy?Why does it have regional development centers (RDCs) around the world? 2. What are the differences between RDCs in India, Germany and the US? How are these issues managed and resolved? 3. What has gone wrong with the ADMOSS and NetManager projects? Please consider the Bangalore and Munich perspectives. 4. Decision point: How should senior management respond to the NetManager project crisis? A) Let Bangalore solve it; b) Move all decision-making to Europe; or c) Move entire project to Europe.

Week 8 Lecture 8: Implementing the Strategy (Tuesday March 5th) Readings: Bartlett, C. A. and Beamish, P. W. (2011). Transnational Management: Text, Cases, and Readings in Cross-Border Management (Sixth Edition). McGraw-Hill. (Chapter 7)

Case: Silvio Napoli at Schindler India (A) Questions: 1. Was Silvio the right choice for general manager of Schindlers India operations? 2. As Luc Bonnard how would you evaluate Silvios first seven months as general manager of the Indian company? What advice would you offer? 3. What advice would you give to Silvio regarding his decision on the nonstandard glass wall elevator that has been ordered? 4. How should he deal with the challenges he is facing over transfer prices and limited technical cooperation from the European plants? Tutorial 7 (Tuesday March 5th) Case: Nora-Sakari: A Proposed JV in Malaysia (Revised) Questions: 1. Why have the negotiations so far failed to result in an agreement? Is the formation of the JV between Nora and Sakari the best option for both companies to achive their respective objectives? 2. As Zainal, what would you do to ensure that Nora fulfills the TMB contract? 3. If Zainal decides to renegotiate (and assuming that Kuusisto agreed), how should he restructure the terms of the deal?

Week 9 Lecture 9: The Future of the Transnational (Tuesday March 12th) Readings: Bartlett, C. A. and Beamish, P. W. (2011). Transnational Management: Text, Cases, and Readings in Cross-Border Management (Sixth Edition). McGraw-Hill. (Chapter 8) Case: Hitting the Wall: Nike and International Labor Practices Questions: 1. Does Jeff Ballinger have a convincing argument about Nike? Does Nike have a convincing response? 2. How well has Nike handled the publicity surrounding its labor practices? Could or should the company have done anything differently? 3. What is a fair wage in Vietnam? How should Nike think about it? Tutorial 8 (Tuesday March 12th) Case: ING Insurance Asia/Pacific Questions: 1. As Jacques Kemp, what is your size up of ING Insurance Asia/Pacific? 2. What kind of changes do you propose? 3. What major challenges are you likely to encounter in trying to implement your changes?
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Week 10 Lecture 10: Revision (Tuesday March 19th) Tutorial 9 (Tuesday March 19th) Case: Genzymes CSR dilemma: How to Play its HAND Questions: 1. After completing his analysis of the three major HAND initiatives, what should Jim Geraghty recommend to Henri Termeer, and how can he support his recommendation? 2. How should Henri Termeer decide? What criteria should he use? 3. How should Genzyme implement the recommendation you have made? What resources should be allocated? What partnering approach should be taken? 4. How would you evaluate the HAND initiative as a CSR program? How appropriate is it for a company like Genzyme? What changes would you recommend?