Reference no: EM131053298

Question 1) Let's imagine that you are the Chief Financial Officer of a British car manufacturer and that your company sells a large number of its products in the US. Your team thinks that the US dollar is going to appreciate (increase) in value compared to the British pound in the next financial quarter. What would you recommend in order to manage the risk of this anticipated change in foreign exchange rates? Be specific.

Question 2) Firms can increase profits by either lowering the cost of production or increasing the value of their product (and charging a higher price). In order to do the latter, firms must differentiate their product in some way so that consumers value it more than the products made by competitors and are therefore willing to pay a premium price for it.
(a) Name an international firm that follows the differentiation strategy at the business-level. Explain how it does this.
(b) Name one that follows the low-cost leadership strategy. Explain how it does this.
(c) Which of these strategies will work best for a firm that is selling furniture in the global market? Explain your answer.

Question 3) You are the CEO of a firm that has developed a new medical product and is planning to sell it in Europe. Your company has the ability to invest in its own manufacturing facilities, but it will have to incur a major cost to do so. Which one of the following is your best option? Why? I want you to explain your answer using the concepts you learnt in the class. I am not looking for your personal "gut-feel" opinion.
(a) manufacture the product yourself in the U.S. and use foreign sales agents to do the marketing.
(b) manufacture the product yourself in the U.S. and set up a wholly owned subsidiary to do the marketing.
(c) set up a 50-50 joint venture with a European firm, manufacture the product through the venture, and have your European partner do the marketing.

Question 4) Analyze the decision by Marriott to buy Starwood Hotels from the point of view of its international business strategy. Three specific comments will be sufficient for this answer.

Question 5) Imagine that you have been hired as the CEO of a global firm that has not been doing well. You are deciding whether or not to perform certain functions of the organization in-house or whether to outsource them to other firms. On what basis will you make this decision. Identify three criteria you will use to make your choice.

Question 6) You are the Global HR Manager of a multinational that designs and sells a popular brand of consumer electronics. Your firm is planning to open a series of retail stores in Asia and Latin America that will exclusively stock and sell your company's products (like the Apple stores). What kind of a staffing policy would you use? Why? (The relevant chapter in the textbook talks about ethnocentric, polycentric and geocentric staffing policies, but you can come up with your own too, as long as you relate your answer to the readings).

Question 7) Imagine that you are teaching a class on International Management and are setting a final exam for the class. You want your students to answer three long-essay questions. What questions will you ask them? Each question should be at least 50 words long. You will be graded on the quality of your questions.