BMA5121 Asian Business Insights III
Lecturer: Dr. Nitin Pangarkar
Office: BIZ1, 02-22
Telephone:6516-5299
e-mail:
Introduction
This(half) course aims to provide participants with some of the key ideas in the internationalization process. In the process, we will look at some debates (e.g., whether to go global or not) as well as some the current topics (e.g., challenges in competing in emerging markets or the challenges posed by emerging market firms). The course is conducted in a seminar format and I am hoping that it proves extremely interactive. The issues we will tackle are multi-disciplinary issues that are the hallmark of the global/ general manager’s job. The course will offer plenty of opportunities for students to: bring their diverse perspectives and experiences; solve complex business problems; and build on the knowledge acquired in several previous functional courses. To deepen the learning, you are required to study a company and present your analysis of the company’s strategy as well as recommend some further strategies going forward.
Required materials:
There is no book for the course. We will use a set of readings from the library eReserves instead. Additional cases/ materials will be handed out in class.
General standards
This is a discussion-oriented class where all students are expected to participate. The readings cover many of the issues and challenges in depth and provide structure for the discussion in class. You are expected to read all of the assigned materials before class and to be prepared to discuss them. If you are not prepared for a particular class, please let me know in advance so that I don’t embarrass you inadvertently. Please also inform me if you must be absent, leave the class early, or arrive late for professional reasons. Please turn off your mobile phones while you are in class. Unless it is absolutely essential, please refrain from leaving the class in the middle of a discussion.
Assessment
You will be assessed on the following four components. Please note that the key deliverable for the course is the presentation.
Participation 20%
Case analysis(one case)20%
Peer review of a presentation10%
Group project presentation50%
Course Schedule (subject to minor changes)
Session no. / Topic / Readings + comments1 /
- Discussion of course administrative issues
- The ‘To go global or not’ debate
George S. Yip, George A. Coundouriotis (1991). Diagnosing global strategy potential: The World Chocolate Confectionery Industry, Strategy and Leadership, 19(1): 4-14.
William Holstein (2008). Indian outsourcers go global. Strategy+ business.com
- Optional: Kenichi Ohmae (1995). Putting global logic first, HBR (an excerpt of his book:The end of the nation state). Adopts the country perspective but is interesting because he is one of the first proponents of the global movement.
- Optional (it’s a bit difficult to read but is very insightful for its approach): Pankaj Ghemawat, Global value creation: The adding value scorecard, from Redefining global strategy: Crossing borders in a world where differences still matter, HBS Press
2 /
- Case discussion: Asia Pacific Breweries Regionalization Strategy
- The ‘To go global or not’ debate (contd)
- Case study: Read and prepare
- Marcus Alexander and Harry Corine (2008). When you shouldn’t go global, HBR.
3 /
- Case discussion: Jollibbee Foods International
- Going global: The challenge (and rewards) of competing in emerging markets
- ‘Chips and Biryani’, Forbes Global 2000 (about the experience of Cadence in India), April 17, 2006.
- Making China your second home market: An interview with the CEO of Danfoss, McKinsey Quarterly, Feb 2006.
- Optional: Warren Liu (2008). KFC in China: Secret Recipe for Success. Wiley
4 /
- Case discussion: Silvio Napoli and Schindler India
- Going global: The challenge faced by local firms in emerging markets
- Case study: Read and prepare
- To be announced
5 /
- Going global: The challenge posed by firms from emerging markets
- Tarun Khanna and Krishna Palepu: Emerging giants: Building world class companies in developing markets, Harvard Business Review, Oct 2006.
- Global champions from emerging markets, McKinsey Quarterly, 2005, Issue 2.
- Simon Collinson and Alan Rugman (2007). The regional character of Asian multinational enterprises, Asia Pacific Journal of Management
- Case study: Read and prepare
6 / Company visits / Though they are listed as session 6, the schedule of company visits depends on the availability of companies and we will shift our sessions around to accommodate the visits.
7 / Presentations / Each group is required to make a presentation on the internationalization of a selected company
Group project presentation
The group project is intended to achieve two objectives. First, it will give you an opportunity to apply some of the material learned in the course to business contexts closer to home. Second, I am hoping that the term projects will make the course more live and up-to-date. For the term project, you are required to identify a multinational firm that has ventured internationally—whether thru exports, or direct investment or joint ventures/ alliances.
Once you have identified the firm to be studied, you should collect data regarding the firm (most likely it will be secondary data but primary data is welcome too) and prepare a presentation. In preparing the presentation, you should focus on one or more key issues in internationalization, which are listed below:
Choice of entry mode: Appropriateness (or lack of it) of entry mode in a new market, differences in choice from the firm's previous history or from rivals, consistency of entry mode with the overall global strategy (including entry mode choices in other markets), impact of choice (help or hindrance) in implementing further strategies in that market;
Collaborative strategies: Extent of use, choice of partners, extent and type of linkages within the network of collaborative agreements, leverage obtained through alliances in following an international strategy;
Global strategy. Key characteristics of the strategy, appropriateness of the strategy given the industry context, similarity or differences versus similar firms’ strategies, key benefits derived by the firm from the strategy. You may also choose to focus on implementation issues under this broad heading with the caveat that information about these issues is much harder to get;
Success or failure in implementation of a global strategy: Salient aspects regarding the choice of global strategy (standardization in product, service or strategies), degree of adaptation across different markets, pursuit of economies of scale (choice of 'technologies'), kinds, degree and frequency of coordination;
Competitive interaction and rivalry issues: Globalization as a response to previous challenges from rivals, appropriateness of these responses given industry economics, degree of success in warding off threats.
The above list of issues is not exhaustive and you may also select other issues as long as such issues are related to class discussions or to the topic of global strategy, in general. You could also focus on more than one issue as long as you don’t sacrifice depth of analysis too much. You also need to note that even if you focus on one of the above issues, you need to provide an adequate (broad-brush) coverage of the other issues, since these issues together determine the international strategy of the firm.The project presentation should be problem-driven. The firm being studied should be facing some problems/ issues in its operations. You are also expected to give a few recommendations to the firm for addressing the issues that it is facing.
You may also note that the presentation has to provide a brief general overview regarding the operation as well as evolution of the company. You need to cover issues such as founding of the company, the product range to begin with, the growth of the company, diversification into other products, government support (if any) obtained during expansion, problems faced during expansion, the extent of internationalization of the firm, whether the firm derives any advantages from its international position, the firms’ position in its industry vis-à-vis its global rivals, the organization structure of the firm, its management practices and systems, future plans of the firm and any problems that you foresee for the firm in the next 5 years. In summary, you need to identify the domestic as well as the international strategy of the firm and dwell on a few aspects of the international strategy in depth.
The presentation should not merely state facts but preferably table issues for discussion. One criterion for evaluating the presentation would be the amount of discussion generated in the class. At least two members of each group must be involved in the presentation. Preferably the whole group should be involved in the Q&A session. Innovative presentation (e.g., a panel discussion, role playing) formats are welcome.