Lecture 1
Evaluating the Global Business
Environment
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What is International Management?
• The process of developing strategies, designing
operating systems, and working with people around the
world to ensure sustained competitive advantage.
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What is Globalization?
• Global competition characterized by networks of
international linkages that bind countries, institutions, and
people in an interdependent global economy.
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Global Trends
Five key global trends:
• Changing balance of growth towards emerging
markets
• Need for increased productivity and consumption in
developed countries
• Increasing global interconnectivity
• Increasing gap between supply and demand of
natural resources
• Challenge for governments to develop policies for
economic growth and financial stability
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2019 Foreign Direct Investment Confidence
Index Top 25 Targets for FDI
• The main types of FDI are acquisition of a subsidiary, joint
ventures, licensing, and investing in new facilities or expansion
• The United States is in the lead in 2019, followed by Germany,
Canada, the United Kingdom, and France
• India has dropped to sixteenth from nine since 2016.
• Results show confidence in the economic recovery of the
United States and Europe.
• The phenomenon of rapidly developing economies continues.
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Challenges to Globalism
• Backlash against capitalism and rekindling of nationalism
• Increased protectionism of high-demand resources
• Need to develop top managers with international
understanding and experience
• Increasing pressure and publicity for companies to
consider the social responsibility of their actions
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Effects of Globalization on Corporations
• Global companies are becoming less tied to specific
locations
• Companies that desire to remain competitive will have to
develop a cadre of experienced international managers
• Small companies are also affected by and in turn affect
globalism
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The Globalization of Human Capital
• While firms still offshore manufacturing jobs, some are
reshoring jobs to lower shipping costs
• Firms are outsourcing white-collar jobs to other countries
such as India
• For global firms, winning the war for talent is a pressing
issue
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Regional Trading Blocs
• Economic agreements to reduce and remove tariff and
nontariff barriers
• Free flow of goods, services, and factors of production
• Trade blocs continually expand their borders to include
neighboring countries
• Much of today’s world trade takes place within these
three regional free-trade blocs:
– Western Europe, Asia, and the Americas
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Regional Economic Groups
• Free Trade Area
• Customs Union
• Common Market
• Economic Union
• Political Union
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The European Union (EU)
• A unified market in 27 nations
• Political fallout of Brexit has created uncertainty pertaining to:
– Regulations
– Labor mobility
– Trade between the UK and EU member countries
• 2018 Global Competitiveness Index shows that Europe has 6 of the
top 10 countries
• Challenges for global managers:
– “Fortress Europe”
– Multiple cultures in one market
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Asia
• China
• India
• Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
• South Asia Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC)
• Japan
• Asian Tigers:
– Hong Kong
– Singapore
– South Korea
– Taiwan
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Table 1-2 2018 Global Competitiveness
Index
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Under The Lens: South-East Asia Wakes
Up to Power of Corporate Competition
• Break up of monopolies—anticompetitive practices
• Root out corruption
• Market efficiency—fair competition
• Competition laws
• Government added competition for more benefits to
citizens
• Lowered cross-border barriers to trade
• Anticompetitive practices
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Comparative Management in Focus: China
Loses Its Allure
• However:
– China’s legal and regulatory system is arbitrary
– China leans toward protecting its local firms
– Political goals and agendas often take precedence
over commercially based decisions
– Discrepancies of business practices make it difficult
for SMEs to get started
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Tips for Doing Business in China
• Connections are important
• Negotiations will be different from the United States and
difficult
• Communication must be clear, honest, and fully prepared
for culture differences.
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The Americas
• From NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) to
USMCA (United States-Mexico-Canada Free Trade
Agreement)
• MERCOSUR
• Brazil
• Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA)
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Other Regions in the World
• The Russian Federation
• Middle East
• The African Union (AU)
– South Africa
• Less developed countries (LDCs)
– Low Gross National Product (GNP)
– Low Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
– Large, relatively unskilled workforce
– High international debt
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The Global Manager’s Role
Exhibit 1-2 An Open Systems Model
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The Political and Economic Environment
• Sustainability—economic, political, social, and
environmental—has become a significant worldwide issue
• Top four risks—government regulation, country financial
risks, currency risks, political and social disturbances
• Regions view risks differently—cyber security is the top
risk of North America
• Ethnicity is a driving force behind political instability
• Religious disputes lie at the heart of differences
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Political Risk (1 of 2)
• Any governmental action or politically motivated event
that could adversely affect the long-term profitability or
value of a firm
• Examples:
– 2019 political unrest in Venezuela
– 2014 annexation of the Crimean Peninsula by the
Russian Federation
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Political Risk (2 of 2)
Typical Political Risks Political Risk Assessment
• Expropriation and confiscation • Helps companies manage
exposure to risk and minimize
• Nationalization financial loss
• Terrorism • Two forms:
• Discriminatory treatment a) Consultation with experts
• Barriers to repatriation of funds b) Development of internal
staff capabilities—
• Interference in managerial increasingly common
decision making
• Dishonesty by government
officials
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Managing Political Risk
Avoidance and Adaptation Dependency and Hedging
• Equity sharing • Input control
• Participating management • Technology control
• Localization of the operation • Expatriate position control
• Development assistance • Distribution control
• Political risk insurance (OPIC
and FCIA)
• Local debt financing
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Managing Terrorism Risk
• Develop a benevolent image through charitable
contributions
• Maintain a low profile and minimize publicity
• Using teams to monitor terrorist activities
• Hiring counterterrorism consultants
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Economic Risk
• Closely related to political risk
• Determined by a country’s ability or intention to meet its
financial obligations
• Historically, most industrialized nations have posed little
risk of economic instability
• However, the level of economic risk in Europe is of
concern in the eurozone due to debt problems in Greece
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Categories of Economic Risk
1. Loss of profitability due to abrupt changes in monetary
and fiscal policies
2. Loss of profitability due to changes in foreign investment
policies
3. Risk of currency exchange-rate volatility results in
currency translation exposure
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The Legal Environment (1 of 2)
• Consists of the local laws and legal systems of those
countries in which an international company operates,
and of international law, which governs relationships
between sovereign countries.
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The Legal Environment (2 of 2)
Types of Legal Systems Approaches to Contract Law
• Common law • Common law: details must be written
in the contract to be enforced
• Civil law
• Civil law: assumes promises will be
• Islamic law enforced without specifying the
details
• In Asia the contract may be in the
relationship, not on the paper
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Other Regulatory Issues
• Protectionist policies, such as tariffs or quotas and other
import and trade restrictions
• The attractiveness of the tax system
• The level of government involvement in the economic
and regulatory environment varies among countries
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The Technological Environment
• The appropriability of technology
• The International Convention for the Protection of
Industrial Property (the Paris Union)
• Inappropriate use of technology by JVs, franchisees,
licensees, and employees
• Appropriateness of technology for the local environment
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Globalization of Information Technology
• The speed and accuracy of information transmission are
changing the nature of international managers jobs'
• Cultural barriers are being lowered gradually
• Technology gets dispersed around the world by MNEs
• Explosive growth of information technology is both a
cause and effect of globalism
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Global E-Business
• E-Business—the integration of systems, processes,
organizations, value chains, and entire markets using
Internet-based and related technologies and concepts
• E-Commerce—marketing and sales process via the
internet
• B2B—Business to Business (Example: Alibaba in China,
large proportion is SMEs)
• B2C-Business to Customer (Example: Amazon.com)
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Developing Skills to Enhance Your Career
• Communication
• Critical thinking
• Collaboration
• Knowledge application/analysis
• Business ethics/social responsibility
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