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6.5 End-of-Chapter Questions and Exercises

These exercises are designed to ensure that the knowledge you gain from this book about international business meets the learning standards set out by the international Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International).Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business website, accessed January 26, 2010, http://www.aacsb.edu. AACSB is the premier accrediting agency of collegiate business schools and accounting programs worldwide. It expects that you will gain knowledge in the areas of communication, ethical reasoning, analytical skills, use of information technology, multiculturalism and diversity, and reflective thinking.

Experiential Exercises

(AACSB: Communication, Use of Information Technology, Analytical Skills)

  1. Research the G20 at its website, http://www.g20.org. Identify the current priorities and focus of the organization. Based on what you have learned about the history of the international monetary system and recent events and changes, do you agree with the current focus? What would you change?
  2. Select a large global consumer products or manufacturing company to work for. Review the sidebar on General Motors in Section 6.1 "What Is the International Monetary System?". You are a member of your company’s postwar planning policy group. Review the conflict in Iraq. What would you recommend to your senior management about local prospects for your company in the country and region?
  3. Identify two countries, one in Africa and one in either Asia or Latin America. Research each country’s history with the IMF and the World Bank. Has the country accepted loans from either organization? What were the terms of the loans? Discuss whether the loans achieved the initial purpose and whether the country is better or worse off as a result of working with these institutions. Have the loans helped expand the prospects for businesses, local and multinational?

Ethical Dilemmas

(AACSB: Ethical Reasoning, Multiculturalism, Reflective Thinking, Analytical Skills)

  1. This chapter reviews how the World Bank has dealt with charges of corruption and transparency in the past. It also discusses how many global firms seek to do business for World Bank-funded projects. Imagine you are the director of global business development for a large Swedish engineering company that wants to win the contract to build roads in Kenya through a World Bank–funded project. You need to develop a relationship with the Ministry of Transportation in Kenya. Using what you learned in this chapter, discuss how you would handle a situation in which your firm wants to win the contract but has been directly asked for a bribe by a local official in charge of the decision making. Imagine that your competitors are from other countries, some of which are less concerned about the ethics of gift giving as this book has defined it. How can you still win business in such a situation? What would you advise your senior management?
  2. Imagine that you are a consultant for McKinsey & Company, and you are assigned to the team advising Walmart on selecting and entering new markets in Africa and Latin America. You were also recently a member of the team that advised the United Nations on a new strategy for the Global Compact, which is covered in Chapter 5 "Global and Regional Economic Cooperation and Integration". How would you link these two consulting projects, and how might it impact the advice you give to Walmart? Would there be any areas of ethical conflict if you shared information on the Global Compact to the benefit of Walmart? Discuss whether any benefits would accrue to the Global Compact.