Caselet analysis

1. US President Donald Trump has been advocating local manufacturing and

urging US firms to bring production back to US., " how realistic is it to expect
Apple to manufacturing its iconic devices in US? How do you think such a move
will impact the input costs, as opposed to sourcing parts from across the world?

2. “If Donald Trump slapped China with punishing tariffs, the pain would also be
felt by Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, vital cogs in a regional supply chain
that allows China to build widgets and gadgets for the world.
Chinese state media has already warned Trump will be met with "big sticks"
and that US investment in sectors like electronics and textiles will be targeted
in the event of a trade war”.
Evaluate the scenario where countries impose tit-for-tat retaliation by imposing
trade tariffs and quotas.

3. Business leaders have recognized a changing, more protectionist environment

and have responded to it differently.

General Electric CEO, Jeff Immelt, recently delivered a widely noted speech on
globalization and strategy, which included the following:
“Today: Big companies are distrusted; governments and global institutions are
failing to address the world’s challenges; globalization is being attacked as
never before. This is not just true for the U.S. but everywhere....This requires
dramatic transformation. Going forward, we will localize....We will produce for
the U.S. in the U.S., but our exports may decline. At the same time, we will
localize production in big end-use markets like Saudi Arabia”.

Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai on Saturday criticised President Donald Trump’s

controversial immigration order against people from seven Muslim-majority
countries
“We are upset about the impact of this order and any proposals that could
impose restrictions on Googlers and their families, or that could create barriers
to bringing great talent to the US,”
Should CEO’s of large organization seek to influence and change such
protectionism policies and come out strongly against such decisions of the
government? Why or Why not?

4. Evaluate the impact of GST on India’s global trade.

5. Comment on India’s recently revised policy on FDI in online retail and the
concerns raised by several global business leaders. Do you think these changes
in e-commerce policy would impact the foreign investments in this sector?

6. At this year’s World Economic Forum (WEF), global business leaders launched
a project to implement UN LGBTI standards. What implications does it have
for global organisations?

7. China is a big market for global businesses with 1.4bn consumers. However,
Chinese economy has slowed down; Chinese consumption is falling with drops
 in retail and automobiles sale; Chinese real estate sector is witnessing a decline.
Evaluate the consequent impact on global businesses given that the forecasts for
world economy is also gloomy with low growth in most of large economies. All
this is compounded by ongoing trade war between US and China. Analyse the
impact this will have on global businesses.

8. Write a note on this year’s World economic forum’s theme “Globalization 4.0:
Shaping a Global Architecture in the Age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution”

9. Evaluate the impact of blockchain in global trade.

10. Part of developing a long-term strategy is to locate facilities in countries which

are widely known to be competitive. A publication which evaluates economies
based on their competitiveness is the Global Competitiveness Report. Develop
a presentation for the top management team that presents the benefits and
drawbacks for top five Asian economies listed.

11. The impact of strikes and lockouts on business activities can be substantial.
Since your manufacturing company is planning to expand its operations in the
Asian markets, you have to identify the countries where strikes and lock-outs
could introduce interruptions to your operations. Using labour statistics from
the International Labour Organization (ILO) to develop your report identify the
three Asian countries with the highest number of strikes and lockouts, as well
as the total number of lost worker days. What types of precautions can you
company take to prevent interruptions from occurring in these markets?

Analyse the case Acer America: Development of the Aspire and answer the following
questions:

12. How effective has management been in responding to the strategic,

organizational and management problems? What is your evaluation of the
changes they have made to the product design, the marketing strategy, the
organization structure and the management roles and responsibilities?

13. In 1998, how should Stan Shih respond to broader issues raised by the Aspire
problems? Should he continue to support the goal of building Acer as a global
brand? What changes (if any) would you recommend he make in Acer’s global
strategy, organizational structure and/or management philosophy to ensure that
it can continue to operate successfully worldwide? How should he implement
your recommendations?