International Business Strategy Assignment
You should select a multinational company of your choice BUT NOT ONE that you have used for coursework assignments in other modules.
Further, you may NOT select either AMAZON or COCA–COLA as these companies.
Collect secondary data on this company INCLUDING FROM ORBIS AND NEXIS to write a report style essay of 2000 words (+/–10%) that critically evaluates the following key areas covered in the module lectures and seminars and that provides evidence (in the appendices) to support your evaluation:
1. The international strategy and international management structure adopted by the firm in response to the global business environment it operates in.
Draw on the Integration–Responsiveness model to evaluate the strategy and on the role of the HQ versus the subsidiary to evaluate whether its management structure supports its strategy. If the strategy has changed across time or seems to be inconsistent, then briefly explain this.
2. The firm’s strategic use of international joint ventures and mergers and acquisitions.
Utilise the data on the company in the ORBIS database to evaluate its overall international expansion strategy.
Present the firm’s recent international activities analysed by emerging theme (e.g. country or regional focus, use of JVs relative to M&As, rationale for the activity such as market entry, technology acquisition, acquiring new capabilities) and evaluate the overall pattern and changes to this aspect of the firm’s internationalisation strategy (e.g. failure or success in the actions taken).
3. The international dimensions of the firm’s social responsibility strategy.
You should gather data that enable you to analyse the core drivers of the international CSR strategy and critically evaluate your firm’s strategy in light of Valente’s (2017) sustainability typology. Ensure you present your evidence (data) in tables in the appendix to support your evaluation.
You MUST conclude your work with at least ONE well–argued major recommendation drawn from your analysis to assist the firm in developing and implementing a coherent and effective international strategy.
If you wish, you may select a case study from the core text or another text (except those used for the seminars) as the starting point for this report but you MUST do additional research from NEXIS and ORBIS on the company to update the material.
