This document provides an overview of the course content for BUSN 427 Global Issues in Business, which includes weekly discussion questions, assignments, and a final exam. The course covers topics such as the impact of technology on globalization, ethics of outsourcing, trade agreements, foreign market entry strategies, and human resource management for multinational corporations. Assignments involve analyzing case studies on companies such as Panasonic, CEMEX, and Procter & Gamble conducting international business.

1. BUSN 427 Entire Course Global Issues in Business
Description:
BUSN 427 Global Issues in Business
Week 1
Week 1 DQ 1
Although the lowering of trade barriers made the globalization of markets and production a
theoretical possibility, technological change made it a tangible reality. How have changes in
technology contributed to the globalization of markets and of production? Would the
globalization of production and markets have been possible without these technological changes?
How does technology create global opportunity?
Week 1 DQ 2
A democratic political system is an essential condition for sustained economic progress. What
are your thoughts? Do you agree? Why or why not?
BUSN 427 Week 1 Assignment:
BUSN 427 Week 1 Assignment (Chapter 3; Differences in Culture Panasonic) 2000+ Words
Week 2
BUSN 427 Week 2 DQ 1
Under what conditions is it ethically defensible to outsource production to a developing world
where labor costs are lower when such actions also involve laying off long-term employees in
the firm’s home country?

2. BUSN 427 Week 2 DQ 2
What are the potential costs of adopting a free trade regime? Do you think government should do
anything to reduce these costs? Why?
BUSN 427 Week 2 Assignment:
BUSN 427 Week 2 Assignment (White collar jobs ) 1900+ Words
BUSN 427 Week 3
BUSN 427 Week 3 DQ 1
How might the political ideology of a host government influence the process of negotiating
access between the host government and a foreign MNE? In what ways or for what reasons
might a country encourage or discourage FDI because of its ideology?
BUSN 427 Week 3 DQ 2
What are the economic and political arguments for regional economic integration? Given these
arguments, why don’t we see more integration in the world economy?
BUSN 427 Week 3 Assignment:
BUSN 427 Week 3 Assignment (Chapter 7 Case Analysis CEMEX)
Week 4

3. BUSN 427 Week 4 DQ 1
Go to the Toys “R” Us sites for both the United States (www.toysrus.com) and the United
Kingdom (www.toysrus.co.uk) and try to identify price differences between markets. As a
consumer, do you have the right to demand equal prices? Why? As a company, how should you
respond to complaints regarding pricing structures?
BUSN 427 Week 4 DQ 2
The standard IMF policy prescribes tight monetary policy and reduced government spending for
developing nations experiencing a currency crisis. Is this always the right course of action? If
there was an alternate approach, how would it affect international businesses?
BUSN 427 Week 4 Assignment:
BUSN 427 Week 4 Course Project (BURLINGTON COAT FACTORY) 1450+ Words
Week 5
BUSN 427 Week 5 DQ 1
Do the Internet and international e-commerce change the choice of using a transnational strategy
that has historically been successful for firms expanding globally? Would it make a difference if
a firm relied heavily on traditional business channels versus just e-commerce?
BUSN 427 Week 5 DQ 2
From the perspective of a domestic firm, what are the advantages and disadvantages of licensing
the rights to the company’s production process and trademark to a firm in a foreign country?
What are some of the ways that a firm can reduce the risk of losing its proprietary know-how to
foreign companies through licensing agreements?

4. BUSN 427 Week 5 Assignment
BUSN 427 Week 5 Assignment (Chapter 11 Case Analysis Proctor and Gamble) 1050+
Words
Week 6
BUSN 427 Week 6 DQ 1
How might a company make strategic use of countertrade schemes as marketing weapons to
generate export sales revenues? What are the risks associated with pursuing such a strategy?
BUSN 427 Week 6 DQ 2
What are make-or-buy decisions? What are the advantages of make versus buy and visa versa?
Are
BUSN 427 Week 6 Assignment:
BUSN 427 Week 6 Assignment (Chapter 14 Case Analysis Boeing 787) 1050+ Words
Week 7
BUSN 427 Week 7 DQ 1
Within 20 years we will have seen the emergence of enormous global markets for standardized
consumer products. Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not?
BUSN 427 Week 7 DQ 2

5. What is the link between an international business’s strategy and its human resource
management policies, particularly with regard to the use of expatriate employees and their pay
scales?
BUSN 427 Week 7 Assignments:
BUSN 427 Week 7 Final Group Project (Group D)BURLINGTON COAT FACTORY 5200
Words
BUSN 427 Week 7 Peer Review
BUSN 427 Week 8 Final Exam
1. Question : (TCO 1) What organization was protested in Seattle in 1999?
2. Question : (TCO 2) According to Francis Fukuyama, the collapse of communism in eastern
Europe was followed by which of the following?
3. Question : (TCO 3) Which language is most widely spoken throughout the world?
4. Question : (TCO 3) Which theory deals with competitive advantage for countries?
5. Question : (TCO 4) In the last 30 years, the world economy has seen
6. Question : (TCO 5) Chile is included in which of the following regional integrations
organizations?
7. Question : (TCO 6) When a firm engages in hedging it is
1. Question : (TCO 8) What are the three staffing policies available to a multinational
corporation?
2. Question : (TCO 8) In distribution strategy, what are the four main differences between
countries?
3. Question : (TCO 3) India’s caste system has been around for many years. Explain why its
influence has diminished among educated urban middle class Indians.
4. Question : (TCO 3) In 2006, two Chinese journalists reported that the working conditions at
Hongfujin Precision Industries where Apple’s iPods are produced were substandard. According

6. to the report, not only were workers at the plant poorly paid, but they were also forced to work
overtime. Apple immediately responded to the allegations and audited the factory in question.
However, managers at the factory filed a defamation lawsuit against the two journalists. Despite
the fact that Apple’s audit did indeed show substandard working conditions at the factory,
Hongfujin did not withdraw the lawsuit. Eventually the Reporters Without Borders group took
up the case for the two reporters and the lawsuit was dropped. The allegations against Hongfujin
Precision Industries were made by two Chinese reporters. Discuss the implications of this for
other Chinese companies.
5. Question : (TCO 3) Exports are largely responsible for China’s recent rapid economic growth.
The country, capitalizing on its cheap labor force, has focused on converting raw materials into
products that are exported to developed countries such as the United States. In 2008, China’s
trade surplus was a record $280 billion, and its holdings of foreign exchange reserves were over
$1.95 trillion. Some critics have suggested that China is following a neomercantilist policy. Are
the claims that China is following a neomercantilist policy valid? Why or why not?
6. Question : (TCO 4) Telefonica is a Spanish telecommunications firm. For decades, Telefonica
had operated as a typical state-owned enterprise, but privatization and deregulation changed that
path in the 1990s. Telefonica began to aggressively pursue expansion opportunities in Latin
America where it quickly became the number one or two player in nearly every country. Later,
Telefonica turned its sights on Europe where its acquisitions helped transform the company into
the second biggest mobile phone operator in the world. What changes in political and economic
environment allowed Telefoncia to start expanding globally? Why did Telefonica initially focus
on Latin America? Why was it slower to expand in Europe even though Spain is a member of the
European Union?
7. Question : (TCO 7) Why did the world shift from a gold standard to fixed exchange rates?
1. Question : (TCO 5) Concerning European Union’s progress toward creating a single financial
market, the quest started in 1999 was to have been completed by 2005, however, progress has
been slowed by various factors related to the tradition of each member country operating
autonomously. By 2007, significant progress had been made. Some 41 measures designed to
create a single market were in place and others were in the pipeline. The current issue facing the
EU revolves around the enforcement of the rules that have been established as law. Some experts
believe that it will be at least another decade before the benefits of the new rules become
apparent. Discussion of this feature can begin with the following questions. What are the benefits
of creating a single financial market in the European Union for companies? Does it make sense
for consumers?
2. Question : (TCO 6) In the 1980s, Caterpillar was negatively affected by a strong dollar and
lost significant market share to Japanese competitor Komatsu. The situation prompted Caterpillar
to revise its global strategy and by the 2000s, the company was in a much better position to deal
with volatile currency values. More recently, a strong dollar has actually helped boost
Caterpillar’s bottom line. In the 1980s, a stronger dollar hurt Caterpillar’s competitive position,
but in 2008 a stronger dollar did not seem to have the same effect. What had changed?

7. 3. Question : (TCO 7) In May 2001, the IMF agreed to lend $8 billion to Turkey to help stabilize
its economy and halt a sharp slide in the value of its currency. Although initially the Turkish
government resisted IMF mandates on economic policy, in 2003 the government passed an
austerity budget. By 2005, significant progress had been made and today, the country appears to
be on track for recovery, with lower inflation rates, an increase in privatization, and a budget
surplus. What led to Turkey’s financial crisis? What goals did the IMF establish as part of the
loan agreement?
4. Question : (TCO 8) MD International is an export intermediary for U.S. medical equipment
manufacturers. The company has been able to capitalize on falling trade barriers, as well as
expand healthcare programs in the Latin American region. MD International currently represents
more than 30 companies and sells to some 600 regional distributors. How does an intermediary
such as MD International create value for the manufacturers who use it to sell medical equipment
in foreign markets? Why do they want to use MD International rather than export directly
themselves?
5. Question : (TCO 8) Boeing made the decision to outsource much of the production of the 787
in the hopes of significantly reducing the time to get the
product to market. Boeing also anticipated that its outsourcing strategy would allow it to
generate additional sales from the countries that were partners in the process and reduce its costs
and risks. Although Boeing’s strategy worked for some components, for other parts the strategy
was a disaster. Suppliers were late and some produced poor-quality parts, forcing Boeing to
commit additional resources to the project. What are the benefits to Boeing of outsourcing so
much work on the 787 to foreign suppliers? What are the potential risks? Do the benefits
outweigh the risks?
6. Question : (TCO 8) By 2015, Ford hopes to compete in North America, Europe, and Asia by
offering several global models including the Fiesta, the Fusion, and the Mondeo. The company,
which refers to its new strategy as One Ford, anticipates that its global models will share the
same components and looks and be positioned in a similar way in each market in which they are
sold. What is behind Ford’s One Ford vision? What is the company hoping to accomplish with
this strategy?