Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Full download MGMT6 6th Edition Chuck Williams Solutions Manual all chapter 2024 pdf
Full download MGMT6 6th Edition Chuck Williams Solutions Manual all chapter 2024 pdf
Solutions Manual
Go to download the full and correct content document:
https://testbankfan.com/product/mgmt6-6th-edition-chuck-williams-solutions-manual/
More products digital (pdf, epub, mobi) instant
download maybe you interests ...
https://testbankfan.com/product/mgmt6-6th-edition-chuck-williams-
test-bank/
https://testbankfan.com/product/management-7th-edition-chuck-
williams-solutions-manual/
https://testbankfan.com/product/effective-management-7th-edition-
chuck-williams-solutions-manual/
https://testbankfan.com/product/mgmt-7-7th-edition-chuck-
williams-solutions-manual/
Management 7th Edition Chuck Williams Test Bank
https://testbankfan.com/product/management-7th-edition-chuck-
williams-test-bank/
https://testbankfan.com/product/mgmt-7-7th-edition-chuck-
williams-test-bank/
https://testbankfan.com/product/effective-management-7th-edition-
chuck-williams-test-bank/
https://testbankfan.com/product/mgmt-9th-edition-williams-
solutions-manual/
https://testbankfan.com/product/basic-geriatric-nursing-6th-
edition-williams-test-bank/
MGMT6
Chapter 8: Global Management
Pedagogy Map
This chapter begins with the learning outcome summaries and terms covered in the chapter, followed by a
set of lesson plans for you to use to deliver the content in Chapter 8.
Learning Objectives
8.1 Discuss the impact of global business and the trade rules and agreements that govern it.
Today, there are 79,000 multinational corporations worldwide; just 3.1 percent are based in the United
States. Global business affects the United States in two ways: through direct foreign investment in the
United States by foreign companies, and through U.S. companies’ investment in businesses in other
countries. U.S. direct foreign investment throughout the world amounts to more than $2.8 trillion per
year, whereas direct foreign investment by foreign companies in the United States amounts to more than
$2.1 trillion per year. Historically, tariffs and nontariff trade barriers such as quotas, voluntary export
restraints, government import standards, government subsidies, and customs classifications have made
buying foreign goods much harder or more expensive than buying domestically produced products. In
recent years, however, worldwide trade agreements such as GATT and the WTO, along with regional
trading agreements like the Maastricht Treaty of Europe, NAFTA, CAFTA-DR, UNASUR, ASEAN, and
APEC have substantially reduced tariff and nontariff barriers to international trade. Companies have
responded by investing in growing markets in Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America. Consumers have
responded by purchasing products based on value rather than geography.
8.2 Explain why companies choose to standardize or adapt their business procedures.
Global business requires a balance between global consistency and local adaptation. Global consistency
means using the same rules, guidelines, policies, and procedures in each location. Managers at company
headquarters like global consistency because it simplifies decisions. Local adaptation means adapting
standard procedures to differences in markets. Local managers prefer a policy of local adaptation because
it gives them more control. Not all businesses need the same combination of global consistency and local
adaptation. Some thrive by emphasizing global consistency and ignoring local adaptation. Others succeed
by ignoring global consistency and emphasizing local adaptation.
8.3 Explain the different ways that companies can organize to do business globally.
The phase model of globalization says that, as companies move from a domestic to a global orientation,
they use these organizational forms in sequence: exporting, cooperative contracts (licensing and
franchising), strategic alliances, and wholly owned affiliates. Yet not all companies follow the phase
model. For example, global new ventures are global from their inception.
The first step in deciding where to take your company global is finding an attractive business climate. Be
sure to look for a growing market where consumers have strong purchasing power and foreign
competitors are weak. When locating an office or manufacturing facility, consider both qualitative and
quantitative factors. In assessing political risk, be sure to examine political uncertainty and policy
uncertainty. If the location you choose has considerable political risk, you can avoid it, try to control the
risk, or use a cooperation strategy.
National culture is the set of shared values and beliefs that affects the perceptions, decisions, and behavior
of the people from a particular country. The first step in dealing with culture is to recognize meaningful
differences such as power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, and short-
Many expatriates return prematurely from international assignments because of poor performance. This is
much less likely to happen if employees receive linguistic and cross-cultural training, such as
documentary training, cultural simulations, or field experiences, before going on assignment. Adjustment
of expatriates’ spouses and families, which is the most important determinant of success in international
assignments, can be improved through adaptability screening and language and cross-cultural training.
Terms
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Multinational corporation
Association of Southeast Asian Nations National culture
(ASEAN) Nontariff barriers
Central America Free Trade Agreement North American Free Trade Agreement
(CAFTA-DR) (NAFTA)
Cooperative contract Policy uncertainty
Customs classification Political uncertainty
Direct foreign investment Protectionism
Expatriate Purchasing power
Exporting Quota
Franchise Regional trading zones
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade Strategic alliance
(GATT) Subsidies
Global business Tariff
Global consistency Trade barriers
Global new ventures Union of South American Nations
Government import standard (UNASUR)
Joint venture Voluntary export restraints
Licensing Wholly owned affiliates
Local adaptation World Trade Organization (WTO)
Maastricht Treaty of Europe
Warm Up Begin Chapter 8 by asking your students the following series of questions:
• “Without looking, which of you knows (or is confident that you know) where
your backpack was made? Where?” [Students can shout out answers.]
• “Ok, who thinks they know where their backpack was made? Where?” [Students
can shout out answers.]
• “Who cares where their backpack was made?” [For students who raise their hand
Content Lecture slides: Make note of where you stop so you can pick up at the next class
Delivery meeting. Slides have teaching notes on them to help you as you lecture.
8.4 Finding the Best 17: Growing Markets If you have an electronic
Business Climate 18: How Consumption classroom, consider doing
8.4a Growing Markets of Coca-Cola Varies a free geography game
8.4b Choosing an Office with Purchasing Power offered by Sheppard’s
or Manufacturing around the World software at
Location 19: Choosing a Sheppardssoftware.com
8.4c Minimizing Location Have students shout out
Political Risk 20: World’s Best answers that you enter into
Cities for Business the map. Games have time
21: Minimizing limits of a couple of
Political Risk minutes. You’ll get a
22: Strategies for collective score for your
Dealing with Political class.
Risk
23: Overview of
Political Risk in the
Chapter 8: Global Management 182
Middle East
Reel to Real Videos 28: Holden Outerwear Launch the video in slide
28. Questions on the slide
can guide discussion.
Adjust the lecture to include the activities in the right column. Some activities should be
done before introducing the concept, some after.
Special Spark a debate among your students by asking them to respond to the following
Items statement:
“If given a choice, Americans will buy American-made goods rather than foreign-
made goods.”
Content The first section of the chapter has a lot of content that you can use to spark debate
Delivery among students. For this reason, you may want to hold off lecturing on “Global
Business, Trade Rules, and Trade Agreements” until after you do the group activity
“World Trade and You.”
Segue into the next section by asking students, “So if we postulate that global business is
good for consumers and companies alike, what’s the best way to go global? Perhaps
before we can answer that, we should consider the choices a company has when going
global.”
Lecture on How to Go Global? (Sections 8.2 and 8.3) and Finding the Best Business
Climate (Section 8.4).
Introduce the sections on culture by asking if any of your students have ever lived,
worked, or studied abroad and where. If they have, ask them what they considered the
biggest difference between the host culture and the student’s culture of origin.
If time allows, consider showing the Biz Flix clip from Lost in Translation. Teaching
Conclusion Assignments:
and 1. To follow up on the discussion of where and how to go global, assign students to
Preview complete the Management Decision on dealing with cultural backlash issues in
India.
2. If you have finished covering Chapter 8, assign students to review Chapter 8 and
read the next chapter on your syllabus.
GROUPON
Chicago, Illinois
From 400 subscribers and 30 daily deals in 30 cities in December 2008 to 35 million subscribers
and 900 daily deals in 550 markets today, Groupon got to $1 billion in sales faster than any other
company. Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, who was an eBay board member and is now a Groupon
investor and board member, said, “Starbucks and eBay were standing still compared to what is happening
with Groupon. I candidly haven’t witnessed anything quite like this. They have cracked the code on a
very significant opportunity.” Eric Lefkofsky, who chairs Groupon’s board said, “The numbers got crazy
a long time ago, and they keep getting crazier.” So, what is propelling Groupon’s astronomical growth?
How does it work?
Groupon sends a daily email to its 35 million subscribers offering a discount to a restaurant,
museum, store, or service provider in their city. This “coupon” becomes a “groupon” because the
company offering the discount specifies how many people (i.e., a group) must buy before the deal “tips.”
For example, a local restaurant may require 100 people to buy. If only 90 do, then no one gets the
discount. Daily deals go viral as those who buy send the discount to others who might be interested.
When the deal tips (and 95% do), the company and Groupon split the revenue.
Why would companies sign up, especially since half of the money goes to Groupon? Nearly all of
Groupon’s clients are local companies, which have few cost effective ways of advertising. Radio,
newspapers, and online advertising all require upfront payment (whether they work or not). By contrast,
local companies pay Groupon only after the daily deal attracts enough customers to be successful.
Another problem with traditional ads is that they are broadcast to a wide group of people, many of whom
have little interest in what’s being advertised. The viral nature of Groupon’s coupons, however, along
with tailoring deals based on subscribers’ ages, interests, and discretionary dollars, lets companies target
Groupon’s daily deals to customers who are more likely to buy. Groupon’s CEO, Andrew Mason, said,
“We think the Internet has the potential to change the way people discover and buy from local businesses.
Because there are few barriers to entry and the basic web platform is easy to copy, Groupon’s
record growth and 80 percent U.S. market share has attracted start-up competitors like Living Social,
Tippr, Bloomspot, Scoutmob, and BuyWithMe, along with offerings from Google, Facebook, and
Walmart. Globally, Groupon’s business has been copied in 50 countries. China alone has 1,000 Groupon-
type businesses, including one that has copied Groupon’s website down to the www.groupon.cn URL.
Likewise, Taobao, which is part of Alibaba Group Holdings, one of China’s largest Internet companies,
has a group buying service call “Ju Hua Suan,” which translates to “Group Bargain.”
So although Groupon has grown to $1 billion in sales faster than any other company, competitors
threaten to take much of that business, especially in international markets, which Groupon is just starting
to enter. As Groupon goes global, should it adapt its business to different cultures? For example, it relies
on a large Chicago-based sales force to build and retain business with merchants, and 70 comedy writers
Sources:
L. Chao, “Taobao to Launch Local Deals on Group-Buying Website,” Wall Street Journal, 23 February
2011, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703775704576161340839989996.html [accessed
15 May 2011]; B. Stone & D. MacMillan, “Groupon's $6 Billion Snub,” Bloomberg Businessweek, 13
December 2010, 6-7; B. Stone & D. MacMillan, “Are Four Words Worth $25 Billion?” Bloomberg
Businessweek, 21 March 2011, 70-75.
As Groupon goes global, should it adapt its business to different cultures? Or, is it likely to find that the
daily deals that are successful in the U.S. will be popular throughout the world? Also, since humor is a
key part of its advertising approach, should Groupon continue to rely on its 70 Chicago-based comedy
writers to write copy for ads in China, Chile, and Germany?
National culture is the set of shared values and beliefs that affects the perceptions, decisions, and
behavior of the people from a particular country. The first step in dealing with culture is to recognize
meaningful cultural differences, such as power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty
avoidance, and short-term/long-term orientation.
After becoming aware of cultural differences, the second step is deciding how to adapt your company
to those differences. The biggest mistake that companies make at this point is not changing their products
or services or their management practices and procedures when they do business abroad. This is a
common mistake among global franchisors, 65% of which make absolutely no change in their business
for overseas franchisees when they first go global.
So, given that it just offers daily deals, can Groupon have a standard set of products or should they be
different in each market and culture? Not surprisingly, Groupon has found that people in different
countries and cultures don’t respond to the same offers. For example in India, the most popular daily
deals aren’t restaurants and beverages (which are popular in many global cities), but travelling, mobile
phones and wellness products. Ananya Bubna, managing director of Groupon India, said, “A beverage
deal that we thought would have huge takers didn't sell.” Furthermore, “We have realized that something
like balloon rides, which got massive response in the U.K., may not get the same reaction here. Product
Finally, in a nod to the importance of culture, especially with humor, which can differ tremendously
across cultures, Groupon now realizes that its 70 Chicago-based ad writers, some of whom have comedy
backgrounds linked to Chicago’s famous Second City comedy troupe, may not be able to write persuasive
ad copy for other parts of the world. A case in point (though Groupon employed an advertising agency
here) was Groupon’s Super Bowl commercial, which featured actor Timothy Hutton proclaiming, “The
people of Tibet are in trouble … but they still whip up an amazing fish curry. And since 200 of us bought
at Groupon.com, we're each getting $30 of Tibetan food for just $15.” The commercial was criticized
roundly, not just as ineffective, but insensitive.
Similarly, who should make key decisions, managers at headquarters or managers in each country?
Likewise, should Groupon continue to use its large Chicago-based sales force to build and retain
business with merchants, and In short, should Groupon run its business the same way all around the
world?
One of the key issues in global business is determining whether the way you run your business in one
country is the right way to run that business in another. In other words, how can you strike the right
balance between global consistency and local adaptation? Global consistency means that when a
company like Groupon has offices and facilities in different countries, it will use the same rules,
guidelines, policies, and procedures to run them all. Managers at company headquarters value global
consistency because it simplifies decisions. In contrast, a company with a local adaptation policy modifies
its standard operating procedures to adapt to differences in foreign customers, governments, and
regulatory agencies. Local adaptation is typically more important to local managers who are charged with
making the international business successful in their countries.
If companies focus too much on local adaptation, they run the risk of losing the cost efficiencies and
productivity that result from using standardized rules and procedures throughout the world. However, if
companies lean too much toward global consistency, they run the risk of their business being poorly
suited to particular countries’ markets, cultures, and employees (i.e., a lack of local adaptation).
Groupon has discovered that, in part, it must adapt is business at it does business around the world.
While the web side of its business works most places, that is, using email and text, web sites, and
smartphone apps to notify subscribers of daily deals, it doesn’t work everywhere. For example, in Indian,
groupon is adapting the way that it gets paid. Throughout much of the world, online credit cards facilitate
quick, easy, and trustworthy payment. But, in India, many customers are still reluctant to make online
purchases. Ananya Bubna, managing director of Groupon India says, “We are doing cash-on delivery in
India, which we don't do anywhere else. We have realized that reaching out to Indian customers online is
a big challenge. We have started personal concierge help, especially for Indian customers. A few
customers have given us feedback that while they liked our site, they could not make a purchase. Through
this service, one of our experts would handhold a buyer, helping them in registration and purchase on the
site. We also have our people calling customers informing them about various deals in their area of
interest.
In other ways, however, Groupon is balancing consistency with local adaptation. While it has local
managers (see more below) to run its businesses in 42 different countries, it brings all of them to Chicago
to learn how to run their offices the way that it’s done in the U.S. Then, it makes sure that those
managers stay current with its client companies by using Salesforce.com’s relationship management
software to track calls and make sure that its sales force follows up to address potential issues after every
daily deal is completed.
Another part of balancing consistency with local adaptation, at least for now, is maintaining a large call
center in Chicago. Unlike Facebook and Google, which hire software engineers to automate their web
sites, Groupon relies on call center-based sales force in Chicago to sell and maintain relationships with
client companies. Every time it opens in a new city, its sales force is charged with identifying and then
Joe Harrow, who manages Groupon’s Chicago call center, says that Groupon will have call centers in
Chicago and in key international locations. But, unlike many multinational companies who have moved
their call centers to lower cost locations like India, he says, “Maybe having a 1,000-person call center in
downtown Chicago is not smart. We haven't done the math yet. When we do, we'll ask how we can make
this economical without costing us our culture.”
How should Groupon expand internationally? Should it license its web services to businesses in each
area, form a strategic alliance with key foreign business partners (it rejected Google’s $6 billion offer in
the U.S.), or should it completely own and control each Groupon business throughout the world?
Determining how to organize your company for successful entry into foreign markets is a key
decision in going global. When companies produce products in their home countries and sell those
products to customers in foreign countries, they are exporting. When an organization wants to expand its
business globally without making a large financial commitment, it signs a cooperative contract with a
foreign business owner who pays the company a fee for the right to conduct that business in his or her
country. There are two kinds of cooperative contracts: licensing and franchising. Another method of
international organizing is for two companies to form a strategic alliance to combine key resources, costs,
risks, technology, and people. The most common strategic alliance is a joint venture, which occurs when
two existing companies collaborate to form a third company. Finally, one-third of multinational
companies enter foreign markets through wholly owned affiliates. Unlike licensing arrangements,
franchises, or joint ventures, wholly owned affiliates are 100 percent owned by the parent company.
As explained in the chapter, each of these methods of "going global" has specific advantages and
disadvantages. Moreover, a common method of going global is to use the phase model of international
expansion in which a company starts by exporting, and then as it grows, switches to cooperative contracts
(i.e., licensing and franchising right), followed by strategic alliances, and then wholly owned affiliates. As
the chapter makes clear, not all companies follow the steps of the phase model in this order.
The challenge for Groupon is that just 3 years after its startup, it may be the fastest growing startup
company of all time, but it also faces the most quickly established set of global competitors ever
established. So unlike other companies which might take a more measured, slow growth approach to
global expansion, the speed with which competitors and consumers have adopted Groupon’s business
model suggests that Groupon could find itself locked out of key international markets if it doesn’t move
quickly to establish itself as a multinational company. Groupon chief financial officer, Rob Solomon,
emphasized the need for speed, saying, “We think there will be lots of consolidation in a very short
amount of time, and we want to be the 8,000-pound gorilla in that space.”
Backed with several hundred million dollars in funding, Groupon used an approach in which it
combined strategic alliances and wholly-owned affiliates. In short, just as Google offered a $6 billion buy
out to Groupon, Groupon has offered to buy the market leaders that it has identified in 50 different
countries.
Groupon board member Kevin Efrusy says, “To see people copy you is difficult to adjust to. But
Groupon immediately looked at it as an opportunity. You could pick the best that's out there and save a
lot of time.” “The strategy,” he says, is to find the best local teams. Then give them the tools they need
to be successful.” One such acquisition was Berlin-based CityDeal. CityDeal, which was started by the
Samwer brothers, who, a decade before had founded eBay Europe, was just 6 months old when purchased
by Groupon. But, in that short time, it had 1 million subscribers, operated in 80 European cities, and had
600 employees. CityDeal co-founder Dan Glasner commented on being bought by Groupon, saying, “We
have exactly the same understanding of how we need to serve our end customers and partners. Thousands
of businesses out there are looking to attract new customers and are thrilled to leverage the Internet to do
Groupon repeated this acquisition strategy, buying similar companies in Chile, Russia, Japan, China and
other locations. One year, after deciding to go global, Groupon is in 42 different countries.
Self-Assessment
WORLDMINDEDNESS
In-Class Use
Have students go to cengagebrain.com to access the Self-Assessment activity. Use the Self-Assessment
PowerPoint slides and have students raise their hand as you read off the scoring ranges. Tell students to
keep their hand up until you have counted the responses for each item and entered the count into the
spreadsheet embedded in the PowerPoint presentation. Display the distribution to the class so students can
see where they fit.
Scoring
Students will want to know how their worldmindedness scores compare with their classmates and
with other college students. I typically have students report their scores and create a distribution on the
board for everyone to see how they compare with their classmates. The following data collected from
college students provide another point of comparison:
Except for undecided majors, Business majors have the lowest worldmindedness
scores.
Business majors who speak no foreign languages have the lowest worldmindedness scores,
whereas other majors who speak two or more languages have the highest worldmindedness
scores. Whatever major, speaking another language increases worldmindedness.
Male finance and accounting majors have the lowest worldmindedness scores. Female finance and
general majors have the highest worldmindedness scores. Except marketing majors, females have higher
worldmindedness scores than males.
Your worldmindedness score is not a fixed number. Several activities can help you improve your score,
but to do so, you’ll need to develop a plan, such as the one that follows.
Management Decision
Purpose
A company that is looking to do business overseas must cannot ignore cultural differences if it is to be
successful. This exercise asks students to consider how they would deal with critical differences between
cultures as their company seeks to branch out into overseas markets.
Setting It Up
You can introduce this case to students by creating a table that shows the various cultural differences
between the U.S. and a foreign country, ideally one that has been the site of much foreign investment
such as China, India, Brazil, or Russia. You can then ask students how a company should deal with these
differences in order to find success.
Source:
Mehul Srivastava, “Business Caught in Middle of India’s Culture War,” Bloomberg Businessweek,
February 18, 2009, accessed September 10, 2010, from
www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/feb2009/gb20090218_783926_page_2.htm.
Questions
1. How would you, as the manager of this company, deal with the risk associated with doing
business in countries that feel threatened by American culture?
Students are likely to respond in one of two ways – either the company must learn how to do deal
with the risk, or the company should cut its losses and terminate its business. In general, students
choosing the former answer should show awareness that it is critical for a company to learn as
much as it can about the foreign culture, so that it can adapt its business practices as necessary.
This may mean that the company hires more Indian staff, who can help train the rest of the staff
on how to be more culturally sensitive. It may also mean giving Western staff extensive cultural
and language training prior to working in India. Students, of course, may come up with other
ideas about how to raise cultural awareness within the company.
Students who choose to cut losses and leave the country should cite the tremendous cost, in terms
of money and time, of doing cross-cultural training.
2. How might your company use an alliance with local companies to adapt to local concerns about
American culture?
Companies that look to do business overseas often choose strategic alliances, most commonly in
the form of joint ventures. The advantage of joint ventures is that a domestic company combines
key resources, costs, risks, technology, and most importantly for this case, people, with a foreign
Chapter 8: Global Management 192
company to do business in a foreign market. In essence, a global joint venture involves a marriage
of four cultures: the country and the organizational cultures of the first partner, and the country
and the organizational cultures of the second partner. In other words, a joint venture gives the
domestic company access to the cultural expertise of the foreign company. Rather than creating
something new, the domestic company can simply rely on what its foreign partner already knows
about how to do business within a particular culture.
Sources:
I. Bodner, “Social Entrepreneurship,” Fast Company, June 2, 2009, accessed June 12, 2009, from
www.fastcompany.com/1723694/social-entrepreneurship-and-the-common-brand; K. Krippendorff, “A
Prescription For Doing Good—Pfizer’s New Ethonomic Treatment Plan,” Fast Company, June 34, 2009,
accessed June 12, 2008, from www.fastcompany.com/blog/kaihan-krippendorff/outthinker-mavericks-
out-innovate-competition/prescription-doing-good-pfize; S. Hamm, “Into Africa: Capitalism from the
Ground Up,” Businessweek, May 4, 2009, 60–61.
Questions
1. What are the advantages of social entrepreneurship as a way to approach doing business in
developing economies outside the United States? What are the disadvantages?
Social entrepreneurship presents both advantages and disadvantages to organizations. First, the
advantages: By showing that they care about social issues, organizations build customer loyalty by
showing that they care about the same social issues that the customer cares about. Additionally, this
type of identification can help attract and retain new customers who are concerned with an
Chapter 8: Global Management 193
organization’s social stance. An organization’s social actions also help establish a positive public
image and brand identity. Rather than being known just for good products, an organization that shows
concern for social ills presents itself as a responsible global citizen, one that cares for the people it
reaches. An organization’s social stance can also help educate its consumers. Through various
marketing and publicity campaigns, the organization can help the general population realize the need
to address a certain issue, be it homelessness or child illiteracy. And perhaps most importantly, a
company’s social entrepreneurial efforts help resolve significant societal problems. Businesses have
tremendous financial and political resources which they can marshal to improve the lives of people
around the world.
While social entrepreneurship has many advantages, it also presents disadvantages to companies.
First and foremost is the issue of cost. Whether it’s giving away drugs to the poor and homeless or
working with African coffee farmers, social actions require a considerable investment of
organizational resources. What is more, the net impact of social entrepreneurship on a company’s
bottom line is not at all clear, meaning that social actions, while good for the world, may be bad for
profit. Social entrepreneurship may also lead to a public relations nightmare for companies. For
example, a company may only claim to be engaged in social actions while not doing anything
substantive. Or, a company could be accused of adopting a social action perspective simply for the
sake of improving sales and profits (e.g., greenwashing). There are also considerable cultural and
political risks in social entrepreneurship. A company that enters a foreign country with grandiose
thoughts of healing the sick and enriching the poor may find itself the target of government officials.
What is more, the organization could be accused of trying to apply Western cultural standards to non-
Western countries. What the company might view as a social ill that needs to be addressed may be
viewed by locals as just the way life is.
2. How might you combine social entrepreneurship with traditional options for going global?
Traditional methods of doing global business include exporting, cooperative contracts and strategic
alliances. Exporting occurs when companies produce products at home and sell them abroad. The key
advantage to exporting is that it makes the organization less dependent on sales in its home country
and provides a high degree of control over research, design, and production decisions. A cooperative
contract allows an organization to enter a foreign market without a large financial commitment. Either
through licensing or franchising, a foreign company pays our organization for the right to produce
and sell products in that country. The biggest advantage of licensing is that it allows companies to
earn profits without additional investments. However, the company must also give up control over the
quality of the product that is sold in foreign markets. Franchising, meanwhile, is another way to enter
a foreign market quickly. For the price of an initial franchise fee plus royalties, franchisors provide
franchisees with training, assistance with marketing and advertising, and an exclusive right to conduct
business in a particular location. However, franchisors also risk a loss of control. Further, many
franchises cannot be generalized due to differences in lifestyle, values, and even infrastructure,
making franchises a risky proposition for going overseas.
3. Can establishing a multinational corporation or a joint venture serve the principles of social
entrepreneurship? Would some options lend themselves better to social entrepreneurship than others?
What might such a business venture look like?
Strategic alliances involve the combination of two organizations’ resources, costs, risks, technology,
and people. A strategic alliance can take the form of a joint venture, in which two existing companies
collaborate to form a third company. The two founding companies remain intact and unchanged,
except that together they now own the newly created joint venture. Joint ventures provide for a
relatively quick way of entering a foreign market without the pressure of tariffs. Further, they reduce
the risk of entry, since both companies have to bear the costs and risks of business. Finally, global
joint ventures can be especially advantageous to smaller local partners that link up with larger, more
experienced foreign firms that can bring advanced management, resources, and business skills to the
joint venture. However, the nature of a joint venture makes it necessary for the two companies to
share profits. Also, managing global joint ventures can be difficult because they represent a merging
HOMETOWN CULTURE
One of the major dilemmas in global management concerns the degree to which a multinational firm
should adapt its business practices to particular locations and cultures versus the degree to which it should
maintain consistency across all its operations. In general, firms prefer consistency because it streamlines
operations and may result in global economies of scale. At the same time, multinational firms cannot
gloss over differences without running the risk of losing a particular market to more responsive (local)
competition. In this exercise, you will interpret your “hometown” culture for a large multinational
company. Suppose that a large multinational equipment company (based outside your country of origin)
is planning to open a major production facility and retail dealership in your hometown. This company has
hired you as a consultant to help it successfully establish operations in your hometown.
Step 1: Describe your hometown. Write a brief sketch (one or two pages, using bullet points will
suffice) in which you describe the important cultural features of your hometown, including such aspects
as language, dress, courtesy/customs, and attitudes toward “foreignness” and newcomers. Try as much as
possible to capture aspects of the location and culture of your hometown that would be important for
newcomers to recognize and respect.
Step 2: Form a team. Your professor will assign you to small discussion groups of three to five students.
Step 3: Share your description. Take turns in your discussion groups introducing yourselves, identifying
your hometown, and sharing the highlights of your brief sketch of your hometown. Listen for similarities
and differences across your hometowns.
Step 6: Consider challenges. As a class discuss the challenges of entering global markets, particularly in
regard to achieving the appropriate mix of consistency and adaptation.
Preparation
Students should complete Step 1 (the 1–2-page paper on the major cultural features of their hometown)
prior to the in-class discussion of this exercise. It is important to remind all students that their audience
for these papers is the management of a company outside their own country of origin. For example, a
student whose hometown is Fayetteville, Arkansas, might write her paper to an audience of French
managers. A student whose hometown is Sao Paulo, Brazil, might write his paper to an audience of U.S.
managers. Students should assume that their audience has never been to their hometown and that they
have limited knowledge of their home culture (national/regional/local).
Managers with a wealth of global experience staff most multinational firms, and students may tend to
lean toward assumptions of familiarity. Reinforce that they should assume no familiarity whatsoever.
This will help students to fully engage in the process of communicating to a foreign newcomer. While
students may include a few aspects of national and regional culture, they should make sure that they give
primary attention to their particular hometown. For some students, this local “lens” may even zoom in at
the level of a neighborhood or section of a large city (e.g., the Bronx area of New York City).
You should decide in advance how you would like to group students for the in-class exercise.
Students will discuss their “hometown” papers and then work together to agree on some
recommendations for a multinational that plans to enter their hometowns (see Step 4—company entering
all hometowns simultaneously). One approach for forming groups is to cluster students who are likely to
represent a variety of places of origin.
In-Class Use
Students should be organized in small discussion groups (3–5 students). Each group should begin with
Step 3, taking turns to introduce themselves, identifying their hometown (and neighborhood/borough as
appropriate), and sharing some of the highlights from their “hometown” paper. Encourage students to
listen carefully for similarities and differences, ask questions, and make notes.
Once a group has completed Step 3, it should move on to Step 4 without waiting for a signal from the
instructor. Groups are likely to vary in the time required for Step 3, but none should rush through this
step.
Step 4 requires each group to make recommendations to the multinational equipment company on the
assumption that it is entering all of their hometowns simultaneously. This condition forces students to
directly consider similarities, differences, and patterns across their various hometowns.
Step 4 includes the following two questions:
1. “To what degree might the company use consistent (same) approach in entering your
hometowns?” (Exercise, Step 4)
2. “Is one of your hometowns likely to require a foreign multinational to make more particular
adaptations?” (Exercise, Step 4)
These questions should foster discussion around one of the central themes of global management—the
desire to achieve consistency across global markets (i.e., global economies of scale and scope) and the
need for adaptation to local differences (i.e., customer needs and desires that vary by location/culture).
Activities
1. Think of yourself as a member of a particular geographic cultural group. (In the United States, we are
conditioned to think of cultural groups based on ethnicity and race, but for this exercise, think in terms of
location.) What are the characteristics of this group?
2. Once you have an outline of your geographic culture, try to identify the group most opposite to your
own. For example, if you consider yourself a New Yorker, you may think of a Mississippian or a
Californian.
3. Research regional and local periodicals to learn about the norms in the other culture. You might also
talk with a friend who attends college in a different region or state to get a more personal understanding
of norms in other parts of the country. List some of the norms in the other location, and compare them
with the norms in your area of the country.
Summary:
Like so many other American brands, Holden apparel is made in China. While the company would like to
manufacture in the United States, government regulations, labor costs, and high corporate tax rates are too
heavy a burden. Availability of materials is another factor, as many of the pieces that Holden needs, like
buttons, snaps, and fabrics, would still have to be brought in from Asia even if the garment was made in
the U.S. In addition, garment making requires skilled laborers, and founder Mikey LeBlanc says that the
United States lacks a manufacturing base to do the job. For any company that sources materials and labor
overseas, shipping is a vital, ongoing concern. In the early years, LeBlanc used nearly a dozen shippers to
transport garments from China to the U.S. To increase efficiency and reduce costs, LeBlanc found a way
to coordinate shipping through a single distribution hub in China, so that just two companies now handle
all of Holden’s shipping.
The four stages of globalization include the domestic stage, the international stage, the
multinational stage, and the global (stateless) stage. Answers may vary, but Oregon-based
Holden lies mostly within the international stage of corporate international development. Factors
that mark the company as presently in the international stage of development include the firm’s
outsourced China manufacturing and significant international sales to Japan, Germany, Norway,
and Canada. Holden is a small company, and it does not own factories or fabric mills. To qualify
as a multinational business, Holden needs more than one-third of sales to take place outside of the
U.S., and its marketing and advertising strategies must be standardized and uniform across all
regions. Holden cannot be characterized as a domestic company or a global (stateless) company.
The domestic stage is characteristic of companies that make and sell goods solely within their
home countries; the global (stateless) stage is characteristic of firms that have ownership,
management, and manufacturing dispersed among many nationalities.
2. Identify Holden’s primary approach to entering the international market. What are the benefits of
this entry strategy?
For small businesses that want to “go global,” exporting, global outsourcing, and licensing
represent low-cost ways of conducting business internationally. To reach global consumers and
keep manufacturing costs low, Holden uses an outsourcing strategy. The manufacture of Holden
apparel takes place in factories in China. Owner Mikey LeBlanc states that this strategy slashes
the cost of his products in half. Outsourcing also provides a steady source of skilled labor and
textile materials. Large well-established firms tend to use more costly market entry strategies,
such as acquisitions and greenfield ventures. Although high cost market entry strategies involve
significant risk and resources, they offer maximum control over business processes and profits.
While the four management functions of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling are the
same whether a company operates domestically or internationally, managers experience greater
challenges and risks when performing functions in an international setting. In the video, Mikey
LeBlanc explains that to obtain the benefits of China’s low cost manufacturing, managers had to
carefully oversee 12 different shipping companies. The situation required extensive paperwork
and resources. In addition, garments with multiple components often failed to deliver together at
the same time, creating long delays. Though not discussed specifically in the video, Holden’s
Jerry retained her soft hand lovingly, and, taking heart of grace
therefrom, said,
'I shall speak of this matter again, Laura. I see that I quite deserve your
refusal.'
'Why?'
'Believe me, dear Jerry, my answer is a final one. I could never bestow
on you the love a wife should feel for her husband.'
'I am unworthy the regard I have won. Thrust me from your thoughts,
Jerry, and forget me, I pray you, forget me,' said she, emphatically, as she
again withdrew her hand.
'I have been a fool!' exclaimed Jerry, bitterly, as he twisted his dark
moustache and betrayed considerable emotion, at least for him.
'Oh, no,' said Mrs. Trelawney, patting his shoulder with her fan. 'You are
no worse than other men. You could not help it, if I was silly enough to be
—shall I say it?—amused, perhaps pleased, by all your tender speeches,
though I could not believe in them.'
Jerry stared at her in doubt whether to be indignant or not, but again her
beauty and espieglerie of manner triumphed.
'Oh, Laura, once again,' he was resuming, when she interrupted him—
'I know all you would say, but please not to renew this subject, or I shall
lose all faith in you, Captain Wilmot.'
'Well, then, Jerry, I like you very much,' she said, coquettishly, and with
an infinite sweetness of tone; 'but I shall be sorry if your persistence makes
me view you differently.'
'If you like me so very much, why cannot you marry me? You would
like me ever so much more afterwards.'
'What others?'
'That is my secret. But, here come visitors,' said she, rising and
presenting her hand. 'And let us part, Jerry, as I hope we shall meet again—
good friends.'
'Where have you been, Jerry?' asked Dalton, who was again loitering in
front of the guard-hut at the camp gate, with a cigar between his lips, and
saw his friend coming slowly along, with the reins dropped on his horse's
neck.
'And with what success?' asked Dalton, his colour changing perceptibly.
'None at all, old fellow; bowled out; thrown over—I may trust to your
silence, I know—fairly laughed at me, and won't have me at any price, by
Jove.'
'Proposed right off the reel, whatever that may mean, and was refused.
But I don't mean to break my heart over it,' added Jerry, twirling and
untwirling the long lash of his whip.
'Thanks, Jerry; but I don't mean to propose to the widow,' said Dalton,
laughing. 'She has some history of her own, I think.'
'So do I,' said Jerry, angrily; 'and it is bad form for women to have
histories or mysteries either.'
'Sour grapes, Jerry,' said Dalton, still laughing.
'I thought you were hit a little in that quarter yourself, Tony; but I am
much mistaken if there is not more in her life than you know, or any of us is
ever likely to know.'
Dalton, though secretly pleased that Jerry had not met with success, was
also secretly provoked at what he deemed the young fellow's over-
confidence. He had felt himself—he knew not why—curiously affected
when in the presence of Laura Trelawney; there was a subtle influence in
her voice and smile that wakened old memories and strangely bewildered
him; and especially when she sang, these stole over him and seemed to take
tangible form.
'And now, I suppose,' said Jerry, as he manipulated a cigar, 'I must just
do as she probably did when the "late lamented" took himself off.'
'What is that?'
'"Drop some natural tears and wipe them soon," as Milton has it.'
'I'll give you another quotation, Jerry—what does Abou Adhem say?'
'"Your lost love is neither the beginning nor ending of life. Several
things remain to you. She is false, and you are the victim. Very good.
Nature is not going into bankruptcy; the sun will rise and set just the same;
corn will grow, birds sing, and the rain fall just as before. My experience is,
that it's a toss up that you are not the better without her, and she not better
without you."'
Alison Cheyne, we have said, had ceased to take her walk beside the
beeches, though her heart yearned for it, and she knew well who was too
probably loitering and watching there; so Bevil Goring, at all risks, wrote
her a passionate and imploring letter to meet him once again at the same
place and hour, with an alternation of days in case of engagements or
interruption; and this missive came to her when Alison, who loved him with
all her woman's heart, was wondering hourly how she could get through day
after day without him.
'At last! at last!' was the exclamation of each as the tryst was kept, and
they met again.
Their hearts were beating fast, and in unison, but in silence, and, if the
meeting was a secret and a stealthy one, it was all the more thrilling to both.
They were silent for a time, we say, but the silence was not without its
eloquence, if the paradox may be used. There was the mystic communion of
souls—the touch of hand that closed on hand, of lip that clung to lip—lips
that knew not how to utter all that hovered there unsaid.
'I could not have been here else; but, for heaven's sake, do not write to
me again,' said Alison, imploringly.
'Why?'
'For fear of papa; my correspondents are so few, his suspicions might be
excited.'
'I shall try, Bevil—I shall try; oh, I cannot help coming to meet you
now.'
'Allow me, darling, till I can place another there!' exclaimed Bevil, as he
slipped a ring on her engagement finger.
'Say always.'
'It was an omen of what was to come, love Alison—an omen that we
were to meet, and that you should be mine—mine only!' he replied,
embracing her with ardour.
They had now become a little more composed and a little more
coherent.
'I have expectations, of course—every fellow has,' said Bevil Goring, as
they wandered on slowly hand in hand; 'but mine are perhaps too remote to
suit the views, and may be opposed to the ambition, of Sir Ranald; yet I
love you so dearly, so desperately, darling, that if you will wait for me only
a year—I ask no more—I shall hope to claim you publicly or set you free. A
captain with only a hundred or two besides his pay could scarcely hope to
wed your father's daughter, Alison. Let our engagement be a secret one, as
you dread an open one. It is not honourable in me to tie you thus, but what
can I do? Separation now would be a kind of death to me; and oh, Alison, I
love you so!'
'And I you, Bevil;' then she added, in a broken voice, 'We have had great
sorrow, great trouble, we Cheynes, and they have made papa what he is; but
I can remember when things were very different, when we were not so poor
as we are now, and when he—poor old darling!—had much more of life
and spirit in him.'
Let the dark future hold what it might of severance, tears, and futile
longings, for that fleeting time Bevil was hers and she was his—his own!
And so they parted an engaged pair, he not at all foreseeing, and she
only fearing, the gathering cloud that overhung them both. Her elderly
admirer was in London then. Parliament was sitting, and she, freed from his
visits, abandoned herself to the full enjoyment of the present.
She now wore a new ring, a handsome diamond hoop with a guard,
upon the third finger of her left hand; but this was unnoticed by Sir Ranald,
though it did not escape the sharper eyes of Mrs. Trelawney, who more than
once caught her young friend toying with the trinket—turning it to and fro
round her slender finger, while regarding it with a sweet, loving, and
dreamy expression of face which told its own tale.
But, if Mrs. Trelawney was reticent on the subject of her suspicion,
Alison was still more so, and locked her secret in her own breast.
With all the joy of the new position, however, there was more than one
element in it from which her sensitive nature shrank.
At times it seemed very 'bad form,' as the phrase went—a want perhaps
of self-respect; and yet Bevil Goring was so tender, so loving, so unlike, she
thought, every other man in the world that she must risk it all, he was so
dear to her.
On the other hand, Bevil Goring, who was not without a moderate show
of proper pride, was not without some similar thoughts, and rather resented
the position in which they were placed, giving their solemn engagement the
aspect of a rustic flirtation with its furtive meetings; and, after all he had
seen of the world, he thought it absurd for him and perilous for the girl he
loved so tenderly.
'Captain Goring seems to send you bouquets and music pretty often, I
think?' said Sir Ranald, rather suspiciously, one day.
'Yes, papa,' said she, feeling herself grow pale under the glance he gave
through his inevitable pince-nez; 'our garden yields so little in the way of
flowers, at this season especially. I can't afford, you know, to buy much
music, cheap as it is, and—and——'
CHAPTER IX.
'We dine with Cadbury at the Court to-morrow—no party, just ourselves
—sharp six—an early dinner,' said Sir Ranald to Alison, just as she returned
from a meeting with Bevil Goring at the beeches.
'Very well, papa,' replied the girl, though she felt herself shiver with
anticipation of the annoyance to which she might be subjected; 'has he
returned so soon?'
'He—who?'
'Lord Cadbury.'
In her heart she was sorry to hear it. 'The carriage will come for us
punctually,' he added, regarding her earnestly, as he thought regretfully—
when did he ever cease to do so?—of his own family carriage, with its
hammercloth and heraldic insignia, and his dismay when Lady Cheyne—
Alison's ailing mother—was first compelled to walk afoot or take a
common cab.
'If his lordship makes any proposition to you to-night, I trust that for my
sake, if not for your own, you will not, at least, insult him,' said Sir Ranald,
breaking the silence suddenly.
'For your sake and mine consider well and favourably his lordship's
views,' said her father again.
She remained silent, fearing that the note her father had received must
have contained something more than the mere invitation to dinner.
'I shall lose the half of my life, Alison, when I lose you, but I must make
up my mind for it one of these days.'
Still she made no response, for her heart was away in a most
unromantic-looking hut in the infantry lines at Aldershot, where, in fancy,
she saw a handsome young fellow, his dark hair cropped close, his skin
almost olive in tint, and smooth as a girl's, dark eyes and straight black
eyebrows with thick lashes, a heavy moustache, and altogether with a dark
manly beauty about him that would have become the costume of Titian or
Velasquez, like the cavalier brothers in the portraits at Chilcote.
Alison's drapery seemed to have a soft sweep in it; she held her fair
head high; a scornful curl hovered on her lip, and yet she seemed a fragile
thing to have so haughty a spirit.
She wore again—for, poor girl, her wardrobe was most limited—the
lustreless silk with its rare old lace, and, though harassed, she looked
charming in her pale beauty, while almost destitute of ornaments, save a
few silver bangles on her slender wrists, for the family jewels—especially
the Essilmont diamonds—were all things of the past, and had long since
found their way to shop windows in Bond Street; but she wore at her neck a
little circular brooch of snow-white pearls from the Ythan, near Ellon.
The grandeur and luxury which surrounded the parvenu lord at times
irritated Sir Ranald curiously, though from sheer desperation and
selfishness he longed for the hour when his daughter should share them;
thus he was sometimes prompted to say sharp—almost sneering—things to
his prospective son-in-law.
'Pon my soul, Cheyne, you are unpleasant,' replied the peer, not
precisely knowing what to make of this aphorism; 'but there goes the gong
for dinner,' and, drawing Alison's hand over his arm, he led the way to the
dining-room; 'and so you have quite declined all my offers of a mount, Miss
Cheyne?' said he, in a voice of would-be reproachful tenderness, 'though I
have put my entire stables at your disposal.'
'Your taste has changed; or are you weary of the spins round Twesildon
Hill and Aldershot way! Some of them are pretty stiff, I believe.'
The slow elaboration of the dinner, with its many entrées and courses,
though it was perfect from the maraschino to the coffee; the two tall solemn
servants in resplendant liveries (like theatrical properties) in attendance
upon them, and the silent butler in the background, all oppressed Alison.
'It matters little when built,' replied Cadbury, bluntly, who felt a taunt in
the remark, and knew precisely how Sir Ranald viewed his recent title. 'It
comes to me out of Cornhill and Threadneedle Street; and I believe that
Miss Cheyne will agree with me that it is better to have industrious than
expensive forefathers—hewers of wood and drawers of water, though some
may deem them. Bosh! Sir Ranald—all men come from Adam,' added
Cadbury, who, though a peer, was somewhat of a Radical in his proclivities.
'In these points you and I differ,' said Sir Ranald, stiffly, as he sipped his
glass of dry Moselle.
'In this age of the world, a fellow with a pedigree is exactly like a
potato,' said Lord Cadbury, laughing.
Sir Ranald coloured with annoyance up to his pale temples, and said—
'I am astonished that you should indulge in such bad form as proverbs;
and, as for pedigrees, I never knew any man undervalue them if he ever had
one—real or pretended——'
'You know, papa, that in this work-a-day age, merit is better than birth.'
'Precisely.'
'Not always,' said Sir Ranald; 'sometimes a defeat may be as glorious as
a victory. Was it not said of the clans at Culloden that in great attempts it is
glorious even to fail?'
Over the sideboard, which was loaded with massive plate, hung a great
portrait of Sir Timothy Titcomb, the City Knight and first peer, in all his
bravery of robe and chain, and aldermanic obeseness of habit; and Alison,
as she looked at it, thought of some of the stately portraits at Chilcote of the
Cheynes of other days, and of the manly beauty of the two Cavalier
brothers who fell in battle for the king—pale, proud, and scornful, with
their lovelocks and plumed beavers, and the moment dessert was over, she
stole away to the solitude of the drawing-room.
She had felt rather lonely during the protracted meal. There was no
other lady present. 'Why?' she asked herself; did not ladies affect the society
of the wealthy and titled bachelor? It almost seemed so.
During the meal and dessert, Alison, though her sweet face wore forced
smiles, had a bitter and humiliating sense of how her father, when his
peevishness subsided under the influence of good wines, changed in
manner, and, with all his inborn and inordinate pride of race and utter
contempt for parvenus and nouveaux riches, seemed to make himself
subservient to Lord Cadbury, assenting in the end to his views on
everything.
She seated herself at the piano, but did not play, lest, though she had
begun a melody of Schumann's, the 'Nachtstück,' Lord Cadbury might deem
the sound a hint that she wished him by her side, and, giving way to
thought, she sank into reverie.
As she looked on the splendour and luxury with which she was then
surrounded, it was impossible for the young and impulsive girl not to think
how pleasant it would be to see no more of duns, and debts, and genteel
poverty; to be the mistress of Cadbury Court; to own such a glorious double
drawing-room wherein to receive her visitors; to wear wonderful toilettes;
to be always surrounded by so many curious and beautiful pictures,
cabinets, and statuettes; to have an assured position beyond her own—the
position that money alone can give; to be the mistress of these magnificent
park lands, preserves, and pastures; the hot-houses and stable-court; the
terraces, with their peacocks and rosaries, all whilom part of the heritage of
a proud old race that, like the Cheynes of Essilmont, had come down in the
world; to shine in society, and have always a full purse to buy whatever she
fancied; but to have all these with Lord Cadbury—not Bevil Goring, as her
husband!
She had been too deeply sunk in thought to hear the opening and closing
of the drawing-room door, when Lord Cadbury entered alone, having left
Sir Ranald dropping into his after-dinner doze in the smoking-room.
The proposal he had come to make was hovering on his lips; but a
consciousness of his years on one hand, and the girl's youth on the other,
rendered him suddenly diffident.
He then drew a little nearer her, and, noting that she had a couple of tea
rosebuds in her collarette, said insinuatingly—
'I saw that your papa is wearing one of your favourite flowers at his
button-hole—may I have one also?'
'You are not papa,' she replied, curtly, to her half-century Romeo; 'such
little decorations seem suitable only for young folks,' she added, 'but I shall
give you a bud with pleasure.'
And quickly her little hands put a rosebud into the peer's lapel, but in a
mechanical and task-work manner, while there was an expression on her
lips—and full, delicate, and emotional lips they were—and in her small,
pale face, with its decided little chin, that prevented him from greatly
appreciating the gift as a younger man would have done; so the attempt
even at flirtation fell flat.
'Your poor papa!' said Cadbury, softly, 'when you marry, how lonely he
will be!'
Alison shrank back uneasily, as she thought of Bevil Goring, and replied
—
'I could never leave dear old papa in our—our changed circumstances;
we are so much to each other.'
'I mean to devote myself to him always. He is the only old man I shall
ever care for; the only old man worth giving up my life to. Well,' added
Alison, mentally, 'that is pretty pointed surely; if he does not take that hint,
he will never take any.'
'But your papa cannot live for ever,' said Cadbury, not unwilling to
inflict a thrust in return.
'How cruel of you to remind me of that!' exclaimed the girl, her fine
eyes suffusing for a moment. 'I know that he is some years older than
yourself; but I hope he may live to the age of Old Parr!'
The absence of even one lady to meet her had surprised the girl; but she
knew not, and neither did Sir Ranald, owing to the isolated life he led at
Chilcote, that, though fair ones from London were not unfrequent visitors at
Cadbury Court, they were of a style that the ladies of the county declined to
meet on any terms, which may give our readers a new insight to the general
character of this hereditary legislator.
Quiet though his tone and bearing, in his past life the man had been—
nay, was still—secretly a coarse libertine and a roué, who indulged in all the
vicious propensities which his ample wealth enabled him to do.
Alison Cheyne was his last fancy, and he was determined, by fair means
or foul, by marriage or trepan, that his she should be. Her father's poverty
and pride, his age and growing infirmities, could all be utilised to this end,
and nothing now gave him doubts of easy success but his own years, his
grey hairs, and perhaps—her love for another.
'You do not wear many rings, Miss Cheyne; but such a hand as yours
requires no ornament.'
He took her little white hand in his as he spoke—it was her left one—
and regarded it admiringly; and Alison, though trembling for what might
now ensue, did not withdraw it. She thought, was not the man quite old
enough to be her father?
'I believe greatly in pretty hands,' said he, caressing and patting with his
right hand the little white one that lay in his left.
'So does papa. It is a hobby of his that they indicate race or culture,'
replied Alison, smiling now.
Certainly the short, thick digits of Lord Cadbury showed neither, and,
poor man, he thought so, for he winced at the girl's reply, it was so like one
of Sir Ranald's remarks; and the gentle Alison blushed that she had made it.
To do so was altogether unlike herself, but she was irritated by the whole
situation.
'That is a charming ring!' said her host, touching Bevil Goring's gift—
the gift she prized beyond her own life.
'It is Oriental, I believe. Moreover, I have no wish for more rings, and
never accept gifts of that kind,' she added, with some hauteur of manner.
'I think I startled you by my entrance,' said he, trying to recapture her
hand again; but she kept them both resolutely folded before her.
'And, posed as you were, made a most fairy-like picture,' said he, with
his head on one side, his long white moustache almost touching her, and
more decided tenderness in his tone than he had ever before adopted.
'And what would you do if you were one in reality?' said he, passing a
hand caressingly round her soft arm.
'How?'
'By one wave of my wand I should punish you for disturbing me.'
'In what way?' He had interlaced his pudgy fingers on her arm now.
'By garnishing you, as he did, with Bottom's ears,' she replied, with
something between a laugh and an angry sigh, 'though I should decline to
take the part of either Titania or Peasblossom.'
Cadbury released her arm and drew back; he knew not precisely what
she meant, but tugged his white moustache and thought—
'I take them from you as I would from papa; they pass thus, although a
younger man might offend.'
Cadbury, whose head was stooped towards her, erected it, lest her
glance might be falling on the little bald patch which he was so terribly
conscious of being apparent now, and he shivered with annoyance, and felt
wrathful at the girl he was so desirous of pleasing.
'Will you sing for me?' said he, after a pause, 'I am so fond of music.'
'What shall I sing?' asked Alison, seating herself at the piano, and glad
to change the tenor of a conversation in which she felt herself ungracious.
She thought for a moment, and then dashed into another, of which one
verse will suffice, and which was quite as objectionable to his lordship,
though he did not understand it all.
'It is a man's song,' said Alison, when she had concluded the five verses,
and continued to idle over the keys.