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Chapter 8: International Strategy
Chapter 8
International Strategy
KNOWLEDGE OBJECTIVES
CHAPTER OUTLINE
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a
publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
8-1
Chapter 8: International Strategy
LECTURE NOTES
OPENING CASE
International Strategy: Critical to Starbucks’ Future Success
With over 17,000 stores in more than 50 countries, Starbucks is one of the world’s most
recognized brands. It is clear that international expansion is an important component of
its strategy—especially in the huge Chinese and Indian markets. In fact, Starbucks
believes that China has the potential to be the second highest revenue producer, trailing
only the US. Given that it commands less than one percent of the global coffee market,
Starbucks has a lot of room to grow. It plans to expand the number of stores in China
from around 400 in 2011 to 1500 in 2015.
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a
publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
8-2
Chapter 8: International Strategy
delivers unique products and experiences for which customers are willing to pay a
premium. The transnational corporate strategy allows it to use its competencies to
standardize operations and gain global efficiencies while simultaneously giving
discretion to local units to offer products that accommodate local tastes.
Although national boundaries, cultural differences, and geographical distances all pose
barriers to entry into many markets, significant opportunities draw businesses into the
international arena.
• Global firms must formulate a successful strategy to take advantage of international
opportunities.
• Managers must develop global mind-sets.
• Operating with little cultural diversity and without global sourcing is no longer effective.
• Global firms must develop relationships with suppliers, customers, and partners, and then
learn from these.
Figure Note: Figure 8.1 provides an overview of the various choices and
outcomes of strategic competitiveness.
FIGURE 8.1
Opportunities and Outcomes of International Strategy
The following opportunities and outcomes of international strategy are illustrated in Figure
8.1:
• Firms should first identify international opportunities related to increasing market size,
return on investment, economies of scale and learning, and location-related advantages.
• Once international opportunities have been identified, firms must develop international
strategies based on firm resources and capabilities.
• A mode of entry should be selected to take advantage of the firm’s core competencies.
• A firm’s ability to realize strategic competitiveness is tempered by management’s ability
to manage effectively and efficiently a complex organization with locations in multiple
countries and the economic and political risks that accompany firm internationalization.
• The strategic outcomes from the process can include better performance and more
innovation.
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publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
8-3
Chapter 8: International Strategy
International strategy refers to selling products in markets outside of the firm’s domestic
market to expand the market for their products.
This is explained by Vernon’s adaptation of the product life cycle concept formulated to
explain internationalization.
1. A firm introduces an innovation (new product) in its domestic market.
2. Product demand develops in other countries and exports are provided from domestic
operations.
3. As demand increases, foreign rivals produce the product; then firms justify investing in
production abroad.
4. As products become standardized, firms relocate production to low-cost countries.
Traditional motives persist, but other emerging motives also drive international expansion.
• Pressure has increased for global integration of operations, driven mostly by universal
product demand.
• In some industries, technology drives globalization because the economies of scale
necessary to reduce costs to the lowest level often require an investment greater than that
needed to meet domestic market demand.
• New large-scale, emerging markets such as China and India provide a strong
internationalization incentive because of the potential demand in them.
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publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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Chapter 8: International Strategy
• Employment contracts and labor forces differ. Host governments demand joint ownership
and frequently require a high percentage of local procurement, manufacturing, and R&D.
These issues increase the need for local investment.
Accompanying these traditional and emerging reasons for international expansion, other
opportunities available to firms through an international strategy include:
• Increasing the size of potential markets
• Achieving greater returns on capital and/or investment in new product/process
developments
• Gaining economies of scale, scope, or learning
• Gaining location-based competitive advantage
Expanding internationally enables firms to increase greatly the size of the potential market
for their products. This may be of critical importance if the domestic market is too small to
support scale-efficient manufacturing facilities (e.g., the pharmaceutical firms’ push into
China).
The size of a particular international market affects a firm’s willingness to invest in R&D to
build advantages in that market, with larger markets tending to provide higher returns and
lower risk.
The strength of the science base in a country also can affect a firm’s foreign R&D
investments, so most firms prefer to invest more heavily in those countries with the scientific
knowledge and talent that produce more effective new products and processes from their
R&D.
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a
publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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Chapter 8: International Strategy
By expanding the size and scope of their markets, firms may be able to achieve economies of
scale in manufacturing (and in other operations, such as marketing, research and
development, and distribution) by standardizing products across national borders and
spreading fixed costs over a larger sales base.
Teaching Note: Economies of scale are critical in the global auto industry.
Honda has been a largely successful firm with substantial competencies in
the manufacture of engines; however, it has sometimes struggled to compete
against larger and more resource-rich auto makers (e.g., Ford and GM). To
have a chance to survive, Honda achieved economies of scale in the
development and application of its engines (e.g., by providing engines for
many applications [e.g., lawnmowers, weed trimmers, snowmobiles] and
forming an alliance with GM to produce engines). Thus, Honda may excel as
an independent engine manufacturer.
Firms may also be able to exploit core competencies in international markets through
resource and knowledge sharing between units across country borders. This sharing generates
synergy, which helps the firm produce higher-quality goods or services at lower cost. In
addition, working across international markets provides the firm with new learning
opportunities.
Location Advantages
Firms also may be able to achieve a comparative advantage and lower the basic costs of their
products by locating facilities in low-cost markets for critical raw materials, cheap labor, key
suppliers, energy, customers, and/or natural resources.
Teaching Note: The large and unified market of the European Union is
attracting considerable investment from international companies, and
European markets and firms are undergoing substantial changes to take
advantage of the economies of scale, potential learning, and advantages of
location. The common currency and integration of capital markets have
reduced financial risks and made available significant amounts of capital that
were previously unavailable in the separate country markets. (This may be a
good place to discuss the euro and its impact on global business.)
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a
publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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Chapter 8: International Strategy
• Regulation distances that influence the ownership positions of multinational firms as well
as their strategies for managing expatriate human resources
INTERNATIONAL STRATEGIES
International strategies available to firms are business-level and corporate-level (see Chapters
4 and 6).
• Business-level strategy choices are generic, extending our earlier discussion of cost
leadership, differentiation, focus, and integrated cost leadership/differentiation strategies.
• Corporate-level strategies are dependent on the complexity and scope of product and
geographic diversification, and these include multidomestic, global, and transnational
(hybrid) strategies.
Each business must develop a competitive strategy focused on its own domestic market.
Business-level generic strategies are discussed in Chapter 4, but international business-level
strategies have some unique features.
• In an international business-level strategy, the home country of operation is often the most
important source of competitive advantage.
• The resources and capabilities established in the home country frequently allow the firm to
pursue the strategy into markets located in other countries.
• As a firm continues its growth into multiple international locations, research indicates that
the country of origin diminishes in importance as the dominant factor.
FIGURE 8.3
Determinants of National Advantage
As Figure 8.3 illustrates, four interrelated national or regional factors contribute to the
competitive advantage of firms competing in global industries.
• Factor conditions or the factors of production
• Demand conditions
• Related and supporting industries
• Firm strategy, structure, and rivalry
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publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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Chapter 8: International Strategy
Perhaps the most basic factor in the model, factor conditions or factors of production, refers
to the inputs necessary to compete in any industry. These include labor, land, natural
resources, capital, and infrastructure (such as highway, postal, and communications systems).
Nations having both advanced and specialized factors are likely to be characterized by
growth in new firms that are strong global competitors.
Ironically, countries often develop advanced and specialized factors because they lack critical
basic resources.
• Some Asian countries, such as South Korea, lack abundant natural resources but offer a
strong work ethic, a large number of engineers, and systems of large firms to create
expertise in manufacturing.
• Germany developed a strong chemical industry, partially because Hoechst and BASF
spent years creating a synthetic indigo dye to reduce their dependence on imports, unlike
Britain, whose colonies provided large supplies of natural indigo.
The second factor that determines national advantage is demand conditions, which are
characterized by the nature and size of buyers’ needs in the home market for the industry’s
products or services. The size of the segment can create demand sufficient to justify the
construction of scale-efficient facilities.
Related and supporting industries are the third factor of the national advantage model.
National firms may be able to develop competitive advantage when industries that provide
either materials or components or that support the activities of the primary industry are
present.
• Italian firms are world leaders in the shoe industry because of the related and supporting
industries present in Italy (e.g., a mature leather processing industry and design and
manufacture of leather-working machinery).
• In Japan, copiers and cameras are related, as are cartoon, consumer electronics, and video
game industries.
Growth in certain industries is fostered by the fourth factor—firm strategy, structure, and
rivalry. As expected, patterns of firm strategy, structure, and competitive rivalry among firms
in an industry vary between nations.
• In Italy, the national pride of the country’s designers has spawned strong industries in
sports cars, fashion apparel, and furniture.
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a
publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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Chapter 8: International Strategy
• In the United States, competition among computer manufacturers and software producers
has favored the development of these industries.
As described, the four basic factors of Porter’s Diamond of Advantage model emphasize the
impact or influence of the environmental or structural attributes of a nation’s economy that
may contribute to a national advantage for its firms in specific industries.
In spite of the presence of the four factors and government support, the factors leading to
national advantage are likely to result in a firm achieving competitive advantage only when
the firm develops and implements strategies that enable it to take advantage of country-
specific factors.
The type of corporate-level strategy adopted by a firm has an impact on the selection and
implementation of its international business-level strategy.
Some corporate-level strategies provide individual country units with the flexibility to
develop country-specific strategies, whereas others dictate all country business-level
strategies from the home office and coordinate activities across units for the purposes of
resource-sharing and product standardization.
FIGURE 8.4
International Corporate-Level Strategies
As Figure 8.4 illustrates, a firm should choose its international corporate-level strategy based
on the need for both local responsiveness and for global integration.
• When the need for global integration is high and there is little need for local market
responsiveness, the firm should adopt a global strategy.
• When the need for global integration is low, but there is great need for local market
responsiveness, the firm should adopt a multidomestic strategy.
• When there is a great need for both global integration and local market responsiveness, the
firm should adopt a transnational strategy.
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publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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Chapter 8: International Strategy
Multidomestic Strategy
Multidomestic strategy is one where strategic and operating decisions are decentralized to
the strategic business unit in each country in order to tailor products and services to the local
market. The multidomestic strategy:
• Assumes business units in different countries are independent of one another
• Contends that markets differ and can be segmented by national borders
• Focuses on competition within each country
• Suggests products and/or services can be customized to meet individual market needs or
preferences
• Assumes economies of scale are not possible because of demand for market-specific
customization
Global Strategy
A global strategy is one where standardized products are offered across country markets and
competitive strategy is dictated by the home office. The global strategy:
• Assumes strategic business units operating in each country are interdependent
• Attempts to achieve integration across business and national markets, as directed by the
home office
• Emphasizes economies of scale
• Offers greater opportunities to use innovations developed at home or in one country in
other markets
• Often lacks responsiveness to local market needs and preferences
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publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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Chapter 8: International Strategy
• Is difficult to manage because of the need to coordinate strategies and operating decisions
across borders
• Requires resource-sharing and an emphasis on coordination across national borders
Cemex: A Mini-Case
Cemex is the third largest cement company in the world behind France’s Lafarge and
Switzerland’s Holcim and the largest producer of Ready-mix, a prepackaged product
that contains all the ingredients needed to make localized cement products. In 2005,
Cemex acquired RMC for $4.1 billion. RMC is a large U.K. cement producer with
two-thirds of its business in Europe. Cemex was already the number one producer in
Spain through its acquisition of a Spanish company in 1992. In 2000 Cemex acquired
Southdown, a large manufacturer in the US. Accordingly, Cemex has strong market
power in the Americas as well as in Europe. Because Cemex pursues a global strategy
effectively, its integration of its centralization process has resulted in a quick payoff for
its merger integration process. To integrate its businesses globally, Cemex uses the
Internet as one way of increasing revenue and lowering its cost structure. By using the
Internet to improve logistics and manage an extensive supply network, Cemex can
significantly reduce costs. Connectivity between the operations in different countries
and universal standards dominate its approach.
Transnational Strategy
A transnational strategy is a corporate strategy that seeks to achieve both global efficiency
and local (national market) responsiveness.
• It is difficult to achieve because of requirements for both strong central control and
coordination to achieve efficiency and local flexibility and decentralization to achieve
local responsiveness.
• A transnational strategy mandates building a shared vision and individual commitment
through an integrated network to produce a core competence that would result in strategic
competitiveness (that competitors would find difficult to imitate).
• Effective implementation of a transnational strategy often produces higher performance
than does implementation of either the multidomestic or global international corporate-
level strategies.
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8-11
Chapter 8: International Strategy
ENVIRONMENTAL TRENDS
Liability of Foreignness
Research shows that firms may focus less on truly global strategies and more on regional
adaptation. Even Internet-based strategies now require local adaptation.
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8-12
Chapter 8: International Strategy
Sam Taylor, vice president of international operations for Lands’ End, indicated that the
firm has a centralized Internet team (handling development, design, etc.) at the home
office, but a local presence is also needed. So the firm hired local Internet managers,
designers, marketing support, and so on, to gain insight into the nuances of local markets.
He also explained that each additional website was cheaper to implement. For example, to
set up the Websites for Ireland, France, and Italy, the firm cloned the U.K. site and
partnered with Berlitz for French and Italian translations. This made the process
cheaper—12 times less than the U.K. site for France and 16 times less for Italy. Lands’
End now gets 16 percent of its total revenues from Internet sales and ships to 185
countries, primarily from its Dodgeville, Wisconsin, corporate headquarters. This shows
that smaller companies can sell their goods and services globally when facilitated by
electronic infrastructure without having significant (brick-and-mortar) facilities outside of
their home location. But significant local adaptation is still needed in each country or
region.
Regionalization
A firm competing in international markets must decide whether to compete in all (or many)
world markets or to focus its efforts on a specific region or regions.
Competing in many markets may enable the firm to achieve economies of scale because of
the size of the combined markets, but only if customer preferences in multiple markets do
not differ significantly. If customer preferences vary significantly among national markets, a
firm might be better served by narrowing its focus to a specific region. A regional focus may
enable the firm to better understand cultures, legal and social norms, and other factors that
may be important to achieving strategic competitiveness.
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publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
8-13
Chapter 8: International Strategy
where markets are more similar, thus allowing a degree of integration and
resource sharing. In Chapter 7, a similar comment was made regarding
disadvantages that often accompany overdiversification and the prescribed
downscoping to refocus the firm more on related as opposed to unrelated
diversification.
Regional strategies also are being promoted by groups of countries that have developed trade
agreements to enhance the economic power of a region. Examples include the following:
• Membership in the European Union (EU) is limited to Western European countries, but it
is being expanded to include other Western European countries as well as countries in
Central and Eastern Europe.
• The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is an integration designed to
facilitate trade among the US, Canada, and Mexico (and it may be expanded to include
some South American countries).
• South America’s Organization of American States (OAS) is a system of country
associations that developed trade agreements to promote the flow of trade across country
boundaries within their respective regions.
• CAFTA is a US trade agreement with Central American nations that is designed to reduce
tariffs with five countries in Central America plus the Dominican Republic in the
Caribbean.
Teaching Note: The movement of investment funds has not been only from
the US to Mexico as Mexican investors have made significant investments in
the US, and some European firms have invested in Canada to gain access to
this unified market.
Most firms enter regional markets sequentially, beginning in markets with which they are
more familiar. And they introduce their largest and strongest lines of business into these
markets first, followed by their other lines of business once the first lines are successful.
They also usually invest in the same area as their original investment location.
Table Note: Students can refer to Table 8.1 as you discuss each of the
modes of entry into international markets.
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publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
8-14
Chapter 8: International Strategy
TABLE 8.1
Modes of Entry and Their Characteristics
Table 8.1 presents five alternative entry modes available to firms for international expansion:
• Exporting
• Licensing
• Strategic alliances
• Acquisition
• New wholly owned subsidiary (greenfield venture)
The next section of this chapter discusses characteristics of each mode, including cost/control
trade-offs.
Exporting
Because of the potentially significant transportation costs and the usually greater similarity of
geographic neighbors, firms often export mostly to countries that are closest to its facilities.
Small businesses are the most likely to use exporting. One of the largest problems with
which small businesses must deal is currency exchange rates, a challenge for which only
large businesses are likely to have specialists.
Licensing
Through licensing, a firm authorizes a foreign firm to manufacture and sell its products in a
foreign market.
• The licensing firm (licensor) generally is paid a royalty payment on every unit that is
produced and sold.
• The licensee takes the risks, making investments in manufacturing and paying
marketing/distribution costs.
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publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
8-15
Chapter 8: International Strategy
• Licensing is the least costly (and potentially the least risky) form of international
expansion because the licensor does not have to make capital investments in the host
countries.
• Licensing is a way to expand returns based on previous innovations, even if product life
cycles are short.
Strategic Alliances
Most strategic alliances represent ventures between a foreign partner (that provides access to
new products and new technology) and a host country partner (that has knowledge of
competitive conditions, legal and social norms, and cultural idiosyncrasies that enable the
foreign partner to successfully manufacture or develop and market a competitive product or
service in the host country market).
Strategic alliances also present potential problems and risks due to (1) selection of
incompatible partners and (2) conflict between partners.
Several factors may cause a relationship to sour. Trust between the partners is critical and is
affected by a number of fundamental issues:
• The initial condition of the relationship
• The negotiation process to arrive at an agreement
• Partner interactions
• External events
• The country cultures involved in the alliance or joint venture
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a
publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
8-16
Chapter 8: International Strategy
Research suggests that alliances are more favorable when uncertainty is high and where
cooperation is needed to access knowledge dispersed between partners and where strategic
flexibility is important; acquisitions work best in situations with less need for flexibility and
when the transaction supports economies of scale or scope.
Acquisitions
Cross-border acquisitions have also been increasing significantly. In recent years, cross-
border acquisitions have comprised more than 45 percent of all acquisitions completed
worldwide.
As explained in Chapter 7, acquisitions can provide quick access to a new market. In fact,
acquisitions may provide the fastest and often the largest initial international expansion of
any of the alternatives.
Beyond the disadvantages previously discussed for domestic acquisitions (Chapter 7),
international acquisitions also can be quite expensive (because of debt financing) and require
difficult and complex negotiations due to:
• The same disadvantages as domestic acquisitions
• The great expense that often requires debt financing
• The exceedingly complex international negotiations for acquisitions—only about 20
percent of the cross-border bids made lead to a completed acquisition, compared to 40
percent for domestic acquisitions
• Different corporate cultures
• The challenges of merging the new firm into the acquiring firm, which often are more
complex than with domestic acquisitions—i.e., different corporate culture, but also
different social cultures and practices
Teaching Note: Emphasize that firms often use multiple entry strategies. For
example, Walmart has used multiple entry strategies as it globalizes its
operations, ranging from joint ventures in China and Latin America to
acquisitions in Germany and the U.K.
© 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a
publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
8-17
Chapter 8: International Strategy
Firms that choose to establish new, wholly owned subsidiaries are said to be undertaking a
greenfield venture. This is the most costly and complex of all international market entry
alternatives.
Though the profit potential is high, establishing a new wholly owned subsidiary is risky for
two reasons:
• This alternative carries the highest costs of all entry alternatives since a firm must build
new manufacturing facilities, establish distribution networks, and learn and implement the
appropriate marketing strategies.
• The firm also may have to acquire knowledge and expertise relevant to the new market,
often having to hire host country nationals (in many cases from competitors) and/or costly
consultants.
The choice of a market entry strategy is determined by a number of factors. However, initial
market development strategies generally are selected to establish a firm’s products in the new
market.
• Exporting does not require foreign manufacturing expertise; it only requires an investment
in distribution.
• Licensing also can facilitate direct market entry by enabling the firm to learn the
technologies required to improve its products in order to achieve success in international
markets or to facilitate direct entry.
• Strategic alliances are also popular because the firm forms a partnership with a firm that is
already established in the new target market and reduces risks by sharing costs with the
partner.
Firms interested in establishing a stronger presence (in most instances, in the later stages of
the firm’s international diversification strategy) and in controlling technology, marketing,
and distribution adopt riskier, more costly entry strategies, such as acquisitions or greenfield
ventures.
However, the entry strategy should be matched to the particular situation. In some cases, a
firm may pursue entry strategies in sequential order—beginning with exporting and ending
with greenfield ventures. The entry mode decision should be based on the following
conditions:
• The industry’s competitive conditions
• The target country’s situation
• Government policies
• The firm’s unique set of resources, capabilities, and core competencies
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publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
8-18
Chapter 8: International Strategy
STRATEGIC FOCUS
Walmart International: Using Multiple Paths to Enter International Markets
Walmart’s growth story in the US in well known. However, its international growth is
equally impressive. Walmart currently serves over 200 million customers per week through
its 9300 stores in 15 countries (under 60 different banners). Walmart International was
created to manage international growth/development. This division generates over $115
billion in sales (2010) and accounts for more than 25 percent of total sales. Revenues are
growing at about 20 percent per year. As in its US business, international success depends on
core competencies in distribution, warehousing, logistics, and data management.
Whereas US market growth has been almost exclusively organic, international expansion has
occurred through joint ventures, acquisitions, and new wholly owned subsidiaries. The
choice of entry mode depends on conditions on the ground and Walmart has been successful
with the entry modes listed above. While future growth will depend largely on the success of
its international operations, as the company becomes more geographically dispersed and as
the product it offers continues to expand, numerous challenges will need to be addressed by
the company.
Teaching Note: As is the case with many US-based firms, when markets become
saturated, growth must come from other places. Given that increasing same store
sales is important but not sufficient to achieve growth objectives, international
expansion becomes central to continued success. Walmart has been able to use
core competencies developed in its core US operations to give it competitive
advantages when it expands. Ask students if any of them have been to Walmart
stores in foreign countries. If they have, ask how the stores were the same or
different from US stores. Students should be able to identify instances where
unique products, services, policies have been used to respond to local conditions.
Political and economic risks complicate the management of international diversification. One
reason is that these risks result in competitive conditions that may differ significantly from
what was expected.
Examples of political and economic risks related to international diversification are listed in
Figure 8.5.
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publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
8-19
Chapter 8: International Strategy
FIGURE 8.5
Risks in the International Environment
This figure presents some specific examples of political and economic risks that
multinational firms face.
Political Risks
Political risks are those related to instability in national governments and to war, civil or
international.
Teaching Note: For a useful way of identifying the political risk associated
with different countries, see the map on page 105 of Small Business
Management: An Entrepreneurial Emphasis, by Longenecker, Moore, Petty,
and Palich (2006, SWCP).
Economic Risks
Economic risks are interdependent with political risks; however, some economic risks are
specific to international diversification. For example, differences and fluctuations in the
value of the different currencies are a primary concern to internationally diversified firms.
• For US firms, the value of international assets, liabilities, and earnings are affected by the
value of the dollar relative to other currencies (e.g., as the dollar value increases, the value
of foreign assets decreases).
The value of the dollar may make US firms’ exports uncompetitive in international
markets because of price differentials (and, in turn make imports from other countries
more attractive to US customers).
General Facts
1. An atmosphere of mutual hatred pervades the Greene
mansion.
2. Mrs. Greene is a nagging, complaining paralytic, making life
miserable for the whole household.
3. There are five children—two daughters, two sons, and one
adopted daughter—who have nothing in common, and live in a state
of constant antagonism and bitterness toward one another.
4. Though Mrs. Mannheim, the cook, was acquainted with Tobias
Greene years ago and was remembered in his will, she refuses to
reveal any of the facts in her past.
5. The will of Tobias Greene stipulated that the family must live in
the Greene mansion for twenty-five years on pain of disinheritance,
with the one exception that, if Ada should marry, she could establish
a residence elsewhere, as she was not of the Greene blood. By the
will Mrs. Greene has the handling and disposition of the money.