希尔国际商务课后习题参考答案英文版

on pricing and competition in other markets. Similarly, your firm may want to position and price the brand similarly across different South American countries.

2. Within 20 years we will have seen the emergence of enormous global markets for standardized consumer products. Do you agree with this statement? Justify your answer.

Answer: One could either choose to agree or disagree, while the best answer would likely hedge it somewhere in the middle. There clearly already are enormous global markets already for products like Coke and Levis, while it is questionable whether there will ever be a global consumer market for Norwegian lutefisk. More global consumer markets will likely emerge, but there will continue to be national distinctions for many products.

3. You are the marketing manager of a food products company that is considering entering the Indian market. The retail system in India tends to be very fragmented. Also, retailers and wholesalers tend to have long-term ties with Indian food companies, which makes access to distribution channels difficult. What distribution strategy would you advise the company to pursue? Why?

Answer: The firm should sell to either wholesalers or import agents. Because the retail system in India is very fragmented, it would be very expensive for the firm to make contact with each individual retailer. As a result, it would be more economical for the firm to sell to wholesalers or import agents. Import agents may have long-term relationships with wholesalers, retailers, and/or other import agents. Similarly, wholesalers may have long-standing relationships with retailers and, therefore, be better able to persuade them to carry the firm’s product than the firm itself would.

4. Price discrimination in indistinguishable from dumping. Discuss the accuracy of this statement? Answer: In some specific instances this statement is correct, but as a general rule it is not. When a firm is pricing lower in a foreign country than it is in its domestic market, it can be difficult to distinguish dumping from price discrimination unless it is clear that the firm is selling at below cost in the foreign market. Yet when costs are reasonably well known and all prices are above these, or if the firm is pricing lower in its domestic market than in foreign markets, it can reasonably concluded that price discrimination rather than dumping is occurring.

5. You work for a company that designs and manufactures personal computers. Your company’s R&D center is in North Dakota. The computers are manufactured under contract in Taiwan. Marketing strategy is delegated to the heads of three regional groups: a North American group (based in Chicago), a European group (based in Paris), and an Asian group (based in Singapore). Each regional group develops the marketing approach within its region. In order of importance, the largest markets for your products are North America, Germany, Britain, China, and Australia. Your company is experiencing problems in its product development and commercialization process. Products are late to market, the manufacturing quality is poor, and costs are higher than projected, and market acceptance of new products is less than hoped for. What might be the source of these problems? How would you fix them?

Answer: The dispersion of activities makes sense - products are produced in the lowest cost location and marketed by people familiar with local conditions. (The R&D in North Dakota must be a historical fluke.) Yet this makes the coordination task extremely complex, and information required for successful commercialization is likely not being effectively communicated among all the appropriate people. Greater cross-functional integration in the new product development process should help to improve product development and commercialization.

Chapter 16: Global Human Resource Management

1. What are the main advantages and disadvantages of the ethnocentric, polycentric, and geocentric approaches to staffing policy? When is each approach appropriate?

Answer: The answer to this question is contained in Table 16.1 in the text. An ethnocentric staffing policy is one in which key management positions are filled by parent country nationals. The advantages of the ethnocentric approach are: (1) Overcomes lack of qualified managers in host country, (2) Unified culture, and (3) Helps transfer core competencies. The disadvantages of the ethnocentric approach are: (1) Produces resentment in host country, and (2) Can lead to cultural myopia. An ethnocentric approach is typically appropriate for firms utilizing an international strategy. A polycentric staffing policy requires host country nationals to be recruited to manage subsidiaries, while parent country nations occupy key positions at corporate headquarters. The advantages of the polycentric approach are: (1) Alleviates cultural myopia, and (2) It is inexpensive to implement. The disadvantages of the polycentric approach are: (1) Limits career mobility, and (2) Isolates headquarters from foreign subsidiaries. A polycentric approach is typically appropriate for firms utilizing a localization strategy. A geocentric staffing policy seeks the best people for key jobs throughout the organization, regardless of nationality. The advantages of a geocentric approach

are: (1) Uses human resources efficiently, (2) Helps build strong culture and informal management network. The disadvantages of the geocentric staffing policy are: (1) National immigration policies may limit implementation, and (3) It is expensive to implement. A geocentric approach is typically appropriate for firms unitizing a global or transnational strategy.

2. Research suggests that many expatriate employees encounter problems that limit both their effectiveness in a foreign posting and their contribution to the company when they return home. What are the main causes and consequences of these problems, and how might a firm reduce the occurrence of such problems?

Answer: The primary causes of expatriate problems are the inability of the spouse to adjust, inability of the employee to adjust, other family problems, personal/emotional maturity, and an inability to cope with the larger overseas responsibilities. The consequences of such problems are that an employee can be ineffective or detrimental overseas, and/or may return prematurely before the assigned job tasks are completed. A firm can reduce the occurrence of expatiate problems by developing an effective selection process, training, and repatriation program. The most successful expatriates seem to be those who have high self-esteem and self-confidence, get along well with others, are willing to attempt to communicate in a foreign language, and can empathize with people of other cultures. An expatriate training program should include cultural, language, and practical training. Cultural training seeks to foster an appreciation of the host country's culture so that the expatriate behaves accordingly. Language training involves training in local language both from a business and personal perspective. Practical training is aimed at assisting the expatriate manager and her family to ease themselves into day-to-day life in the host country. The sooner a day-to-day routine is established, the better the prospects are that the expatriate and family will adapt successfully. Before leaving, however, specific plans and procedures should be in place for the repatriation of the employee.

3. What is the link between an international business's strategy and its human resource management policies, particularly with regard to the use of expatriate employees and their pay scale?

Answer: In firms pursuing a localization strategy, a polycentric staffing approach is most common and there are relatively few expatriates or the associated pay issues. Expatriates are more common in firms with international strategies, and an ethnocentric staffing approach is utilized. In this situation the pay is often based on home country levels, with adjustments as required for differing living costs and taxes as outlined by the balance sheet approach. Firms pursuing global standardization or transnational strategies most often use a geocentric approach to staffing, where the best individuals (regardless of nationality) are chosen fill positions in any country. Here the pay issues for expatiates can become particularly complex, as allowance must be made for home country norms, host country costs and expectations, and global norms across the company.

4. In what ways can organized labor constrain the strategic choices of an international business? How can an international business limit these constraints?

Answer: Organized labor can significantly constrain the choices firms make with respect to location. International firms (or domestic ones for that matter) often choose to locate new facilities in places where there is relative labor peace and harmonious working relations. Labor can also raise objections and threaten disruptive behavior if a firm decides to move some activities to other locations - which in some cases only reinforces the need for relocating the activities. Organized labor has also attempted to (i) set-up their own international organizations, (ii) lobby for national legislation to restrict multinationals, and (iii) achieve regulation of multinationals through international organization such as the United Nations. However, none of these broader efforts have been that successful. International businesses have the advantage of being able to provide or take away jobs, and in today's labor market that gives them considerable power. As a condition of opening or expanding a facility, firms can negotiate favorable conditions with local unions and force unions to compete against each other for the gains in membership.