INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT TEST [6 HOURS DURATION]

ASSIGNMENT 4 (TAKE HOME TEST)

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES

CASE STUDY

Based on the case study “From Asia to Africa: the international expansion of Hon Chuan enterprise East”, answer ALL three (3) questions. It is recommended that the answer to each question be approximately 500 -600 words in length. Each question is worth 20 marks.

Question 1

Ethics serves as the foundation for what people do or do not and ultimately what companies engage in globally. As such, companies’ involvement in corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices and sustainability initiatives can be traced back to the ethical foundation of its employees and other stakeholders, such as customers, shareholders, suppliers and communities.

Highlight some of the ethical issues and dilemmas that Hon Chuan may face in its factories in China, South East Asia and Africa. To address the ethical issues, Hon Chuan may adopt CSR practices. Drawing on relevant CSR theory(s) explain Hon Chuan’ s motive to adopt CSR practices.

Question 2

Hon Chuan ‘s international strategy led to it expanding from Taiwan to mainland China and then into Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam) and finally Africa. Conduct an environmental assessment of doing business in Thailand and Africa. How would Hong Chuan mitigate the cultural risk in Africa?

Question 3

Hong Chuan uses various entry mode strategies in its international expansion. For example, in China and Southeast Asia it established strategic alliances with local beverage manufacturers using the in-house model. In Africa, Hong Chuan went into a joint venture arrangement with Shimada and created Hon Shi Mozambique Lda. Hon Chuan held 60 per cent of the shares and took charge of the operations and management.

Drawing on relevant entry mode theories, discuss the factors influencing Hon Chuan’s preference for joint venture as a choice of entry mode.