Exam July 2014, questions - Replacement exam for 2014 semester one PDF

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Replacement Exam for 2014 Semester one, International Management III...

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UNDERGRADUATE Replacement & Additional Assessment Examination Paper Semester 1, 2014 INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT III COMMGMT 3500 LECTURER: PETER SANDIFORD

Official Reading Time: Writing Time:

10 mins 120 mins

Total Duration

130 mins

Instructions to Candidate: 1.

This examination consists of two (2) sections.

2.

Part A: Case study 49% (one hour). You must answer all THREE (3) questions that refer to the case study. You must use relevant theory and include specific examples in your answers.

3.

Part B: 51% (one hour). You must answer THREE (3) questions. You must use relevant theory and include specific examples in your answers.

4.

This is a Closed Book examination. Students are not permitted to take any written materials into this exam.

5.

You should answer all questions in the answer book and should begin each answer on a new page in the answer book.

6.

Please allocate your time according to the percentage contribution of the questions.

7.

Examination materials must NOT be removed from the examination room.

Materials: 

1 Blue book

PLEASE DO NOT COMMENCE WRITING UNTIL INSTRUCTED TO DO SO

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Part A: Case study 49% (one hour) The case study will be issued to candidates in advance of the examination without the three specific questions.

You must answer all three (3) questions that refer to the case study. ‘Get a Life’ Case study: Over the last few decades more and more young people choose to take a 'year out' or 'gap year' either before starting their university studies or between graduation and entering the job market. This is often seen as an opportunity to experience and learn about different cultures and ways of life. The growth in this sort of travel combined with increasing concerns (especially from parents) about the safety of international travel post 9-11, has encouraged commercial and non-profit organisations in the travel industry to become involved in this growing market. You have recently graduated with a Bachelors degree in Commerce. One of your course-mates suggested that you and a few other friends from your university could create a new travel company called ‘Get a Life’ to cater for this sort of Gap Year travel. Your team includes yourself (an Australian born and brought up in Adelaide), Dai Ming from Shanghai, Antonia from Rio de Janeiro, Col from New York and Grace from Johannesburg. Your vision is to encourage international exchange and understanding by bringing young people from each of your countries together for international travel and cross cultural understanding (as well as having fun and working in a rewarding occupation). You have sufficient funds to launch the venture on a small scale and need to prepare a plan to get started. The venture was initially Col’s idea because, when he studied a foundation year at a US University, he had the opportunity to participate in a similar program operated by the US based Carpe Diem (literally translating from Latin to ‘Seize the Day’. Appendix 1 outlines some of Carpe Diem Education’s (nd) mission and approach. Although there will inevitably be some similarities to this American organisation, you will also face a number of differences and particular challenges. For example, Carpe Diem focuses on travel for students, based on University timetables (ie one semester, two semester, year-long projects) – they actually offer course credit – and are targeted at US students, while your plans are to cater for a more international clientele providing 3 and 6 month long experiences for fresh graduates and pre-university students. Your company will be a not-for-profit organisation, with all after-expenses funds being reinvested (these expenses will include a reasonable salary for the founding partners). Funding will be provided through a mixture of participant fees (covering approximately 25% of the total costs) and contributions from commercial and non-profit organisations. Each project group will ideally include gap-year travellers from multiple countries, with your initial target market including all of the partners’ own home countries. Each tour aims to travel to multiple countries (developed and developing), spending about one month in each. Your plans are to combine some formal volunteering work with cultural exchanges in each of the countries, aiming to operate groups of 12-20 young travellers, with each group being managed by 2 leaders. If successful, you aim to gradually increase the number of project teams each year. You are holding a meeting of all the partners in the next two weeks and you have volunteered for the role of international personnel manager. You are required to prepare an outline staffing strategy for the new organisation. This plan should initially allow for a projected four shorter (3 months in duration) and two longer (6 months in duration) ‘project tours’ in the first year of operation. This plan is based on each project being led by one of your partners (at least for the first year) with an assistant to support the leader ‘in the field’. In addition, all the partners will take it in turns to act as overall coordinator or CEO (Chief executive officer) for ‘Get a Life’, for about 10 weeks each. Other roles, including assistant leaders, administrators and some fundraisers will need to be recruited and trained from the labour market.

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You should prepare an initial strategic proposal for staffing the new organisation, identifying your expected personnel requirements for the first five years of operations. You also need to recommend policies and practices for the implementation of your strategy over that initial period.

Appendix 1. From Carpe Diem (nd) Carpe Diem's Mission Inspiring growth and transformation through experiential education, community and intercultural exchange Experiential Education What does Experiential Education mean to Carpe Diem? Experiential Education is learning through action and reflection. Action Students will be challenged to try many different types of activities, with the intention that they learn either a new skill, a new perspective, or something new about themselves. Examples of this include: Participating in service projects, language classes, group discussions, and active listening. We encourage students to actively challenge themselves in manageable ways, and while this may look different for each student, we expect students to be open to new experiences and find ways to appropriately push themselves and step outside of their comfort zones. Reflection Students are encouraged to reflect on and make meaning from their own and shared experiences, as well as begin to consider the impact that these experiences have on their lives. We accomplish this in three ways: One-on-one reflection. Throughout the semester, students meet one-on-one on multiple occasions with their group leaders to process their experiences, set and discuss intentions, give and receive feedback, and foster a mentorship relationship. Group reflection. One of the benefits of travelling with a group means that students have peers to support them in the learning process. Through group meetings, activities, and discussions, students will work together to share with, learn from, and support one another. Self reflection. This might be accomplished through journaling, music, meditation, yoga, or simply quiet thought. Opportunities to try new methods of reflection are presented, though no one specific type will be required. Intercultural Exchange What does Intercultural Exchange mean to Carpe Diem? By immersing North American students into a culture different than their own, we strive to share and transfer customs, ideas, perspectives, and beliefs in order to bridge the cultural divide. Whether it is exchanging with local artists, students, workers, or even subcultures, we aim to share and learn with one another. Some of the ways we incorporate intercultural exchange into our programs include: Volunteering side by side with locals in the communities we visit Staying with host families Travelling on public transportation Learning and speaking the local languages Trying local foods As an organization, Carpe Diem believes in the following: The power of authentic cultural exchange Our model for educating is experiential rather than purely theoretical The importance of building community within our group as well as with our cultural partners Growth through pushing one's comfort zones The empowerment of each student to safely and confidently travel independently anywhere in the world The values of responsibility and accountability

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The creative spark and potential for tremendous social change that lie in each of us The growth and inherent value of every student, that every student returns home a changed and more aware individual and global citizen.

Case study questions (not available prior to the examination). You must answer all three (3) questions

1. Present a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis for the organisation. Use your analysis to identify the main challenges facing the management team. You should present no more than three key challenges and must use theory and examples to justify your answer 19 marks

2. Identify one (1) model of international strategy. Using that model you should briefly and critically compare and contrast the main strategic alternatives included in the model and recommend one (1) of these as the strategy for ‘Get a Life’ to follow. 15 marks

3. Make a small number of specific recommendations for practice (ideally two or three) to implement your chosen strategy. You must draw from relevant theory and research in your answer. 15 marks

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Part B: 51% (one hour) You must answer THREE (3) of the following questions. You must use relevant theory and include specific examples in your answers. 4. What are the main factors that managers need to consider when planning and setting up an International Joint Venture? 17 marks

5. What are the key strengths and weaknesses of the dimension-based approaches (eg Hofstede) to analysing culture? Use specific examples to illustrate your answer. 17 marks

6. During a coffee break at work two of your colleagues are having a heated argument. Marc argues that globalisation is a good thing and has huge benefits for everyone while Carla claims that globalisation is a terrible phenomenon making the world a far worse place than before. How can you explain their very different points of view? You should draw from relevant theory and research evidence to support your perspective. 17 marks

7. How would you define expatriate failure? Briefly outline specific management practices that could help prevent such failure(s). 17 marks

8. You work for the subsidiary of a large transnational bank, directing call centre operations for the Australian office. At present, your local call centres (serving Australian customers only) are all based in Australia, but the Australian Director of Operations is considering moving the call centre overseas to reduce costs. S he has instructed you to prepare a report critically evaluating the two approaches (keeping the call centre in Australia OR moving to a different country). 17 Marks

9. Drawing on relevant theory identify the main differences between diversity management (DM) with equal opportunity (EO). Explore, using relevant examples from both DM and EO, some of the challenges facing multinational corporations in relation to the management of a diverse, international workforce. 17 marks

10. Compare and contrast three (3) alternative entry strategies that could be adopted by an organisation planning to internationalise its operations. 17 marks

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