conduct an independent analysis of the company H&M- Part 2

Explore Your Own Case in Point

Answer the following questions about your favorite company.

After reading these chapters, you should be prepared to answer some basic questions about your favorite company.

Chapter 5

Examine the countries where your company does business according to where they rank on the Hofstede cultural dimensions. Think of some examples of how a U.S. manager would need to modify his or her behavior when communicating with associates from one or more of these foreign countries.

If you were visiting a foreign country to negotiate a transaction on behalf of this company, what cultural knowledge would you need to gain before the visit? How and from where would you get the information?

If a representative from a foreign country, where your company does not currently conduct business, contacted you with a proposal, how would you evaluate the proposal in light of cultural characteristics of that country?

Chapter 6

Does your company operate in any countries that are considered very politically or economically risky?

Does your company operate primarily in civil law or common law countries, and what are some of the implications of this?

Has your company purchased any insurance from the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC)?

What are some key intellectual property protections, if any, that your company possesses? When do any of these protections (e.g., patents) expire? How does your company intend to make up lost revenues due to any patent or other intellectual property protection expirations?

Chapter 8

Analyze and determine your company’s mode of entry into foreign markets. This should be based upon a serious analysis of your company’s risk-return trade-off. In your opinion, has your company taken the right approach?

Does your company have an exit strategy? Recall that exit strategies are to be determined before entry into the foreign market rather than after entry.

What is the host country’s attitude toward your company? At the government level? At the customer level? How receptive and appreciative is the host country toward your company’s business?

Critically and objectively evaluate how ethical your company’s global operations are and determine if they are good corporate citizens (i.e., do they have a well thought-out corporate social responsibility program for the long term?).

Chapter 9

What is the corporate mission statement of your company (assuming it has one—if not, how would you go about writing one for it)? How well do the company’s actions carry out its stated mission?

With respect to its strategy formulation, would you categorize your company as having a shareholder model or more of a stakeholder orientation? Why?

What are some current or short-term operational and tactical plans that your company is pursuing? How do these plans fit in with the company’s longer-term strategic posture?

Describe any quality control, six sigma-type initiatives in which your company is currently involved. If it is not involved in any such initiatives, should it be? Why or why not?

Requirements

– Research paper should be 4-5 pages, double-spaced, APA citation format

Paper should have a Title Page, Abstract, and Reference (not included in the body paper)

Helpful Resources (but not limited to)

The International Monetary Fund: www.imf.org

The World Bank: www.worldbank.org

World Trade Organization: www.wto.org

Transparency International: www.transparency.org

United States Department of State: www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/