...Jabwood International Case Analysis I. Analysis Problem: Jabwood International is experiencing a downward trend in revenue and sales and may continue this trend if change is not made immediately. Causes: Due to the financial crisis and economic downturn across the world, Lebanon has seen an almost flat performance in the real estate market driving down the prices of raw materials used in construction such as wood. Advances in transportation and technology have led to increased competition in the timber industry. A subsidiary of Jabwood based out of Saudi Arabia was closed for non-business related matters. This subsidiary, before closure, contributed almost half of Jabwood’s sales. Jabwood is a large company that has a very strict and limiting business structure. Jabwood’s physical presence remains solely in Lebanon. Jabwood relies heavily on one major supplier for approximately 60 to 70 percent of its revenue. This supplier intends to offer the opportunity to sell to other wood wholesalers, eliminating Jabwood’s exclusivity. Possible Alternatives: In order to increase revenue and sales, Jabwood International has many options. In my opinion, the only feasible options would include expanding their business into two countries: Saudi Arabia and China. Expanding into the Saudi Arabia market is a very enticing solution for many reasons. Saudi Arabia does not have its own wood supply and therefore relies heavily on other countries for this need. Jabwood has had operations...
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...INTERNATIONAL DOCTORAL STUDY ADMISSION APPLICATION PROCESS Application submitted via eVision Internationa Office send to department for approval Returned to International Office and processed Returned incomplete, sent back to department Emailed to GRS for approval at the weekly GRC meeting Candidate awaits outcome of Scholarship application Doctoral office emails result to the International Office who then update eVision Candidate accepts offer in eVision International Office emails confirmation of start date to GRS Awarded Declined Candidate Declines offer of place via eVision Doctoral Office processes enrolment Candidate completes declaration in eVision FINISHED! Updated 19 December 2014 INTERNATIONAL DOCTORAL STUDY ADMISSION APPLICATION PROCESS DEFINITION: International candidate = First year, never studied at the University of Otago before. Candidate makes application (Candidate has already received unofficial approval from the primary supervisor and their department before beginning the process) Candidate contacts the International Office and applies via eVision and the application goes to the International Office portal. Application is sent to the department for approval/signing by the following people; Primary supervisor, HOD primary department (if applicable), Dean (if applicable), PVC delegate for the Division If there are co-supervisors in any other departments it then goes to the following people within...
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...employees fall under some type of labor union to protect the employee’s job security and vestments in the company. Will interview, analyze and research employee background information in the different countries as well as understand how Wal-Mart decided to execute labor contracts in some countries unlike in the United States. 2. Wal-Mart has another issue regarding how the suppliers are treating the workers internationally. According to the International Herald Tribune, some of the shareholders of Wal-Mart are requesting that some of the countries have to disclose how the suppliers are treating the workers. It would be interesting to further investigate how the suppliers treat their workers in the United States. 3. Wal-Mart is considering a five year plan to reduce the cost of their healthier foods and request food manufacturers produce healthier products at a lower cost according to The Globe and Mail (Canada). Wal-Mart is a stickler for trying to get the cheapest wholesale cost of everything and sale to the massive of international consumers. With that being said, acting as a shareholder would like for Wal-mart to disclose the progress of the five year plan proposed in...
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...In 2008 when the global economy took a turn for the worst Canada managed to come out on top. This is thanks to the export of natural resources and commodities. The Canadian government immediately took charge and start making budget cuts in order to have a full recovery by 2015. (D.R., 2011) Canada has a large threat in its path; its dependence on the outside world. Canada fared much better than was expected while other countries throughout the world declined and fell into a recession. There are nine specific key indicators that are important to consider when talking about Canadian economy. These are employment, unemployment, composite leading index, housing starts, consumer price index, real gross domestic product, retail sales volume, merchandise exports, and merchandise imports. (Statistics Canada, 2011) Employment and Unemployment In November 2011 the unemployment rate was set at 7.4%. The average unemployment rate in Canada from 1976 to 2010 was 8.53. (Trading Economics, 2011)The employment force is the number of people employed plus the number of people looking for employment. (Trading Economics, 2011) Unemployment includes those not looking for work, people in the military, and people institutionalized. (Trading Economics, 2011) Canada was able to add 93,000 jobs in June 2011, in effect dropped the unemployment rate to below the 8% mark. The gains in the labour force will offset nearly all of the losses that were a result of the downturn in 2008. (Contenta...
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...Week 2 University of Phoenix Eco/GM 561 When a country decides on something that they are going to produce this product has to set them apart from other countries. A country bases their product on factors such as how much it costs them to produce it and if it sets them apart from the competition. A comparative advantage is the driving force of production for every country. In this paper we will discuss comparative advantage, abundant factors in the production of certain products, recommendations for the country to specialize in, and industries the country of my choice protects (if any). For the purpose of this paper I have chosen to explore the Netherlands and their comparative advantage. I chose this country for personal reasons as my father was born and raised in The Netherlands until he came to the United States at sixteen years of age. When you first think of the Netherlands you might think cheese or Tulips as they are well known for both of those products. The Netherlands has a high comparative advantage when it comes to skilled labor intensive work. First, let’s explore what comparative advantage is. Investopedia.com explains comparative advantage as “an economic law that demonstrates the ways in which protectionism is unnecessary in free trade. Comparative advantage argues that free trade works even if one partner in a deal holds absolute advantage in all areas of production- that is, one partner makes products cheaper, better and faster than its trading partner”...
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...which is not subject to any trade barriers or tariffs, and 56.8 percent of Italian exports, went to other EU countries in 1999. Italy's main export destinations within Europe are Germany (16.4 percent), France (12.9 percent), the United Kingdom (7.1 percent), Spain (6.3 percent), and the Netherlands (2.9 percent). The country's biggest commercial partner outside Europe is the United States, which takes 9.5 percent of Italy's export goods. Trade (expressed in billions of US$): | | exports | Imports | 1975 | 34.988 | 38.526 | 1980 | 78.104 | 100.741 | 1985 | 76.717 | 87.692 | 1990 | 170.304 | 181.968 | 1995 | 233.998 | 206.040 | 1998 | 242.332 | 215.887 | | | | SOURCE: International Monetary Fund. International Financial Statistics Yearbook 1999. | Recently, a number of Asian countries have...
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...Introduction: Foreign Aid any capital inflow or other assistance given to a country which would not generally have been provided by natural market forces. In Bangladesh, foreign aid serves to bridge the gap between savings and investments and make up the deficits in the balance of payments. Foreign aid is a major means of financing the country's economic development. Economic literature generally classifies foreign aid into four main types. First, the long-term loans are usually repayable by the recipient country in foreign currency over ten or twenty years. Secondly, the soft loans repayable in local currency or in foreign currency but over a much longer period and with very low interest rates. The softest are the straight grants often given to the less developed countries. Sale of surplus products to a country in return for payment in the country's local currency is the third type and finally, the technical assistance given to the developing countries comprises the fourth type of foreign aid. Foreign aid is more like an investment in a risky market situation. The relative weighting of advantages and disadvantages depends on the planning behind the foreign aid and how well-orchestrated it is. Economic advantages: stimulated economic development in the receiver's country (better infrastructure, more education etc.) leads to economic growth. It can also create jobs as increased investment leads to more employment; this means less needs to be spent on unemployment benefits...
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...Tariff barriers Tariffs, which are taxes on imports of commodities into a country or region, are among the oldest forms of government intervention in economic activity. They are implemented for two clear economic purposes. First, they provide revenue for the government. Second, they improve economic returns to firms and suppliers of resources to domestic industry that face competition from foreign imports. Tariffs are widely used to protect domestic producers’ incomes from foreign competition. This protection comes at an economic cost to domestic consumers who pay higher prices for import competing goods, and to the economy as a whole through the inefficient allocation of resources to the import competing domestic industry. Therefore, since 1948, when average tariffs on manufactured goods exceeded 30 percent in most developed economies, those economies have sought to reduce tariffs on manufactured goods through several rounds of negotiations under the General Agreement on Tariffs Trade (GATT). Only in the most recent Uruguay Or Simply Import duties or taxes imposed on goods entering the customs territory of a nation. Imposes for revenue collection, protection of domestic industry, political control. Non Tariff Barriers Nontariff barriers (NTBs) refer to the wide range of policy interventions other than border tariffs that affect trade of goods, services, and factors of production. Most taxonomies of NTBs include market-specific trade and domestic policies affecting...
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...STRATEGIES FOR COMPETING IN INTERNATIONAL MARKETS: A GLOBAL INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE Why Companies Expand into Foreign Markets Companies opt to expand outside their domestic market for any of four major reasons: * To gain access to new customers, raw materials, capital, skills and expertise – expanding into foreign firms offers the potential for increased revenues, profits, and long term growth even more so when home markets are mature. * To achieve lower costs and enhance the firm’s competitiveness - Sales volume from one country isn’t enough to fully capture manufacturing economies of scale. * To capitalize on its core competencies - A company with a competitively valuable competency or capability might be able to leverage themselves and make this competency work in a foreign market, too. * To spread its business risk across a wider market base - Companies may move abroad to diversify their risk associated with being in a single economy (e.g. foreign exchange risk, political risk). If the economy in one area falls, the firm might be ok in different economic markets. In addition to why companies expand into foreign markets, there are four other situational considerations unique to international operations: * Country to Country Cost Variations – Differences in wage rates, workers productivity, inflations rates, energy costs, tax rates, government regulations, etc crate sizeable variations in manufacturing costs from country to country. Plants in some countries...
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...labor practices in other countries but I also know that here in America they always hiring but decreasing the hours of current employees while capitalizing on their foreign business since they more than likely are getting “cheap labor” which is wrong. That goes back to the fact that even though international trade contribute to economic activity and employment, some still believe that the U.S. should not be a participant in international trading. Americans main concern here is job loss to countries like Asia and Latin America. The fact that economists have not done a particularly good job explaining international trade and how losses from trade, it is often highly publicized while the gains are less visible and spread around broadly it goes unnoticed. The loss of job fallacy comes into perception by not distinguishing between employment in specific industries and general employment levels in the economy. Open trade does not lead to loss of domestic jobs. It actually lead to increased domestic employment. But it is true that open trade can result in elimination of jobs in specific sectors of the economy. Government can save specific jobs but the cost can be substantial doing so. International trade allows other countries to specialize in what they do best and attain the things that are difficult to produce. Resources are more proficiently used on a...
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...Agricultural Subsidies and Development In recent decades, rich countries and organizations have taken measures to preserve their agro industry. In many of the largest countries as a measure to stimulate the production, subsidy is made for the proceedings or part of the necessary crops. Nowadays we are faced in a big question: What is the impact of these subsidies on world market prices and the producers do not receive subsidies for their production? There are many opinions from different parts of the world and it is like that because each country has its own point of view and depends how much are they involved in the situation. I will try to distinguish myself and to be objective. I think that if the subsidies were removed overnight the impact on the average consumer and producer will be very bad. Family farmers will be driven into bankruptcy and this will lead to production falls. With less production the market will have risen on food prices and this will reflect directly to the average consumer. Another thing that will probably happen is that big corporation will continue their growth and they will kill smaller farmers with their prices. This will cause no competition in the agriculture and will lead to unfairly high prices. Another important thing that may occur is the lower quality of the products, because every farmer corporation will try to get as much as they can and they will no longer care about the quality because the competition is gone. I think that the benefits...
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...1988 it claimed a set of economic superlatives, including the world's busiest port, the world's highest rate of annual economic growth (11 percent), and the world's highest savings rate (42 percent of income). Singapore is found that lived by international trade and operated as a free port with free markets. Its small population and dependence on international markets meant that regional and world markets were larger than domestic markets. In1988 the value of Singapore's international trade was more than three times its gross domestic product ( GDP). The country's year-to-year economic performance fluctuated unpredictably with the cycles of world markets, which were beyond the control or even the influence of Singapore's leaders. In periods of growing international trade.In 1985-1986, Singapore could reap great gains, but even relatively minor downturns in world trade could produce deep recession in the Singapore economy.The value of Singapore's international trade was more than three times its gross domestic product ( GDP). The country's year-to-year economic performance fluctuated unpredictably with the cycles of world markets, which were beyond the control or even the influence of Singapore's leaders. In periods of growing international trade, such as the 1970s, Singapore could reap...
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...considered to have a very well prospering and stably growing economy. But even being a strong and independent player, as any country on the international scene, it has got its own weaknesses and challenges. The given below SWOT Analysis shows Australia’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Strengths: * Today Australia is one of the best thriving amongst the world economies with a strong GDP indicator which has been growing over the last twenty years (!). It continues to grow strongly based on sound macroeconomic policies and improving in international competiveness. The primary strength of the Australian economy is the segment of business service and finance (20.7% GDP). In this condition, it is very attractive to new business in search for financing, capital and starting-up. The clear size of this segment allows for the greatest range and multiplicity of services * Other positive traditional indicators of economic performance: budget surplus since 2002, low inflation, rising household income, low unemployment rate (decreasing 3.3% over last ten years), and consistent rise in labor productivity, * The country has got a strongly performing mineral sector. It’s a major exporter of minerals, metals, and fossil fuels (up to 75% of its export) and agricultural products as well * Excellent domestic and international transportation services. There are almost 420 airports, numerous ports for ships, 38,550 km railroad tracks and 913,000 km worth roads throughout...
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...INITIAL GUIDANCE – 27 AUGUST 2012 EXPORT REPORT International Business G – 6241 Cameron Gordon, Associate Professor of Economics -- University of Canberra GENERAL ASSIGNMENT OVERVIEW This is initial guidance on how to prepare the three-part assignment to complete an “Export Report” for a target company of your choosing. I will be updating the guidance on parts 2 and 3 later on (though mainly expanding and providing more detail, not changing the substance). The details on part 1 will not be changed but possibly a little additional clarification will be added on Moodle if needed. You must choose a real company offering a real good or service to be exported to an overseas market where it is not currently being offered now. Having selected the company and product/service export candidate, you must then choose a minimum of three candidate country markets where that good/service might be exported. You will analyse the likely success that the candidate export might have in those potential markets and choose one of those country markets which, based on your analysis, you believe will have the greatest likelihood of success. You must not only analyse the information you collect but argue persuasively for the conclusions that you draw from that analysis. Your analysis should be informed by the theories and concepts presented in class (such as theories of trade and investment); your analysis should be informed by those theories and indicate an understanding of...
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...ABDT 3213 – International Marketing Week 2 Tutorial 1: Introduction to Global Marketing SECTION A: Coursework Briefing SECTION B: Discussion Questions 1. What are the basic goals of marketing? Are these goals relevant to global marketing? 2. What is meant by “global localization?” Is Coca-Cola a global product? Explain. 3. Describe some of the global marketing strategies available to companies. Give examples of McDonald that use the different strategies. 4. Describe the difference between ethnocentric, polycentric, regiocentric, and geocentric management orientations. 5. Define leverage and explain the different types of leverage utilized by companies with global operations. 6. What is “global marketing” and how does it differ from “regular marketing?” Giving examples of at least one major corporation explain these differences. SECTION C: CASE STUDY CASE 1-3: Acer Inc (page 57) 1. How did the “global markets-local markets” paradox figure into Shih’s strategy for China? 2. Can Acer become the world’s third largest PC company, behind Dell and Hewlett-Packard? 3. Growth in the U.S. PC market has started to slow down. Despite strong competition from Dell and Hewlett-Packard, Acer’s U.S. market share increased form 1 percent in 2004 to 3.3 percent by the end of 2006. What are Acer’s prospects for gaining further share in the United States? ABDT 3213 – International Marketing Week...
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