Exam 1 Flashcards
What is International Business?
Foreign Trade
Portfolio Investment
Direct Investment
Merchandise that leaves a country.
Export
Items brought across national borders into a country.
Imports
Financial investments make in foreign countries.
Portfolio Investment
Differentiated by much greater levels of control over the project or enterprise by the investor.
Direct Investment
When a firm owns a foreign subsidiary entirely.
Full Control Direct Investment
Arrangements such as joint ventures with other domestic or foreign firms or a foreign government.
Partial Control Direct Investment
Organizational Types
Ethnocentric
Polycentric
Geocentric
Structured so that business is conducted or ownership is held across a number of countries or one that is organized into global product divisions.
A certain percentage of its earnings, assets, sales, or personnel come from or are deployed in foreign locations.
Multinational Corporation (MNC)
Organizations that are focused in a home or domestic environment and therefore excludes MNCs.
Ethnocentric
Organizations that have investments, operations, or markets in several countries, but do not integrate the management of these international functions.
Polycentric
Organizations that are integrated and have a world perspective regarding the breadth and reach of possible organizational operations.
Geocentric
Superior technical know-how Large size and economies of scale Lower input costs due to large size Ability to access raw materials overseas Ability to shift production overseas Scale economies in shipment, distribution, and promotion Brand image and goodwill advantage Access to low-cost financing Financial flexibility Information advantages Managerial experience and expertise Diversification of risk
Advantages Gained by MNCs
Disadvantages faced by MNCs
Business Risk Host-Country Regulations Different Legal Systems Political Risks Operational Difficulties Cultural Differences
Recent trends in world trade
Expanding Volume
Increased Competition
Increasing Complexity
Trade Services
Methods of going international
Exporting Licensing Franchising Management Contracts Contract Manufacturing Direct Investment Strategic Alliances Wholly Owned Subsidiaries Globalize Operations Portfolio Investment
Requires the least amount of involvement by a firm in terms of resources required and allocated to serving an overseas market.
Easiest way to enter an international market.
Exporting
Sees to all phases of the sale and transmittal of the merchandise.
Direct Exporter
The exporter hires the expertise of someone else to facilitate the exchange.
Indirect Exporter
A firm grants a foreign entity some type of intangible rights, such as the rights to a process, a patent, a program, a trademark, a copyright, or expertise.
Licensing
The firm
Licensor
Franchiser
The foreign entity.
Licensee
Franchisee
In addition to granting a foreign entity permission to use a name, process, method, or trademark, the firm assist the foreign entity with the operations of the franchise and/or supplies raw materials.
Franchising
Contracts in which the firm basically rents its expertise or know-how to a government or company in the form of personnel who go into the foreign environment and the run the concern.
Management Contracts
Another method for firms to enter the foreign arena.
Here the multinational enterprise contracts with a local firm to provide manufacturing services.
Contract Manufacturing
Company invests directly within foreign shores, it is making a very real commitment of its capital, personnel, and assets beyond domestic borders.
Direct Investment
Business arrangements in which two or more firms or entities join together to establish some sort of operation.
Strategic Alliances or Joint Ventures
Formations of strategic alliances.
Two MNEs
MNE and Government
MNE and Local Businesspersons
Do not require the physical presence of a firm’s personnel or products on foreign shores.
These investments can be made in the form of marketable securities in foreign markets, such as notes, bonds, commercial paper, certificates of deposit, and non-controlling shares of stock.
Portfolio Investments
Government involvement in trade restrictions and incentives
Protectionism
Tariffs
World Trade Organization
Regional Trade Groups and Cartels
Non-tariff barriers to merchandise trade
Quotas
Non-Tariff Price Barriers
Government Restriction of Exporters
Currencies of certain countries have a fairly wide acceptance for the settlement of international obligations and are used as a medium in international transactions.
Can be used by two countries in settling their transactions even if that particular currency is not the home currency of either country.
EX: US dollar, British pound, Japanese yen
Hard Currencies
Not widely accepted as a medium for settling international financial transactions.
Usually there is no free market or foreign exchange for them.
They are not easy to acquire, and disposal is even more difficult.
Many are subject to restrictions by monetary or governmental authorities on their transfer in and out of their countries.
EX: Zimbabwe dollar, North Korean won, and Cuban peso.
Soft Currencies
When the value of a currency is revised or changes upward.
Implies that a currency has become more expensive in terms of other currencies.
Appreciation
When the price of a currency is changed downward.
A currency becomes less expensive in terms of another currency.
Depreciation
The exchange rate of a country’s currency is determined entirely by such market considerations as demand and supply.
The government or the monetary authorities make no efforts to either fix or manipulate the exchange rate.
Free-Floating Exchange Rate
A country announces a specific exchange rate for its currency and maintains this rate by agreeing to buy or sell foreign exchange in unlimited quantities at this rate.
Fixed Exchange Rate