Question: What factors underlay the decision by Volkswagen

> Apple products have usually been priced above their competition and sold for their value, intrigue, and market leadership. Some would say Samsung is catching up on many of these fronts and even, perhaps, passing Apple. Do you think Apple can charge a pri

> With the 2011 death of Steve Jobs, Apple’s legendary founder and CEO, what can we expect from Apple in the future? Will it be as innovative? Will it maintain brand value leadership? Will it run the top global supply chains in the world?

> According to Interbrand’s analysis, Apple’s brand is valued at more than $180 billion, while Google in second place is valued at $133 billion and Coca-Cola in third is at $73 billion (2016). Do you agree that Apple should be so far ahead of its nearest b

> Do you think franchising is a foreign market entry option for Lulu’s Dessert? Why or why not?

> Lulu’s Dessert used services of the U.S. Export-Import Bank to help with knowledge and market segmentation for her desserts as a part of exporting the company products. The Ex-Im Bank receives lots of positive and negative reviews in the United States; d

> Desserts are often localized in taste. Beyond the United States and Mexico, where do you think Lulu’s Dessert products would be favorably received by customers?

> As of 2018, GM appears to be increasing its strategic commitments to China by building more factories and opening more dealerships. Why is the company making these bets? Do you think it is doing the right thing?

> Why has the joint venture been so successful to date?

> How will the high level of public corruption in Venezuela affect future growth rates?

> Why did GM not simply license its technology to SAIC? Why did it not export cars from the United States?

> Why did GM enter through a joint venture with SAIC? What are the benefits of this approach? What are the potential risks?

> GM entered the Chinese market at a time when demand was very limited. Why? What was the strategic rationale?

> Philips reorganized multiple times, from 21 divisions to 9 divisions and subsequently just 3 divisions. Why do you think it did this? What is it trying to achieve? Can a company reorganize its structure this often and maintain competitiveness?

> What was the point of the organizational changes made by Cor Boonstra? What was he trying to achieve? Do you agree with Frans van Houten’s decision to keep the same three divisions when he became CEO?

> What was Philips trying to achieve by tilting the balance of power in its structure away from national organizations and toward the product divisions? Why was this hard to achieve?

> Why did Philips’ organizational structure make sense early on in its existence? Why did this structure start to create problems for the company later on?

> Car manufacturers are some of the most secretive companies in the world. Should more car competitors share building platforms to standardize their operations like other industries (e.g., music, electronics)? In this spirit, can Ford become more competiti

> What would you recommend that Ford undertakes in terms of continuing or possibly changing the global strategy that Mulally put in place? Clearly Fields’ long-term employment with Ford did not result in a benefit to making Ford globally competitive (Ford’

> How would you characterize the strategy for competing internationally that Ford was pursuing prior to the arrival of Alan Mulally? What are the benefits of the more standardized platform strategy? Can you see any drawbacks?

> How do you think that Chávez’s unilateral changes to contracts with foreign oil companies will affect future investment by foreigners in Venezuela?

> What actions do you think a multinational firm can take to limit the impact of future crises in the global financial system on the ability of the enterprise to raise capital to pay its short-term bills and fund long-term investments?

> Why do you think that global capital flows were still significantly below their 2007 peak seven years after the crisis hit? What are the implications of this for the ability of multinational firms to finance their investments by raising outside capital?

> How can the risk of occurrence of crises such as the 2007–2008 global financial crisis be mitigated in the future?

> In retrospect, were central banks justified in stepping in as aggressively as they did to shore up the global financial system? If they had not done so, and instead let more large financial institutions fail, what would have been the consequence?

> Do you think that something like the financial crisis that occurred in 2007–2008 could happen again? If it did, what would the impact be on the ability of firms to raise capital to fund investments, and on the global economy?

> Could the IMF have done anything differently to avoid the situation it now finds itself in?

> What might happen if the IMF discontinues its loan program to Ukraine, as it has threatened to do?

> Was the IMF right to suspend disbursement of monies under its loan program in October 2015? Under what conditions should the IMF resume making loans?

> Why do you think the Ukrainian government balked at fully implementing the IMF policies?

> Were the policy recommendations made by the IMF reasonable?

> Under Chávez’s leadership, what kind of economic system was put in place in Venezuela? How would you characterize the political system?

> What were the root causes of Ukraine’s currency crisis? Without help from the IMF, what might have happened?

> Why do you think Viktor Yanukovych walked away from a trade agreement with the EU in favor of closer ties with Russia? What did he gain by doing this? What did he lose?

> Is Subaru wise to expand its U.S. production capacity? What other strategies could the company use to hedge against adverse changes in exchange rates? What are the pros and cons of the different hedging strategies Subaru might adopt?

> Why did Subaru’s sales and profits surge in 2014 and 2015?

> What are the currency risks associated with Subaru’s export strategy? What are the potential benefits?

> Why do you think that, historically, Subaru chose to export production from Japan rather than set up manufacturing facilities in the United States like its Japanese rivals?

> What do you think is the optimal government policy response here? Explain your answer.

> What do you think will be the impact of the new higher floor price? Who benefits from the higher floor price? Who suffers?

> Was the Commerce Department right to establish a new minimum floor price rather than scrap the agreement and file an antidumping suit? Who would have benefited from an antidumping suit against Mexican tomato producers? Who would have suffered?

> Do you think that Mexican producers were dumping tomatoes in the United States?

> Who are the primary beneficiaries of the growth of medical tourism? Who might lose from this trend?

> Who benefits from the importation of tomatoes grown in Mexico? Who suffers?

> Why, despite the establishment of a minimum floor price, have imports from Mexico grown over the years?

> Was the establishment of a minimum floor price for tomatoes consistent with the free trade principles enshrined in the NAFTA agreement?

> Volkswagen has signaled that it is going to stay the course in Russia, despite current political and economic headwinds. Why do you think it made this decision? What are the pros and cons of this decision? In your opinion, is it the correct decision?

> Russia is largely dependent on oil exports to drive its economy forward. Given the sharp fall in global oil prices that occurred in 2014 and 2015, what impact do you think this will have on FDI into Russia?

> How do you think FDI by foreign automobile companies might benefit the Russian economy? Is there any potential downside to Russia from this inflow of FDI?

> Which theory (or theories) of FDI best explain Volkswagen’s FDI in Russia?

> If you had the power to make changes here, what would you do and why?

> Government support programs for sugar producers were introduced in the 1930s, yet they are still in place today, long after the original rationale disappeared. What does this tell you about political decisions relating to international trade?

> What are the practical limits to outsourcing health care provision to other countries?

> What do you think would happen if the U.S. government removed all support for U.S. sugar producers?

> Do the benefits of U.S. government support to the U.S. sugar industry outweigh the losses?

> Who benefits from subsidies to U.S. sugar producers? Who loses?

> One of the first actions of President Trump was to withdraw from negotiations on establishing the TTIP. Why do you think he did this? How does withdrawal benefit America? What are the opportunity costs of not pursuing the TTIP? Is Trump’s decision good f

> The Trans Pacific Partnership (TTP) met with significant political resistance in the United States when it was announced, (see the closing case to Chapter 6), while the TTIP did not. Why do you think this is the case?

> Two decades ago when the United States entered into the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico, there was significant opposition from organized labor and some politicians. There does not seem to be the same level of opposition to the

> Can you think of any drawbacks associated with the TTIP?

> What are the benefits of the proposed TTIP?

> The Flint, Michigan, water crisis highlighted a major issue in the United States regarding old lead-based pipes used to transport water to the community. This came to light in Flint due to the failure of applying corrosion inhibitors to the water when th

> With some 80 percent of the toys sold in the United States being manufactured in China, should the United States place greater emphasis on its toy-trading relationship with China? Could the United States control China’s manufacturing more than it does to

> On balance, do you think that the kind of outsourcing undertaken by American health care providers is a good thing or a bad thing for the American economy? Explain your reasoning.

> Should there be a global standard for toy manufacturing? What are some of the benefits and what are some of the drawbacks of a potential global quality and manufacturing standard?

> With Alibaba’s ownership of the very popular Tmall and Taobao online shopping systems (similar to eBay and Amazon) and its spread across the world, will a Western-based online shopping culture ultimately infiltrate China?

> If China will go from 17 million to 200 million middle- and upper-income people by the early 2020s, would the scenario presented by Best Buy not be applicable anymore? Would newly rich Chinese customers engage in this purchasing in the 2020s?

> Will China maintain its strong economic growth in the years to come? Some suggest it will until 2050. What do you think?

> In November 2015, the democratic opposition won a landslide victory in a general election. How do you think this will affect Myanmar’s economic growth trajectory going forward? What are the risks here?

> What potential impediments do you think might stand in the way of further improvements in Myanmar?

> How would you characterize the nature of the economic reforms now being implemented in Myanmar? What is the government trying to do here? What do you think the results will be?

> What do you think motivated the government of Myanmar to start undertaking political and economic reforms from 2010 onward?

> What explains the economic stagnation of Myanmar until very recently?

> By 2016, Venezuela’s economy appeared to be on the brink of total collapse. What do you think needs to be done to reverse this?

> What are the benefits to American medical providers of outsourcing certain well-defined tasks such as interpreting an MRI scan to foreign providers based in countries such as India? What are the costs?

> Your company is deciding whether to invest in a new machine. The new machine will increase cash flow by $485,000 per year. You believe the technology used in the machine has a 10-year life; in other words, no matter when you purchase the machine, it will

> Consider the following financial statement information for the Newk Corporation: Assume all sales are on credit. Calculate the operating and cash cycles. How do you interpret your answer?

> The Morning Jolt Coffee Company has projected the following quarterly sales amounts for the coming year: a. Accounts receivable at the beginning of the year are $335. The company has a 45-day collection period. Calculate cash collections in each of the

> Cori’s Corp. has an equity value of $14,735. Long-term debt is $8,300. Net working capital, other than cash, is $2,850. Fixed assets are $18,440. How much cash does the company have? If current liabilities are $2,325, what are current assets?

> Cheap Money Bank offers your firm a discount interest loan at 9.85 percent for up to $25 million and, in addition, requires you to maintain a 4.5 percent compensating balance against the amount borrowed. What is the effective annual interest rate on this

> In exchange for a $300 million fixed commitment line of credit, your firm has agreed to do the following: 1. Pay 1.93 percent per quarter on any funds actually borrowed. 2. Maintain a 4.5 percent compensating balance on any funds actually borrowed. 3. Pa

> A bank offers your firm a revolving credit arrangement for up to $75 million at an interest rate of 1.75 percent per quarter. The bank also requires you to maintain a compensating balance of 5 percent against the unused portion of the credit line, to be

> You’ve worked out a line of credit arrangement that allows you to borrow up to $50 million at any time. The interest rate is .37 percent per month. In addition, 4 percent of the amount that you borrow must be deposited in a non-interest-bearing account.

> Below are the most recent balance sheets for Country Kettles, Inc. Excluding accumulated depreciation, determine whether each item is a source or a use of cash and the amount:

> Here are some important figures from the budget of Nashville Nougats, Inc., for the second quarter of 2021: The company predicts that 5 percent of its credit sales will never be collected, 35 percent of its sales will be collected in the month of the s

> The following is the sales budget for Lemonis, Inc., for the first quarter of 2021: Credit sales are collected as follows: 65 percent in the month of the sale. 20 percent in the month after the sale. 15 percent in the second month after the sale. The a

> You want to create a portfolio equally as risky as the market, and you have $1,000,000 to invest. Given this information, fill in the rest of the following table:

> In Problem 8, suppose the company instead decides on a 4-for-1 stock split. The firm’s 75-cent per-share cash dividend on the new (postsplit) shares represents an increase of 10 percent over last year’s dividend on the presplit stock. What effect does th

> The company with the common equity accounts shown here has declared a 15 percent stock dividend when the market value of its stock is $64 per share. What effects will the distribution of the stock dividend have on the equity accounts? Common stock ($1 p

> The market value balance sheet for Murray Manufacturing is shown here. The company has declared a 25 percent stock dividend. The stock goes ex dividend tomorrow (the chronology for a stock dividend is similar to that for a cash dividend). There are 11,00

> In Problem 5, suppose the company has announced it is going to repurchase $17,400 worth of stock. What effect will this transaction have on the equity of the firm? How many shares will be outstanding? What will the price per share be after the repurchase

> The balance sheet for Quinn Corp. is shown here in market value terms. There are 12,000 shares of stock outstanding. The company has declared a dividend of $1.45 per share. The stock goes ex dividend tomorrow. Ignoring any tax effects, what is the stoc

> Stockton Mineral Operations, Inc. (SMO), currently has 540,000 shares of stock outstanding that sell for $83 per share. Assuming no market imperfections or tax effects exist, what will the share price be after: a. SMO has a 5-for-3 stock split? b. SMO ha

> For the company in Problem 2, show how the equity accounts will change if: a. The company declares a 4-for-1 stock split. How many shares are outstanding now? What is the new par value per share? b. The company declares a 1-for-5 reverse stock split. How

> The owners’ equity accounts for Vulcano International are shown here: Common stock ($.50 par value) …………….. $ 20,000 Capital surplus …………………………………….. 210,000 Retained earnings ………………………………… 587,300 Total owners’ equity …………………………… $ 817,300 a. If the c

> After completing its capital spending for the year, Carlson Manufacturing has $1,000 extra cash. Carlson’s managers must choose between investing the cash in Treasury bonds that yield 3 percent or paying the cash out to investors who would invest in the

> National Business Machine Co. (NBM) has $5 million of extra cash after taxes have been paid. NBM has two choices to make use of this cash. One alternative is to invest the cash in financial assets. The resulting investment income will be paid out as a sp

> Consider the following information about three stocks: a. If your portfolio is invested 40 percent each in A and B and 20 percent in C, what is the portfolio expected return? The variance? The standard deviation? b. If the expected T-bill rate is 3.70

> As discussed in the text, in the absence of market imperfections and tax effects, we would expect the share price to decline by the amount of the dividend payment when the stock goes ex dividend. Once we consider the role of taxes, however, this is not n

> The Gecko Company and the Gordon Company are two firms that have the same business risk but different dividend policies. Gecko pays no dividend, whereas Gordon has an expected dividend yield of 2.9 percent. Suppose the capital gains tax rate is zero, whe

> Erna Corporation is evaluating an extra dividend versus a share repurchase. In either case, $53,500 would be spent. Current earnings are $1.79 per share, and the stock currently sells for $64 per share. There are 9,000 shares outstanding. Ignore taxes an