International Business
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Instructor Guide to Module 5
11 Instructor’s Manual – Module 1 | Geringer, McNett, Minor, Ball © 2016 by McGraw-Hill Education.
assignment. LearnSmart/ SmartBook is an adaptive study tool designed for students. It
can also show you where students are struggling to understand specific concepts.
• The student’s LearnSmart/SmartBook score in the Connect reports is based on their
mastery of the material at the time the assignment is due. Mastery is an evaluation of
the number of learning objectives they completed via performance on answering
questions.
• Students may, and are encouraged, to continue to use LearnSmart/SmartBook
throughout the semester. After the assignment due date, they can continue to access
this tool. Continued use of LearnSmart will not affect their LearnSmart/SmartBook
assignment results in the Connect reports, but has shown to improve test scores by as
much as a full letter grade.
International Business
Geringer, McNett, Minor, Ball
Instructor Guide to Module 5
12 Instructor’s Manual – Module 1 | Geringer, McNett, Minor, Ball © 2016 by McGraw-Hill Education.
ENGAGEMENT & APPLICATION (FACE TO FACE & ONLINE &
HYBRID)
BOXED TEXT DISCUSSION QUESTIONS WITH SUGGESTED ANSWERS
IB IN PRACTICE: International Companies as Unequal Partners for Many Countries
The relationship between international corporations and countries is not an equal one. Many
international corporations are larger than some countries, plus they have assets, skills,
knowledge and management capabilities that countries or regions need. Given sustainability’s
characteristic of equity, this situation can be problematic.
Online and Hybrid: Questions may be assigned to be prepared and submitted by teams.
Stringent feedback will help to make these actual team exercises.
Face-to–face: Students are assigned to prepare responses to the questions in teams,
either for Discussion submission (Blackboard) or for presentation in class by calling on a team to
respond.
1. How can any equity exist, as is required by sustainability, when the scale of corporate
operations can be so much larger than their host governments?
2. Evaluate the idea of keeping foreign corporations out or nationalizing specific sectors,
an approach that India and Mexico have followed in order to maintain control of valuable
sectors of their economies. Are the trade-offs worth it?
International Business
Geringer, McNett, Minor, Ball
Instructor Guide to Module 5
13 Instructor’s Manual – Module 1 | Geringer, McNett, Minor, Ball © 2016 by McGraw-Hill Education.
GLOBAL DEBATE: Sugar Subsidies: Sweet for Whom?
Sugar is the most trade-distorted commodity on the world market. Both the EU and the U.S.
protect their domestic sugar producers. In the U.S., the protection amounts to a subsidy of $1.5
million per year for every protected job. Businesses reliant on sugar have been leaving the U.S.
to be able to access their sugar supply at world prices, which is not permitted in the protected
U.S. markets.
Online and Hybrid: Questions may be assigned to be prepared and submitted by teams.
Stringent feedback will help to make these actual team exercises.
Face-to–face: Students are assigned to prepare responses to the questions in teams,
either for Discussion submission (Blackboard) or for presentation in class by calling on a team to
respond.
1. Should sugar continue to be a protected commodity? Why or why not?
This question’s response rests on the cogency of the argument. U.S. consumers pay usually
more than twice the world market price for their sugar, and thus, higher prices for sugar-intense
2. Should the U.S. consumer continue to fund protection for U.S. sugar farmers? Why or
why not?
Most responses to this question may well lead toward non-protection, because such trade
GET THAT JOB! FROM BACKPACK TO BRIEFCASE: Fernando Villanueva: “There Is so
much Beauty in the World!”
Fernando Villanueva shares his approach to his transition from his undergraduate studies to
international work. His approach began in high school and involved study in France with The
Experiment in International Living’s School for International Training. After graduation, he took
a traineeship with AIESEC, a student-run international nonprofit organization that provides
leadership training and internship opportunities (See http://www.aiesec.org). His adjustment
difficulties in his overseas assignment had to do with recognizing that his cultural assumptions
International Business
Geringer, McNett, Minor, Ball
Instructor Guide to Module 5
14 Instructor’s Manual – Module 1 | Geringer, McNett, Minor, Ball © 2016 by McGraw-Hill Education.
were not always shared and that he could learn rather than teach.
Online and Hybrid: Questions may be assigned to be prepared and submitted on an
1. If you have had cross-cultural experiences, have you encountered challenges similar to
Fernando Villanueva’s? How have you addressed them? Or, if you have not faced this
2. Would you consider an international internship, traineeship, or volunteer position to
build your global mindset? Share your strategy for developing your international
management skills.
Most students will have begun to think through these questions and will be able to share their
END OF MODULE EXERCISES
CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS
1. Why might a government-owned firm have an unfair advantage over privately owned
companies?
2. Why do countries that are committed to open market and capitalism have publicly
owned enterprises?
3. When they accept foreign assignments, how can expatriates prepare for such an
assignment’s risk?
There are several approaches an expats can take to prepare for the risk involved in their foreign
International Business
Geringer, McNett, Minor, Ball
Instructor Guide to Module 5
assignment. First step is to know the country well. Know where you are unlikely to be safe.
Understand the major issues, the hot-button issues. Second, learn the language, at least to
some degree. Third, get professional training for safety. Fourth, use common sense. Don’t, for
example, dress like an American (U.S. brand sports shoes, baseball cap, etc.) in public. Use all
the resources available (embassy, local expat network) to learn about how to be safe.
4. If you were responsible for developing your company’s international strategy, what
role would country risk assessment play?
5. Why do U.S. consumers tolerate paying at times as much as twice the world sugar
price for their sugar supply? How might an economist evaluate the U.S. sugar policy?
6. Why could carrying cheese as you drive across the border from the United States into
Canada be risky behavior?
7. It seems that free, unrestricted international trade, in which each nation produces and
exports products for which it has a comparative advantage, will enable everyone to have a
higher level of living. Why, then, does every country have import restrictions?
This seems a contradiction. Almost all nations belong to the World Trade Organization and
International Business
Geringer, McNett, Minor, Ball
Instructor Guide to Module 5
8. A protectionist argument for the defense industries suggests that since we need them,
we must protect them from import competition by placing restrictions on competitive
9. Governments assert that their safety standards for food imports are important to
ensure that their citizens not be harmed by unsafe foods. Comment on how such a concern
10. Almost all governments are on guard against dumping. Why would a government be
opposed to its citizens or businesses being able to obtain products at lower costs?
11. A union leader in the auto industry argued that “Workers are paid $20 an hour in the
United States but only $4 in Taiwan. Of course we can’t compete. We need to protect our
12. There are two general classifications of a nation’s import duties: tariff and nontariff
barriers. Which would be more difficult for a business in consumer products to factor into its
export pricing?
Nontariff barriers are more difficult to assess, and the nonquantitative barriers such as
International Business
Geringer, McNett, Minor, Ball
Instructor Guide to Module 5
17 Instructor’s Manual – Module 1 | Geringer, McNett, Minor, Ball © 2016 by McGraw-Hill Education.
MINICASE: Chocolate: is Your Treat the Result of Unfair Labor and the
Exploitation of Child Labor?
Most of the world’s chocolate comes from Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, both of which have
world’s chocolate, most commercial products use cocoa/chocolate from them.
1. Should labor practices in another country be a relevant consideration in international
trade? Why or why not?
This question offers an opportunity for students to reason through the ethical issues and the
2. With regard to trade products such as cocoa, what options are available to
3.
Governments can establish trade boycotts and certification requirements. These approaches
carry compliance costs to the business and slow down or constrain the movement of supplies.
labor practices.