International Business
Geringer, McNett, Minor, Ball
Instructor Guide to Module 5
BONUS ACTIVITIES (additional resources not in the text)
This section provides you with support of your course above and beyond what’s found in the
text. We have developed these resources to support your course, to support your traditional,
hybrid, online, flipped class.
VIDEO SUGGESTIONS
McGraw Hill’s collection of international business videos is available on pinterest at
https://pinterest.com/mheibvideos . The Political Economy of International Trade and
Investment board is rich and varied, updated monthly. It’s a great resource. Watch target
pulling out of Canada, as reported by BBC at https://uk.news.yahoo.com/video/target-pulling-
canada-155725318.html.
See the U.S. State Department’s resources on political relations at http://www.usembassy.gov.
At http://www.usembassy.gov/east-asia.html, for example, you can visit the video resources of
individual U.S. embassies in East Asia to see their current releases.
USA Today’s video reviewing the trade and political relationship between the U.S. and Cuba,
“The U.S. and Cuba: Trade, Politics and the People,” can be seen at
http://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/politics/2015/06/14/71208250/
TEAM EXERCISE
1. Country risk exercise
In small teams (up to 5 members), ask students to prepare a country risk assessment or a
regional risk assessment for an assigned area or country, and then, evaluate the prospects for
2. Team research on nationalization
Assign small student teams the task of researching examples of nationalization, both with and
without compensation, including the benefits the nationalizing government sought and the
actual outcomes. If the format is face–to-face, report backs can be shared in class. In online
International Business
Geringer, McNett, Minor, Ball
Instructor Guide to Module 5
19 Instructor’s Manual – Module 1 | Geringer, McNett, Minor, Ball © 2016 by McGraw-Hill Education.
This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution in any manner. This
3. Research on the effect of lobbying on government trade positions
Public advocacy organizations influence the actions of governments in their positions on trade
through lobbying and campaign contributions. Ask small teams to present an analysis of the
influence one of these powerful organizations exerts on trade, in the form of a 5-minute
presentation. You can assign the organizations to reflect current political trade issues. They
Case Studies
Case studies that focus on political issues and their effects on business are available through
Ivey Publishing and Harvard Business School. Ivey’s catalog is available for browsing (www.
iveycases.com); the cases are downloadable for review, and pricing is in the U.S. $3.50 range.
Harvard Business Publishing (https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/pages/home) also offers
downloadable review copies for educators. The case prices begin in the $6 range.
“Solartron C” focuses on expatriate adjustment in Africa. The company has a government
development contract and is having trouble with its engineers. Underlying the case is the issue
of the governmental relations between donor and recipient. It is available at Ivey
“Harley Davidson India” is a market entry case and addresses political issues. It is available at
Ivey.
“Footwear International” takes place in Bangladesh and deals with how to avoid and then
respond to a crisis caused by political events. It is a wonderfully complex case. Published in an
early edition of Lane, Distefano and Maznevski’s International Management Behavior, it is now
available at
http://faculty.wiu.edu/E-Solymossy/Presentations/Mgt485/Cases/FootwearIntl.pdf or
http://www.scribd.com/doc/70771943/Case-1-Footwear-International#scribd
“Huawei Enters the U.S.” follows Huawei’s entry into the U.S., including the political challenges
this Chinese company faces. It is available at Ivey.
CONTROVERSAL ISSUES
1. Sanctions
After Russia occupied Crimea in Spring 2014, the U.S. and EU applied trade sanctions, initially to
a group of leaders close to President Putin and then to the country. This incident illustrates the
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International Business
Geringer, McNett, Minor, Ball
Instructor Guide to Module 5
20 Instructor’s Manual – Module 1 | Geringer, McNett, Minor, Ball © 2016 by McGraw-Hill Education.
political use of trade sanctions as an alternative to a military response. They were to serve as a
warning that continued land occupation would be addressed seriously.
One aspect of sanctions that does not receive much attention is their impact of day–to–day
business transactions. How might the imposition of sanctions affect businesses of the sanction-
imposing countries, those in the EU and the U.S.? Payments originating in Russia may not be
possible. This would affect banks, bond-holders, and other holders of debt, including exporters.
The same would hold for transfers into Russia, which would affect multinationals sourcing their
Russian activities from outside of Russia.
2. Country Risk Assessment
After a discussion of CRA, based on the readings, ask students to discuss which types of business
would be most and least vulnerable to political risk.
Here is a brief outline of one possible approach to this discussion question, one that would work
well as an in-class team assignment.
Most Vulnerable
• General Reasons: Long-term nature, high capital investment, high profile,
strategic nature of industry, high work force involvement.
• Activities–Mines, oil fields, oil refineries, heavy equipment manufacturers,
automobile manufacturers.
Least Vulnerable
• General Reasons: Short-term nature, low capital investment, low profile,
nonstrategic industry, low work force involvement.
• Activities: Banks, cosmetic manufacturers, personal hygiene products
manufacturers, hotels
High Profile
• Employ nationals, operate under a local name.
3. Relations with Cuba
Diplomatic relations with Cuba have recently been re-established and U.S. sanctions placed on
this island nation presently are under review. Discussion of the Cuban sanctions, including their
effectiveness, can support student understanding of how sanctions operate and who pays for
them.
To some degree sanctions were effective in meeting the political needs of lobbying efforts
launched by Cubans who emigrated to the U.S. But overall, their costs have been paid by U.S.
businesses and their stockholders, since Cuban consumers received exports from other nations.
If the agenda was to encourage a change in government in Cuba, that has not been effective at
all. Usually, sanctions impose costs both of the sanctioning country and the one sanctioned.
International Business
Geringer, McNett, Minor, Ball
Instructor Guide to Module 5
21 Instructor’s Manual – Module 1 | Geringer, McNett, Minor, Ball © 2016 by McGraw-Hill Education.
This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution in any manner. This
document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
TERM PAPER OR PROJECT TOPICS
These topics may be assigned as individual or collaborative projects:
1. Rather than a term paper on a specific module, we recommend that a term papers on a
country, perhaps in the form of a market-entry assignment, would be more effective, since it
would integrate all of the modules.
2. Review of nationalizations effected during the last 10 years and their impact and
assessment
3. Review of sanctions and their effectiveness
4. Collection and comparison of examples of government stability and instability within the
same level of development
5. Exploration of some of the ways defenses against terrorism have impacted businesses.
TEACHING SUGGESTIONS
1. This chapter is very important to students’ understanding of the political forces that
affect businesses. Most instructors will stress the chapter content in lectures by using the
“Lecture Outline and Notes.”
2. We encourage a review of current events and application of the module’s topics at the
beginning of class. Venezuela and Bolivia are good sources of current event topics on material in
this module.
3. The “Check Your Progress” section in the textbook will help in understanding chapter
content. These topics may be assigned as an outside class assignment. One of the problems in
giving textbook questions as outside assignments is that students frequently do not do the
assignments and wait for the instructor to give them the answers. Instructors can avoid these
problems in several ways: (1) collecting assignments at random and assigning a grade; (2)
occasionally giving some of the same questions as a quiz, thus rewarding students who have
done their assignments; (3) having students hand in assignments and giving credit for work
submitted (or penalties for work not submitted); and (4) calling on students at random to write
on the chalkboard their answers to specific questions (giving a small number of points for correct
4. Guest lecturers could include political science, economics, and history professors who
work in the area of economic thought. Managers from local businesses that have been affected
by trade tariffs and sanctions may also be interesting sources of the inside story for students.
Talk with the export managers at local businesses. We were heartened to find that they loved
our invitation and were able to share an on-the-ground perspective with our students.
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International Business
Geringer, McNett, Minor, Ball
Instructor Guide to Module 5
CONNECT TOOLS FOR ASSESSEMENT OF LEARNING
Interactive Applications
Time-Saving Hints:
• Instructors may want to give students unlimited or multiple attempts on the first few
assignments so the students have a chance to learn and navigate the system before
selecting the option for one attempt only.
• The value of each question should probably be relatively low, since multiple questions
are usually assigned for each chapter. A good rule of thumb would be to make “Quiz
Questions” worth 1 point each and “Interactives” worth 5-10 points each since these
require more time and thought.
23 Instructor’s Manual – Module 1 | Geringer, McNett, Minor, Ball © 2016 by McGraw-Hill Education.
International Business
Geringer, McNett, Minor, Ball
Instructor Guide to Module 5
For every chapter, please refer to the Connect Content Matrix to see what application
exercises are available, what Learning Objectives they help reinforce/assess.
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24 Instructor’s Manual – Module 1 | Geringer, McNett, Minor, Ball © 2016 by McGraw-Hill Education.
International Business
Geringer, McNett, Minor, Ball
Instructor Guide to Module 5
Module
Assignment
Type
Topic(s)
Learning
Objective(s)
AACSB
Accreditation
Tagging
Bloom’s
Taxonomy
5
Drag and Drop
Government
Intervention in
Trade
05–04
Analytical/
Reflective
thinking
Understand/
Analyze
5
Video Case
Government
Stability and
Protection
05-01; 05-
02; 05-03
Analytical/
Reflective
thinking
Understand/
Analyze
5
Drag and Drop
Governments
and the
Ownership of
Business
05-01; 05-
02; 05-04
Reflective
thinking
Understand/
Remember
5
Video Case
Government
Intervention in
Trade
05–04
Analytical/
Reflective
thinking
Understand/
Analyze
5
Drag and Drop
Country Risk
Assessment and
Countermeasures
to Threats
05–03
Reflective
thinking
Understand/
Remember