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Instructor Guide to Module 4
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1. How might the relationship between more-developed countries and less-developed
countries be impacted by working toward a common goal but with vastly different
requirements?
Answers will vary, but one key issue is that less-developed countries have fewer financial
2. Would it have been worth the time to specify what is expected of each country and put in
place ramifications if these goals are not accomplished or attempted?
Students will likely have many different ideas about this. Some may feel that very specific
3. How important are specific actions steps to achieve a like-minded project?
4. Was it the correct decision by the United States to withdraw from the Paris Accord? Why or
why not?
This may result in a spirited discussion in class. Those in favor of staying in the accord might
point out the catastrophes fueled by global warming. They might also point out that more-
GET THAT JOB! FROM BACKPACK TO BRIEFCASE: Jeremy Capdevielle: Sustainability Work in
Ecuador
Jeremy Capdevielle took the plunge into international work by setting out on a half-year
journey of exploration once he finished his undergraduate degree in entrepreneurship. He
worked to save money for his trip and once he decided where to go—Panama, to begin—he
International Business, 2e
Geringer, McNett, Ball
Instructor Guide to Module 4
04-14
Copyright © 2020 by McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill
Education.
went there and found jobs teaching English, while he worked on his Spanish. When he moved
on to Ecuador, he began volunteer work with Great Aves.
Online and Hybrid: Virtual teams evaluate Capedevielle’s advice for their own career
development. Share conclusions with class, either online or in face-to-face setting.
Face-to-Face: Students evaluate their own career strategy in light of Capdevielle’s advice.
1. Would Jeremy Capdevielle’s approach be one that you might follow? Explain.
2. Evaluate Jeremy’s advice to “challenge assumptions, observe the things that give you joy,
and continually ask yourself—What do I love to do and how can I align this with a life that
provides for what I need?”
International Business, 2e
Geringer, McNett, Ball
Instructor Guide to Module 4
04-15
END OF MODULE EXERCISES
CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS
1. Comment on the assertion that the business of business is to generate profit and that to
pay attention to sustainability is to be taken off strategy by a passing fad.
2. Show through examples how the practice of sustainable business is both local and global.
Small scale local sustainable agriculture is affected by the larger systems of which it is a part, for
3. Drawing on your own consumption patterns, describe the difference between cradle–to–
grave and cradle-to–cradle design approaches.
4. Why is it challenging to measure how successfully a business is practicing sustainability?
5. Explain how the stakeholder model applies to a specific sustainable business in your
community or one you have learned about in the business press or a class discussion.
International Business, 2e
Geringer, McNett, Ball
Instructor Guide to Module 4
04-16
6. Of the 38 nations the UN identifies as the least developed in the world, 16 are landlocked.
How might being landlocked slow a country’s development? Remember that Switzerland is
landlocked yet it won the America’s Cup sailing competition in 2005, as you think through this
question.
7. Should we be investing in new technologies to access oil and other fossil fuels, or should all
our efforts go toward facing the inevitable decline of the fossil fuels? Explain your reasoning.
8. The safeguard and care of natural capital should be the responsibility of the government
and not be left to private ownership. Agree or disagree with this assertion, explaining your
position.
9. “Of course we’ll have to transfer to renewable fuels sooner or later, but why should my
company travel that route now? We don’t need to be a first adopter or pay the first–mover
price. There’s plenty of oil left for us to stay the way we are for quite a while.” Agree or
disagree with this strategy, explaining your reasoning.
10. How does the stakeholder model help support the practice of sustainable business?
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Instructor Guide to Module 4
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GLOBALEDGE RESEARCH TASK
Exercise 1
globalEDGE ‘Global Insights’ is where profiles of trade blocs, countries, U.S. states, and
industries can be found. When navigated as described in the exercise (i.e. globalEDGE > Global
Exercise 2
Japan for Sustainability (JFS) website can be found using the search term “sustainability in
MINICASE: The BlueGreen Alliance: A New Way of Sustainability Thinking
BlueGreen Alliance is a growing collaboration of U.S. unions and environmental organizations
that have collaborated to work on environmental and employment problems that are directly
linked. They aim to build a cleaner and fairer economy.
1. Is the BlueGreen Alliance a partnership of convenience, or does it have the potential to
build a new way of approaching sustainability, with limits, interdependence, and equity?
International Business, 2e
Geringer, McNett, Ball
Instructor Guide to Module 4
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2. Unions may prefer protectionist measures to preserve jobs. Do you think this policy can fit
a sustainable approach? Why or why not?
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Geringer, McNett, Ball
Instructor Guide to Module 4
04-19
BONUS ACTIVITIES
This section provides you with support of your course above and beyond what is found in the
text. We have developed these resources to support your course, to support your traditional,
hybrid, online, or flipped class.
VIDEO SUGGESTIONS
We recommend these videos be assigned for viewing outside of class. To motivate students,
they could be included on quizzes or in other assessments, or thoughtful answers to in class
discussion questions on the videos could be awarded bonus points.
TEAM EXERCISES
These may be done individually or in groups or teams, either in or out of class, for later class
presentation. Some are also appropriate for hybrid and online courses.
1. Sustainability
Sustainability and green business have become increasingly important issues globally at the
same time that these concepts have been popularized and adopted by popular culture. Assign
2. Geography
International Business, 2e
Instructor Guide to Module 4
04-20
Copyright © 2020 by McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill
Education.
to use those last few minutes well. The point of this exercise in a face–to–face class is to assess
geographic knowledge and then, to discuss how to improve it. This exercise could be used
online as a drag and drop exercise. Or it could be done via video chat with one map and the
instructor coordinating the labeling.
3. Renewable Energy
Assign small teams (5 or fewer) to research the growth of sustainable business in the renewable
energy sector of specific countries. Choose several countries from advanced, moderately
SUPPLEMENTAL ACTIVITIES
1. Porter’s Diamond Model Applied to Geography
Ask teams (5 or fewer) to distinguish between basic factors, those a country inherits
(mountains, no natural resources, etc.) and advanced factors, those a country can mold (labor,
infrastructure) for a specific, assigned country. Teams report back so the class can learn from
their shared work.
TEACHING SUGGESTIONS
1. Environmental sustainability is an area for which some students have great passion. This
2. Many of our students took their last geography course in junior high school. We have to
begin where they are. Thus the text uses ample maps.
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Instructor Guide to Module 4
04-21
3. Student interest is aroused when we show them geography’s influence on the other external
forces. A discussion of the effects of geography on the Swiss economy might be a good way to
4. Initiate a discussion to illustrate the importance of monitoring developments in natural
resources in different parts of the world. Present this statement in class: “International
5. The Critical Thinking Questions at the end of the module 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
6. Invite a colleague from the geography department to talk to your class on the subject of
geography’s influencing trade and economic development. Or locate a local marketing
International Business, 2e
Geringer, McNett, Ball
Instructor Guide to Module 4
04-22
CONNECT TOOLS FOR ASSESSEMENT OF LEARNING
Connect Content Matrix
For every chapter, please refer to the Connect Content Matrix to see what application exercises
are available and what Learning Objectives they help reinforce/assess.
Title
Assignment
Type
Topic(s)
Learning
Objective(s)
Bloom’s
Taxonomy
The Interesting
Influence of
Geographical Features
Click and Drag
Environmental
Sustainability
04–01
Understand
/ Apply
Sustainability: Mark’s
Decision
Case Analysis
Environmental
Sustainability
04-02; 04-04;
04–05
Apply
Characteristics of
Environmentally
Sustainable Business
Click and Drag
Sustainability in the
Business Context
04-01; 04-04
Remember/
Understand
Measuring
Environmental
Sustainability
Click and Drag
Sustainability in the
Business Context
04-02; 04-03
Remember/
Understand
VW Says It’s Going
Full-Steam Ahead on
Electric Models
Video Case
Sustainability in the
Business Context
04–01; 04-04;
04-05; 04-07
Remember/
Apply
CONNECT ACTIVITIES
1. The Interesting Influence of Geographical Features
Activity Summary: This click and drag activity lists this five different locations and asks students
International Business, 2e
Geringer, McNett, Ball
Instructor Guide to Module 4
2. Sustainability: Mark’s Decision
Activity Summary: This case analysis describes a business owner who is considering adding a
3. Characteristics of Environmentally Sustainable Business
Activity Summary: In this click and drag activity, students choose from a list of three terms and
4. Measuring Environmental Sustainability
Activity Summary: In this click and drag activity, students are asked to match the tools for
measuring environmental sustainability with the description.
How to Use Activity: Have students complete this assignment individually at home or in small
groups in class. Then in class ask small groups to design a tool for measuring environmental
sustainability. How likely would governments adopt such a tool?
5. VW Says It’s Going Full-Steam Ahead on Electric Models
Activity Summary: This is a video case that interviews Juergen Stackmann from Volkswagen
about the company’s goals to shift to electric cars. After watching the video, students then