Paper instructions:
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
You are to research the Multinational Company BAYER (http://www.bayer.com/), & analyse it using theoretical concepts. Include tables, figures and graphs wherever
required.
There is plenty of information available to you in the public domain. You may need to set the scene using the company’s overall operations, then focus on a few
examples which show different approaches to international activities.
The company’s Annual Report will be a good starting point. Your task is to research relevant information & interpret its development over time & the behaviour of
its managers, using concepts.
The below two criteria’s should be equally included in the coursework.
1. THE COMPANY’S INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES
– Concisely summarise the geographic & product markets that the company serves, indicating
(with examples) the range of transaction modes it uses to serve these markets (you may need to do this by interpreting the nature of the subsidiaries it operates –
are these wholly-owned, joint ventures, agents, etc).
– Depict the historical development of the company’s International Business operations & expertise.
2. INTERPRETING COMPANY BEHAVIOUR
– Use concepts assess the company’s current principal goals for International Business. Consider which of the Forces of Globalisation it is responding to.
– Use the pattern of internationalisation to show how the company has adjusted to the challenges of internationalisation over time – how many countries it
entered, how similar they were to the ‘home country’, etc. Is there a pattern to the countries it has selected to serve?
– Consider the organisation’s approach to ‘organisation & control’ – how does it structure its international operations? What is its approach to international
human resource management – home country nationals, host country nationals, third country nationals. Relate the company’s approach to its cultural origin.
Conclude by interpreting the company’s strategy using Dunning’s OIL concept – what does it own, what has been the approach to control/internalisation, & why has it
chosen locations.
