University
of
Washington
GEOG
349:
Geography
of
International
Trade
Autumn 2010
REVIEW QUESTIONS
FOR SECOND TEST
Refer to the instructor's
objectives
for
the
course. For each objective:
- Assess how well you've mastered that capability .
- Identify what has helped you get to your current
level of
capability.
Identify one objective on which you'd like to work
after the
course is over. How might you go about that?
Assets are what an
organization "owns" or at least invests in and manages (like key
employees). Environment is what an
organization can't control
-- except by choosing in what environments it operates.
Though this section of the course is not as theoretically oriented as
the first section of the course, the
overarching framework is that of making organizational decisions that
will maximize returns to key organizational assets, and that will
strengthen those assets. These are the essential goals of corporate
strategy, business
(or
competitive)
strategy, and functional
strategies. These
are also important to determining the appropriate form of
international business: you have to know what your core asset
is before you can determine whether licensing or contracting production
are reasonable alternatives to exporting or FDI. (Of course,
regulations and barriers you face from your home country or a host
country will play a role in this decision, as well). Finally,
identifying unique assets is the first step in applying the OLI (or
"eclectic") model to decisions whether to engage in FDI. [You
should be able to apply the OLI model to "explain" a firm's choice of
international business form.]
Identification of an organization's unique or key assets is an
important part in determining the location
and
organization
of
procurement
and production. Organizations
generally want to own operations that are part of their core assets,
but may contract other operations -- sometimes within a stable network
of providers, sometimes by selecting the best deal in the open
market. International differences in trade barriers and
feasibility of FDI will also affect these decisions, and affect the
decisions where to engage in what sorts of operations. Use the
examples in this moderately complex table
to help you understand some of these contingencies.
International
marketing is an important example of a functional strategy in the
international arena. What
are the six components of an international marketing plan? I've
emphasized that the decisions for each component must support the
decisions for all the other components, and must be a function of the
roles that international marketing play in the organization's overall
business strategy -- which is based in part on the nature of the
organization's strategic assets (a.k.a. organization-specific
advantage). Be able to play with these components: if I
provide a basic scenario (sector, size of organization, and its key
assets or advantages), you should be able to create a quick-and-dirty
marketing plan in which all the elements work together.
Why should a firm or other
organization, which operates almost entirely in one country, hedge
its
exposure
to
foreign
exchange risk? How can an exporter
avoid exchange risk, given the choices
in international payments?
Be able to define key
export documents. What are the key
variables and choices in payment for exports? Which are more
advantageous for the exporter? What determines which choices are
made in a given export arrangement?
What have been the major impacts of trade liberalization and inward FDI
on key regions (plural) in "your" country (Canada, China, or
Mexico)? Why -- what are the key characteristics of those regions
that have led to those impacts? Be able to use (a) basic trade
theory (specialization according to comparative advantage, comparative
advantage based on factor proportions, and the consequent impacts on
abundant versus scarce factors) and (b) basic geographic considerations
(location of factors, location of markets) to explain these regional
impacts. Refer to the readings and your answers to Response Paper 5.
What can (a) national governments, (b) international agreements, and
(c) labor organizations do to mitigate the negative impacts of trade
liberalization on particular groups of labor? Think about
this
from the perspective of "your" country and from the perspective of the
US.
How does increased international trade affect (a) the use of natural
resources and (b) the location of environmental degradation?
Refer to Response Paper 6 and the online notes.
What are the major points in The Economist's article on national
sovereignty unter trade liberalization? Do you agree with the
major points?
copyright
James
W. Harrington, Jr.
revised 7 December 2010
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