internationalbusiness-context.ppt

Globalization and Business The international dimension of business – due mainly to globalisation – has become a major challenge to governments, institutions and organisations. This helps explain why the area of internatioanl business IB and international management IM is becoming more important within the academic setting. * Discuss decline in international trade and trade barrier in different forms. * * Management Focus: China’s Lenovo Acquires IBM’s PC Operations Summary This feature explores how Lenovo, the Chinese personal computer manufacturer, is positioning itself to be a market leader in the global personal computer business. Lenovo, founded in 1984, held a 26 percent share of the Chinese market for personal computers, but wanted to become a global player. To that end, the company acquired IBM’s PC business in 2004, moved its headquarters to New York, and appointed the former head of IBM’s PC division as CEO of Lenovo. Suggested Discussion Questions 1. Explain how Lenovo has repositioned itself in the global PC market. What contributed to the company’s ability to make the transformation? What factors forced the company to change? 2. Discuss Lenovo’s decision to shift its global headquarters to New York. How important was it to appoint an American to CEO of the firm and establish English as the corporate language? 3. Lenovo’s website is /us/en/ . * * The past quarter century has seen rapid changes in the global economy. Barriers to the free flow of goods, services, and capital have been coming down. The volume of cross-border trade and investment has been growing more rapidly than global output, indicating that national economies are becoming more closely integrated into a single, interdependent, global economic system. As their economies advance, more nations are joining the ranks of the developed world. But it is always hazardous to use established trends to predict the future. The world may be moving toward a more global economic system, bu