Indian School of Business

Global Strategic Management (GSMT)

Academic Year & Term: 2021-2022 Term: 6
Instructors: Seung Hoon Lee
Office Hours: By appointment
Affiliation: Indian School of Business

Email: [email protected]

Course objectives and key-takeaways from the course

Today’s businesses operate in a connected world. While the connectivity offers immense business opportunities,
it brings forth intricacies regarding strategic management of organizations. Fundamental economic, instituional,
social, and cultural factors affect the international expansion of the firm as distinct from purely domestic factors.
This course derives its logic from the increasing globalization of business and seeks to develop thoughts for
effective strategies and management in the rapidly changing global business environment. The course will build
on the basic concepts raised in the core competitive strategy course. It also makes connections to and leverages
on your preliminary understanding of other introductory courses such as management of organizations, financial
accounting, and corporate finance. These courses are, however, not prerequisites for attending this course as I will
cover all the necessary concepts.

The purpose of this course includes the following:

• To become an effective manager of / advisor for a multinational enterprise

• To learn about different modes of capitalism (and managerial concerns thereof) around the world
• To have an eye of a CEO, statesman, leader of a large administration
• To challenge you to think critically about various facets of global competition.
• To familiarize you with the problems and perspectives of doing business across national boundaries.
• To foster an appreciation of the economic, institutional, social, and cultural forces that influence
and shape the business manager’s job in the global context.
• To assist you in acquiring the skills necessary to analyze, assess, design and implement business
strategies and management policies that transcend national boundaries.

Learning Goals
1. Awareness of Global Issues Affecting Business
2. Critical and integrative thinking
3. Effective oral communication
Session-Wise Topics/Readings

Session Description
1 Competing Globally I: Global Expansion

Case: AmorePacific
(HBS case: AmorePacific: From Local to Global Beauty, case no. 9-706-411)

Intended learning outcome: Understand global expansion of a local company, global

market selection, and growth strategies.

Assignment Questions:
1. How has AmorePacific been able to defend the home ground against multinationals
firms (e.g., L’oreal, P&G, Estee Lauder) as well as compete against a larger
conglomerate LG locally?
2. What are the challenges for AmorePacific in Scaling up Globally?
3. AmorePacific introduced Sulwhasoo in India in 2020 through Nykaa, and Nykaa
Luxe. Through what strategy can AmorePacific succeed in the Indian Market?

2 Competing Globally II: Offshoring and Outsourcing

Case: Monitor India

(HBS case: Monitor’s opportunities in India (A), case no. 9-708-482)

Intended learning outcome: Value chain of strategy consulting and research businesses

Assignment Questions:
1. Mark Fuller, Chairman of Monitor, wants to tap the opportunities in India. What are
the parameters that Mark Fuller should consider in offshoring business research
activities (and the back-office function)?
2. What are the detailed cost savings to Monitor of offshoring business research
activities in India for one year (see Exhibit 4)?
3. What are the potential loss in benefits of offshoring business research? Able to
Quantify?
4. If Monitor decided to offshore business research, should it serve Monitor exclusively
or serve external clients as well?
3 Competing Globally III: Location and Timing

Case: Emirates
(HBS case: Emirates Airline: Connecting the Unconnected, case no. 9-714-432)

Intended learning outcome: The importance of location and timing in sustaining

competitive advantage of a global company

Assignment Questions:
1. In an industry where profitable firms are scarce, Emirates has delivered solid
growth and solid financial performance for years. What is behind Emirates’
success?
2. What is the role of Dubai’s government in Emirates’ success?
3. What is the role of Emirates in Dubai’s economy and society?

4 Competing Globally IV: Competitive Advantages of Nations

Case: The Wine Industry

(HBS case: Global wine war 2009: new world versus old, case no. 910405-PDF-ENG)

Intended learning outcome: Understand disruption and rise of competitive advantage at

the national industry level

Assignment Questions:
1. How did the French maintain dominance in the global wine industry for centuries?
What sources of competitive advantage were they able to develop?
2. How were the New World wine producers able to expand their market share so
rapidly in such an established industry in the late 20th century?
3. Choose one of the three from below
a. You are hired as a consultant for the French Minister of Agriculture. What
would you advice? And what would you advice to the owner of a mid-size, well
regarded Bordeaux vineyard selling in premium market?
b. You are hired as a consultant for the US Secretary of Agriculture. What would
you advice? And what would you advice to the owner of a mid-size, well
regarded Napa Valley vineyard selling in premium market?
c. You are hired as a consultant for the Australian Minister of Agriculture. What
would you advice? And what would you advice to the owner of a mid-size, well
regarded Barossa Valley vineyard selling in premium market?

5 Organizational Control: Market, Bureaucracy, or Solidarity

(Asynchr
onous Reading: An Anonymous Silicon Valley Company
Content) (Kunda, G. 1992. Engineering Culture: Control and Commitment in a High-Tech company.
Temple University Press)
Skim: A contradictory view of Kunda
(Handy, C. 1992. Balancing corporate power: A new federalist paper. Harvard Business
Review)

Intended learning outcome: Understand collective action problem and the ways
organizations have solved it evolved historically. Able to make sense of the world of
organizations and management in the post-Covid19 regime.
6 Coordination and Control of MNEs: Global vs Local

Case: Lundbeck Korea

(Ivey case: Lundbeck Korea: Managing an International Growth Engine, case no.
910M12)

Intended learning outcome: Potential tensions and the cultural barriers in coordination
and control between the headquarters and the subsidiaries

Assignment Questions:
1. What priorities do the local (Jun) vs. regional (Rajar) managers have? How do
their backgrounds, traits, and positions in the company influence their concerns?
Which priority is more important?
2. Andersen is contemplating whether to separate Lundbeck Korea from Lundbeck
Asia. What are the key parameters Andersen should consider in making the
decision?

7 Corporate Governance across Countries I: What is good corporate governance?

Case: Satyam
(University of Hong Kong case: Corporate Governance Failure at Satyam, case no.
HKU889)

Intended learning outcome: Understand the basic concepts of corporate governance and
what constitutes good corporate governance.

Assignment Questions:
1. What were the corporate governance mechanisms at Satyam that were meant to
prevent the wrongdoing of controlling shareholder (i.e., Ramalinga Raju)?
2. How was Raju so successful for such a long time in deceiving his wrongdoing
although the above corporate governance mechanism was in play?
3. What is “good” corporate governance? Is it essentially a system issue or a people
issue?
4. What were the consequences of corporate governance failure at Satyam?
8 Corporate Governance across Countries II: Shareholders vs Top Managers

Case: Alibaba
(HBS case: Alibaba goes public (A)&(B), case no. 115-029 & 116-031)

Intended learning outcome: Agency problems, solutions to it, how these solutions in
turn creates other problems, and how these problems can be ultimately solved through
system and leadership

Assignment Questions:
1. What is the business model of Alibaba (and E-commerce in general)?
2. What are the key factors behind Alibaba’s success in China (vs. Ebay, Amazon)?
3. What is the role of stock exchange institutions (e.g., NYSE, HKEx) in the financial
market?
4. Why did NYSE allow Alibaba to list while HKEx would not?

9 Corporate Governance across Countries III: Family Owners, Symbolic Management,

and the role of Managers

Case: Continental White Cap (Family-owned)

(HBS case: Peter Browning and Continental White Cap, case no. 9-486-090)

Intended learning outcome: Family ownership and control, and the role of managers as a
class distinct from capital and labor in economy and society

Assignment Questions:
1. What are the values White Cap provide for the economy and society?
2. What has been the traditional governance relationship between the Continental HQ
and White Cap like?
3. What were the problems that White Cap faced?
4. Why was Browning brought to White Cap by Hoffman?
5. If you were Browning, what choice would you make? Would you strictly follow
Hoffman’s order? Would you try to protect the family value of White Cap? Or other
alternative approaches in effectuating change at White Cap?

10 Doing Business in Japan and the world of Consulting Business

(Asynchr
onous Guest Lecturer: Jaseung Koo, Associate Professor at Kyoto Sangyo University;
Content) Director at Deloitte Consulting Japan.

Intended learning outcome: Understand Japanese business/major organizations and

capturing potential opportunities in Japan. Become aware of the world of Strategy
Consulting Business
Course Pack
Soft copy of the Course pack will be made available on LMS.

Learning Assessment Components

While the following components help the instructors assess a student’s learning during the 5 week course, each
component also has a learning outcome - what a student learns while working on the component.

Component Weightage Honor Code Scheme

1 4 Individual Assignments 40% (10% each) 3N-b
3 Final exam 50% 4N
4 Class Contribution 10% 4N for in-class work
0N for talking points
When in doubt about the HCC codes, ask your academic associates (AAs) or the instructors. Avoid
making assumptions about HCC codes.

Individual Assignments

The assignment questions are listed in the course outline.

Assignment schedule: Please choose 1 session from each week of synchronous session to complete a total of
4 assignments. In addition, you have the option to submit 1 additional assignment to drop your 1 lowest score
assignment. Your assignments grades will be available to you within one week of each session.

Submission format: Word document. Maximum length is 500 worlds. Refer to the assignment schedule
below. Pay attention to citations.

Learning outcome:
• As part of this assessment component, the student applies his/her own critical thinking, integrated with
pre-ISB industry experience as well as the insights formulated from earlier classes and courses. The goal
is to construct the most fitting answer.
• The word limit forces the student to refine his/her logic and make it crisp as much as possible. This activity
develops a habit of concise writing. Students learn how to sort through the “fluff” and focus on points that
truly matter. Practicing this habit helps the student make effective strategic decisions in the long run.

Deadline: Each assignment is due before the start of the day’s first section. A major portion of assignments will be
discussed in class after the submission. Hence, late submissions are not accepted. The students will know the
answers in class and will get an idea of their scores. The actual scores will be released in five days after
submission.
Grading: Answers that balance the science (quantitative components) and the art (qualitative components) of
strategic analysis fetch higher points than shallow answers, which simply reproduce case facts. For this
assessment component, we see how you apply your critical and integrative thinking and communicate it
effectively to us.

If you need any clarifications, please be sure to ask the instructors or the AAs before submitting your assignment.

Final Exam: The final exam will be closed-book tests, drawing on the material covered in the course. They will
be held during the respective exams week. You will not have access to your notes or any electronics during
the exams. More details such as exam instructions will be given by the ASA a few days before the exam.

Learning outcome:
• Preparing for the exam requires that the student goes back to his/her class notes and slides, revises the
learnings, and contacts the instructors or the AAs to clarify any doubts. The preparation helps solidify the
classroom learnings.
• Although the exam is closed book, the student is not required to recall any particular case facts and data
covered in class. The data required to answer the exam questions is provided in the exam paper. The
type of questions is same as that of the individual assignments. The student is required to apply the
concepts and frameworks learned in class to the exam case questions. A good practice of applying the
concepts and frameworks will be helpful in solving the exam questions. Applying classroom learning to a
particular situation and presenting the analysis in a short three-hour window simulates real-world strategic
 analysis scenarios that the student may face post-ISB education.

Grading: Grading pattern for this assessment component is similar to individual assignments.

Revaluation requests

Every effort will be made to accurately evaluate each assignment and exams.
Revaluation requests will be as per the ISB guidelines.

Class Contribution:

Learning in any strategy class depends on student’s class contribution. Effective class contribution relies on
thorough case preparation before coming to class. A student is required to present and defend his/her point of view
in class, as well as to draw on others’ contributions to the discussion. Practicing how to contribute thoughtfully and
effectively builds students critical and integrative thinking. Feedback from the faculty and peers clears doubts and
builds confidence. As students draw on each other’s experiences, a greater level of collective learning is achieved.
By getting exposed to different points of views, the student learns to respect other’s opinions. This helps in building
professional attitude.

You will have the option to participate in discussions in two ways: During synchronous sessions and in break-out
sessions during synchronous sessions. Online discussion forums on the LMS where issues raised in the class/in
the case can be expanded in more detail at your leisure. Your class participation grade will be based on your
contributions both during the synchronous sessions, as well as on your contributions to the online discussions on
LMS.

Students who listen and read other’s contributions carefully and make a point building on those contributions as
well as connecting them with the concept being discussed in class get high marks in this assessment
component. Remember: securing high scores in this component is not easy; good preparation is the key.

Attendance & Punctuality (ISB-recommended Attendance Policy)

Learning is an interactive process. ISB students are admitted partly based on the experiences they bring to the
learning community and what they can add to class discussions. Therefore, attendance is an important aspect of
studying here. Absence is only appropriate in cases of extreme personal illness, injury, or close family bereavement.
Voluntary activities such as job interviews, business school competitions, travel plans, joyous family occasions, etc.
are not valid reasons for missing a class. Late arrival and early departure are disruptive to the learning environment;
you should log-in the class before the scheduled start time and stay till the conclusion of class. However, if due to an
extenuating situation a student is forced to miss a class session, the same should be notified to the respective
Academic Associate with a copy to the Faculty and the ASA office along with supporting documentary proof.

The ISB expects students to attend all class sessions in every course and watch/participate in all asynchronous
activities. Attendance cannot be linked to watching or participating in asynchronous activities. Attendance during
synchronous / in class sessions will be recorded However, if due to completely unavoidable reasons a student is
forced to miss synchronous/in-class sessions, the School policy is below:

• If a student misses up to 20% of sessions (synchronous + in-class) in a course, i.e. one session, there will
be no grade penalty.
• If a student misses more than 20% and up to 30% of sessions (synchronous + in-class) in a course, i.e.
two sessions, s/he will obtain a letter grade lower than that awarded by the faculty according to the curve for
the course.
• If a student misses more than 30% and up to 40% of sessions (synchronous + in-class) in a course, i.e.
three sessions, the student will receive a letter grade that is two levels lower than that awarded by the
faculty according to the curve for the course.
• If a student misses more than 40% of sessions (synchronous + in-class) in a course, i.e. four or more
sessions, the student will receive an ‘F’ grade in that course.
 Coding scheme for ALL course work

What kinds of collaborative activities are

What material can be referred to?[1]
allowed?
References/Coding Can I discuss general Can I discuss Can I refer to Can I refer to the
Scheme concepts and ideas specific issues external case-study
relevant to the associated with the material?[2] solutions or
assignment with assignment with problem set
others? others? solutions?
4N N N N N
3N- a Y N N N
3N-b N N Y N
2N-a Y Y N N
2N-b Y N Y N
2N-c N N Y Y
1N Y Y Y N
0N Y Y Y Y
As a general rule:

• Students are responsible for submitting original work that reflects their own effort and interpretation.
Remember that any submission should be your own work and should not be copied in part or verbatim
from any other source whether external or internal.
• An honour code violation is an honour code violation. A violation under coding scheme 0N is not less
severe than others. A 0N coding scheme submission is judged against a 0N coding scheme, and a 4N
coding scheme submission is judged against a 4N coding scheme; therefore, any honour code violation is
equally severe irrespective of the coding scheme of the submission.
• Students can discuss cases and assignments with the course instructor and the Academic Associate for
the course.
• Required and recommended textbooks for the course and the course pack can be used to answer any
individual or group assignment.
• Although not all submissions may be subject to academic plagiarism checker (e.g. turn-it-in), in
retrospect, if the Honour Code committee feels the need, any of the previous submissions of an individual
or a group can be subjected to turn-it-in or any other academic plagiarism checker technology.
• When in doubt, the student should contact the instructor and/or the academic associates for
clarifications.

Synchronous session recordings

As per ISB recommended policy, synchronous session recordings will not be provided.

[1]
Any referencing needs to be accompanied with appropriate citations
[2]
A non-exhaustive list includes journal articles, news items, databases, industry reports, open courseware