“Operational Management of International Business”
Assignment: Essay on a selected topic
Word Count: 2000 +/- 10% excluding references
About the Paper of this assignment
This papers looks into the principles and practices involved in managing the operational effectiveness of enterprise conducting business in international markets. Issues explored will evolve around international expansion, operational strategies, international supply chain, quality management and distribution management.
-Assignment requires you to write a 2,000-word essay on ONEof the following three topics. Essays provide a vehicle for you to present your own views in a balanced and convincing manner.
Learning Outcome/s Being Assessed
In writing this essay, will need to:
- Demonstrate a strategic and operational understanding of global operations and logistic functions.
- Recognise organisational structures, processes and theories used in operations management areas such as international expansion, international supply chains, value chain analysis, quality control, and distribution systems.
- Appraise the realities of operating different types of production/distribution firms.
Topic options for Assignment one
- It is usually stated that ‘the structural decisions items of an operations strategy reflect the hardware of the firm, while the infrastructure decision areas represent the firm’s software’. Explain this statement and support your arguments by using different examples. Enhance your arguments by comparing and contrasting structural and infrastructural operations management decisions in terms of the time horizons and capital investments requirements.
- ‘The stage theories of internationalization reflect a rationale of gradually reducing the risks of internationalization’. Why is this statement formed, and do you agree with this? What are the risks that firms aim to mitigate when internationalizing their business and how the different internationalization stages help firms to minimize these risks?
- Market access and resource-seeking are two generic strategies for international expansion. With the increasing importance of the Chinese economy to the world economy, multinational companies from over the world have expanded into the Chinese market. Does entry into the Chinese market represent a market access strategy, a resource-seeking strategy or both? Support you arguments by using relevant examples of companies that have internationalized their business in China.
Assignment Marking Criteria
- Formatting and presentation of assignment
- Referencing, sufficient and precise
- Structure and language expression
- Demonstration of critical analysis and integration of relevant concepts and theories
- Examples and research
Assignment Writing Guidelines
Type in regular 12 point Times New Roman (Calibri and Palatino Linotype are also fine) font. All headings and sub-headings can be in bold.
- A4 paper, 1” (2.5 cm) margin all round.
- Use either 1.5 or double spacing between lines.
- Number all pages.
- Please note that assignments must be kept within the constraints of the word limits. Assignments that are over or under the word limits may be penalized.
Referencing At least 13
- All sources must be correctly cited (APA 6th edition style is required) and carefully acknowledged
- References need to be relevant and substantive
All references used for the assignment must appear in a ‘References’ section at the end of the assignment.