KCJK009 Business Assignments (Case Studies) - Part 5

School of Business Administration in Karvina
Winter 2008
Extent and Intensity
0/3/0. 2 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Ing. Pavel Brunda (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Ing. Pavel Brunda
Department of Tourism and Leisure Activities – School of Business Administration in Karvina
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 16 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives (in Czech)
Předmět obsahuje šest mezinárodních případových studií. Cílem těchto studií je umožnit studentům na úrovni intermediate - uppre-intermediate seznámit se s podnikatelskou problematikou, přičemž zdokonalí plynulost ve všech jazykových dovednostech, tj. mluvení, poslechu, čtení a psaní. Metoda případových studií byla vybrána, protože umožní studentům účastnit se přímo řešení vlastních problémů. Studenti představují a obhajují své myšlenky v angličtině, jsou nuceni přemýšlet v cizím jazyce, výuka není orientována na jazyk ale na věcnou stránku problému, studenti přebírají zodpovědnost za učení. Cílem předmětu tedy je zdokonalení jazykových dovedností v kontextu odborných problémů.
Syllabus (in Czech)
  • 1. FITZBURG TYRE COMPANY
    True construction inefficiency or a clash of cultures?
    Background: Mexican construction site, Cuernavaca; construction behind the schedule.
    Dialogue: Max Bierman, Construction manager; Sanches Garcia, Chief engineer
    Exhibits: Memo from Garcia to Bireman, Memo from Bireman to Garcia; Bierman's Report to Head Office, Memo from Garcia to Bireman.
    Discussion.
    Role play: Bierman and Garcia meeting - i) before the April progress report, ii) after the April progress report, iii) after Bierman's proposed changes, Bierman, Garcia and Block, Vice-President for Overseas Operations.
    2. WILSON CHEMICALS LTD
    Bribery and business in Ghana
    Background: British subsidiary in Ghana, sound sales history, discrepancies in accounting discovered.
    Dialogue: George Teele, Vice-president, International Division; Gerald Howard, President; Ian Thomas, Director, West African Division.
    Exhibits: Financial Report on Ghana Division; Letter from Okono to Howard, Ghanaian Gross Sales.
    Discussion.
    Role plays: Teele, Howard, Thomas, explaining the missing money; Okono, Johnson discuss strategy for dealing with the parent company's concern; Howard and Teele discuss the situation.
    3. MILLARS BANK LTD.
    Equal opportunity and cultural relativism
    Background: United Arab Emirates, successful loan officer to be replaced.
    Dialogue: P.D. Smothers, bank manager; Janet Marsh, new loan officer; right person for the job.
    Exhibits: Telex from T.R. Duncan, Vice-President, to Smothers; Resume of Janet Marsh, Sieries of telexes between Duncan and Smothers; Letter from Marsh to Smothers.
    Discussion
    Role plays: Marsh and Smothers, i) upon arrival in Abu Dhabi, ii) after firts week on the job, iii) after three months on the job; Marsh and Abu Dhabi businessman, loan for 4m pounds; Smothers and Duncan on the phone.
    4. LECLERC MACHINES de CUISINE
    A problem of parallel import
    Background: French manufacturer of food processors, representation in USA, Creative Cuisines, Inc.; unauthorised sales within an exclusively territory (Reliable Restaurants).
    Dialogue: Bill Lewis, President Creative Cuisines, Inc.; Marie Dominic, attorney representing Creative Cuisines, Inc., a parallel import problem.
    Exhibits: Letter from Dominic to Albert Rose, Reliable Restaurants; Reliable Restaurants ad; Letter by Leclerc to all distributors; Memo from Jane Watson, Sales Manager to Lewis; Memo from Watson to Sales Department, Letter from Lewis to Sandra Jordan, Account Executive.
    Discussion.
    Role plays: Lewis discovered Reliable's parallel imports - three calls i) to Dominic, ii) Jost (in France), iii) to the Canadian Distributor; Lewis meeting with the staff, discuss the best strategy.
    5. TANAKA KOMUTEN COMPANY LTD.
    Diversification versus centralisation
    Background: large Japanese general contractor reputable for excellence in design and construction of office, commercial and public buildings, nondiversified character of the company, wordlwide decline in building construction, problems of expansion to other areas of construction.
    Dialogue: A joint venture consideration; Tom Jameson President Atlas Engineering and Construction; Kenji Taniguchi, Managing director, Tanaka Komuten; Ruichi Tanaka, President, Tanaka Komuten.
    Exhibits: Summary of main points of Jameson's proposal; Status of projects undertaken by Tanaka Komuten; Ten-year growth summary of gross sales, Breakdown of types of construction, Financial and statistical summary of Atlas Engineering and Construction.
    Discussion.
    Role plays: Jameson discussing future projects with i) Tanaka Komuten, ii) the managers of Atlas; Jameson presenting his report to the board of directors; Tanaka and an overseas client about a new building.
    6. HARDING TOOL CORPORATION
    Barter on an international scale
    Background: American manufacturer of large and small machine tools faces problems
Literature
    required literature
  • CHRISTOPHER, S. L. Case Studies in International Management. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1995. ISBN 0-13-119298-1. info
  • KOTLER, O. Marketing management. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1991. ISBN 0-89879-472-2. info
    recommended literature
  • ROBINSON, C. Effective Negotiating. London: Kogan Page, 1996. ISBN 01 0329876543. info
  • COMFORT, J. Effective negotiations. London: Oxford University Press, 1996. ISBN 0 19 457 093 2. info
  • COMFORT, J. Effective socialising. London: Oxford University Press, 1996. ISBN 0 19 457 096 7. info
  • CHRISTOPHER, E. Negotiating Skills for Business. London: Kogan Page, 1996. ISBN 0-07-557120-X. info
  • LAND, G. Business Reading. London: Longman, 1991. ISBN 80-85784-98-X. info
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course can also be completed outside the examination period.
General note: původní hodnocení: souborná zkouška.
The course is also listed under the following terms Winter 2007, Summer 2009.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Winter 2008, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.slu.cz/course/opf/winter2008/KCJK009