1. Course website: http://www.chenzitian.net/teaching/MGMT3275/
MGMT
Friday Discussions
Course website:

2. Case background
Assuming you are part of the strategic planning team at Uber for its next foreign expansion. Uber has already established its operations in many parts of the world.
The current locations:
After careful examination of the rest of the world where Uber currently does not have active operations, you conclude that Iceland is a highly potential market, but you are not sure.
Before you present your plans and suggestions to the C-suite, you want to come up with a slides proposal, considering all pros and cons, opportunities and risks.
Each week, you sit down with your team to discuss the issues and summarize your weekly discussions into one or two PPT slides. due in three months.
In the last week, you will accumulate and synthesize all the slides together into a recommendation for the C-suite.

3. Week2 – 8/31 What is this company about? What is its main business?
Where are its major customers, domestically or globally?

4. Week3 – 9/7
What are the major competitive advantages (and disadvantages) of this company vis-à-vis the major domestic and global competitors?
1. Discuss what are the top N dimensions that are vital for Uber’s industry, list them below
2. Compare Uber with its local competitors in these N dimensions
3. Circle the areas in which Uber is a leader, and others in which Uber is a laggard
Uber
Lyft
Taxi
Public transit
Own 1 2 3 4 5 … N

5. Week4 – 9/14
What are the major firm-specific advantages (FSAs) (and disadvantages FSdAs) of this company vis-à-vis the major domestic and global competitors?
Step1: Shortlist the competitive advantages from last week to only FSAs (and FSdAs).
Step2: What are the boundaries for each of the FSAs (and FSdAs)?
Step3: Present your findings below.
Geographic boundedness
Demographic boundedness
Sociocultural boundedness
Financial/economic boundedness
Legal/political boundedness
Other boundedness
FSAs 1 2 3 … N

6. Week5 – 9/21
What are the location-specific characteristics (both strengths and weaknesses) of your proposed new global market (pick one country), where you plan to expand your company into? Organize your findings in the table below in corresponding to the context boundary table of the last slide.
Discuss in bulletin point each major characteristic in relations to your FSAs?
Is each one supporting or constraining your FSAs? That is, is it falling inside the context boundaries in the context boundary table of the last slide?
So in conclusion, is this market a good pick? What are the fits and what are the misfits between these location-specific characteristics and the boundaries of your FSAs?
Geographic boundedness
Demographic boundedness
Sociocultural boundedness
Financial/economic boundedness
Legal/political boundedness
Other boundedness
Your target market’s location characteristics 1 2 3 … N

7. Week6 – 9/28
In terms of the disadvantages of your market location, how many of them are due to the open-market (vs. internal control) uncertainties and risks?
How many of them can be avoided by internalizing (controlling) the market inside your company?

8. Week7 – 10/5
Synthesis of your PPT works for the first half of the semester into a coherent report.

9. Target’s regional comparator
Week8 – 10/12
Please compare US, your target foreign market (e.g., Iceland), a top comparator in the target region (e.g., Europe) where Uber has already established a subsidiary (e.g., UK) in the following measures: US
Target
Target’s regional comparator
2018 Heritage Foundation Index:
1) Overall economic freedom
2) Investment freedom
3) Labor freedom
4) Business freedom
World Bank Doing Business database:
1) # of procedures and days to start a business
2) % of adults covered by credit bureau
3) Max. # of months of fixed-term labor contracts
Hofstede’s cultural dimensions website:
1) Individualism vs. collectivism score
2) Power distance score
World Values Survey, use the closest country in the linguistic family if this country is not covered:
1) % of people think work is “very important” in life
2) % of people think family is “very important” in life
3) % of people mentioned “would not like to have immigrants/foreign workers as neighbors”
4) % of people “strongly agree” or “agree” that “men make better business executives than women”

10. Week9 – 10/19
Analyzing the financial/economic environment differences of your picked global market from the US (or wherever your current major market is) in detail through their effects on the net present value (NPV) of your foreign investments.
Scenario (see NPV table)
You are making an initial FDI of 140,090 (in local currency) in year 2018 in your target market, including 120,000 (in local currency) depreciable assets. Annual depreciation is 24,000 (in local currency). Salvage value in 2023 (if exit) if 30,000 (in local currency).
Your assignment: find and calculate the following indicators
Cost of capital in local currency
Your target market inflation rate (mean)
Tax rate on profits in your target market
Capital gain tax in your target market
Spot exchange rate 2018
Net present value in 2018 (in local currency) %
1 USD=

11. Week10 – 10/26
Analyzing the legal/political environment differences of your picked global market from the US (or wherever your current major market is) in detail.

12. Week11 – 11/2
Analyzing the sociocultural environment differences of your picked global market from the US (or wherever your current major market is) in detail.

13. Week12 – 11/9
Are there any existing/potential disruptors to your industry?
How would they affect your businesses? How do you prepare for the disruptors?

14. Week13 – 11/16
Synthesis of your PPT works for the second half of the semester into a coherent report.

15. Week15 – 11/30
Synthesis of your PPT works for both halves of the semester into a coherent report.

16. Week16 – 12/5 Final presentation (10 minutes each team)
Grade points of this semester-long project in the class:
[1] Team presentation: 12% (6% materials + 6% presentation)
[2] The final example (individual): 20%
The final example will be open-book, written example in the classroom. All questions are related to the semester-long simulation project.
It will consist of 10 single-choice questions (1% each x 10 = 10), and two short-essay questions (5% x 2 = 12).