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In July 1996, Jim Gulkin, managing director and founder of Bangkok-based Siam Canadian Foods Co. Ltd., was considering the emerging business opportunities in neighboring Burma (also known as Myanmar). Although relatively undeveloped compared to the rest of Southeast Asia, Burma had been experiencing increasing levels of foreign investment activity in recent years. Gulkin, who had considered entering Burma in the past but declined, needed to determine whether the time was now appropriate for him to enter the market.

Introduces the concept of fiscal policy.

An integrated strategy captures the synergies between competitive strategies that seek superior performance in the marketplace and nonmarket strategies that shape the competitive environment. This article extends the conceptual and analytical foundations of integrated strategy to a competitive environment structured by international trade policy. The framework is illustrated by the international trade dispute between the Eastman Kodak Co. and Fuji Photo Film Co. regarding access to the Japanese market for consumer film and photographic paper. The analysis focuses on the synergies between market and nonmarket strategies in which governments act as agents of their companies. The framework incorporates competition between the two companies in their market environment, competition in the nonmarket environment to influence their government's bargaining position, and bargaining between the governments.

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania (HSP) runs one of the nation's most important research libraries and a museum focusing on colonial history. Financial analysis shows that the society has absorbed increased costs of operation over the past decade through slow but steady depletion of its endowment and deferment of capital investments. Now the board is faced with three options: 1) continue to operate both the research library and the museum on a dwindling resource base; 2) continue to operate the research library, but deaccess the museum, using proceeds to fortify the research library; and 3) continue to operate the research library, but turn over the artifact collection to a new Philadelphia-wide museum to be created in collaboration with three other organizations.

Introduces the concept of national income accounting. This note: 1) defines GDP and provides examples; 2) discusses the differences between GDP and GNP; 3) presents both the expenditure and income decompositions of GDP; and 4) defines the relationships among net savings, net exports, and the fiscal debate.

The U.S. economy has been on the upswing for more than four years. Inflation is low, corporate profits are up, and the stock market has risen beyond anyone's dreams. Such changes are the by-product of the wrenching restructuring undergone by corporate America over the past decade--changes that indicate an apparent leap in productivity. But the picture may not be so rosy, warns Stephen B. Roach, chief economist of Morgan Stanley. The boost in productivity in recent years has been achieved by cost cutting, in particular, downsizing. And cost cutting does not produce real long-term gains in productivity. Rather, it leads to onetime increases in efficiency, as the surviving members of a workforce generate more output. Roach calls for a new productivity agenda in the United States. Public and private investment in education and technological innovation are essential. But corporate America must also swallow its medicine by rebuilding capacity and hiring new workers. A continued fixation on downsizing will wipe out opportunities for growth.

In the aftermath of World War II, the countries of the industrialized world engaged in an unprecedented round of institution-building, through which historical barriers to international trade, especially tariffs, came tumbling down. The GATT has reshaped the environment of world trade to such an extent that international trade flows have exploded. Even as global trade has become more integrated, however, a second round of institutions, regional rather than global, has emerged. The most recent and largest of the major regional institutions, NAFTA, was signed on December 17, 1992, and took effect in early 1994. This case examines the effect of this radically new institutional context on three different firms, each representing a different industry and country.

When a new banana import policy is implemented in 1993 by the European Union, Chiquita Brands International, the world's largest banana distributor, watches its sales and net income plummet. The policy, Council Regulation (EEC 404/93), uses a new tariff and quota scheme to support the import of European territory bananas and significantly reduce Latin American banana imports, Chiquita's primary business. As a result, Chiquita sustains losses totaling $400 million between 1992 and 1994. To combat the EU policy, Chiquita files a Section 301 Petition with the U.S. Trade Representative. Yet CEO Keith Linde knows that even a successful 301 investigation can produce only medium-to long-term results. In 1995, Chiquita still faces the immediate necessity of improving the company's grim financial position.

Spreadsheet supplement for case 797-015.

Updates the case. Designed as an in-class handout.

In early 1992, Mr. Eu, managing director of Kanzen Tetsu Sdn. Bhd. (KTSB), a new Malaysian producer of stainless steel tubing, received a letter from KTSB's attorney in Washington, DC, informing him that the U.S. Specialty Tube Group had written to the U.S. president concerning stainless steel tubing imported into the United States from Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Malaysia at dumped prices that was causing injury to the U.S. industry. For the next year, Mr. Eu considered how he should respond to this threat, while at the same time increasing KTSB's exports to the United States so that KTSB could meet its sales and profit goals. In March 1993, Mr. Eu was informed that a formal antidumping action had been taken against imports of stainless steel tubing from Malaysia (and other countries). Mr. Eu is considering what he should do now, both to preserve KTSB's market in the United States and maintain alternative markets in other countries.

The Royal Dutch/Shell Group of companies owns a petroleum platform, the Brent Spar, in the North Sea. The Brent Spar is an oil storage facility and tanker loading buoy. It came to the end of its useful life and was taken out of commission in September 1991. After a thorough study of the environmental impact of various disposal options, Shell concluded that deep water disposal was the safest strategy. The German arm of Greenpeace mounted an aggressive public campaign against this action, affecting public opinion to the point where Shell changed its disposal plans and opted for on-land dismantling.

Meredith Hellicar's mission as general manager of corporate development is to make TNT Ltd. one of the biggest and most diverse transport and logistic companies in the world, with approximately $5 billion in turnover in 1993, a leading provider of logistics services in Asia. The case describes the approach she used to rank countries and select China and Thailand as priority markets. She has just presented her recommendation to the board when a major independent distributor in Indonesia contacts her for a potential partnership. She has to rapidly decide how to handle this unexpected opportunity and reconsider her priorities.

Discusses the resolution of the canceled power project in Maharashtra. The contract between the American gas giant and Indian state government is renegotiated.

After taking office, South Africa's new president, Nelson Mandela, must decide whether to dismantle or support Armscor, South Africa's state-owned arms company, which has been a pillar of the apartheid regime. Complicating matters is the fact that the arms industry was South Africa's leading manufacturing exporter and a major employer. If Mandela chooses to support Armscor, the company must develop a strategy to obtain a much larger share of a rapidly declining world market.

The theory of competitive advantage is one of the most widely accepted economic principles among economists. The theory, as well as substantial historical evidence, suggest that free trade raises national income, while government intervention in trade relations generally lowers a nation's wealth. In the last few years, however, new theories have led some commentators to question this conclusion. Based on research into imperfectly competitive industries, some of the new theoretical research suggests that it is possible to increase national wealth with specific types of government intervention in trade relations. The research is referred to as the New International Economics, or Strategic Trade theory. While interesting, these trade theories are often misunderstood and used inappropriately. This note introduces four strategic theories of trade. Also discusses several critiques of these theories. A rewritten version of an earlier note.

How nations trade and whether they benefit from it are two of the oldest and most important questions in political economy. In the 170 years since David Ricardo formally developed the theory of comparative advantage, it has become one of the principles most widely accepted among professional economists. Despite this wide acceptance in the professional community, the basics of international trade are still poorly understood by many policy makers and casual commentators. This note introduces the theory of comparative advantage. It is divided into four sections. The first presents a short history of the concepts behind comparative advantage. The second develops a simple model with several examples to demonstrate the gains that result from trade between nations. The third briefly covers several extensions of the simple model. Finally, two traditional objections to free trade are reviewed. A rewritten version of an earlier note.

A new administration/government takes power in a state in India and cancels a power project agreed upon/created by the previous state government and an American-based energy company. The project cancellation is based on allegations of irregularities, exorbitant costs, and political pressures.

A large, lucrative power plant is negotiated for construction/operation by an American power company in India's evolving privatized power sector. The process of incorporating the project is captured in this case. The American company will own and operate the plant in India, which will sell power to India.

Updates China (A): The Great Awakening. To be handed out in class following discussion of the case.