IBUS1101 Global Business

How IBUS1101 is assessed

What IBUS1101 covers

The unit moves from the global setting to firm-level choices. It begins with production and market globalisation, then builds internationalisation, strategy and culture lenses before applying them to country risk, entry, trade and investment. The closing chapters connect emerging-market capability, value-chain configuration and organisational design.

It then moves to the focal firm: why organisations internationalise, how learning and networks affect the pace of expansion, and how cultural, administrative, geographic and economic distance creates different kinds of uncertainty. Strategy is taught as fit among industry forces, firm resources and country conditions.

That logic supports the unit's recurring choices between global integration and local responsiveness, standardisation and adaptation, low-commitment entry and ownership. Later chapters explain trade theories, foreign direct investment, emerging-market multinationals, value-chain location, outsourcing, offshoring and the structures used to coordinate multinational activity.

The most useful study habit is to treat each framework as a decision tool. Five Forces locates industry pressure, CAGE separates distance, Hall, Hofstede and GLOBE generate cultural hypotheses, entry-mode analysis allocates control and commitment, trade theories explain distinct patterns, and FDI theory links firm advantage to host location and internalisation. Assessment rewards integration rather than definition recall.

The individual Case Analysis asks for a coherent argument around a supplied case, while the group report and presentation require a shared firm, host-country and product recommendation. Tutorial participation and the early quiz reward steady weekly preparation.

This guide uses original fictional firms and fresh scenarios so you can practise selecting evidence, comparing alternatives and defending a feasible recommendation without reproducing a university task or case.

Worked example · free

Select a foreign-market entry route for a process-based food brand

Key terms

Globalisation of production

The cross-border distribution of sourcing, design, manufacturing or service activities within a value chain.

Globalisation of markets

The increasing connection of national demand into a wider marketplace through trade, investment and communication.

Liability of foreignness

The additional cost and disadvantage a firm faces because it operates outside its familiar home environment.

Psychic distance

Perceived differences that make a foreign market harder for managers to understand and interpret.

Born-global firm

A venture that enters foreign markets soon after inception using innovation, international orientation and partner networks.

CAGE distance

A framework that separates cultural, administrative, geographic and economic distance between countries.

Local responsiveness

Pressure to adjust products, processes or decisions to host-country preferences, institutions and channels.

Internalisation

Keeping a value-chain activity inside the firm when contracting would create control, quality or knowledge risks.

Comparative advantage

Relative production efficiency that can support specialisation and trade even without absolute advantage.

Foreign direct investment

Investment that establishes productive or marketing facilities and managerial participation in another country.

FDI stock

The accumulated value of foreign-owned productive assets measured at a point in time.

Offshoring

Moving an activity to another country while ownership may remain internal or external.

Outsourcing

Moving an activity outside the firm's organisational boundary while its location may remain domestic or foreign.

IBUS1101 FAQ

Questions students ask in each IBUS1101 chapter

How are production and market globalisation different?

Production globalisation describes where inputs and activities are located, while market globalisation describes where demand and sales connect. A firm may source globally while selling domestically, or sell widely while keeping most production at home, so both dimensions should be stated. Chapter 01 · Globalisation of Production and Markets

What does the Uppsala model predict?

It predicts that firms often reduce uncertainty through market experience and relationships before increasing commitment or entering more distant markets. The sequence is an explanation of learning, not a rigid rule that every company must follow in identical stages. Chapter 02 · Internationalisation Paths and Distance

What does Five Forces explain?

It explains structural pressure from suppliers, buyers, substitutes, entrants and rivalry, helping a firm locate where industry value is captured or eroded. It does not by itself explain why one company outperforms another or whether implementation capability exists. Chapter 03 · Competitive and International Strategy

Why is culture compared with an iceberg?

Visible behaviour and customs reveal only part of culture. Values, beliefs, meanings and expectations are less visible and require time and interaction to understand. The metaphor warns managers against treating an observed action as a complete explanation. Chapter 04 · Culture and Cross-Border Adaptation

What makes country risk firm-specific?

Different business models are exposed through different assets, contracts, inputs and revenues. A movable sales office and an immobile production plant face different consequences from the same policy change, so country indicators must be mapped to the focal firm's actual operating design. Chapter 05 · Country Risk and Institutional Environments

Is more control always better?

No. Control is valuable only when it protects a relevant capability or coordinates an activity that contracts cannot handle reliably. Greater ownership also concentrates capital, management burden and country exposure, so the recommendation should justify why lower-control modes are insufficient. Chapter 06 · Foreign Market Entry Decisions

How does comparative advantage differ from absolute advantage?

Absolute advantage asks who can produce with fewer resources. Comparative advantage asks who gives up less of another output, so trade can benefit two countries even when one is absolutely more efficient in both products, subject to the model's assumptions. Chapter 07 · International Trade Theories and Policy

How is direct investment different from portfolio investment?

Direct investment establishes productive or marketing facilities and managerial participation in another country. Portfolio investment purchases foreign financial instruments primarily for return without the same operating presence and control, so it creates different strategic decisions. Chapter 08 · Foreign Direct Investment

Why is the emerging-market label insufficient?

Countries differ in size, income, reform, infrastructure, institutional quality and market access. The label does not tell a firm whether reachable demand exists or which capability is required, so analysis must identify the specific opportunity and institutional constraint. Chapter 09 · Emerging Markets and Outward Investment

Can an activity be offshored without outsourcing?

Yes. A company can perform an activity in its own foreign subsidiary, changing geography while retaining ownership. It can also outsource an activity to a domestic provider, changing the organisational boundary without moving the work abroad. Chapter 10 · MNE Strategy and Global Value Chains

Why should structure follow strategy?

Structure allocates decision authority, groups expertise and moves information. A global strategy usually needs tighter integration, while a multidomestic strategy needs local discretion. When authority contradicts the strategy, the organisation cannot deliver the intended balance. Chapter 11 · MNE Structure and International Operations

How to prepare for the assessments

Build revision around decisions, not isolated definitions. After each teaching week, add one row to a framework router: the question the model answers, the evidence it needs, the assumption that limits it, and one decision it can change. Keep a second page for the focal firm. Change the host country, product, capability or policy condition and rewrite the recommendation in four sentences.

That practice makes integration visible because culture affects adaptation, country risk affects entry, entry affects investment, and strategy affects structure. For the Case Analysis, begin with an issue tree and gather evidence under the issues rather than under framework names.

For group work, agree on the decision, vocabulary and evidence standard before dividing research, then conduct a red-team review in which one member argues for the strongest alternative. Tutorial preparation should produce one question and one applied example, not a highlighted reading alone.

Before submission, trace every recommendation backward to a mechanism and source, check that implementation ownership is named, and state the condition that would change the choice.

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