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This case describes and analyzes the negotiations surrounding the U.S.–Thailand free trade agreement (FTA) that never materialized. The case offers an excellent opportunity to discuss the complexities of trade negotiations, the welfare analyses of FTAs (with trade diversion and creation), and the growth of FTAs and customs unions (CUs) as opposed to multilateral trade liberalizations.

In 2017, it was a challenge to assess the future of global trade. It was an open question whether the US financial crisis and the recession that it triggered would mark a turning point for the liberal post–World War II world order. If one looked toward Europe, China, Latin America, and Japan, there was a flurry of activity. New trade agreements were being completed and pursued. In Washington, DC, on the other hand, President Donald Trump seemed set on ripping apart and/or renegotiating any trade deal the United States was ever part of.

This case explores Trump's opinions and emerging policy stance on trade, bilateralism, and the global economy, among others. It also gives an overview of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and asks whether the Trump presidency would constitute a major challenge to the WTO and what it stood for in 2017.

This case invites students to assess the impact that Brexit, the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union, might have on a New York–based hedge fund's portfolio and, specifically, its UK assets. The case is designed to prompt students to make market assumptions and investment hypotheses based on a combination of numerical data and qualitative information. It requires no numerical computations; instead, it asks the student to interpret both markets' short-term reactions to the Brexit vote and strategy shifts from UK and European business leaders in order to evaluate longer-term implications for the economies of the United Kingdom, Europe, and the world.

This case study was intended for MBA/postgraduate level courses, or for high-level executive courses. It provided a complex international business context to analyse the intricacies and dependencies between emerging regions, wherein a company (Grupo M) established an entire manufacturing cluster and invested all its assets in a place that has never hosted any industrial activity – in a country whose culture and traditions differed significantly from those of the neighbouring country that provided the investment. The case included a discussion of the negotiations that a private company undertook with two governments (Haiti and the Dominican Republic) to secure access to the free-zone facilities granted by the importing countries.

The case could be seen as a stimulating international business context to examine central tenets around “shared value creation” (Porter and Kramer, 2011): the practice of creating economic value in a way that also creates value for society by addressing its needs and challenges. As per these authors, there are three ways to create shared value: by reconceiving products and markets, by redefining productivity in the value chain and by enabling local cluster development. The latter is the one best exemplified in this case. Additionally, the case brought intriguing insights on international business that can be related to ethics, corporate social responsibility and its many facets (Banerjee, 2007), as well as concepts around “responsible lobbying” (Anastasiadis et al., 2018).

This case presented the expansion challenges of CODEVI, a Dominican company, which established and operated an industrial (free zone) park in Haiti. Grupo M decided to move its operations when The World Trade Organization eliminated the quota system for apparel imported from the Far East Countries, and its CEO, Fernando Capellán, foresaw that the Dominican Republic would soon become non-competitive. At the time, an agreement between the US and Haiti, which gave preferential access to production from this extremely poor country, was being negotiated. In 2003, there were two sleepy towns at the Haitian-Dominican border: Dajabón, with about 18,000 inhabitants in the Dominican side, and Ounaminthe in Haiti, with about 40,000 inhabitants (with 90 per cent unemployment and over 80 per cent living below the extreme poverty line) on the Haitan side. These two locations were at the heart of a case that narrated how a complex international business operation resulted in an industrial park that has enjoyed considerable economic success, while simultaneously improving dramatically the living conditions of both border towns: Dajabón now has about 35,000 inhabitants and was a booming town, with a prosperous middle class; Ounaminthe now had 170,000 inhabitants (17,000 work directly at CODEVI), and was a city that essentially remained outside the chaos that often plagues the rest of Haiti. Additionally, a major impact of CODEVI was that it stopped the area’s illegal emigration of Haitians to the Dominican Republic, one of the Dominican Republic’s most pressing problems. But as the CODEVI industrial park has no area to expand, a decision must be made to either expand next to the present park, or at one of the three sister towns along the border. Such a park would have to be built from nothing, as was the case for CODEVI almost two decades ago.

MBA, executive and postgraduate.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 5: International Business.

Business Management, Global Marketing Strategy, Strategic Management, International Business, International Management.

The case is suitable for undergraduate and post-graduate business and management students. The case is based on secondary data collection and all the facts are real.

The expected learning outcomes include the selection of a foreign market; the determinants of the foreign mode of entry strategy; the process of integrating an internationalization strategy; how to choose the most appropriate partner; and the monitoring of international markets. The case provides a space to think about practice and help learners, therefore, to connect theory and practice.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

This case describes the challenges faced by Amul in organising dairy farmers into a co-operative and creating continuous opportunities for value addition. Participants in the case discussion are required to review the developments in the organisation and recommend a strategy for the future.

This case features a prominent antidumping case in the United States against six of its major foreign shrimp suppliers. The case fits well in a discussion and analysis of the (welfare) consequences of protectionism, the basic case for free trade, and the political economy of protectionism.

Emerging Markets.

Undergraduate, Masters.

Pacari Chocolate is the flagship brand of SKS Farms CIA Ltda., located in Quito, Ecuador. The company specializes in organic chocolate production which it sells in Ecuador and exports to other Latin American, European and North American markets. The company began operation in 2002, founded by Carla Barbotó and her husband Santiago Peralta. Carla is the Director of SKS and Santiago is General Manager. The case is set just after Santiago negotiated a deal to supply Emirates Airlines with mini bars to be distributed to flight passengers. Santiago is excited about this new deal, which will provide a new revenue stream, enhance brand image and potentially create new customers. Carla and Santiago pursue excellence with their products, as evidenced by over 160 awards, many globally recognized. However, their mission is also very much social in that they seek to improve the lives of Andean farmers, indigenous peoples and broader Ecuadorean society. The principle author uses this case in a course on innovative approaches to engaging emerging market opportunities, in which shared (social + economic) value and the formation of strong national industries are key outcomes, to be addressed through complementary market and non-market entrepreneurship strategies.

Expected learning outcomes are as follows: to identify the contextual challenges faced by an emerging market firm, and explain what must be done to overcome them; to identify the role of a firm in developing a national competency in an agricultural product industry; to demonstrate the creation of “shared value” and examine how the social mission of a company can reinforce and sustain its economic value creating activities; and to generate and evaluate options for developing international markets when a firm has limited resources to invest in marketing activities.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

Since 1981, the U.S. federal government has operated a price support program to help sugar beet and sugar cane producers and processors. This complex program works through a combination of loans, import quotas, and duties. As a result, sugar prices in the United States are significantly higher than world prices. For example, in December 2001, U.S. consumers paid 22.9 cents per pound, while the world price was just 9 cents per pound. The General Accounting Office estimates that the total cost to consumers is $1.9 billion a year. Uses a simple demand-and-supply framework with real-world data to assess the economic and political consequences of the U.S. sugar program.

To illustrate welfare concepts such as consumer surplus, producer surplus, and dead-weight loss in a concrete, real-world market context.

This case tackles the diaper industry in a developing country and can be applied to three different undergraduate or graduate level courses, including Marketing Management, Strategic Management, and Operations and Supply Chain Management. The case describes the industry, the manufacturing process, along with detailed information about Novatis Group's business and functions and the overall improving economic environment in Morocco.

The Novatis Group case has several objectives that can be applied to three different courses within undergraduate and graduate studies including Marketing Management, Strategic Management, and Operations and Supply Chain Management.

The case focuses on Novatis Group, a diaper manufacturing company located in Morocco which competes against multinational companies (MNCs) such as Procter and Gamble and Kimberly Clark in order to satisfy the rising diaper needs of the country. Morocco is a developing country that is strengthening its manufacturing industries. The rising economic conditions have given way to a growing middle class and an increased demand for disposable baby diapers. Novatis uses two distribution channels for the diapers: the multi-tiered distribution channel and the streamlined (straight to retailer) channel. Novatis Group is producing diapers at full capacity; still demand has exceeded supply.

Students will understand the business processes in a developing country and how a small, local company can compete against large MNCs.

Teaching notes are available, please consult your Librarian to access.