Founded 1905
THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
of SINGAPORE
BUSINESS SCHOOL
BMA 5112. ASIA PACIFIC BUSINESS & SOCIETY
FALL 2009.
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
The objective of the course is to develop an understanding of the business environment
in the Asia-Pacific region. The economic, political and social institutions that evolve in
this process are emphasized. The first part of the course will focus on the principles of
international trade, foreign direct investment and foreign exchange regimes. Our goal is
to develop an understanding of the socio-cultural, economic, and political underpinnings
of growth and development in the Asia-Pacific region. The second part of the course
entails country studies, which includes student presentations. Students are expected to
apply theories and frameworks learnt in the first two parts of the course to assess the
economic, social, political, trade and foreign direct investment environments of Asian
countries.
The first part of the class will develop the necessary theory and framework to explore
how various economic, social and political institutions shape the business environment.
The second part will cover firm level strategy including global expansion, international
alliance and international mergers and acquisitions. The third part will focus on specific
countries. The course is expected to be interactive and student participation will be an
integral part of the class.
EVALUATION:
Your grade for the course will be determined based on the following criteria




Class Participation
Class activities
Group Project
End of term EXAM
10%
40%
30%
20%
GENERAL GUIDELINES:
The course will be taught with a mix of seminars, discussions and case studies. The case
method requires extensive advance preparation for each class, and a significant part of the
course grade will be based on class participation. The course also involves a major team
project involving the competitive assessment of a particular industry within the Asian
region.
For the group projects, students will form groups of 3 to 4 students, with each comprising
no more than 2 student of any single nationality. Details of the group projects will be
made known in class. The content of the projects will be determined on the basis of
proposals to be submitted by week 6 of the course. Students will be given wide latitude in
selecting their projects. The following are examples of projects that can be considered:
Country

Singapore is making a big effort to emerge as a Biotechnology hub. Evaluate the
prospects of this effort.

What explains India’s competitiveness in IT? Why India is lagging behind China
in manufacturing by a big margin?

Does the concept of a hub make sense in a global and mobile world? Identify and
evaluate any industrial or service hub in Asia.

The “Death of Hong Kong” has been predicted many times. Its moribund
economy provides some support for the view that it is being eclipsed by China,
especially Shanghai. Discuss the competitiveness of Hong Kong.

Malaysia is unique in its abundant natural resources and a major Islam country in
the region. What do you see the future of Malaysia in light of its current power
struggle?

Taiwan has recently gone through a presidential election recently and the result
may just change the cross-straight relationship between China and Taiwan in all
major aspects including economic, political, and social dimensions. Please
evaluate the future of Taiwan.

Taiwan’s status as the premier global electronics manufacturing hub is being
challenged by the shift of many firms to China. Evaluate the competitiveness of
China as a location for Taiwan’s electronics sector.

Vietnam has been proclaimed as “little China” recently by many commentators.
However, doubts start to emerge in view of the steep decline of the stock market
and many economic woes including inflation etc. What is your view of the future
competitiveness of Vietnam?

Choose a specific industry for a country and discuss how it can take advantage of
outsourcing and what are the risks involved.

Choose a specific industry for a country and discuss how globalization affects this
industry.
COURSE SCHEDULE AND READINGS
1. Introduction to course
Video: Management in Chinese Cultures
Aug
17
Class activities: Forming Group
2. FDI, Outsourcing and globalization
Case discussion: Infosys Consulting in 2006:
Leading the Next Generation of Business and
Information Technology Consulting, Stanford,
SM-151, 05/16/06
Case Preparation Questions:
Aug
24
1. How well is Infosys Technologies doing?
What is the company’s strategic position in
the IT industry and what are its distinctive
competencies?
2. How would you characterize and evaluate
the most important strategic options
confronting Infosys Technologies?
3. Does Infosys Technologies’ move into the
IT consulting market make strategic sense
to you?
4. One of the challenges Steve Pratt faces is: .
How can Infosys Consulting stay ahead of
the game?. Please prepare an action plan for
Infosys Consulting .
1. “Asia's Reemergence”, Steven Radelet, Jeffrey Sachs,
Foreign Affairs, New York, Nov/Dec, 1997, Vol. 76, Iss.
6.
2. “The Myth of Asia’s Miracle”, Paul Krugman
(http://web.mit.edu/krugman/www/myth.html )
3.“The challengers” (Emerging market multinationals),
The Economist, January 12, 2008.
1.“Gravity's pull” (Information Technology in
India), The Economist, December 15, 2007
3. Diversification Strategy in Emerging Asia
Case discussion: Sime Darby Berhad (A),
HBS, 9-797-017
Case Preparation Questions:
Aug
31
1. What are the sources of competitive
advantage for a firm that is affiliated with
Sime Darby?
2. Are any of these sources of advantage
enhanced/diminished by the environmental
changes in Malaysia?
3. Should Sime Darby acquire UMBC?
Should it enter the financial services sector?
How does your response depend on your
forecast of how capital markets in Malaysia
will evolve? Please evaluate options as of
1997 (when the case was written) and as of
now.
4. Compare the role of corporate office of
Sime Darby and those of Korean business
groups such as Samsung.
5. Do business groups create value?
6. What are the potential weakness of business
groups such as Sime Darby and Samsung
and what to do about them?
1. Khanna, T. and Palepu, K. G. 1997. “Why Focused
Strategies May Be Wrong for Emerging Economies”.
Harvard Business Review
4. International Expansion Strategy 1:
Global mindset and capability
1. Alexander, M. and Korine, H. 2008. “When You
Shouldn’t Go Global”. Harvard Business Review.
Case discussion: Acer Inc.: Taiwan’s
Rampaging Dragon, HBS, 9-399-010.
Case Preparation Questions:
Sep
07
1. What motivated Acer to enter the US
market?
2. Did Acer have a strategic intent (longterm)? What was it? Does it make sense to
you?
3. How do you assess the risk of entering US?
(Could Acer bear the losses if it fails?)
4. Do you think Acer could have successfully
integrated Altos at the time?
5. Should Mr. Shih go for the Aspire project?
6. How to improve Acer’s strategic move
of going global in hindsight?
5. International Expansion Strategy 2:
Global gamesmanship and market entry
1. McMillian, I., Ven Puten, A. and McGrath, R. 2003.
“Global Gamesmanship”. Harvard Business Review.
Case discussion: Dell Computer Corp.:
Investment in Malaysia as a Global Strategic
Tool, IVY, 903M19
Case Preparation Questions:
Sep
14
Sep
21
1. Why should Dell go global? What is Dell’s
strategy in globalization?
2. How does the global strategy work for the
interest of Dell?
3. Why did Dell choose Malaysia?
6. Recess Week
7. International Alliance
Sep
28
Case discussion: Eli Lilly in India: Rethinking
the Joint Venture Strategy, IVY, 904M16
Case Preparation Questions:
1. Dyer, J. Kale, P., and Singh, H. 2001. “When to Ally
and When to Acquire”. Harvard Business Review.
1. Did Eli Lilly pursue the right strategy to
enter the Indian market?
2. How would you assess the overall
performance of the JV?
3. What did the partners learn from the JV?
Oct
05
8. China and Taiwan
1. “Survey: China”. The Economist. March 23, 2006.
Oct
12
9. Japan
1. “Survey: Japan”. The Economist. Oct 6, 2005.
10. India
1. “Survey: Business in India”. The Economist. June 1,
2006.
Oct
19
2. “Can India Overtake China”, Huang, Y. and Khanna,
T., Foreign Policy, No. 137 (Jul. - Aug., 2003), pp. 7481.
Oct
26
11. Korea
1. “Survey: South Korea”. The Economist. April 19,
2003
Nov
02
12. ASEAN
1. “Survey: Southeast Asia”. The Economist, February
12, 2000
Nov
09
13. Project presentation
Nov
16
14. Project presentation