Question: An investment agreement spells out specific rights

> Identify each party to a letter of credit (L/C), and indicate its responsibility.

> What is the major difference between “currency risk” and “risk of noncompletion”? How are these risks handled in a typical international trade transaction?

> Explain the difference between a letter of credit (L/C) and a draft. How are they linked?

> What methods might the U.S. Internal Revenue Service use to determine whether allocations of distributed overhead are being fairly allocated to foreign subsidiaries?

> What is the difference between a “management fee”, a “technical assistance fee”, and a “license fee for patent usage”? Should they be treated differently for income tax purposes?

> Should the anticipated internal rate of return (IRR) for a proposed foreign project be compared to (1) alternative home country proposals, (2) returns earned by local companies in the same industry and/or risk class, or (3) both? Justify your answer.

> What are the differences between a “license fee” and a “royalty fee”? Do you think license and royalty fees should be covered by the tax rules that regulate transfer pricing? Why?

> Subsidiary Alpha in Country Able faces a 40% income tax rate. Subsidiary Beta in Country Baker faces only a 20% income tax rate. At present each subsidiary imports from the other an amount of goods and services exactly equal in monetary value to what eac

> In the context of unbundling cash flows from subsidiary to parent, explain how each of the following creates a conduit. What are the tax consequences of each? a. Imports of components from the parent. b. Payment to cover overhead expenses of parent manag

> What does this term mean? Why would unbundling be needed for international cash flows from foreign subsidiaries, but not for domestic cash flows between related domestic subsidiaries and their parent?

> Each of the following factors is sometimes a constraint on the free movement of funds internationally. Why would a government impose such a constraint? How might the management of a multinational argue that such a constraint is not in the best interests

> Answer the following: a. How can an MNE diversify operations? b. How can an MNE diversify financing?

> What is the difference between a foreign branch and a foreign subsidiary of a home-country bank?

> During the era of the French franc, France imposed a rule on its banks and subsidiaries of international companies operating in France that precluded those subsidiaries from netting cash flow obligations between France and non-French related entities. Wh

> Electro-Beam Company generates and disburses cash in the currencies of four countries, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. What would be the characteristics you might consider if charged with designing a centralized cash depository system for Ele

> The operating cash cycle of a multinational firm goes from cash collection from customers, cash holding for anticipated transaction needs (the transaction motive for holding cash), possible cash repositioning into another currency, and eventual cash disb

> Capital projects provide both operating cash flows and financial cash flows. Why are operating cash flows preferred for domestic capital budgeting, but financial cash flows given major consideration in international projects?

> Explain the difference between the “transaction motive” and the “precautionary motive” for holding cash.

> What are the advantages of a free trade zone? Are there any disadvantages?

> Merlin Corporation of the United States imports raw material from Indonesia on terms of 2/10, net 30. Merlin expects a 36% devaluation of the Indonesian rupiah at any moment. Should Merlin take the discount? Discuss aspects of the problem.

> Why might the time lag for intramultinational firm accounts receivable and payable (that is, all received or paid to a parent or sister subsidiary) differ substantially from the time lags reported for transactions with unaffiliated companies?

> Japanese industry is often praised for its “just-in-time” inventory practice between industrial buyers and industrial sellers. In the context of the “Day’s Receivables” turnover in Exhibit 19.5, what is the comparative impact of the “just-in-time” system

> Roberts and Sons, Inc., of Great Britain has just purchased inventory items costing kroner 1,000,000 from a Swedish supplier. The supplier has quoted terms 3/15, net 45. Under what conditions might Roberts and Sons reasonably take the discount, and when

> Merck is an MNE that has undertaken contractual hedging of its operating exposure. a. How do they accomplish this task? b. What assumptions do they make in order to justify contractual hedging of their operating exposure? c. How effective is such contra

> Assume a firm purchases inventory with one foreign currency and sells it for another foreign currency, neither currency being the home currency of the parent or subsidiary where the manufacturing process takes place. What can the firm do to reduce the am

> Is any accounting exposure created during the course of a firm’s operating cycle?

> Is any operating exposure created during the course of a firm’s operating cycle?

> Financial strategies are directly related to the OLI Paradigm. a. Explain how proactive financial strategies are related to OLI. b. Explain how reactive financial strategies are related to OLI.

> Assuming the flow illustrated in Exhibit 19.1, where does transaction exposure begin and end if inputs are purchased with one currency at t1, and proceeds from the sale are received at t5? Is there more than one interval of transaction exposure?

> As a financial manager, would you prefer that the accounts payable period end before, at the same time, or after the beginning of the accounts receivable period? Explain.

> Exhibit 19.1 shows the accounts payable period to be longer than the inventory period. Could this be otherwise, and what would be the cash implications?

> The operating cycle of a firm, domestic or multinational, consists of the following four time periods. For each of these periods, explain whether a cash outflow or a cash inflow is associated with the beginning and the end of the period. a. Quotation per

> In the context of unbundling cash flows from subsidiary to parent, why might a host government be more lenient in its treatment of fees than its treatment of dividends? What difference does it make to the subsidiary and to the parent?

> The OLI Paradigm is an attempt to create an overall framework to explain why MNEs choose FDI, rather than serve foreign markets through alternative modes. Explain what is meant by the O, the L, and the I of the paradigm.

> A strongly competitive home market can sharpen a firm’s competitive advantage relative to firms located in less competitive markets. Explain what is meant by the “competitive advantage of nations.”

> Explain briefly how economies of scale and scope can be developed in production, marketing, finance, research and development, transportation, and purchasing.

> In deciding whether to invest abroad, management must first determine whether the firm has a sustainable competitive advantage that enables it to compete effectively in the home market. What are the necessary characteristics of this competitive advantage

> MNEs strive to take advantage of market imperfections in national markets for products, factors of production, and financial assets. Large international firms are better able to exploit such imperfections. What are their main competitive advantages?

> What is the essence of the theory of comparative advantage?

> As a firm evolves from purely domestic into a true multinational enterprise, it must consider (1) its competitive advantages, (2) its production location, (3) the type of control it wants to have over any foreign operations, and (4) how much monetary cap

> The United States has a law prohibiting U.S. firms from bribing foreign officials and business persons, even in countries where bribery is a normal practice. Some U.S. firms claim this places the United States at a disadvantage compared to host-country f

> a. What are the traditional methods for countries to implement protectionism? b. What are some typical non-tariff barriers to trade? c. How can MNEs overcome host country protectionism?

> a. Why should a foreign project be evaluated from both a project and a parent viewpoint? b. Which viewpoint, project or parent, gives results closer to the traditional meaning of net present value in capital budgeting? c. Which viewpoint gives results c

> Respond to the following: a. Define protectionism and identify the industries that are typically protected. b. Explain the “infant industry” argument for protectionism.

> What is the primary difference between losses from transaction exposure, operating exposure, and translation exposure?

> Identify and explain the main types of cultural and institutional risks, except protectionism.

> Define the following terms: a. Transfer risk. b. Blocked funds.

> The following operating strategies, among others, are expected to reduce damage from political risk. Explain each, and how it reduces damage. a. Local sourcing. b. Facility location. c. Control of technology. d. Thin equity base. e. Multiple-source borro

> Answer the following questions: a. What is OPIC? b. What types of political risks can OPIC insure against?

> Answer the following questions: a. What is meant by the term “governance risk”? b. What is the most important type of governance risk?

> The term “cross-border strategic alliance” conveys different meanings to different observers. What are the meanings?

> What are the advantages and disadvantages of serving a foreign market through a greenfield foreign direct investment compared to an acquisition of a local firm in the target market?

> Capital budgeting for a foreign project is considerably more complex than the domestic case. What are the factors that add complexity?

> What are the advantages and disadvantages of forming a joint venture to serve a foreign market compared to serving that market with a wholly owned production subsidiary?

> What are the advantages and disadvantages of licensing and management contracts compared to producing abroad?

> What is hyperinflation, and what are the consequences for translating foreign financial statements?

> What are the advantages and disadvantages of limiting a firm’s activities to exporting compared to producing abroad?

> The decision about where to invest abroad is influenced by behavioral factors. a. Explain the behavioral approach to FDI. b. Explain the international network theory explanation of FDI.

> The currency risk associated with international diversification is a serious concern for portfolio managers. Is it possible for currency risk ever to benefit the portfolio’s return?

> How, according to portfolio theory, is the risk of the portfolio measured exactly?

> What types of risk are present in a diversified portfolio? Which type of risk remains after the portfolio has been diversified?

> How does the diversification of a portfolio change its expected returns and expected risks? Is this in principle any different for internationally diversified portfolios?

> When you are constructing your portfolio, you know you want to include Cementos de Mexico (Mexico), but you cannot decide whether you wish to hold it in the form of ADRs traded on the NYSE, or directly through purchases on the Mexico City Bolsa. a. Does

> Explain how currency swaps can hedge foreign exchange operating exposure. What are the accounting advantages of currency swaps?

> Firms with operations and assets across the globe, true MNEs, are in many ways as international in composition as the most internationally diversified portfolio of unrelated securities. Why do investors not simply invest in MNEs traded on their local exc

> As the newest member of the asset allocation team in your firm, you constantly find yourself being quizzed by your fellow group members. The topic is international diversification. One analyst asks you the following question: Security prices are driven

> Conceptually, how do the Sharpe and Treynor performance measures define risk differently? Which do you believe is a more useful measure in an internationally diversified portfolio?

> The key to managing operating exposure at the strategic level is for management to recognize a disequilibrium in parity conditions when it occurs, and to be prepositioned to react most appropriately. How can this task best be accomplished?

> The benefits of portfolio construction, domestically or internationally, arise from the lack of correlation among assets and markets. The increasing globalization of business is expected to change these correlations over time. How do you believe they wil

> When asked why they do not internationally diversify their portfolios, answer that “the risks are not worth the expected returns.” Using the theory of international diversification, how would you evaluate this statement?

> If the primary benefit of portfolio diversification is risk reduction, is the investor always better off choosing the portfolio with the lowest expected risk?

> Define in words (without graphics) how the optimal domestic portfolio is constructed.

> Nations typically structure their tax systems along one of two basic approaches: the worldwide approach or the territorial approach. Explain these two approaches and how they differ from each other.

> a. Define the term “tax neutrality.” b. What is the difference between domestic neutrality and foreign neutrality? c. What are a country’s objectives when determining tax policy on foreign-source income?

> Capital budgeting for a foreign project uses the same theoretical framework as does domestic capital budgeting. What are the basic steps in domestic capital budgeting?

> What is meant by the term “tax morality”?

> Why do the U.S. tax authorities tax passive income generated offshore differently from active income?

> How do tax treaties affect the operations and structure of MNEs?

> Answer the following questions: a. What is meant by the term “tax haven”? b. What are the desired characteristics for a country if it expects to be used as a tax haven? c. What are the advantages leading an MNE to use a tax haven subsidiary? d. What ar

> What are the major differences in translating assets between the current rate method and the temporal method?

> Section 482 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code specifies use of a “correct” transfer price, and the burden of proof that the transfer price is “correct” lies with the company. What guidelines exist for determining the proper transfer price?

> Subsidiary Alpha in Country Able faces a 40% income tax rate. Subsidiary Beta in Country Baker faces only a 20% income tax rate. Presently each subsidiary imports from the other an amount of goods and services exactly equal in monetary value to what each

> What is a transfer price, and can a government regulate it? What difficulties and motives does a parent multinational firm face in setting transfer prices?

> a. What is a value-added tax? b. Although the value-added tax has been proposed numerous times, the Unites States has never adopted it. Why do you think the United States is so negative on it, when the value-added tax is widely used outside the United S

> What is a foreign tax credit? Why do countries give credit for taxes paid on foreign-source income?

> What is real option analysis? How is it a better method of making investment decisions than using traditional capital budgeting analysis?

> Explain how back-to-back loans can hedge foreign exchange operating exposure.

> What does the word translation mean? Why is translation exposure sometimes called accounting exposure?

> Plot the position of the following companies on Figure 8.3: Microsoft, Google, Coca-Cola, Dow Chemicals, Pfizer, and McDonald’s. In each case, justify your answer.

> What kind of companies stand to gain the most from entering into strategic alliances with potential competitors? Why?

> Licensing proprietary technology to foreign competitors is the best way to give up a company’s competitive advantage. Discuss.

> Discuss how the need for control over foreign operations varies with the strategy and distinctive competencies of a company. What are the implications of this relationship for the choice of entry mode?

> Are the following global standardization industries, or industries where localization is more important: bulk chemicals, pharmaceuticals, branded food products, moviemaking, television manufacture, personal computers, airline travel, and fashion retailin

> What do you think are the sources of sustained superior profitability?

> Cloud computing is still in its infancy. If business history teaches us anything, it is that events often do not turn out the way that planners thought they would. Given this, might it have been better for Microsoft do adopt a “wait and see” attitude? Wh

> If a related company begins to purchase unrelated businesses, in what ways should it change its structure or control mechanisms to manage the acquisitions?

> How prevalent has the agency problem been in corporate America during the last decade? During the late-1990s there was a boom in initial public offerings of Internet companies (dot. com companies). The boom was supported by sky high valuations often assi

> Is it ethical for a firm faced with a shortage of labor to employ illegal immigrants as labor?

> Under what conditions is it ethically defensible to outsource production to producers in the developing world who have much lower labor costs when such actions involve laying off long-term employees in the firm’s home country?

> In the 1970s and 1980s Palmisano states that IBM was organized as a classic multinational enterprise. What does this mean? Why do you think IBM was organized that way? What were the advantages of this kind of strategic orientation?