M.B.A. II (Semester IV) Examination, 2017
Group G INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
International Marketing (Paper III)
(New CBCS)
Day and Date Monday, 22-5-2017 Max. Marks 70
Time 10.30 a.m. to 1.00 p.m.
Instructions Question No. 1 is compulsory.
Attempt any two questions from Q. Q. 3 and Q. 4.
Attempt any two questions from Q. Q. 6 and Q. 7.
All questions carry equal marks.
1. Analyze the following case, identify the problem, Generate possible alternatives
and choose the best alternative. 14
Bermuda Import and Export.
Bermuda Import and Export is a family-owned import business, started in
1949. Graham Fowle, grandson of the original owner and current company
president, gradually expanded company lines, starting with the addition of
produce and alcohol. Bermuda Import and Export now has 25 employees and
carries produce, seafood, groceries, alcohol, dry and frozen goods and some
dairy and meant. The majority of goods are perishable items. Bermuda is a
small market of 21 square miles; the company sells to all available outlets,
including restaurants, hotels, resorts, clubs, grocery and convenience stores.
There are no consumer retail sales. In Bermuda, everything is imported and
nothing comes into the island without some type of import fee/cost. BIE brings
in two containers of produce (not including seafood and alcohol) weekly. The
containers usually arrive on Sunday night and Monday morning and produce
must be pre-cleared through H.M. Customs Bermuda (Customs) in time for
delivery to restaurants, shops and hotels early on Monday morning. This required
a deposit to be paid in advance on all pre-cleared items of 11/2 times their
normal duty rate.
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The old system of managing tracking and invoicing of shipments through
Customs was time and labor-intensive. It involved a complicated spreadsheet,
with manual entry of the details of each individual item. These details included
(but were not limited to) vessel information, voyage number, bill of lading,
container information, date of arrival, Customs Procedural Codes, tariff numbers,
country of origin, purchase order number, wharfage charges (assessed against
cargo, vessel's stores, fuel and supplies for passage on, over, under or through
any wharf) and vessel details. The process took at least four hours ("if the
person knew what he was doing," adds David, wryly), and was fraught with
potential errors. For example, a misplaced decimal point could potentially incur
thousands of dollars in extra duty costs prior to being recalculated. Because
items had various duty percentages (ranging from five to 221/4 percentage),
calculations were often rounded up or averaged. If the work was not completed
on time, it would delay delivery of containers and cause possible damage to
goods. Finally, getting the Customs deposit (averaging returned could
take up to a month after all the double-checking of calculations and adjustments
for manual entry errors.
David Potts considered his options, including one island-based company offering
a software solution. However, the cost was more than $20,000 and it would not
integrate easily with the firm's existing applications. Having already used Blue
Link's accounting software, and very happy with the quotation from Blue Link
David asked the company to devise a custom-built solution. In the midst of Blue
Link gathering the necessary information to build the custom application, the
Bermuda Customs changed their declaration process. New processes were
instituted, including an 'unusual commodities' tariff code used to determine the
percentage of duty owing. However, Blue Link made additional changes to the
program, pulling in all the additional information to deal with the many intricacies
of dealing with the Customs' paperwork. This included the ability to add detailed
information, define individual specifications and create a Customs Declaration
form from the purchase order.
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Because Blue Link set up the entire process at BIE, all items are treated equally
and reporting is streamlined. David is happy: "Everything is fine, it works just
wonderfully". He explains how the software saves time: "We just check the
purchase order against the invoice, make sure there are no discrepancies,
verify the bill of lading, and the system crates the Customs Declaration form,
the accounting voucher and the cheque amount. It's a three to five minute
process, and saves a lot of time". Staff hours, and subsequent employee costs
are also reduced: "We had one person doing this process for the whole company
and he retired last year and we've not had to replace him. We've been able to
split up the work with no extra workload." Processing the Customs declaration
forms is now streamlined, as David explains: "We import two containers of
produce weekly, and checking the line items and different categories is now all
set up and the man doing that job just breezes through it. Previously, he would
spend about three or four hours; now it takes him 30 minutes and that's if he's
slow and takes a coffee break!" The ability to select items by date and group
them together also eases the declaration process. Other benefits of the Blue
Link application include better reports, analysis and tracking. For example,
instead of the need to go back to inventory and check all items (tariff codes,
country of origin, weight and size), the products are now calculated by cost,
which is more accurate. "Just because it's more expensive doesn't mean it cost
us a lot more to bring it in," explains David. "This system is accurate to the
penny. Better costing of the product means more efficiency, so we can make
more profit. That makes us happy!" When asked about the reactions of the
Customs department, David simply states: "The sheer fact that Customs haven't
complained ... is very good. Says it all!" He adds, "There was bit of initial tweaking,
but it's all fine now, and there are no complaints at all. We're ahead of the curve.
2. Write a short note on following (any two) 14
Communications across countries-complexities and issues
International promotion tools and planning.
International Brand management.
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3. Write a short note on following (any two) 14
Challenges and opportunities in International Marketing.
International marketing management process.
Screening and selection of markets.
4. Write a short note on following (any two) 14
Emerging trends in international marketing.
Ecological concerns and international marketing ethics.
International Marketing Information System.
5. What is International Marketing Explain in brief the Influence of physical,
economic socio-cultural, political and legal environments on international
marketing operations. 14
6. What is International pricing process What are the factors affecting international
price determination and policies 14
7. How to do international product planning Explain in brief the major product
decisions like features and quality, Product design, labeling, packaging, branding
and product support services. 14