Task 1:OPENING CASE (Chapter 16): Tata Motors and Exporting

Summary

The opening case explores the international expansion of Tata Motors. The Indian multinational exports cars and other vehicles worldwide under its Tata Motor Cars, Jaguar Land Rover, Tata Daewoo, and Tata Hispano brand names. Tata Motors wants to double its exports within two years, with a particular emphasis on expanding its exports to the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America.

QUESTION 1: Discuss the importance of exports to Tata Motors. Why has the company chosen to export?

QUESTION 2: Why do you think Tata Motors has chosen to expand into foreign markets using exports rather than local manufacturing as a main mechanism of getting its product to new markets?

QUESTION 3: What is Tata Motors strategy going forward? What role will exporting play in expanding the company's global presence?

Task 2: MicrosoftOutsourcing Xbox Production (Chapter 17)

Summary

Microsoft has outsourced its Xbox production. Xbox was Microsoft's first entry into the video game market, and unlike its other products that included computer peripherals such as mice, keyboards, and joysticks, Xbox represented a specialized functional computer in its own right. Microsoft ultimately decided to outsource production of the Xbox to Flextronics believing that it did not have the manufacturing and logistics capabilities to make Xbox itself.

QUESTION 1: What was the strategic advantage to Microsoft of outsourcing Xbox production to Flextronics?

QUESTION 2: What were the risks associated with outsourcing to Flextronics? Did Microsoft mitigate these risks? Do you think Microsoft would have been better off making the Xbox itself?

QUESTION 3: How did Flextronics' industrial park strategy enable the company to respond to national changes in relative factory costs?

QUESTION 4: How important are web-based information systems to the relationship between Microsoft and Flextronics? What are the economic advantages of real time information flows between Microsoft, Flextronics, and Flextronics' own subcontractors?