Assignment Question 1
Describe and evaluate the strategies, corporate organization, capabilities, and levels of government support for major multinationals from the Asia Pacific.
2500 words maximum
After each presentation made by a visiting executive from an Asia Pacific multinational, summarize the key lessons you drew in the form of a dated note or diary. In some cases, the resident lecturer will present on a key multinational. Each entry therefore should be approximately 450-500 words in length, although variations can be expected, and you should assess in turn four topics, namely strategy, corporate organization, core capabilities, and (where relevant) the support of home governments.
The firms to be analysed are:
1) Secom or a major multinational Japanese bank of your choice, and
2) Hitachi Technologies, and
3) Huawei Technologies, and
4) Samsung Electronics.
You are strongly advised to write each entry for these multinationals during the course, following the appropriate lecture. You will have the opportunity to ask visiting lecturers questions on all these issues, and we will be discussing our corporate cases and their assessments in the weekly workshops. You should use the literature on international and Asia Pacific business, available on the Moodle website, to help provide insights. By the set date, submit the case reports in one single assignment with a brief introduction and/or conclusion, providing some overview, general lessons, or questions for further research. Maximum words are 2500 for the assignment. On analysing Asia Pacific multinationals, and their strategies, corporate organization, core capabilities, and government role, the following is a relevant guide and must be consulted.

R Fitzgerald and H Rui, ‘Whose fall and whose rise?: lessons of Japanese MNCs for Chinese and emerging economy MNCs’, Asia Pacific Business Review, 2016, vol.4.  The article and journal are available on line through the college library service, and on the Moodle course page.
R Fitzgerald and C Rowley, Multinational Companies from Japan : Capabilities, Competitiveness, and Challenges, London, Routledge, 2015 will also be useful.
Suggested Analysis and Structure for Assignment 1
A short introduction.
The four separate individual corporate case studies will follow, each mentioning where relevant strategy, management structure (corporate organization), core capabilities and role of government.
The last section is an overview or conclusion of your cases, giving a general picture of Asia Pacific Multinationals and the four factors analysed.