Multinational Performance Report: Analyzing a Company’s Approach to Multinational Expansion

Task:

The final project for this course is the creation of a multinational performance report. The report will investigate the motivation behind expanding business internationally, whether revenue-related, cost-related, or a combination of both. You will gain a better understanding of international business and the factors that make multinational business complex (e.g., risk management, ethical and legal compliance). As you work though this project, you will explore how the 2007–2008 financial crisis affected multinational corporations (MNCs), with both additional opportunities and potential risks. The project is divided into two milestones, which will be submitted at various points throughout the course to scaffold learning and ensure quality final submissions. These milestones will be submitted in Modules Two and Five. The final product will be submitted in Module Seven.In order to successfully complete this project, you will choose a multinational company from the Final Project Company List document and access the following

financial reports:

 Balance sheet
 Income statement
 Statement of cash flows
 Current annual report
 2007–2008 annual report
 Statement of retained earnings

In order to access this information, follow the steps in the Mergent Online Instructions document to access the Mergent Online database. Please ensure that you select forms based on the company’s most recent tax submission. The annual report is also available on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission website.

In this assignment, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following course outcomes:

Analyze the impact of legal and ethical challenges on stakeholders for supporting an organization’s conduct and decision making in global markets

Analyze risks and financial factors associated with multinational corporate expansion for informing strategic financial decisions and mitigating risk

Assess multinational expansion factors for ensuring alignment with corporate strategies based on economic environments and market conditions

Develop a report that analyzes one company’s approach to multinational expansion and includes financial factors such as economic environments and market conditions, risk mitigation strategies, and ethical and legal practices.
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:

I. Company Overview: Use the company’s website and 10-K report to support responses for this section.

A. Describe the company’s background, including its industry and extent of its multinational reach for identifying expansion factors and corporate strategies.

II. Economic Environments and Market Conditions: Use the 2007-2008 annual report and the most current annual report to support responses for this section.

A. Identify international financial markets in which the company operates, such as stock markets, bond markets, and money markets, for explaining how the company raises capital within these markets.

Economic Environments and Market Conditions

B. Discuss effects of the global credit crisis on the company’s ability to raise capital required to support its expansion and operations, and provideexamples to support your claims.

C. Explain the role of international financial markets and institutions in global environments in evaluating their impact on the company’s risk management strategies.

D. Analyze impacts of exchange rate on the company’s performance for determining if a loss occurred because of fluctuations or devaluations of foreign currencies, providing examples from the past year to support your claims.

E. Assess the impact of the global financial crisis as it relates to transaction, economy, and translation exposures with consideration of liabilities and assets in foreign currencies, and support your assessment with financial information. [FIN-336-03]

III. Risk Mitigation: Examine sources of risk and risk reduction methods available to multinational corporations. Use the 2007–2008 annual report and the most current annual report to support responses in this section.

A. Discuss techniques the company used to hedge foreign exchange exposure such as the use of forwards, futures, options, money markets, or swap agreements, and support with financial information from the past year.

B. Discuss risks and financial factors associated with exchange rates and interest rates for assessing how they inform the company’s financial management approaches.

C. Discuss diversification in the company’s expansion model for examining advantages or disadvantages, and provide examples and financial information from the past year to support your claims.

D. Discuss company strategies before and after the 2007–2008 crisis for determining possible reasons for the company’s current financial performance, and provide examples to support your claims.

IV. Ethical and Legal Considerations: Explain how the company is maximizing shareholders’ value while maintaining ethical and legal practices.A. Discuss the company’s ethical and legal management during the 2007–2008 crisis for evaluating its impacts on international investing.

B. Analyze the impact of ethical and legal decisions on internal stakeholders, including shareholders, for identifying strengths and areas of improvement in international expansion strategies. Provide examples to support your claims.

C. Discuss the impact of the company’s ethical and legal decisions on external stakeholders, including the government, culture, and environment into which the company expanded, for identifying strengths and areas of improvement in expansion strategies. Provide examples to support your claims.

V. Future Risks and Challenges: Based on the company’s financial information and your research, make informed predictions about the company’s future risks and challenges.

A. Discuss financial decisions for informing future approaches to increase the company’s value based on trends in corporate strategies and financial information.

B. Discuss ethical and legal considerations and approaches the company may consider for supporting its value in global markets.

C. Discuss risk mitigation strategies the company may use for avoiding potential financial crisis and informing strategic financial decisions.