Compared to domestic firms, MNCs are more exposed to risks and uncertainty in overseas markets. Please discuss how the risks and uncertainty MNCs confront shapes MNCs strategy. For example, under uncertain condition, how firms choose their entry mode and investment size. Please relate your argument to relevant theoretical perspectives and provide empirical evidence.
NB
It is crucial that the assignments are based on a wide-ranging reading of the relevant literature, and most importantly evidence of critical reflection on the key issues. Assignments that simply have evaluations using standard textbook based analytic tools will receive a low mark. It is essential that thought and critical reflection on the literature is used to answer the questions.
Format of assignment
The assignment should have the following format.
The assignments should follow the standard format for writing academic papers and have
an abstract that summarises the content of the paper see examples of abstract in any published academic paper. The abstract is included in word counts.
An introduction that sets out topics to be discussed in the assignment and a short summary of the main sections in the assignment NB an introduction is not the same thing as an abstract see examples of introduction in any published academic paper.
The assignment should follow the structure summarised in the introduction and should have headings for each of the main sections of the assignment NB do not have a large number of headings.
The conclusion should provide a short summary of the major answers that you have provided in the assignment see examples of conclusions in any published academic paper
A reference list this should not be a bibliography all the references in the main body of the assignment should be in the reference list and all the references in the reference list should be referred to in the main body of the assignment.
Any appendices used in the assignment should be at the end of the assignment and clearly labelled
The assignments should be double spaced with a font size of 12.
Referencing
There is often confusion between references and bibliographies. NB There should be no bibliography in the assignment.
A bibliography is simply a list of material consulted during the research process. References, on the other hand, relate to those texts that are expressly referred to within the text. For example:
Bloggs (2012) suggests that European managers are ill prepared for managing across cultures within the new European environment.
or
Managers are thought ill prepared for cross-cultural management within the new Europe (Bloggs, 2012).
This is how the reference should appear in the text of the assignment, and the full reference should appear in the reference list as –
Bloggs, J (2012) Cross cultural management in Europe, European Management Journal, 1(8), pp. 207-234.
It is crucial that you reference all sources used in the assignment. Every entry in the reference list must be cited in the text of the report.
It is essential that you place any material that you directly quote from published works in quotation marks and put in the page number where the quoted material appears. Quoted material from published work should be referenced as follows
The technological base in most host countries has often been found to be enhanced by direct foreign investment. (Smith, et al, 2010, p34).
Quoted material from Internet sites should be referenced as follows
The evidence from World Bank studies indicates that approximately two hundred million Chinese have been removed from $2 a day poverty in the period 1990 to 2004 (Jones, 2006, in www.iie.org/wp108 p45 – access on 12/02/2015).
Books and articles that have informed the arguments that you make in your report, but which you do not directly quote, should be referenced as follows
The growth of international trade has been found to increase income inequality in some developing countries (Smith and Smith, 2008; Jones and Jones, 2010) and to have adversely affected the growth of the incomes of unskilled workers in developed countries (Smith and Jones, 2007; Brown, et al, 2013).
All tables, figures and diagrams that have been taken from published sources must be fully referenced. Any tables, figures and diagrams that have been taken from published sources (that you have modified) should be referenced with the words based on Smith, et al, 2004, p42.
It is important that your assignment is not mainly composed of quoted material from published sources. You should only use quoted material to illustrate the points that you make in your report. The report must be your work not mainly a series of quotes from published sources.
You should use the Harvard Referencing System. This requires a citation (partial reference) within the text and a list of full references at the end of the assignment.
Harvard is an Author Date system. So the citation shows the name of the author(s) followed by the year of publication, for example:
Blundel and Ippolito (2008) suggest that cultural diversity is a valuable feature of society.
Or
Cultural diversity can create barriers to effective communication (Blundel and Ippolito 2008).
