International Business

Executive Summary:

One of the major challenges faced by strategic planners in multinational organizations is to identify and assess different types of risks involved in the rapidly growing and changing global markets. The diverse and dynamic global environment includes a myriad of risks that need to be identified, and assessed to ensure survival and success. Management of risks embedded in the global business environment is a critical part of strategic planning and management process. "Failure to correctly identify and assess risks may result in market blunders, policy disasters, and or organizational crisis. It is essential for success to identify, assess and adapt their strategies to the environment'' (Stoffels, 1982).

Managing an international business is different from managing a domestic business for at least four reasons: (i) countries are different, (ii) the range of problems confronted by a manager in an international business is wider and the problems themselves more complex than those confronted by a manager in a domestic business, (iii) managers in an international business must find ways to work within the limits imposed by governments' intervention in the international trade and investment system, and (iv) international transactions involve converting money into different currencies.

The factors determining involvement in world trade include licensing, exporting, franchising, contract manufacturing, joint ventures and strategic alliances, foreign subsidiaries, and direct foreign investment.

THE ISSUES DETERMINING VIRGIN EXPRESS'S SUCCESSION IN EUROPE:

The factors that would determine whether virgin Express could have succeeded in Europe if Ryanair or Easyjet had gone out of businesses are: sociocultural forces, economic and financial forces, legal and regulatory forces, and physical and environmental forces. Other than these factors, competing in time and getting access to the required routes and infrastructure play a crucial role in achieving success in Europe by Virgin Express.

SYNOPSIS:

Virgin Express team got involved in World trade through direct foreign investment by buying up the Belgian leisure airline Euro Belgian Airlines and later rebranding it into Virgin Express. Virgin Express was a low-cost airline based at Brussels airport.