International Business

There are two Case Studies, which need to be treated as separate assignments (2 page analysis for each case): 1. Montes Calçados: A Step Ahead 2. The Rise and Fall of Blackberry The analysis of each case should consist of 3 parts: Part 1: Three things that are interesting for the "International Business" - presented as issues/problems (20% of the grade) Part 2: Solutions to the specific problems (40% of the grade). Part 3: How does the case teach us about "International Business" - explore exactly what we learn from the case (specific things, not general ones - e.g. how the things learned can be applied to concrete companies, etc.) (40% of the grade). At least 7-8 academic sources have to be cited (the provided articles can be used but also sources from additional research are needed). If helpful, discussion questions are provided: Case 1: Discussion Questions: What is Montes Calçados’ source of competitive advantage? Should MC start distributing through online retailers? If it does, what are the implications of its doing so? How should MC manage this change? What might MC do to alleviate its retailers’ lost sales? Should MC broaden its position to be a global fashion brand, instead of being a Brazilian fashion brand? How might MC benefit from altering its position to Brazilian crafted instead? Case 2:What was the main innovative contribution of RIM, the makers of Blackberry? Why was is it so successful globally? What explains the decline of Blackberry? From an innovation perspective, what could Blackberry do (at the time of the case) to stop this decline?                                        

Sample Solution