Examination overview

Examination overview
4MBS7A2 – Spring 2012

You have already been given some guidance about preparing for the exam in the description
of activities for Guided Independent Study. This note repeats and extends that advice with
details about the exam design.
Like the module, the exam is based on the “tripod” of analysis in Peng’s Global Strategic
Management. The book’s emphasis on three broad types of analysis points the way, but you
should consider what work is needs before you start looking at competition, resources and
institutions. Also consider how those approaches feed into each other.
Any diagrams you create should contribute directly to the analysis. Marks will be deducted
if you merely copy a model into the exam booklet without adding to it the information you
are analysing.
The exam for International Business Strategy is a three-hour, open-book paper. You may
bring any printed material and personal notes you wish into the exam. You must bring your
copy of the exam case study, as no spare copies will be available.
Exam design
The exam comes in two sections. Section A deals with the case study and involves three
questions, all mandatory. Section B requires that you choose one of the two questions
provided. Each question counts for 25 marks.
Section A design
The three questions are written to be answered in order. That is, the first answer may
contribute to the second and both to the third. Read all three questions before you start to
answer the first. The case involves a complex organization. It is very important that you pay
attention to the questions and recognize at which level of analysis – parent company or
subsidiary – the question is directed and then answer appropriately. value chain
institutional based view
5 forces by michael porter
• To test your analytic skills, one question requires that you develop a table from the
data in the case and then discuss its implications. Do not expect to get any marks for
this question if you fail to create the table. To prepare for it, be sure you are very
familiar with the data in the case and have considered how they might be analysed in
a systematic way.
Be sure to read the questions and answer them, rather than simply writing down what you
prepared in advance. The exam is meant to t

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