ULUSLARARASI İŞLETME - Deneme Sınavı - 6

ICT includes all devices, networking components, information systems and applications, and other digital systems that are combined to allow people and companies to interact, learn, live and work.

ERP refers to a suite of computer software that allows an organization to use a system of integrated applications to manage core business processes and activities such as marketing, risk management, and supply chain operations.

E-commerce refers to the buying and selling of goods and services conducted over the Internet.

E-business refers to the use of the Internet and other digital technologies to execute a firm’s business processes and activities and for the internal management of the firm.

Thus, C is the correct answer.

B2B or business-to-business e-commerce is the exchange of products, services or information between firms.

B2C or business-to-consumer e-commerce is the exchange of products, services or information between firms and end customers.

Private industrial networks or private exchange allow companies to coordinate transactions in all aspects and all divisions which enable collaboration and efficiencies for global operations.

Net marketplaces bring many buyers and sellers together to carry out transactions.

EDI or electronic data interchange enables computer-to-computer exchange of documents and transactions in a standard format.

Hence, E is the right answer.

E-commerce activities which are conducted through wireless handheld devices like smartphones and tablets are called mobile commerce or m-commerce. It is the fastest-growing form of e-commerce because of the global high adoption rate, the increase in devices computing power, and the availability of m-commerce applications or apps. Popular apps include the buying and selling of digital products and services such as music and movies, physical products, bill payments, and Mobile banking. Location-based services such as Uber and Airbnb (and a hundred others) provide services based on users’ current or intended locations. Therefore, withdrawing money from an ATM does not require to use any devices such as smartphones or tablets. Hence, B is the correct answer.

The four important dimensions to define and distinguish big data are:

1. Volume – the amount of data: Volume refers to the mass quantities of data that continue to increase though vary by industry and geographic locations.

2. Variety – different types of data: Varietyof structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data and data sources (traditional and non-traditional sources from within and outside an organization). They include texts, web data, tweets, sensor data, audios, videos, click streams, log files, etc.

3. Velocity – data in motion: Velocityconcerns the speed with which data is created, processed, and analyzed. It continues to accelerate with data created real-time. This enables decision making to be made instantly such as real-time fraud detection instead of detecting fraud after it takes place.

4. Veracity – data uncertainty: Veracity refers to the reliability of certain types of data. For example, weather and customers’ sentiments are inherently unpredictable.

Hence, C is the correct answer.

IoT devices need four capabilities to deliver value to businesses:

Identifying capability – each device must be uniquely identifiable, such as the electronic productcodes that are used in supply chain and manufacturing.

Sensing capability – use of sensors.

Communicating capability – ability to exchange information between devices.

Computing capability – ability to process instructions, often using the cloud.

Therefore, the right answer is A.

Blockchain's connecting all actors instantaneously is about time saving. That is; it substantially reduce the time to complete complex, multi-party interactions without a central authority. Thus, B is the right answer.

Technology diffusion happens when a new technology is adopted widely for general use over time. Thus, E is the correct answer.

Ethical issues in global business occur on many levels (Werhane, 2015):

• The individual-level – ethical or unethical behaviors in firms are due to the behavior of individuals, managers, and employees.

The national-level – businesses operate under the rule of law of each country that impacts the ethical behavior of individuals and organizations.

The international level – global businesses need to acknowledge and work through the various levels of ethical issues in question.

Hence, A is the correct answer.

Ethical organizational culture needs to be created and sustained through communication about those ethical values, e.g., the use of the code of ethics. It is a formal written document that organizations use to guide employees in their actions and decision makings in order to conduct business fairly and honestly. Therefore, the correct answer is D.

There are four types of social responsibilities according to Carroll (Carroll, 1991):

Philanthropic responsibilities – contribute resources such as money, facilities, and employees’ time to the community and improve its quality of life.

Ethical responsibilities – obligations to do what is right, just, and fair while avoiding harm to stakeholders

Legal responsibilities – obey the law of the society.

Economic responsibilities – provide products and services while maximizing profits.

And ISO 26000 provides guidance on how businesses can operate in socially responsible ways. Therefore, D is the correct answer.

According to the Eclectic Paradigm, the capacity and desire of firms to go abroad depends on having or being able to acquire assets not available to another country’s firms. 

Such assets refer to ownership-specific advantages because they are assumed to be unique to firms of a particular nationality of ownership. Assets include tangible resources, such as natural resources, equipment, and capital; and intangible resources, such as intellectual properties (e.g., patents, copyrights, and trademarks) and managerial or marketing skills.

Alternatively, assets might be specific to a particular location (location-specific advantages) in their origin and use, such as lower costs of production, strict protection of property rights, and broader markets (Dunning & Lundan, 2008: 96).

Assets include tangible resources, such as natural resources, equipment, and capital; and intangible resources, such as intellectual properties (e.g., patents, copyrights, and trademarks) and managerial or marketing skills.

In the IP model, there are two types of variables: state and change. The change variables are the crucial ones since these processes change the characteristics of the focal firm and its environment and then trigger further changes. They involve knowledge development processes, including learning, creating and trust-building; and commitment processes, including reconfiguring resources and coordinating. The state variables include both operational (resources, skills, relationships, and organizational culture) and dynamic (integrating, building and reconfiguring competencies) capabilities, commitments (the distribution of resources over the firm’s functions, its product lines, the countries where it is active, and the networks in which it has invested), and the performance of the firm.

The internationalization process model sees internalization as a cyclical process between state and change variables.

The LLL framework has three pillars: linkage, leverage, and learning.

First-mover advantages include catching learning effects, achieving economies of scale, and forging alliances with the most attractive local partner, and setting the standards and rules. 

Late-mover advantages comprise free-riding on first movers’ pioneering investments, avoiding considerable technological and market related uncertainties, and evading being locked into a set of fixed assets or cannibalizing the existing product lines in favor of the new ones.

The born-global firm, a young entrepreneurial company that initiates international business activity very early in its evolution, rushing into foreign markets.

Exporting has many advantages;

It increases overall sales volume, improves market share, and generates profit margins that are often more favorable than in the domestic market.

It increases economies of scale, reducing per-unit costs of manufacturing.

It diversifies the customer base, reducing dependence on home markets.

It stabilizes fluctuations in sales associated with economic cycles or seasonality of demand.

It reduces the cost of foreign market entry; the firm can use exporting to test new markets before committing to more considerable resources through other entry modes.

It minimizes risk and maximizes flexibility compared to different entry modes.

It leverages the capabilities of foreign distributors and other business partners located abroad.

Strategic alliances, a medium to a long-term relationship between firms, are formed to support partners to achieve their strategic objectives through cooperation.

There are four significant motivations for firms to enter strategic alliances:

Transferring technology across borders more easily,

Accessing new markets by using the complementary resources of local firms, including distribution channels and product range extensions,

Leveraging specific capabilities of partners and saving costs of duplication, such as fixed costs,

Sharing risks among the alliance partners.

However, the rate of failure in international strategic alliances is quite high.