International Business Santander Essay Guide

International Business Santander Essay Guide

COME UP WITH A (one line) RESEARCH QUESTION BASED ON THE GIVEN TOPICS RELATING TO THE CASE STUDY: Stothard, M., and Morris, S., 2018. Santander Profits Rise on Robust Results in Brazil and Spain. Financial Times. Available at: https://www.ft.com/content/ef334c64-dcd8-11e8-9f04-38d397e6661c

Suggested 3-Part Framework:

• Part I –The Evidence

• Provide a precis of the case study, incorporating the articles provided.

• Part II–The Method

• Examine which theory(ies) you wish to employ and why it is applicable to this case.
• Explain why other theory have been excluded from your work.

• Part III–The Findings and Discussions

• Present your analysis of the banking group, the impact of its origins (people and place), the success and limitations of its current investments and lastly the opportunities and risks associated with new market(s). This must been all under taken through the observation ofdata as observed through the chosentheory

Topics to be included within the essay (Choose one or merge two together that has theories in the Lecture Notes that could be applied to the case study):

• The power of MNC’s i.e. Industry concentration
• Culture: Societal and organisational level
• Shareholder and Stakeholder relationships
• National characteristics (emerging and developed economies) and Challenges to doing business
• International Strategies: International, Multi-Domestic, Global or Transnational
• HRM staffing policies and Lost in Translation
• Sustainability and the Environmental Strategies
• International Finance and FDI

The two graphs that must be included:

• Uppsala Model on the Evolution of Multinational Business
• Matrix SIMILAR to the one shown in the right with whatever chosen topics as the titles to the matrix boxes

This example shows HRM policies and Uppsala model

Questions to be answered within the essay:

• PART I:
• What is Banco Santander ‘Santander Group’ (BS)? What does it do. How big is it. Where does it operate. Where does it come from. Where is it now. Who runs it etc.

• What differentiates BS from its Competitor? Who are its competitors. What does BS do differently. Does BS possess particular expertise. How is BS run. Does its management /ownership structure affect how it operates. How did it expand etc.

• PART II:
• How does BS approach IB? What approach to International Business/Banking (IB) has it taken. Is that approach consistent with current operations. Are things changing etc.

• Where Next, what is BS doing to Remain Profitable: Does it wish to return to old markets or new ones. How does it get there. Who goes. What is market and product. What does it take i.e. licences etc.

• PART III:
• What do you think they should do next? (recommendations)

Remember to:

• Ensure that you draw your data from recognised sources
• Always seek-out the originator and not the ‘data’ harvester
• It is important to see when the data was collected (newer info=more up-to-date and relevant)
• The empirical context is important because it will give you some indication as to what extent the findings have suffered bias, i.e. Santander Group is unlikely to promote data that puts it in a poor light
• Be critical not descriptive!

Dos:

• Reference all of your sources, academic and practitioner. Authors of theory must be recognised.
• Be systematic and have structure to your argument
• Use tables, charts and/or flow-charts to support your writing. NEVER include figures and/or tables if you do not refer to them

Don’ts:

• Do not simply report the facts;!Do not only describe theory; apply it
• Do not include tables and/or figure that you do not refer to in the text
• Do not plagiarise or copy-paste images (tables/figures)
• When referencing avoid relying solely on web links
• Use Harvard referencing