Definitions:

Multinational Enterprise (MNE) A company that deploys resources and capabilities in the procurement, production and distribution of goods and services in at least 2 countries

CAGE distance network - (CAGE is an acronym for different kinds of distance)

A decision framework based on relative distance between home and a foreign target country along four dimensions: C -Cultural

A -Administrative and political

G Geographic

E Economic

Assignment consider the following:

Apply the 4 types of Global Strategy Global Standardization, Transactional, International and Multidomestic

Imagine your group work for Clif Bar (www.clifbar.com). Founded in 1992, the company makes nutritious all-natural food and drinks for sport and healthy snacking. Clifbar is a privately held company with about 400 employees, about 20% of the company is owned by its employees through an employee-stock ownership program (ESOP). The vast majority of Clif Bars sales are in the United States. The company has some distribution set up in Canada (sine 1996) and the United Kingdom (since 2007). As of 2015, Clif Bar sells limited products only in eight other countries: Austria, Australia, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, and Switzerland.

Review the companys website for more information about the company and its products.

1. Apply the CAGE distance framework to the 6 foreign countries where Clif Bar is operating. What is the relative distance of each to the United States? Rank the order of the 6 countries in terms of relative distance.

2. Given the results from the CAGE model, do the six chosen countries make sense why or why not?

3. Can you recommend three or four other countries Clif Bar should enter? Support your recommendations.

4. What entrance strategy should the company employ in expanding the business to new countries and why?