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Singapore 20. December, 2014.

LEE KONG CHIAN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
Year 2013/14 Term 2
MGMT 003 G 14 BUSINESS, GOVERNMENT & SOCIETY
Instructor:

Ambassador Joergen Oerstroem Moeller

Visiting Senior Research Fellow, ISEAS.
Adjunct Professor, Copenhagen Business School.

Email:

joergen@oerstroemmoeller.com with cc to jorgenom@smu.edu.sg

GROUP/(MAJOR PROJECT.
1) Below you find a list of suggested topics for the final group project. You can apply the
topic to a setting (company, country, organisation) as long as it is located in South-East
Asia. You are of course free to choose your own topic and this is actually preferable
reflecting what you think yourselves and what you think is interesting and interests
yourselves. I encourage you to find a topic yourself. Whatever you do, seek my approval
(e-mail can be used) before starting the project.
2) You can basically choose between a conventional research paper or a case study.
A conventional research paper should answer a research question in the BGS field. For
these papers it is helpful to phrase the topic as a research question. For example Is
corporate social responsibility dependent upon a companys size or Is Corporate
governance also influencing charity organisations or What is the impact of globalisation
on corporate governance.
A case study, on the other hand, describes a real situation in company at as specific time.
Typically a case study is written from the perspective of the CEO who is deciding about a
strategic decision. The case study should contain all the elements (and not more), which a
reader should know in order to propose and defend his/her decision. The case study
should also contain a note, which illustrates the actual decision taken, the outcome, and
the likely reasoning behind this decision. The key to a good case study is to find an
interesting decision a manager had to take, which illustrates a more general setting.
3) You will be assessed by
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Clarity and brevity (the great art is to be brief and to the point, prepare
meticulously what you want to say and why, weed out ruthlessly what is
unnecessary).
Focusing upon the essential elements skipping all hot air
Use of data and reference to sources

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Critical views
Opportunities assessed and a clear exposition of why the decision chosen was
selected compared to the alternatives.
Argue your case.

Concentrate upon the vital elements and make it clear on which assumptions the decision
was taken.
4) Working tips.
A. Start by brainstorming. All ideas on the table, just write them down without going
further Blow up the topic so to speak by making a list of everything coming to your mind,
do not select. At this stage any idea is a good idea.
B: Having done that, being convinced that no further ideas are forthcoming, you start to
squeeze it, to cut ideas, to reformulate ideas. Now the time has come to select among all
the ideas and now any idea should be scrutinized to find out whether it is a good one or a
bad one to be deleted from the list.
C: You start to analyse, work, write, compose only when you think that the list of ideas
are god enough to form an outline covering all important aspects and no irrelevant
aspects.
D. On this basis you sit down to sketch a work plan with deadlines for yourself leading
up to the deadline in the course outline. Make sure your own deadline fall somewhat
before the course outline deadline.
4) I will post a couple of group projects that you can read to get an idea of how it can be
done. Look at these examples as help and a guide, some kind of tool but not something,
which will have to follow.
5) Unfortunately there have been cases of plagiarism. I know that you will not be tempted
by such a non-academic behaviour and to strengthen your resolve in not doing it needless
to say that if done the negative repercussions will be severe, so dont, absolutely dont.
This is YOUR project and an opportunity for you to present yourself and by working on
the project improve your own abilities to support you later at SMU.
6) Timetable.
Presentation of your topic week 7 (Thursday 20. February, 2014).
a) 5-7 minutes (max 3 slides) for the whole group.
b) All group members on stage and saying something.
c) Why did you choose this topic
d) Why it is relevant for BGS

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e) What research methodology or framework do you want to apply
For length and how to type etc I refer to the Course Outline. Length is a bit difficult, but
try to be brief. You are not rewarded by using fx 15 pages to tell what you could have
said with 10 pages. Not more than 15-20 pages and preferably less.
The result of the group project to be presented in class in week 12 (Thursday 27 March,
2014) and week 13 (Thursday 3. April, 2014).
Presentation about 20 minutes followed by 5 minutes Q&A
5-10 slides. Do not overstep the time.
All group members on stage saying something.
Report to be handed in at the latest- absolutely latest Thursday 10 April 2014 at 09.00
am no late submissions (week 14).
It is not a problem if you want to wait until week 5 or even later but you should be clear
that if so you have less time to work on your project.
Joergen Oerstroem Moeller
www.oerstroemmoeller.com
TOPICS:
1. Boeing and Airbus both got big orders from SIA. Select the main issues of
importance for SIA, why did SIA placed orders with both companies?
2. Select one Southeast Asian company expanding abroad by foreign direct
investment and/or joint venture and explain how such an expansion is looked
upon in the home country.
3. Select one large investment in a Southeast Asian country by a foreign company
and explain how it was looked upon in the receiving country.
4. Suppose a large international investor decides to relocate and entrench a large
number of workers in a country. What will be the impact for BGS in the said
country? Will it give rise to second thought in the country to which the company
relocate its activities?
5. Can you detect a trend saying that companies in Southeast Asia is more inclined
to integrate issues such as gender, privacy, HIV in its corporate culture.
6. Point to a new technology introduced in Asia, not necessarily invented in Asia,
having strong impact on BGS in Asia.

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7. Suppose a pandemic occurs in one or more Southeast Asian countries. How can
BGS interact to control it?
8. Analyse how the threat of bird flu influences the attitude of poultry farmers,
consumers and governments. Congruous or conflicting interests?
9. Look at low cost airlines and analyse how governments, consumers and existing
airlines have responded to this new phenomenon.
10. How do business, governments and consumers look upon free trade. Draw in for
example AFTA and the WTO negotiations as background.
11. Select a case of recent environmental disaster in Asia. Why did it happen? How
did BSG react? What is the long-term impact on the image on the
company/country in question?
12. Explain the advantages of e commerce for business and consumers. Any
disadvantages?
13. Suppose Singapore is host to the SEA games. Discuss in a BGS context whether a
Singaporean company would like to be solo sponsor. You can possibly look at the
role of Samsung 1988 Olympics in Seoul.
14. What are the main threats against globalisation? Dissatisfied workers,
international pandemics, terrorism, economic recession?
15. Palm oil has great impact on the economy in Malaysia and Indonesia. Analyse the
economic and environmental effect. What is the attitude of the government to this
sector?
16. How is tourism in Angkor Wat/Siem Riep affecting Cambodias economy and
society around Siem Riep. What is the attitude of Cambodias government, local
communities and business?
17. Tell what Corporate Compliance stands for and how it may affect exports from
companies in China and whether it will do so differently for companies run by
Western investors and Chinese companies.
18. Was it good or bad or neutral for China to host the Olympic games
19. What is the impact of the current financial crisis on BGS in Asia?