Business Question

‫المملكة العربية السعودية‬
‫وزارة التعليم‬
‫الجامعة السعودية اإللكترونية‬

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Ministry of Education
Saudi Electronic University

College of Administrative and Financial Sciences

Assignment 1
Introduction to International Business (MGT 321)
Due Date: 04/10/2025 @ 23:59
Course Name: Introduction to International
Business
Course Code: MGT-321

Student’s Name:

Semester: Second

CRN:

Student’s ID Number:

Academic Year:2025-26-1st

For Instructor’s Use only
Instructor’s Name: Dr. Majed Helmi
Students’ Grade:
Marks Obtained/Out of 10

Level of Marks: High/Middle/Low

General Instructions – PLEASE READ THEM CAREFULLY
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Restricted – ‫مقيد‬

The Assignment must be submitted on Blackboard (in Word format only) via the allocated folder.
Assignments submitted through email will not be accepted.
Students are advised to make their work clear and well presented; marks may be reduced for poor
presentation. This includes filling in your information on the cover page.
Students must mention the question number clearly in their answer.
Late submission will NOT be accepted.
Avoid plagiarism; the work should be in your own words, copying from students or other resources
without proper referencing will result in ZERO marks. No exceptions.
All answers must be typed using Times New Roman (size 12, double-spaced) font. No pictures
containing text will be accepted and will be considered plagiarism.
Submissions without this cover page will NOT be accepted.

Learning Outcomes:
LO1: Identify and evaluate the impact of globalization on multinational companies.
LO2: Explain the influence of national cultural and political-economic differences on global business
strategies.
LO3: Analyze the effects of cultural diversity on product design, branding, and marketing in
international markets.
LO4: Assess strategies for balancing global standardization with local adaptation in multinational
corporations.
LO5: Critically evaluate the strategic challenges and opportunities for businesses operating in
multiple countries.

Case study
Please read Case 4: “The Swatch Group and Cultural Uniqueness” available in your book
International Business: Competing in the Global Marketplace (13th ed.), at page no.630,
and answer the following questions:
1. With the Hayek family controlling nearly 40 percent of The Swatch Group, how do you
think the family’s influence impacts the corporate culture in the company? What about the
company’s international culture being impacted by the Hayek family? (2 Marks)
2. Many of the Swatch brands have become cultural icons among a strong core following of
customers in the global marketplace. Some even talk about the “Swatch Revolution” that
began when Nicolas Hayek founded the company. Why do you think Swatch has such a
strong cultural following? (2 Marks)
3. As mentioned, Swatch wants you to create your own unique way of accessorizing through its
Swatch watch. Is a watch a way to show who a person is culturally? Does a watch get
embedded into a person’s culture? Can a watch create a cultural image? (2 Marks)
4. Swatch has successfully maintained its Swiss heritage while expanding globally.
Considering the forces of globalization—such as technology, international trade, and cultural
exchange analyze how Swatch balances global standardization and local adaptation. What
challenges might the company face in the future due to globalization, and how could it
address them? (3 Marks)
5. References: Need 4 – 5 reliable references using APA style (1 Mark)

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630

Part 7

Cases

The Swatch Group and Cultural Uniqueness
The Swatch Group (swatchgroup.com) with its headquarand a way to speak from the heart without words. By defiters in Biel, Switzerland, is a world-renowned manufacnition, “swatch” means a sample of material or color,
turer of watches and jewelry. The company was founded
oftentimes referring to a small piece of fabric. It is
in 1983 by Lebanese-born Nicolas Hayek from the mergremarkable how Swatch has been able to develop culturing of Allgemeine Gesellschaft der Schweizerischen
ally unique watches while also building the fabric for a
Uhrenindustrie and Société Suisse pour l’Industrie
globally integrated world by its watch making. The
Horlogère. Nicolas’s daughter, Nayla Hayek, has been
Swatch Group’s brands go far beyond the iconic Swatch
chair of the board since her father’s death in 2010. She is
watches, though. They also include top global brands like
also CEO of the luxury jeweler Harry Winston Inc.,
Blancpain, Breguet, and Omega, along with unique and
which was acquired by the Swatch Group in 2013.
classic products such as Balmain, Calvin Klein watches
Georges Nicolas “Nick” Hayek Jr. has been the CEO and
and jewelry, Certina, Flik Flak, Glashütte, Hamilton,
president of the Swatch Group since 2003. Overall, the
Harry Winston, Jaquet Droz, Léon Hatot, Longines,
Hayek family controls nearly 40 percent
Mido, Original, Rado, Tissot, Tourbilof the Swatch Group.
lon, and Union Glashütte. These
Swatch Group is a diversified mulbrands form the “art” of Swatch—a
tinational holding company active in
focus that is almost always emphathe manufacturing and sale of finished
sized upfront in the company’s annual
watches, jewelry, watch movements,
report and something the Swatch
and watch components. It is the
Group nurtures in various ways.
world’s largest watchmaking group. To
On Swatch’s Instagram (instagram.
stay true to its cultural ideals, the comcom/swatch), the storyline is clear.
pany supplies nearly all the compoSwatch wants you to create your own
nents required for the watches sold by
unique way of accessorizing through
its eighteen individual brands. The
the use of a Swatch watch. A person
Group’s production companies supply
can showcase his or her individualized
movements and watch components to
Swatch use by tagging #MySwatch.
third-party watchmakers in SwitzerThe new line of “Skin” watches also
land and all around the world. This
helps users “dance with the unmakes the Group a key player in the
known,” break down barriers, and
manufacturing of electronic systems
make #YourMove with Skin. The
used in watchmaking. It is also a
product is minimalist in style, yet
leader in the field of sports event Brand X Pictures/Getty Images
unique, stylish, and culturally diverse—
timing.
much similar to how Swatch has creThe company has been built into a large and complex
ated its cultural uniqueness for decades in the global
organization in its roughly four decades in existence.
marketplace. Swatch’s own description of its brand captures
Swatch and its 37 global subsidiaries employ about
this cultural uniqueness:
37,000 people, and the company’s revenue is about $9 bilEveryone knows a Swatch when they see one. There’s
lion. The company’s headquarters in Biel sits on the lanclearly something that makes Swatch different from
guage border between French- and German-speaking
every other watch brand. What is it? The look, the colparts of Switzerland and is, by design, bilingual and
ors, the plastic? The design, perhaps, or the fact that it’s
culturally diverse. In fact, everything that Swatch engages
Swiss made and versatile enough to be worn with almost
in is based on diversity and culture. This cultural diversity
anything. There are Swatch watches for people of all
ages, and a Swatch for every occasion. But there’s more
is embedded in its overall brand and global strategizing.
to Swatch than market coverage. Swatch is an attitude,
For example, many of the Swatch brands have become
an approach to life, a way of seeing. The sight of a
cultural icons among a strong core of customers. Some
Swatch excites emotion. Wearing one is a way to comeven talk about the “Swatch Revolution” that began when
municate, to speak without speaking. Heart to heart.
Nicolas Hayek founded the company. It was the combination of legendary Swiss watch making and the unexpected
The Swatch Group is not just about being culturally
appearance of an affordable plastic watch that turned the
diverse, or a company marketing products globally to cuswatch world upside down.
tomers of different cultures. In many respects, the comSuddenly, a watch was more than a way to measure
pany is actually creating the values, beliefs, norms, and
time. It was a new individualized culture, a new language,
artifacts that form a globally unique culture worldwide.

Cases

Swatch’s large-scale production of watches and jewelry is
used to help create individually and culturally based customer uniqueness. These watches are fashion items and
are not simply focused on being timepieces. They are culturally interesting, different, and unique to each person’s
taste and characteristics. Seldom will you run into someone who has exactly the same Swatch.

Sources
“The Swiss Invent a Novel Watch Spring,” The Economist,
November 15, 2018; Corinne Gretler, “Swatch CEO Nick
Hayek Sees Swiss Watch Turnaround in 2017,” BusinessWeek,
February 2, 2017; Silke Koltrowitz, “Swatch Group Seeing
Strong Demand So Far in 2017,” Reuters, March 16, 2017; “The
Amazing Adventures of the Second Watch,” Swatch History 2017
(www.swatch.com/en_us/explore/history); “Swatch Is Challenging
Google and Apple with Its Own Operating System,” Fortune,
March 16, 2017;
swatch-chronology.

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Case Discussion Questions
1.

With the Hayek family controlling nearly 40 percent
of The Swatch Group, how do you think the family’s
influence impacts the corporate culture in the
company? What about the company’s international
culture being impacted by the Hayek family?
2. Many of the Swatch brands have become cultural
icons among a strong core following of customers in
the global marketplace. Some even talk about the
“Swatch Revolution” that began when Nicolas
Hayek founded the company. Why do you think
Swatch has such a strong cultural following?
3. As mentioned, Swatch wants you to create your
own unique way of accessorizing through its
Swatch watch. Is a watch a way to show who a
person is culturally? Does a watch get embedded
into a person’s culture? Can a watch create a
cultural image?

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