Introduction to International Business

1

Academic Session 2021
Second Semester

May 2021

Assignment 1

BMG306/03 Introduction to International Business

Instructions:

1. Assignment 1 contains One Case Study and you are required to answer ALL

questions related to the case study.
2. Assignment 1 carries 35% of your final total marks.

3. The assignment should be typed using Arial, font size 12 and double spaced,
approximately 2000-4000 words and in essay format.

4. The deadline for the submission of Assignment is 13 June 2021, 11:59pm. A
softcopy should be submitted via Online Assignment Submission System.

5. Students are highly encouraged to passage their Assignment to the Turnitin system
before submission, to encourage honest academic writing and it is not mandatory
except for Project courses.

2

Read the case below and answer all the questions that follow.

This case focuses on CLO:1 Explain globalisation as well as country differences
in terms of political, legal, economic, socio-cultural and technological
environment

Robot- delivered Jajangmyeon Noodles

Soon in Seoul’s near future, citizens will be able to jajangmyeon Chinese-Korean
noodles, medicine and shop for magazines at home and have them delivered by a
robot in half an hour.

Kim Bong-jin, the founder of South Korea’s biggest food-delivery app, is betting that
autonomous gadgets the size of a small cooler will help his Baedal Minjok delivery
service keep a grip on a market filled with new entrants. The goal is to cut costs, reduce

delivery-related accidents and cope with a labour shortage in one of the world’s fastest-
aging nations. Kim is confident that his Dilly robots will start deliveries within three
years.

Woowa Brothers Corp, the company behind Baedal Minjok, raised US$320mil from
Hillhouse Capital, Sequoia Capital and GIC in the US to help develop a prototype that’s
set to roll out soon. The goal is to tap into a global service robotics market projected to

almost triple to US$29.8bil by 2023, according to Markets and Markets Research
Private Ltd.

Valued at 3 trillion won (US$2.7bil), Kim’s start-up company currently handles about 28
million s a month. Getting deliveries to people in the nation of 51 million is not an
easy task.

First, Kim’s Dilly robots have to be able to navigate in urban landscapes dominated by
tall residential buildings. He has found a solution by partnering with a local manufacturer
that would let elevators talk with the delivery robots.

The goal is to win over potential customers like Lee Dong-woo, who s food at
home at least once a week, getting everything from fried chicken and rice noodles to

raw beef delivered to the door.

“I wouldn’t mind robots getting my s at all,” said the 39-year-old Seoul office

worker. “In fact, I’d like it more because I wouldn’t have to deal with sometimes
unpleasant deliverymen.”

3

Kim has been recruiting an army of robotics engineers and working with Sunnyvale,
California-based Bear Robotics Inc, which has been developing devices that deliver
dishes to customers’ tables in restaurants. Kim thinks his Dilly robots will eventually be

able to handle simple errands, including tasks such as throwing out garbage or
delivering a home-made lunch.

“There’s a growing trend of using robots to do things that human beings do not want to
do,” said Jing Bing Zhang, an analyst at IDC.

“There are still a lot of technical challenges that need to be overcome. Especially in
urban areas like Singapore, Shanghai and Seoul, there’ll be som e safety concerns,
whether they will be hit by other vehicles or will hit people.”

Kim is meeting some early resistance from people who dread the idea of robots roaming
inside their apartment complexes. Critics say the Dilly robots would scare children and
make their real estate less attractive.

“Some residents may still prefer humans, because they aren’t used to dealing with
machines for payments and other services,” said Jin Se-taek, who represents an

association of about 1,100 households at an apartment complex in Seongnam, south of
Seoul.

Even though his company is one of South Korea’s six unicorns, according to CB
Insights, Kim doesn’t believe in making people work longer than they have to. Kim
restricts his workers from labouring more than 35 hours a week, five hours less than
most companies in South Korea. So far, he’s satisfied with the increase in productivity.

“We didn’t introduce this so we could slack off,” Kim said. “My goal was to create a
workplace where we could concentrate better. We should never stop thinking about how

we can change the way we work so we change the way we live.” — Bloomberg

(Source: https://www.thestar.com.my/business/smebiz/2019/03/04/coming-soon-to-seoul-
robotdelivered-jajangmyeon-noodles/#v28BI6BdXJ4mV5lv.99)

Please take note that this question requires you to read section 2.4 of Unit 2 as

well as current topics on artificial Intelligence, aging society and cross-b
funding. As much as possible, use your own words.

Please take note that questions in Assignment 1 and Assignment 2 will be based

on the same case study.

source:%20https://www.thestar.com.my/business/smebiz/2019/03/04/coming-soon-to-seoul-robotdelivered-jajangmyeon-noodles/#v28BI6BdXJ4mV5lv.99)

source:%20https://www.thestar.com.my/business/smebiz/2019/03/04/coming-soon-to-seoul-robotdelivered-jajangmyeon-noodles/#v28BI6BdXJ4mV5lv.99)

4

(a) Explain how countries can shape the development of their technological

environment.

(50 marks)

(b) Describe the challenges faced by Kim Bong Jin in introducing robot delivery

services.
(50 marks)

End of Assignment 1 Questions