Every question, cut by section

A country's GDP rises by 6% in a year, while its population rises by 2% over the same period. What is the closest estimate of the change in its GDP per capita?

In a real Ease of Doing Business ranking used in genuine Pearson past-paper source material, Vietnam ranked 70th, while neighbouring Cambodia ranked 144th and Laos ranked 154th. The real mark scheme for this question also notes that supply-chain quality and workforce skill were flagged as weaknesses for Vietnam specifically in the source extract.

A footwear manufacturer is choosing between these three countries purely as a production location, and is told Vietnam's Ease of Doing Business ranking makes it the "easiest" of the three to do business in. Which of the following best applies the real mark scheme's own balancing logic to this decision? (VERIDIAN-original single best-answer question, built from the real 12-mark Assess-style balancing logic confirmed on this paper — not a reproduction of the real question's exact wording, and not itself worth 12 marks in this format.)

Two countries have identical GDP per capita. Country X earns most of its output from smallholder agriculture and has limited access to formal credit; Country Y earns most of its output from manufacturing and services and has a well-developed banking sector. Which is the most defensible classification?

A UK retailer is deciding how to enter a large but unfamiliar overseas market. It is genuinely unsure whether its product will sell there at all, and it has no existing relationship with local suppliers, regulators or distributors. Which entry structure lets it test the market while sharing both of these unknowns with a partner who already has one of them resolved?

A question asks you to 'assess the trade opportunities created for European businesses by [a named developing economy]'s economic growth.' Which of the following would correctly answer the question as actually set?

A logistics firm facing a severe shortage of qualified drivers responds by investing heavily in driver training and automated route-planning software, raising output per driver by more than its average driver wage rises over the same period. What does this imply for the firm's relative unit labour cost, and therefore its international competitiveness?

The EU-Vietnam trade agreement eliminating a tariff on a specific good is best classified as which TYPE of factor contributing to globalisation, in terms of what it actually changes for a business?

Which of the following is the clearest example of 'government or legal requirement', rather than 'making use of local knowledge', as the PRIMARY reason a firm chooses a joint venture over a full takeover?

Which of the following is the most accurate reason 'increased significance of MNCs' (4.3.1.3d) and 'structural change' (4.3.1.3h) are grouped separately from factors like trade liberalisation and FDI in a well-derived answer?

A business treats every country market as a fully separate operation, adapting product, price, promotion and place independently in each one, with no attempt at cross-market standardisation at all. Which approach is this?

A country's electronics manufacturing sector grows rapidly after its first major MNC investment, because each subsequent MNC entering the sector faces lower setup costs than the first one did — a ready skilled-labour pool, an established local supplier network, and customs procedures already adapted to this trade. What is this effect called, and which spec item does it best illustrate?

A firm translates its product slogan word-for-word into a new market's language, and every word is technically accurate — but locals in that market still find the phrase confusing, or read an unintended meaning into it. What does this best illustrate?

A car-parts manufacturer with factories in both France and Germany — both EU members — moves a component from its French factory to its German assembly plant. Because both countries are inside the EU single market, what is true of this movement?

A firm decides to compete in a narrow, high-income segment of the global electric-bicycle market by offering a genuinely differentiated, premium-engineered product rather than the lowest price. Which spec 4.3.3.1 tool correctly names this global marketing decision?

A car assembled in Mexico has a total factory value of $30,000. $21,000 of that value (parts, labour, materials) originates within North America — the US, Mexico or Canada; the rest originates outside the bloc.

Under USMCA's rules of origin for passenger vehicles (a minimum of 75% regional value content), does this car qualify for tariff-free access into the US and Canada, and by how much does it clear or miss the threshold?

A homeware brand's product name, unchanged from its home market, is technically translated correctly into a new market's language — but happens to carry a well-known negative colloquial association there that nobody at the firm had checked for. (VERIDIAN-original scenario, illustrating a real spec consideration, not a documented Pearson exam case.) Which spec 4.3.3.3 consideration does this most directly illustrate?

Country M is a member of a customs union. Country N is a member of a free-trade area with no common external tariff. Both want to negotiate a brand-new trade deal with a country outside their bloc. Which statement is correct?

Which of the following best describes how effective a national government's legal control over an MNC is likely to be?

A UK electronics firm builds and directly owns a new factory in Malaysia to manufacture its own products there. A separate UK clothing firm instead pays an independent, externally-owned Bangladeshi manufacturer to produce its clothing range to its specification. Which firm is off-shoring, and which is outsourcing?

Which factor most determines whether consumer pressure can effectively control a specific MNC's behaviour?

A UK business's Nigerian subsidiary earns NGN 18,000,000 in local revenue each year. At an exchange rate of £1 = NGN 165, this converts to about £109,091. The naira then depreciates against sterling to £1 = NGN 198, and the subsidiary earns the same NGN 18,000,000 the following year. (VERIDIAN-original numeric example — the real, verified exchange-rate case on this paper uses Kenya, spec item 4.3.2.5, taught in this course's Global Expansion, Mergers and Uncertainty lesson; this is a deliberately different country so the two aren't confused.)

What happens to the GBP value of that same NGN revenue once it is repatriated to the UK parent company?

A country's total number of people in work stays exactly the same over ten years, but the share of workers employed in agriculture falls from 45% to 20%, with manufacturing and services absorbing the difference. Under the WBS14 spec, does this count as a change in 'employment patterns'?

Two countries, P and Q, are both projected to deliver an 18% annual return on a new $5m factory investment over its first five years. Country P's government has not changed hands unconstitutionally in over 40 years and has no record of seizing a foreign-owned factory. Country Q has had three military coups in the last 12 years, and its government seized two foreign-owned factories without compensation during the most recent one. (VERIDIAN-original numeric example, illustrating "likely return on investment" as a location factor — not a reproduction of any real Pearson question.)

Applying "likely return on investment" as a LOCATION FACTOR (4.3.2.3.a) — not as a separate investment-appraisal calculation — which of the following best compares these two identical 18% projected returns?

A country has a GDP of $84.6 billion and a population of 19.2 million. What is its GDP per capita, correct to 2 decimal places, and in what unit should the answer be stated?

A UK firm exports finished goods to a country whose currency then depreciates sharply against the pound. A separate UK firm has just opened a wholly-owned, pound-financed factory producing the same goods inside that same country. Do the two firms face the same exchange-rate exposure?

Vietnam's manufacturing sector has drawn very large, rapid FDI inflows, including major investment from South Korea and firms like Apple shifting production there. A real mark scheme addressing this scenario credits which of the following as a genuine counter-risk to the growth this FDI produces?

Kenya's currency depreciates sharply against the pound. Which of the following UK businesses is affected mainly through a fall in local consumers' real disposable income for imported goods, rather than through the pound value of profit or assets it already holds inside Kenya?

Which of the following best reflects Pearson's own instruction (spec 4.1) for how 4.3.1's globalisation content should be assessed on this paper?

Two UK firms both export finished goods into Kenya, and the Kenyan shilling depreciates against the pound by the same percentage for both. Firm P sells a specialist medical diagnostic instrument with almost no local substitute; Firm Q sells a mass-market packaged snack with many close local substitutes. Which firm is likely to see the smaller fall in sales volume, and why?

A Section A question asks you to 'assess the trade opportunities created by trade liberalisation for European clothing retailers.' Which of the following would earn the LEAST credit, even if factually accurate?

Which term specifically names the geocentric/mixed approach applied to the marketing mix — standardising some elements globally to save cost while adapting others locally where culture genuinely demands it?

A student concludes an essay: "Falling transport and communication costs will always make relocating production abroad the right choice for a business." Which single change would most improve this conclusion on a 12-mark Assess question?

A firm's geocentric marketing-mix adaptation for a new market costs less per market than fully duplicating its entire local operation (polycentric), while still recovering close to the same revenue a full local rebuild would. Given this alone, which of the following must be true?

Country A and Country B are both inside a free-trade area with no common external tariff. Country A's external tariff on Good X is 2%; Country B's is 20%. A firm outside the free-trade area wants to sell Good X into Country B as cheaply as possible. Without a rules-of-origin rule, what could it do?

Which of the following best describes a global niche market, as distinct from a global mass market?

A Vietnamese manufacturer sources components more cheaply from Thailand since both countries are inside ASEAN, and also faces new competition from Thai manufacturers now selling directly into its own domestic market on the same tariff-free terms. Which statement best captures the net effect ASEAN membership has produced for this business?

A government report says an MNC's new factory "created 3,000 jobs in the town of Buci and raised the country's total FDI inflow by 4% last year." Which of these two claims is about the local economy, and which is about the national economy?

A UK sportswear brand's home market has stopped growing: most UK adults who intend to buy trainers already have a preferred brand, and three domestic rivals are locked in a price war for the few remaining first-time buyers. The brand's strategy team is now studying Indonesia, where trainer ownership among under-30s is rising fast and fewer than two national brands currently compete for that demand.

Which one of the following correctly identifies the push factor and the pull factor described here?

An MNC is criticised for printing "dolphin-safe" on its tuna cans despite sourcing from fisheries that don't actually meet that standard. Which category of international business ethics consideration does this best illustrate?

A UK kitchenware brand's flagship saucepan range is in the decline stage of its product life cycle in the UK, with sales falling every year as the domestic market becomes saturated. The brand launches the SAME, unmodified saucepan range in Brazil, where it has never sold before.

Which of the following best explains why this counts as extending the product life cycle, rather than simply "entering a new market for more sales"?

Korvane Mining plc operates a copper mine that provides 40% of a small developing country's total export earnings and is the country's single largest taxpayer. The mine has created 2,000 local jobs, but a pressure group alleges it is dumping untreated waste into a nearby river. (VERIDIAN-original stimulus, written in the style of a confirmed real WBS14 MNC-control question — not a reproduction of one.)

Which of the following best explains why the host government is unlikely to force Korvane Mining to fix the alleged waste-dumping problem through strict legal enforcement, even if the allegation is true?

A UK bakery chain is assessing Country Y as a potential market. Country Y's disposable income is growing strongly and its overall bakery market is large — but three domestic chains already control most prime retail locations, switching between bakery brands costs shoppers nothing, and a national tariff makes imported bakery equipment noticeably more expensive to install.

Applying Porter's five forces to this specific market-entry assessment, which conclusion is best supported?

A UK-based electronics firm builds and operates its own new assembly plant in Vietnam, rather than continuing to export finished goods there from the UK. From the perspective of the UK firm itself, what has it just done?

A UK pharmaceutical company takes over a small French biotech firm purely to gain ownership of a patented drug compound the French firm holds, with no plan to use the French firm's factories, staff or distribution network at all. Which of the ten spec-named reasons for global M&A does this best illustrate?

Thailand is the world's largest exporter of natural rubber, with 42.4% of its output sold to China. Thai rubber-processing businesses have increasingly specialised in rubber production rather than diversifying into other agricultural exports.

Explain, using the stimulus, why increasing specialisation in rubber production is likely to benefit Thai rubber-processing businesses specifically, not just the Thai economy as a whole.

A national telecoms operator merges with a mobile network operator in a neighbouring country, purely to gain the target's existing spectrum licences and network infrastructure — building an equivalent network from scratch domestically would take a decade and require a licence the operator does not currently hold. Which underlying strategic logic does this best illustrate?

A student answers 'assess the trade opportunities created for European businesses by a developing economy's growth' entirely in terms of the new consumer market and cheaper inputs available to European businesses. A real mark scheme addressing this exact question credits a genuine balancing argument the student has left out entirely. What is it?

A logistics company operating abroad faces a shortage of qualified HGV drivers. Average driver wages rise from $42,000 to $48,000 a year. Over the same period, new route-planning software raises average output per driver from 800 to 850 delivery units a year. (VERIDIAN-original scenario; all figures independently computed with python3.)

Calculate the percentage change in unit labour cost for this driver group, and state what this implies for the firm's international competitiveness, holding other things equal.

FDI, migration, and growth of the global labour force (4.3.1.3e-g) are grouped together as 'factor-movement' factors. What do all three specifically have in common?

A global business exports its home-country product, branding and marketing approach unchanged into every new country it enters, making no local adaptation at all. Which of the named marketing approaches is this?

A UK footwear brand currently manufactures a shoe in Country X for $18.00 per unit before shipping, and faces a 12% UK import tariff on the finished product from Country X. It is considering switching to Country Y, which has just signed a free trade agreement with the UK eliminating this tariff, but where the same shoe costs $19.50 per unit to manufacture before shipping. Shipping cost is $1.20 per unit from either country. (VERIDIAN-original — written in the same landed-cost style as the mechanism this paper confirms testing, not a reproduction of any past-paper question.)

Calculate the landed cost per unit (manufacturing + shipping + any tariff) from each country, and determine which is now the cheaper source.

A firm serves committed vegan endurance athletes with a specialised product range in the UK, Germany and Japan, keeping the same core product and target segment everywhere while adapting packaging and marketing copy for each country's own vegan-community culture. What makes this a GLOBAL NICHE market strategy, specifically?

A government doubles the tariff on an imported component a business relies on. The business is willing to absorb the extra cost and keep importing the same volume as before. What can it do?

A UK-based specialist software firm sells its existing product, completely unchanged, to new business customers in Canada for the first time. Applying Ansoff's Matrix to this global expansion, which growth strategy is this?

A government places a tariff on imported solar panels after a foreign, state-subsidised manufacturer begins selling panels in the domestic market at a price below its own reported cost of production. Which reason for protectionism does this best illustrate?

A UK specialist retailer of vegan sports-nutrition products expands into Germany, Japan and Brazil. In every country it sells to the same narrow group — committed vegan endurance athletes — rather than the general sports-nutrition market. Its core product formulation and 'science-led' brand identity stay unchanged everywhere, but its packaging and marketing copy are rewritten for each country's own vegan-community culture and language, rather than a single direct translation used everywhere.

Which of the following best explains why this counts as adapting the marketing mix to a global NICHE market specifically, rather than adapting to each country's mass market?

A US furniture exporter sells sofas to the EU at $800 per unit. The EU raises its tariff on imported US furniture from 4% to 20% in a trade dispute. EU demand for the exporter's sofas is fairly price-sensitive (elastic).

Explain, using the tariff mechanism, which business response is most consistent with the exporter facing elastic EU demand for its sofas.

An MNC's shareholders want it to switch to a cheaper, unaudited overseas supplier to protect profit margins; its existing supply-chain workers want to keep the audited, higher-paying supplier it currently uses. Which best describes this situation?

Ease of doing business and political stability both appear on Pearson's list of factors for assessing a country as a MARKET, and again on its list of factors for assessing a country as a PRODUCTION LOCATION. Why does the same factor name appear on both lists?

An MNC's local subsidiary pays £63 million in corporation tax to a host government whose total annual tax revenue, from all sources, is £2.1 billion.

What percentage of the government's total tax revenue does this MNC's corporation tax payment represent? (VERIDIAN-original calculation, testing the tax-revenue impact sub-point at 4.3.4.1b.)

A firm's home workforce produces 4 units per worker-hour at a $28 hourly wage. It is considering off-shoring production to a country where workers produce only 2.5 units per worker-hour, at a $6 hourly wage. By approximately what percentage does labour cost PER UNIT change if it off-shores?