INTERNATIONAL
BUSINESS CLASS
, 1 STRATEGY CONCEPTS
5 steps in strategy
o Define purpose with stakeholders
o External analysis
o Internal analysis
o Define strategy
o Implementation
1.1 STAKEHOLDERS ANALYSIS
Stakeholders will define your road to success
1.1.1 BUSINESS PURPOSE VS SOCIAL PURPOSE
Clear purpose can be business or social related
o Social purpose: good for society
Add value to community & business
o Business purpose: only thinking about business
1
, Steps to go from CSR (corporate social responsibility) to impact investment
o Determine the meaning of ‘corporate citizenship’ in each country where you operate and across all
of the firm’s international operations
o Assess each CSR initiative in terms of its joint contribution to ‘doing well’ and ‘doing good’ and
evaluate the longer-term business opportunities that CSR activities can create for the firm in host
countries
o Improve working conditions and labour standards at your factories and your suppliers’ by
effectively implementing CSR activities
o Rethink your pricing decisions by trading off profit maximization against fulfilling obligations to
society
o Align your CSR activities to your host country business objectives and the host country socio-
economic and institutional context
1.1.2 UN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
1.1.3 IMPACT INVESTMENT
Impact investment: investing money in companies that also do good for society
o Aims to balance financial returns with social and environmental considerations
o Traditional investments focus primarily on financial gains, impact investing integrates the analytical
rigor of finance with philanthropic values
Ultimately, impact investors strive for a "double bottom line" that includes both financial profit and
positive social impact.
1.1.4 GREENWASHING
2
, Greenwashing: doing what you did before but saying you are green for public image
o Green is fashionable and often comes from a marketing perspective (not from the CEO so not
genuine)
o You provide stakeholders with misleading/false info about the environmental impact of your
products and operations
Example: Belfius
o Suddenly new advertising campaign “We invested your money maximally in Belgian society, in
Belgian companies…” We are a good bank because we do this.
o They do nothing differently than 50 years ago, only now they are advertising.
o Is it greenwashing or genuine? Little bit of both
1.2 EXTERNAL ANALYSIS
1.2.1 5 FORCES OF PORTER
Regulation is missing
o “6th force”
o Porter was from US where they do not have regulation
1.2.2 STEEPLE
STEEPLE helps you look at market attractiveness
3
BUSINESS CLASS
, 1 STRATEGY CONCEPTS
5 steps in strategy
o Define purpose with stakeholders
o External analysis
o Internal analysis
o Define strategy
o Implementation
1.1 STAKEHOLDERS ANALYSIS
Stakeholders will define your road to success
1.1.1 BUSINESS PURPOSE VS SOCIAL PURPOSE
Clear purpose can be business or social related
o Social purpose: good for society
Add value to community & business
o Business purpose: only thinking about business
1
, Steps to go from CSR (corporate social responsibility) to impact investment
o Determine the meaning of ‘corporate citizenship’ in each country where you operate and across all
of the firm’s international operations
o Assess each CSR initiative in terms of its joint contribution to ‘doing well’ and ‘doing good’ and
evaluate the longer-term business opportunities that CSR activities can create for the firm in host
countries
o Improve working conditions and labour standards at your factories and your suppliers’ by
effectively implementing CSR activities
o Rethink your pricing decisions by trading off profit maximization against fulfilling obligations to
society
o Align your CSR activities to your host country business objectives and the host country socio-
economic and institutional context
1.1.2 UN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
1.1.3 IMPACT INVESTMENT
Impact investment: investing money in companies that also do good for society
o Aims to balance financial returns with social and environmental considerations
o Traditional investments focus primarily on financial gains, impact investing integrates the analytical
rigor of finance with philanthropic values
Ultimately, impact investors strive for a "double bottom line" that includes both financial profit and
positive social impact.
1.1.4 GREENWASHING
2
, Greenwashing: doing what you did before but saying you are green for public image
o Green is fashionable and often comes from a marketing perspective (not from the CEO so not
genuine)
o You provide stakeholders with misleading/false info about the environmental impact of your
products and operations
Example: Belfius
o Suddenly new advertising campaign “We invested your money maximally in Belgian society, in
Belgian companies…” We are a good bank because we do this.
o They do nothing differently than 50 years ago, only now they are advertising.
o Is it greenwashing or genuine? Little bit of both
1.2 EXTERNAL ANALYSIS
1.2.1 5 FORCES OF PORTER
Regulation is missing
o “6th force”
o Porter was from US where they do not have regulation
1.2.2 STEEPLE
STEEPLE helps you look at market attractiveness
3
