Case study ‘BRL Hardy: Globalizing an Australian Wine Company’
All questions related to the case study 7-2, ‘BRL Hardy: Globalizing an Australian Wine Company’, pp. 612-628 in BARLETT, C.A and BEAMISH, P.W (2011) Transnational management: text: cases, and reading in cross-border management. Sixth edition. New York and London: McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Please note that you are not required to update the case study. Answer the questions as though you were a consultant advising the firm in 1998. No further research about BRL Hardy is needed. Additional information will not improve your grade.

You are encouraged to support your answers with reference both to the BRL Hardy case study evidence and to theory from the core module text and weekly readings, together with the following reading of special relevance to the case:

PORTER: Micheal E. (1998) Clusters and the New Economics of Competition. Harvard Business Review, Volume 76, Issue 6 (November/December), pages 77-90.

Answers should be in essay form, using evidence from the BRL Hardy case study to illustrate the theoretical points made. Your essay should be 3,000 words (1,000 words per question answered) excluding the reference

1. Critically evaluated Steve Millar’s approach to the challenge of leading BRL Hardy “to become one of the world’s first truly global wine companies” (case p.596) Using module concepts and frameworks, explain whether, in 1998, you would recommend Millar to allow more scope for local responsiveness within his global strategy.

2. Examine the advantages and disadvantages of the Australian wine cluster as a home base supporting the international expansion of BRL Hardy in the 1990s. Which module concepts and frameworks have you found most helpful in your analysis, and why?

3. Identify and appraise the strategy developed by Christopher Carson to build and sustain BRL Hardy’s competitive advantage in the European wine market in 1995-1998. In what ways has Carson leveraged the parent company’s distinctive strengths, and how far should he develop distinctive regional competences and capabilities within the European unit for the future?