Foreign Exchange Hedging Strategies at General Motors:  Transactional and Translational Exposures

Mihir A. Desai; Mark  Veblen

Case | HBS Case Collection | March 2005 (Revised January 2006)

Foreign Exchange Hedging Strategies at General Motors: Transactional and Translational Exposures

Abstract

How should a multinational firm manage foreign exchange exposures? Examines transactional and translational exposures and alternative responses to these exposures by analyzing two specific hedging decisions by General Motors. Describes General Motors' corporate hedging policies, its risk management structure, and how accounting rules impact hedging decisions. Although the overall corporate hedging policy provides a consistent approach to the foreign exchange risks that General Motors must manage, the company also has to consider deviations from prescribed policies. Describes two such situations: a significant exposure to the Canadian dollar with adverse accounting consequences and GM's exposure to the Argentinean currency when devaluation is widely anticipated. Students must evaluate the risks General Motors faces in each situation and consider which hedging strategy--if any--might be appropriate. Additionally, asks students to analyze the financial costs and accounting treatment of alternative derivative transactions for hedging purposes. A rewritten version of an earlier case.

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Currency Exchange Rate; Expansion; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Financial Management; Investment Funds; Risk and Uncertainty; International Finance; Auto Industry;

Format: Print

24 pages

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Citation:

Desai, Mihir A., and Mark Veblen. "Foreign Exchange Hedging Strategies at General Motors: Transactional and Translational Exposures." Harvard Business School Case 205-095, March 2005. (Revised January 2006.)

Case | HBS Case Collection | October 2020 (Revised November 2020)

The Tulsa Massacre and the Call for Reparations

Mihir Desai, Suzanne Antoniou and Leanne Fan

How should historic social injustices be addressed? Survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Massacre and their descendants believe they should be addressed through reparations and have consequently continued to push the government of Tulsa to pay reparations for the massacre. In 2020, after no direct reparations and largely symbolic governmental efforts, Representative Regina Goodwin of Tulsa, the descendant of massacre survivors, wondered if that call would finally be answered. The upcoming centennial of the massacre, the resurgent Black Lives Matter movement, and discussions within the U.S. about reparations broadly have made the issue more salient. The case guides students to consider the specific issue of reparations for the Tulsa Massacre, the idea of reparations generally, and the use of reparations to respond to the effects of slavery and racist governmental policies in the U.S. The student also considers the role of business in responding to racial justice issues.

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Decision Choices and Conditions; Decisions; Judgments; Race; Fairness; Moral Sensibility; Values and Beliefs; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Policy; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Government Legislation; Government and Politics; Government Administration; Lawsuits and Litigation; Legal Liability; Leading Change; Mission and Purpose; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Conflict and Resolution; Conflict Management; Loss; Motivation and Incentives; Perspective; Prejudice and Bias; Civil Society or Community; Social Issues; Welfare; Tulsa; Oklahoma; United States;

Citation:

Desai, Mihir, Suzanne Antoniou, and Leanne Fan. "The Tulsa Massacre and the Call for Reparations." Harvard Business School Case 221-039, October 2020. (Revised November 2020.) View Details

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In this report, the authors synthesize their views on U.S. competitiveness and unveil the findings of the 2019 HBS surveys on U.S. competitiveness. Specifically, this report—built on the survey findings and eight years of prior research on the competitiveness of the United States—highlights a disturbing pattern: despite a decade of steady economic growth since the Great Recession, America has done remarkably little to address underlying structural weaknesses in the country’s economy and society. The nation has squandered the recovery.

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Foreign Exchange Hedging Strategies at General Motors: Transactional and Translational Exposures

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