Posted: September 14th, 2016

This analysis will report on the operating environment in your target country – specifically in the context of your product or service and its compatibility with your strategy

Assessment details: Assessment Task 1: Individual research report 1) Assessment Details: You are a (SME) product manufacturer (or the supplier of a service). Your marketing department has identified a potential market in another country. The decision to enter this new market simply needs to be supported by environmental analysis. This analysis will report on the operating environment in your target country – specifically in the context of your product or service and its compatibility with your strategy. This assessment has a weighting of 25% of the total course marks. Word limit is 2500 words (plus/minus 10%). Any content beyond this limit will not be assessed. Your analysis will include a PESTEL analysis – and other external analysis supportive of your intended strategy – specifically, the “O” and “T” of a SWOT analysis. (Do not discuss factors internal to your company – you are examining only the external environment – you will discuss internal factors in the next assignment) In the report you must: – Clearly identify the product/service and the target country. Remember, you are entering only to ONE country – Undertake the environmental analysis in the context of your product. Therefore, your discussion should relate specifically to how environmental factors will potentially impact upon your chosen product/service. – Identify the main external opportunity and threat for this venture – i.e. the key deal maker (“O”) and key deal breaker (“T”). This can be also interpreted as being the key external factor upon which you will build your strategy, and a key external risk that might hinder success. – Provide a recommendation in the context of your product – “are we crazy doing this?”. (The second assignment builds on this assignment so, it is assumed that you will find positively for the operating environment in this assignment.) A few things to note:  This is NOT a marketing report! – it is an environmental analysis.  The product may already exist or it could be an innovation.  Research widely, using credible sources – these MUST be referenced (using APA)  Do not directly use cut/paste from your sources – even if it is referenced. You WILL be marked down! Rewrite/reinterpret in your own words.  Use report format – professionally presented. Note: The following companies/company- types are not permitted as subject material for this assessment: – Multinational fast food companies (ie McDonalds, KFC, Hungry Jacks, etc) – Multinational beverage companies (ie. Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Starbucks, etc) – Multinational sporting apparel companies (ie. Nike, Adidas, etc) – Multinational personal electronic companies (ie Apple, Nokia, Samsung, etc) 2) Criteria used to grade this task: Please refer to the marking guide in the appendices (below) 3) Task Assessor: This assessment will be marked by your lecturer. 4) Suggested time