Posted: December 31st, 2015

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT AND TRADE

You are requested to produce a consultancy report for a company of your choice which intends to pursue an internationalisation strategy regarding expansion into a particular country. In this report, you are only required to examine the business environment that affects the decision makers in the company about the choice(s) which they could make. You are to write this as a professional consultancy report suitable for a REAL business environment.
Your report should be based broadly upon the work that is covered during your taught sessions and it should also build upon the reading materials covered in your core textbook and other materials. Further research beyond core material and taught sessions is required.
The report should have the following parts:
1. An executive summary where only the key findings and recommendations of your report are presented. (5% mark)
2. A clear analysis of the key global trends affecting the current and future developments of the industry or sector relevant to the company which has sought your advice. These trends could include issues such as demand, competition, supply costs, technological changes, environmental factors as well as key regulatory economic and geopolitical factors; (40% mark)
3. A clear analysis of the relevant domestic factors in the targeted country in terms of demand, competition, costs, regulations, cultural, political and ethical issues and other specifically relevant factors.
(40% mark)
4. A set of actionable recommendations based on parts 2 and 3 of your report. (15% mark)
Your analysis must reason from the general (global/regional) to the particular (targeted country). This is deductive reasoning and must be applied. The crux of your arguments will rest on how well you execute this.

You are expected to use relevant statistical data from any reliable source and use appropriate diagrams and other illustrations to support your analysis.
It is important that you choose for your analysis only those issues or trends that make a differential impact on the industry or sector concerned and avoid presenting a long list of any factors that might have some relevance – avoid irrelevant factors. You must avoid simple description! The emphasis is on those issues that could have strategic implications for the decision makers in the company concerned.
The writing style should be incisive, factually based and focused on the subject company.
You must formulate clear and articulate arguments that must be substantiated with evidence.
You must take into account the knowledge of your reader and avoid tutorial type explanations or general unfocused commentary.
Word limit is 2500 words in total. Table of contents, bibliography and appendices are not included in the word count. The number of words should be indicated at the end of the assignment. You should ensure the assignment is presented after spell checking and proof reading. Clear referencing in the text will be expected with a list of references at the end of the assignment. It is required that you use the Harvard System. Marking criteria are based on the criteria set in the postgraduate credit framework as stated below.