Based on the findings from your Initial Country Research Report, your team now progresses with your chosen
investment opportunity. In the Final Country Research Report, your team takes the next logical steps guided by
your course curriculum. First, your team will conduct research about the specific environment your business will enter
in this target market. Next, design your market entry for the U.S. product/service (company) you chose.
Required Assignment Elements
Use this outline to ensure no section is overlooked (see grading rubric for specifics)
1. Executive Summary
A concise overview of a) country analysis and b) market entry plan for your chosen U.S. product/service.
This section presents the report’s most important outcomes/takeaways of this paper (1/2 page maximum).
2. Country analysis/Business Environment – PESTEL
2.A Introduction
The introduction presents a factual description of the target country’s business environment.
The business environment analysis (i.e. PESTEL) in this final project looks closely at factors that will impact
your chosen business opportunity.
This section introduces the PESTEL analysis you will present in sections: 2.B – 2.G. Furthermore, the
PESTEL analysis highlight relevant factors that impact how investors should plan to do business in this target
country.
This section should answer the following questions:
2.A.1. What is the purpose of this PESTEL analysis?
2.A.2. What does this PESTEL analysis disclose?
2.A.3 Why is this PESTEL analysis important?
After the introduction, you transition into presenting specific environmental factors that will be
important for your investors to know about.
2.B Political Environment (e.g. political system, political risks for foreign firms).
The “P” section should answer the question: How will the political environment impact your business?
These factors can range from international relations issues that might affect your organization’s ability to do
business across borders to level of political stability in the target market which could thwart an organization
(and everything in between).
2.C Economic Environment (e.g. economic system, economic stability/risk, monetary system)
The “E” section should answer the question: How will the economic environment impact your business?
Every organization is exposed to the economies of the markets in which it operates. Economic factors
affecting a business can include international, national, or even regional economies; current and projected
economic growth; inflation and interest rates; job growth and unemployment; labor costs; impact of
globalization; disposable income of consumers and businesses; and likely changes in the economic
environment.
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2.D Socio-Cultural Environment (e.g. discuss major cultural components, highlight similarities/differences with
the United States, assess cultural dimensions with supporting examples, etc.).
Sociocultural factors that impact business can include: trends in society, buying habits, educational level,
literacy rates, religion and beliefs, family size/structure, disposable income levels, social class, age distribution
and life expectancy rates, population growth rate, attitudes toward imported products/services, attitudes
toward saving/investing, attitudes toward customer service and product quality. Organizations should be able
to offer products and services that benefit people’s lifestyles. The offerings should complement customers’
behavior. Not reacting to changes in society can be a costly mistake.
2.E Technological Environment (e.g. discusses how the technological environment will impact the business)
Technological factors pertain to innovations that may impact most operations of an industry and the market.
These factors can include e.g. technology incentives, innovation, automation, research and development
(R&D) activity, technological change, and the amount of technological awareness that a market possesses.
Technological factors may influence decisions to enter or not enter certain industries, to launch or (not)
certain products, or to outsource production activities abroad. By keeping updated on technology, it may be
possible to prevent your company from spending a lot of money on developing a technology that would
become obsolete very soon due to disruptive technological changes elsewhere.
2.F Environmental factors
Many businesses impact the environment in some way. The ‘Environmental’ section of a PESTEL analysis
focuses both on the impact of the environment on the firm and the potential impact of the firm on the
environment.
Environmental factors are important due to increasing scarcity of raw materials; pollution targets; doing
business as an ethical and sustainable company; and carbon footprint targets.
The environment of a country impacts business (e.g. geographical, geological, etc.) What is the country’s
impact on the environment? And how does the country’s environment impact business?
Environmental factors include variables regarding the physical environment (e.g. geographical
characteristics, geological resources, weather, climate, etc.) on business decisions. Further,
environmental factors can include consumer health, climate change, availability of energy, and any
direct consequences these factors cause.
These factors include ecological and environmental aspects such as weather, climate, environmental
offsets and climate change which may especially affect industries such as tourism, farming, agriculture
and insurance. Furthermore, growing awareness of the potential impacts of climate change is affecting
how companies operate and the products they offer. This has led to many companies getting more and
more involved in practices such as corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability.
Note: you may integrate information from your Initial country research report, but the PEST(EL) analysis in
this final report should be more narrowly focused on relevant factors for your chosen specific business
opportunity.
2.G Legal Environment (e.g. legal system, intellectual property laws, trade laws, labor laws, legal risks for foreign
firms)
The “L” section should answer the questions: What is the legal landscape like in the target country? How will
the legal environment impact your business? Legal factors might overlap with political factors and can
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include Examples of topics that might be discussed in this category include trade laws, labor laws, and
intellectual property laws, and how each affects a business.
3. Business Environment Assessment and Considerations for new product/service market entry:
3.A Challenges and opportunities for doing business in the target country in general & in particular for U.S. firms
Note: For this section, you integrate relevant points from this report – Part Two, the Initial Country
Research Report, and other relevant credible external sources.
3.B Specify Opportunity and Identify:
3.B.1 Based on analysis in 3.A, propose a US product to enter the target country.
3.B.2 Justify why it represents a good business opportunity and meets the demand of the host market.
3.B.3 Build a clear and logical argument explaining your choice including the market-potential indicators to
estimate the market demand for the product/service.
Note: relevant points from the Initial Country Research Report may be reused, as long as they are revised
arguments based on the feedback you received.
You may also build a new argument for an entirely different product if you realized that your initial ideas in your
Initial Country Research Report were suboptimal.
3.C Competitive landscape
3.C.1 Analyze the local competition for your selected product:
a. industry structure,
b. major players – local
c. major players – foreign (already present)
3.C.2 Discuss the competitive advantages that your firm has to compete with in target market.
3.D Design Entry strategy:
3.D.1. Select an appropriate entry mode for the proposed product (e.g., exporting, licensing, JV, etc.).
a. Explain why you believe this entry mode is appropriate, particularly when considering this
company’s strategic goals.
b. Discuss some specific risks and (dis)advantages linked to this entry mode.
3.D.2. Identify and justify appropriate international strategy for your company (see Ch. 14).
3.D.3. Choose and justify appropriate promotion methods for your product/service in this target market.
Be specific (See Ch. 17)
3.D.4. Describe how your business will organize itself to support this recommended market entry. Be
specific. (See Ch. 15)
3.D.5. Explain how this business will be led for this new cross-border market entry (see chapter 16). Be
specific. Identify which specific leadership competencies needed for this market entry.
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3.D.6. Describe what specific operational planning & design considerations (Ch. 18) must be made for
your firm’s market entry plan. Explain what operational planning is appropriate for your chosen
entry mode and why. Specifically, explain:
– choices about global procurement?
– whether you will adopt Just-In-Time production/manufacturing?
– whether you will offshore and/or outsource?
– choices about implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERP)
– choices about whether/how you will use business analytics in operations, etc.
3.D.7 Describe HR/Staffing that is appropriate for your proposed entry mode. (Chapter 19). Be specific
(and creative!) about which HR recommendations will support your strategy. Include:
3.D.7.a. What is the difference between HR/Staffing if your team decides to manufacture locally
versus engaging in any other mode of entry (e.g. JV/franchise/export, etc.)?
3.D.7.b. Utilize the global HR wheel to align human capital with your firm’s strategic objectives.
3.D.7.c. List the types of human capital your company needs to be successful.
3.D.7.d. Identify and describe specific HR practices needed to develop your company’s human
capital portfolio
3.D.7.e. Discuss what role the HR function must play in achieving company success, particularly
considering how you will enter the target market and who you will hire to accomplish it.
Be specific (and creative!) about which HR recommendations will support your strategy
Note: be specific in providing real potential business partners and identifying major outlets and
collaborators for distribution and promotion in addition to clearly stating your choices and using
theoretical concepts from the textbook. Your recommendations should be actionable.
4. Conclusion
4.A Present a clear and concise overview of the most important findings. What can be learned from them?
Specifically:
1. Why is your strategic market entry plan the best design available to them?
2. What’s in it for your potential investors/company owners?
4.B Make your final convincing ‘ask’ from your potential investors.
1. What is most important for your audience to remember from your paper?
4.C Discuss briefly what implications this report might have for your professional development and/or for
other business leaders? For example:
1. What did your team find surprising?
2. How will your market entry plan mobilize change in the target market?
3. etc.
BUSI 3344 Global Business Environment Final country research report guidelines
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The purpose of this assignment is to:
1. consolidate your course learning about global business environment
2. provide an opportunity to apply classroom learning to a real life (i.e. empirical) case study.
Furthermore, the assignment allows you to
1. examine a non-U.S. business setting in detail,
2. assess its competitive landscape, and
3. design a strategic market entry for a U.S. product/service that does not yet compete in that target market.
Successful reports consolidate all eight Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) for BUSI3344:
1. Develop cross-cultural sensitivity to interact with individuals from different business cultures.
2. Analyze the cultural, legal, political, and economic forces of international business environment.
3. Understand specific trade and investment theories.
4. Understand the impact of government intervention and trade agreements on global business decisions.
5. Explain the reasons and methods of entering international business through foreign markets and through
domestic import/export markets.
6. Select appropriate entry modes and business organization models to match strategic international business
marketing and/or production objectives.
7. Apply basic marketing, management, and human resource principles to doing business in various countries.
8. Collaborate professionally and effectively use project management skills in a diverse work group.
As you can see in the assignment outline, your team will design a data-driven market entry plan.
In order to accomplish this task, your team must first ask a variety of relevant questions to the (type of) U.S.
company you chose in your Initial Country Research Report.
Example questions to help guide your research:
What will (could?) be consumer demand for your product/service there?
How can you know for sure (i.e. how will you substantiate/corroborate your statements/assumptions)?
How will the cultural, legal, political, and economic forces of that country’s business environment – or the
business environment of the trade regions that country belongs to – impact your company?
Which trade agreements might impact your company?
Will the host government help/hinder your company in any way when establishing business there?
Your team will consider the competition and the competitive landscape: How might your competitors impact
your market entry?
How are the competitive landscape dynamics? (how do you substantiate these statements?)
Your team will naturally reflect upon what kind of entry mode makes sense for this company’s arrival in the
new country: What reasons and methods can be used to argue why a specific entry mode is the most relevant way
to ‘arrive on the scene’ for this U.S. company?
Depending upon which entry mode you decide is the most relevant way for your U.S. market to enter this
country, what kind of staffing will be needed to support your chosen market entry mode? Will your firm need
to hire locally? Etc.
How will your company organize (i.e. structure) itself that will support its strategic international business
objectives?
How will your company organize (i.e. structure) itself that will support its production objectives?
How can your U.S. company market this product/service appropriately in this new target market?
How can your team be sure this will be an appropriate way to market to the new (host) market?
Ad infinitum …
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REMEMBER THESE IMPORTANT CONCEPTS:
You are not expected to be experts on the Country/Industry/Product/service/company your team selected.
However, as you discover more about the country in your research, you will become experts based on the
research you complete.
For every statement you make in your report that you derive from newly-acquired information, you must
show the direct connection to source material by showing in-text citations.
o This is a critical part of presenting ourselves professionally in written work. We give credit where credit
is due and we show our reader legitimate and easy-to-follow paths to credible source materials for all
statements by using in-text citations.
You must substantiate your claims and provide evidence for your statements through your in-text citations.
These citations must connect to a full list of accurately-written APA references at the end of the report which
show evidence of all the resources for each external resource from which you draw information. This list of
references provides the foundation of your data in this report and it creates the basis for your credibility. It
also shows your integrity as students and as professionals. Finally, it provides validity to your analyses and
supports your report’s conclusions.
Remember not to simply “copy/paste” entire phrases/sentences/paragraphs from any resource that you use
in your report. (It will be flagged as plagiarism!). Whichever source material you decide to use, it is important
to synthesize the information from the original source (and, accordingly, from its original analysis) and convey
that information in your final report in your own words. For example, if you choose to re-use your own
written material (e.g. text, data, and analysis from your team’s Initial Country Research Report), you must
reformulate your main points and cite that paper, giving credit to the authors (yes, yourselves ☺) in the
appropriate format (according to APA system of citation about which our librarians have created a helpful
online citation guide for you at this link). If you have questions about this process, please ask!
Stylistically:
▪ Your team should write as a team of professional consultants who communicate with and present to an
important client (i.e. no informal, text message-y language).
▪ If it is impossible for your team to avoid using the first-person voice, then do not use I/Me; If your
team feels you absolutely must use the first-person voice: use We/Us.
Format requirements:
✓ Aim for 7-10 pages (maximum without references) – (yes – if you write more, it will be read)
✓ Cover page must include all author names
✓ Paper must align with ‘Detailed Assignment Outline & Required Elements’ above (copy/paste)
✓ Each resource included in ‘References’ must be appropriately cited in the text
✓ 12 pt font (with serif, please – to help mature eyes)
✓ Title of the submitted document should be formatted:
StudentTeamNameOrNumber_Title_of_the_assignment.docx
✓ Reports must be submitted on CANVAS in .DOC/.DOCX format