Reference no: EM133047958
International Management - Term Project
Objective
The objective of the term project is to demonstrate your understanding and ability to apply the body of knowledge covered in this course. The focus will be on identifying a potential international business initiative and developing a comprehensive international operations plan for that venture.
Nature of Activities
The term project gives students the opportunity to apply the concepts and strategies learned throughout the course towards the analysis of an international business initiative. The deliverable is an operations plan for managing a new market. This can be done for a new product line or for an existing product line expanding into a new country. Students should take the following steps to complete this project:
1. Select a company that has expanded or is planning to expand into international markets. The company you choose could be a small firm, a medium multi-national, or a foreign-based firm. Analyze the situation that the existing firm currently faces and what factors give rise to the need or opportunity for a strategic international move. Your analysis should consider the following:
• Brief overview of the company (i.e., company history, products and services, number of employees, annual revenues/sales).
• Analysis of the company's key success factors. Discuss challenges, obstacles, and failures and what the firm did to overcome them.
• Analysis of its international strategy. What was the motive for expanding into foreign markets and what strategy was pursued?
2. Select a country that provides this company potential opportunities of doing business there. Analyze the kinds of challenges specific to that country that your company would face. This can be done by researching publicly available information or interviewing managers who have lived overseas or traveled extensively. Specifically, your research should address the following issues:
o Brief overview of the country & demographics.
o What recent developments are taking place in that country that would affect international business?
o What are the social, political, cultural, religious, environmental, and economic issues and challenges?
o Specific regional trade agreements and its affects of doing business in that country.
o Evaluate the investment climate of the country (i.e., GDP, inflation rate, exchange rate, barriers to entry such as tariffs, quotas, etc.)
o Infrastructure and its level of sophistication (i.e., roads/highways, information technology, access to internet) and its impact on trade and business.
3. How would you manage the business operations in that country? Specifically, your recommendation should address the following:
o Recommended strategies/tactics of operations (e.g., marketing plan, organizational design, human resources management, pricing strategy, production plan, and local partnership)
o Any other relevant operational strategies/tactics (e.g., acquisition and supply chain management)
4. Complete the international operations plan document (about 8 pages). The final term paper should include the following key elements:
o Company profile
o Country profile
o Business objectives of this specific international initiative
o SWOT analysis
o Assessment of benefits/costs, risks, and political/legal environment of this international business operation
o Recommended strategies and tactics (e.g., marketing plan, organizational design, human resources management, pricing strategy, supply chain design, production plan, and local partnership)