Incomplete Paper needs Recommendation and a Table-DUE: Tonight

Session 5: International Business Implementation: Country Evaluation and Selection

Team Assignment. Country Analysis

Team Report #1 Directions

Read Sullivan (2004) before you start working on the assignment

• For this assignment, teams are assuming the role of consultants.

The CEO of a hypothetical multinational enterprise (MNE) in a given industry (you choose the industry) wants to expand operations into two countries (your team chooses a pair of countries from the list below). The CEO is asking your consulting team to conduct country analyses of the two countries in relation to the industry the MNE represents.

Your team is providing answers to the following four questions:

1. What does this hypothetical MNE need to know about the environment for doing business in those two countries for the industry you selected?

2. What short- and long-term risks and opportunities do the two countries present to the industry to which this MNE belongs?

3. What advantages do the two countries have that make one or both of them candidates for trade and investment for that specific industry?

4. Which one of the two countries do you as consultants recommend to the CEO?

Assignment

Your task is to conduct an analysis of the Food industry and the two countries Argentina-Brazil to help the CEO (your customer) decide whether the two countries have acceptable business environments for the specific industry. For example, if your team has picked beverage production as the industry, you will be analyzing the two countries from the point of view of the beverage industry as a whole. This is an industry (not company) and country analysis. DO NOT select a specific company for your analysis in Team Report #1.

Your team analysis is to focus on the major risks and opportunities the two environments present as indicated by your research and supported by conceptual frameworks covered in course readings and videos. The analysis should be based on a thorough search of databases, journals and other sources (see below “Process” for recommended databases). The report should demonstrate your ability to collect and summarize necessary country data, work as a team, and present your major points in a clearly written paper.

Format

This assignment requires you to synthesize the key findings of your team analysis (Parts A, B, and C below) and to present your conclusions/recommendations (answers to the four questions above) succinctly in a 9-page report, maximum. The Executive Summary is part of the page count; the cover page, table of contents, appendixes, references are not included in the page count. Use one inch margins, 10 or 12-point font, double-spaced, and use APA format for citations and references.  

Your report is to be organized as follows:

Table of Contents

Executive Summary – One page that states conclusions and recommendations succinctly.

Introduction – ½ page that states the major questions you will address in your report.

Analysis – Three Parts

1. Part A - Do the countries have an acceptable economic, political, ethical, legal environment?

2. Part B - Do the countries have a suitable infrastructure? Is one location in a country more suitable for the industry than another?

3. Part C - What cultural environment will the staff of the MNE encounter in the workplace of the two countries?

Recommendation – Make a recommendation (“go/no go”).

1. Include this sentence: “Team XYZ recommends that you enter the market in ___________ (country name).”

2. Provide a table that summarizes the pros and cons developed in Parts A, B, and C for the two countries. 

Table 9-1 in Sullivan (2004) presents key elements/variables of a country analysis that will help you develop a summary table of the variables you choose for the two countries (Parts A, B, C).

Use section headings to organize your paper.

Use the APA format for in-text citations and the reference list.

Process/Steps to develop your team analysis:

Research the industry you selected by using the UMUC Library's Standard & Poor's (S&P) NetAdvantage database, available from http://ezproxy.umuc.edu/login?url=http://www.netadvantage.standardandpoors.com/ or by clicking on the link for that database from the alphabetic database list athttp://www.umuc.edu/library/libresources/

In the S&P NetAdvantage database, click on the Industries tab in the blue menu bar toward the top of the page. For the industry you selected, read the information on "Current Environment" and "Industry Trends."

You can also log on to http://www.globaledge.msu.edu – click on: http://globaledge.msu.edu/industries/ - Select one of the 20 industries listed. Click on the different topics available on the industry, read in particular “industry memos.”

1. 2. Research the two countries and the industry (Argentina-Brazil, Food Products Industry)

A good place to start your work is BBC’s “Country Profiles”—the basic factshttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/country_profiles/default.stm Information on using UMUC online resources:http://www.umuc.edu/library/libhow/business_tutorial_countryreports.cfm and  andhttp://libguides.umuc.edu/business_and_marketing - click on “country info.

The Webliography posted in this classroom, Course Resources, includes up-to-date sources on different topics related to your countries. globalEdge ( http://globaledge.msu.edu/ ) provides resources for country studies. Click on Reference Desk ( http://globaledge.msu.edu/reference-desk ) and then on "Global Resource Directory" and then on "Statistical Data Sources" - provides links to all the major sources for statistical data including the World Bank World Development Indicators. 

The following resources below provide up-to-date information/data on all the major topics for your report:

World Bank’s Data Catalog – http://data.worldbank.org/data-catalog - a must “go to” site for your report for up-to-date economic and social indicators and on a broad range to topics, including market size/population, wealth of consumers (GNI per capita, PPP), political system, rule of law/legal system, commercial system. Click on:http://data.worldbank.org/data-catalog/world-development-indicators You can then sort by country, topic, indicator—and other data are available.

World Economic Forum – Global Competitiveness Report 2015-2016 – The report provides data on 140 economies and is one of the most comprehensive assessments of national competitiveness worldwide. Excellent graphics. http://reports.weforum.org/global-competitiveness-report-2015-2016/

World Economic Forum – The Global Enabling Trade Report 2014 -The report assesses the quality of institutions, policies and services and provides benchmarks for 138 economies in four critical areas: Market access; border administration; transport and communications infrastructure; and regulatory and business environment. Companies use this report/reference to help them with investment decisions. http://reports.weforum.org/global-enabling-trade-report-2014/

World Economic Forum – The Global Information Technology Report 2015- http://www.weforum.org/reports/global-information-technology-report-2015

This 2015 edition gives you information on 143 economies’ networked readiness, and how prepared an economy is to apply the benefits of information and communications technologies (ICTs). The report uses the Networked Readiness Index (NRI) to identify the capacity of countries to leveraging ICT, by assessing the overall political and business environment, the level of ICT readiness and usage of ICT among the population, businesses and government, as well as the overall impacts of ICTs on the economy and society at large. The report includes detailed information for each country on a range of topics—all of which are central to your report. The rankings also show how far some countries have gone in bridging the digital divide – not only in terms of developing ICT infrastructure, but also in terms of economic and social impact – and highlight the main strengths and weaknesses countries are facing.

World Bank – Doing Business - http://www.doingbusiness.org/reports/global-reports/doing-business-2016 – also provides data, by country and topic, on the cost of doing business - one of the “must go to” sources. Doing Business measures regulations affecting 11 areas of the life of a business. Ten of these areas are included in the 2016 report's ranking on the ease of doing business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. Doing Business also measures labor market regulation, which is not included in this year's ranking.

U. S. Department of Commerce – Country Commercial Guides – provide data/information on most of the key topics for the team report – are major sources of information for U. S. – based companies that want to invest and operate abroad. http://www.export.gov/ccg/

World Bank - Data on corporate governance, transparency of accounting and financial transactions, money laundering, and corruption -  http://info.worldbank.org/governance/wgi/index.aspx#home (World Bank's Worldwide Governance Indicators).  Detailed reports are provided for over 100 countries. Each country report includes a list of the sources used for the report, a very good source of where to go for additional information on your two countries.  

Transparency International – http://www.transparency.org/country – provides the “Corruption Perceptions Index” for each country and the “Global Corruption Barometer”. The site gives you many “surveys and indexes” and detailed “reports” on individual countries and regions. Scroll down to “Other Government and Development Indicators” for snapshots on judicial independence, rule of law, press freedom, voice and accountability, The data come from the World Bank primarily. 

Also highly recommended for country research is the Control Risks'RiskMap2016   https://riskmap.controlrisks.com/ - “the key risks and opportunities your company will face business in the year ahead.” The interactive map presents “live risk ratings” on key issues. You can select a region, videos, whitepapers and more. When you click on a region you get a video, an overview, white papers-excellent resources for your report.

• Executive Summaries

Discussion Topic

The following references provide guidance in preparing an Executive Summary.  

1. UMUC Effective Writing Center. http://www.umuc.edu/writingcenter/writingresources/exec_summaries.cfm

2.  Christensen, G.J. (2001, September 4). Executive summaries complete the report. Retrieved March 3, 2008, from http://www.csun.edu/~vcecn006/summary.html

Purpose of the Executive Summary

1. The primary purpose of the executive summary is to convey the most important information or conclusions from a longer report or data set.
2. The senior management and executives on the distribution list for a lot of this reporting, have no time to read through the data in our reports - nor should they need to read the detail necessarily. This allows them to get the most of the analysis without having to read the whole report.
3. To communicate effectively and efficiently by allowing the reader to become familiar with the whole report with only the summary.
4. To pull ourselves out of the data and address the business needs of the report, i.e. think like the executives.
5. Executives often want answers to four questions: a. What benefit can the company expect from this finding? b. What risk does this finding expose? c. What opportunity does this finding reveal? d. How does this finding relate to the ultimate success of what is being proposed?

Guiding principles for an effective Executive Summary
1. Remember your audience – they may or may not have time to read the detail, but they need the relevant details.
2. Be a thought leader – by giving them the actionable information or key decisions you show your understanding the business purpose and leadership in developing conclusions.
3. Try to keep it to 250 words or less - even for more complicated reports. 
4. You need to be the filter for the information - which means you have the responsibility of carefully selecting what to include.
5. Pay attention to grammar and spelling - this is of vital importance; this may be your only contact with senior management you want to make a good impression. This should be the most polished piece of your report.
6. Be as objective as possible – let the data and research guide the final conclusions.
7. This is not the same as an academic abstract which makes no attempt to filter out only actionable information.
8. Keep the tech-speak to a minimum.

9. There is always some flexibility as to style; for example, some readers prefer the bullet-point style as the prose style of executive summary can drift into being an introduction. One the other hand, a bullet style executive summary sometimes presents a mere outline of the entire report in lieu of an executive summary. Be sure to select a style that conveys the correct intention.

Where to use an Executive Summary

1. It should be in any cover email and in the report as well. These can be redundant, but it allows for the ES to be portable with the report.

2. At the beginning of any longer document or report. It should be easy to find. 

3. Use it to help with multi-media presentations – it can help you build your power points.

Required Readings

(Click on the link "PDF Full Text" or "HTML Full Text" in the left hand column of the article page to download each article)

Sullivan, J. J. (2004). Ch. 9. Developing a strategy and preparing country analysis reports. Exploring international business. Boston: Pearson Custom Package, pp. 328 – 334 on screening, country analysis.

Nelson, R. (2000). Intel's Site Selection Decision in Latin America. Thunderbird International Business Review, 42(2), 227-249.

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Nganga, P. S., & Yukihiro, M. (2015). Market attractiveness evaluation of Sub-Saharan Africa, applying SWOT analysis and AHP methods.  Journal of Economics & Economic Education Research, 16(1), 1.

(Read pp. 1 – 7 and the Conclusion on pp. 15-16)

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Au, K. F., Wong, W. K., & Zeng, X. H. (2006). Decision model for country site selection of overseas clothing plants. International Journal Of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 29(3/4), 408-417. doi:10.1007/s00170-005-2505-4

(See Figure 2 on pp. 410 only)

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Kersan-Škabić, I., & Tijanić, L. (2009). The Challenges of Competitiveness in Southeast European Countries. South East European Journal Of Economics & Business (1840118X), 4(2), 23-37. doi:10.2478/v10033-009-0011-6

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Lieser, K., & Peter Groh, A. (2011). The Attractiveness of 66 Countries for Institutional Real Estate Investments.Journal Of Real Estate Portfolio Management, 17(3), 191-211.

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Recommended Reading

Jones-Kelley, A. (2016). 2016 Best to invest. (cover story). Site Selection, 61(3), 66-75.

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Country Risk Reports: You can find detailed risk reports for many countries in the UMUC library.  Do a search with the terms "Name Country Risk Report."  For example, you can search for "Egypt Country Risk Report" or "India Country Risk Report" or reports for many more countries.

India Country Risk Report. (2015). India Business Forecast Report, (4), 1-53.

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