You
are an executive for an American based company trying to decide if you should
be doing business in your country of choice (remember you choose one country
for everyone in the group and you can share information you collect on the
discussion board but this is ultimately a individual assignment). Each one of
you has to write an individual 5-page report that expresses your unique answers
& recommendations (excluding graphs and tables if you include them and
references).
Your
analysis should address the following questions and then make a recommendation
for your company to enter or not enter the market based on country factors and
opportunities & a recommendation for how your country could be a good
corporate citizen in your chosen country. You should use material from all our
class lectures through lecture 10 as well as material from your own research in
answering your questions and making your recommendations.
Please
do not just express opinion but rather justify every statement with either data
or some international management logic that we discussed in our lectures.
In
your paper, please answer all of the following questions:
1. What
is the legal and political situation in “your chosen country”
today? Compare and contrast it with the US.
2. What
is the sociocultural climate in “your chosen country” today? What
social issues/topics are most relevant in your chosen country and how does this
compare/contrast to the relevant issues in the US?
3. What
is the relationship between the US and “your chosen country” today?
4. What
is the economic outlook of your “your chosen country” today? Give
economic/financial numbers (GNP/capita, population, education, inflation level,
etc.)
5. Give
reasons for a US company to manufacture in “your chosen country” today. Below
you have a series of reference sources for your country analysis. Please
explain what at least 5 of these indicators/ reports imply for your answer to
this question.
6. Give
reasons for a US company to compete in “your chosen country” today. Below you
have a series of reference sources for your country analysis. Please explain
what at least 5 of these indicators/ reports imply for your answer to this
question. Please assess any cultural norms or concerns that a US
company needs to account for to compete successful in your chosen country
today.
7. Finally,
and these should be the most important part of your exercise:
•
Present a strategy recommendation for
your company. Why should it or should it not enter the market.
•
Present a corporate citizenship
recommendation for your country. Build upon your identification of the relevant
social issues (diversity, human rights, environmental impact etc.…) that are
important to your chosen country (#2) and make a recommendation for
policies/practices for your company to implement to be a good corporate citizen
in your chosen country.
SUPPORT
MATERIALS
You
should use the following sources as support data and can obviously use any
other relevant sources in your analysis, but you should cite them.
•
Heritage Foundation/The Wall Street: Journal Index of
Economic Freedom
•
The Economist: Worldwide Quality-of-life Index
•
Reporters Without Borders: Worldwide Press Freedom
•
Transparency International: Corruption Perceptions
•
United Nations Development Program: Human Development Index
•
World Economic Forum: Global Competitiveness Report
United Nations Development Program: Human Development
