No Plagarism (Please attach turnitin report seperately)
Not a Term Paper, Should be a report! (Please Read instructions carefully)
No grammer error (Strict Grader)
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Instructions:
This project will give you exposure in exploring and analyzing international investment opportunities for a U.S. firm of your choice. For this project, you take the position of a consultancy firm that has been hired by the American firm (that you chose) to prepare a report on the attractiveness of a foreign country for investment. For this project, you need to write a comprehensive report on the business environment in the target country in general and on the international competitiveness of an industry in the target country specifically.
This project is not designed to be a term paper in which the views of others are simply summarized. You are the analyst, and it is your job to integrate relevant information and to form your own opinions and views. This project will require you to analyze data. Potential data sources for the project are available at the end of this assignment.
In order to provide a comprehensive analysis of the business environment in the target country, each report must address the business opportunities and challenges presented by each of the contextual dimensions listed below. The analysis should cover the last five years, or as constrained by information limitations. The primary focus should be on more recent events (Present to 2 years).
The full report should be between 3000-4000 words. You can attach any analysis or data in appendices, which will not be counted towards word limit. The report should include the following sections:
Introduction:
In this section, you should give a brief description of the client firm, its industry base, and the general background information of the target foreign country (i.e., location, size, population, resources, etc.). This section should include a brief time-line of the main historical events in the foreign country. It should also include basic economic and financial market issues such as monetary policy, exchange rates, sovereign debt or defaults, major imports, and exports, or other important market background. This section should not exceed two pages.
Political-legal analysis of the country’s attractiveness for FDI:
In this section, provide a brief description of the target country’s political-legal structure and its stability. Describe the type of government and recent political developments that could influence the economic and business environment of the country. Be sure to also carefully cover political risk ranking measures for the target country. Identify formal and informal trade barriers (tariffs and other taxes, foreign exchange controls, ownership restrictions) that might require a company to adapt its business strategy. Analyze the rules and regulations that apply to foreign-owned firms including ownership rules and repatriation of profits in the target country. Analyze host government efforts to attract foreign investment. Discuss the country’s regulations to protect intellectual property, such as brand names, copyrights, patents, software, music, videos. Please also discuss the legal risks of doing business in the country. This section should not exceed three pages.
3. Economic analysis of the country’s attractiveness for FDI:
In this section, assess the country’s recent economic conditions related to GDP, inflation, interest rates, currency value, personal income, and employment. Suggest how these economic factors may attract or deter foreign investment. Analyze the infrastructure of the country with regard to availability of transportation, communication, and utilities. Examine the ease of starting a business, registering property, dealing with construction permits, employing workers, and paying taxes in the target country. These factors interact for time and cost to start and run a business and help to shape the local business environment. This analysis should not exceed two pages.
4. Socio-cultural analysis of the country’s attractiveness for FDI:
In this section identify demographic trends (such as birth rates, literacy rates) that might influence business activities in the country. Using Hofstede’s measures on business culture, the GLOBE study, and the World Values Study and other country-level data provide an analysis of the different aspects of the target country’s culture such as do’s and don’ts, negotiation strategies, business-specific cultural practices, and compare them with those in the American culture. Foreign chambers of commerce and the US Commercial regularly provide information on the local business culture. Check their publications that focus on the local business experiences of foreign firms and workshops of doing business in the country you have chosen. This analysis should not exceed three pages.
5. Currency policy analysis of the country’s attractiveness for FDI:
In this section analyze the present and historical performance of your country’s financial markets including both equity and debt markets and the foreign exchange market. In this section, you should analyze the financial risk profile of the country. This analysis should not exceed two pages.
6. International Competitiveness and Innovation Potential:
In this section provide an analysis of the country-level competitiveness as measured by the World Economic Forum (WEF). This analysis should include how the country fares with regard to the current pillars of competitiveness identified by WEF. Highlight competitive advantages the country has along with those areas where the country lags significantly behind.
In addition, also provide a detailed analysis of the target country’s international competitiveness in the industry in which the U.S. firm (your client) seeks to invest. Utilizing Porter’s Diamond of National Competitiveness framework list the country’s factor endowments, the existence of related and supporting industries, demand conditions, and the structure and rivalry inherent in the particular industry. This analysis should not exceed three pages.
The third part of this section – an analysis of the innovation potential of the country – is not mandatory. The relevance of this section will depend on your choice of the firm, industry and the target country. Sustainable competitiveness depends on innovation and when a firm decides to enter and invest in a country its innovation system plays a role in its long term success by facilitating local innovation and value creation. The analysis of the country-level innovation competitiveness may be based on national-level indicators of innovation including expenditures on research and development, the rate of domestic and international patenting, resources, and infrastructure provided by government to support innovation.
The INSEAD – Cornell – WIPO Global Innovation Index provides a comprehensive database of innovation indicators and country-level analysis and provides an excellent resource for understanding innovation at the country and regional level.
Recommendations:
In the final section, you should integrate your analysis of the country-level factors and industry-level factors related to the business environment and provide recommendations to your client. This section should provide a clear picture of the future outlook, investment opportunities, and how a US firm should approach, enter, and operate in the market. The types of questions that should be considered include the following:
What are your investment recommendations?
How should a firm do business in the country?
What are the near future performance prospects?
In answering these questions examine the business climate, political, economic, socio-cultural, financial, innovation, and competitiveness conditions of the country under study.
Please provide a list of complete sources of information used during your research at the end of the report. In addition, make sure to cite the information sources at relevant places in the report.
The report will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
The analysis is logical and well-argued.
The analysis incorporates original research findings.
The analysis incorporates relevant concepts/frameworks/research findings from course materials.
The report is well organized, written, and professionally prepared.
