An International Business Opportunity Analysis in the Philippines

• FINAL PAPER
An analysis of an International Business Opportunity
Due: Last day of Week 6 (online sections) Week 6 Day 7 (online & blended versions)
SCENARIO
The president of your company has given you a special assignment. It seems that the board of your organization is interested in exploring business opportunities in an international location. Because the president knows that you are taking an International Management course, s/he has asked you to investigate this idea and to prepare a full report that provides upside/downside implications of entering a particular foreign market, including a recommendation about the optimal entry strategy.
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Instructions:

Your goal is to prepare a 10 to 12 page, APA-style written report that includes your recommendations about entering into an international venture, supported by a thorough analysis that incorporates what you have learned during your time in MBA 529.
Specifically, you will evaluate your organization’s potential to internationalize via a new installation (branch, factory, sales presence, etc.). Thus, the industry of your organization will serve as a key focus of your paper. Your instructor will assign the foreign country that will form the remaining context of your analysis.
So for example, if you currently work for a local hospital and you are assigned the target country of India, you would write a paper analyzing the potential of opening a subsidiary hospital (or other health care facility) in India. Or, if you work for an advertising firm and you are assigned the country of Uganda, you would perform an analysis to determine the feasibility of opening an office or a subsidiary firm in Uganda.
If you are not currently working for an organization, you may use a former employer or, alternatively, an industry with which you are familiar or that particularly interests you. If you work in a service-type role or profession—e.g., professional nanny—you could write an analysis on establishing a “nanny business” in your assigned country.
Step 1: Getting Started
Please begin by reporting to your instructor by the end of Week 2 the industry that you will be investigating (i.e., the industry in which you currently are working or an industry in which you formerly have worked). Once you do so, your instructor will assign the foreign country for your analysis.
Step 2: Performing the Analysis
Using our MBA 529 learning modules as a guide, your detailed analysis should incorporate a thorough discussion of the following areas.
• Social, political, cultural, legal, technological, and economic environment of the country that your organization proposes entering
• Please use the Hofstede, Trompenaars and GLOBS cultural research and frameworks in the textbook to analyze the business culture and environment in the country of your choice.
• Entry and organizational strategies the organization should consider and advance (including potential local partners)
• Ethical, leadership, and management challenges (including human resources considerations) associated with entering this market and pursuing the entry strategy that you are proposing
Performing this analysis will require that you research the relevant country and the industry. Recommendation: Make a 30-minute telephone appointment with an NLU Librarian who can guide you in the identification of business publications and web resources that will best inform your paper. You may contact the library as follows: Phone: 800.443.5522 x3376 & E-mail library@nl.edu
Step 3: Preparing the Final Paper

Please organize your paper into the following three (3) sections using the section headings indicated below. You may further divide the Analysis section into subsections that highlight key elements of your analysis (e.g., Ethical Challenges, Economic Considerations, etc.).
Executive Summary: Please include the following information in a succinct-but-complete executive summary that is one or two paragraphs in length.
• Entry strategy recommendation
• Brief description of the analysis you performed
• Major upside/downside implications (i.e., benefits & challenges) associated with entering this market
Analysis: For the main portion of your paper, you will use data that you have researched on the country and your industry as well as the text and class discussions to perform an in-depth analysis that addresses environmental considerations (e.g., political, legal & regulatory, etc.), an emphasis on culture, possible entry strategies, and management and leadership implications. In this section of the paper it will be critical to demonstrate comprehension and application by integrating course concepts with country-specific and industry-specific examples.
Conclusion: Conclude with recommendations. Chief among the recommendations will be a final decision with respect to an entry strategy. At least four (4) additional recommendations should be related to areas such as organizational structure, leadership style, motivational approaches (including compensation approaches), and HR-related areas such as recruitment, selection, and training. Make sure your suggestions are clearly based on information gathered from current research and industry/country data as well as relevant course concepts.
Note: It is possible that your analysis could lead you to recommend against entering the foreign market—i.e., your analysis may reveal that the risks outweigh the benefits. If so, please report and explain this recommendation. However, please also note that the Conclusion section should still contain recommendations about the most feasible entry strategy as well as recommendations related to organizational structure, leadership style, motivational approaches, and human resources management. In other words, if the organization nonetheless decided to enter the market, what recommendations should it follow?
General Guidelines
• Length and Format The paper should be at least ten (10) to twelve (12) double-spaced pages (excluding the title page and reference page). APA format is required.
• Due Date: The last day of Week 6. The paper is due on the last day of Week 6 and should be submitted to the D2L Assignments Late papers are subject to significant point deductions. A minimum 10% point deduction will be taken for each day the paper is late.
Grading Rubric
Please be sure to review the grading rubric that is associated with this assignment.
This Assignment Assesses your Mastery of the Following Course Objectives:
• CO #1: Describe the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) of a globally competent manager-leader.
• CO #2: Evaluate the impact of economic, political, legal, and technological forces on international management, including the implications of current world developments and events.
• CO #3: Critically examine the ethical considerations and pressures confronting MNCs.
• CO #4: Evaluate the influence of national culture and organizational culture on international management.
• CO #5: Explain the importance of leadership, motivation, and human resources practices, including the role of authentic leadership in driving successful international ventures.
• CO #6: Integrate and apply the basic principles of international strategic management.
• CO #7: Evaluate an MNC’s international expansion plans and assess the potential for success.
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• Discussion 13: REFLECTIONS on the Final Paper, New Learning & Global Competence
Discussion Topic

The Final Paper in MBA 529 takes the form of an in-depth, comprehensive analysis of an international business opportunity. Please post the executive summary of your Final Paper on this discussion board so that your class colleagues may review your findings and pose follow-up make questions and observations.
Please also answer the following questions.
• What are one or two examples of significant new learning that you derived by working on the final paper?
• What aspects of the analysis (or the findings) particularly captured your interest? Why?
• Taking into account what you have learned by performing this analysis (and by participating in MBA 529), what is your overall perspective of the relevance and importance of achieving global competence?
NOTE: Please entitle your posts to reflect the major point you would like to make! Also sure to review the Posting & Participation Rubric