What are the social, political, cultural, religious, environmental, and economic issues and challenges?

The Global Environment of Business
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 conducting a comprehensive business feasibility study 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 a feasibility study for entering 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 and interviewing
   managers or executives 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. Would you recommend doing business in that country and why? Specifically, your
   recommendation should address the following:
   o Rationale for the proposed strategy, along with a range of possible courses of action
   o Recommended method of entry (e.g., though an acquisition, a new operation, a joint
   marketing venture or with some other strategy)
4. Complete business feasibility study document. 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 financial projections of this international
   business initiative
   o Assessment of the competition
   o Recommended strategies and tactics (e.g., marketing plan, organizational plan, and local
   operations/partnership)