You are an executive working at a large Canadian company that is considering expanding its foreign operations. The CEO has asked you to do an analysis of one of the target countries and provide a recommendation as to whether or not to proceed. The countries to choose from are Mexico, Egypt, France or Peru. The CEO is a very busy person so it is important that the report be written in a clear and concise manner. It will be judged on the factual information it contains, the clarity of your argument and the depth of your analysis. Please note that you should not try to gather data that supports only one side or the other of whether or not to proceed. Rather, you should gather all the pertinent data and let your analysis guide you to the best recommendation.
The report is to be a maximum of seven (7) pages (doubled spaced, Times New Roman, 12 pt font, 2.54 cm margins) plus (i.e. not including) title page, bibliography (i.e. a list of your references – use my referencing guidelines below and posted in our cuLearn) and appendices (expected). The title page must contain your name, student number, name of course and professor, date, and the country you have chosen from the list provided. The first half page (maximum) of the report will be an executive summary of the report’s highlights and your recommendation. The remainder of the seven pages will cover the material noted in the grading table below with marks allocated as shown. Please use the items (left-hand column) listed in the rubric as headings in your report. You must number the pages in your report.
The report must cite at least six different sources (not including your textbook) which could include those listed in the library course guide, the globalEDGE, Website the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund the CIA World Factbook , country websites, business journals, business newspapers, business websites, etc. Be wary of relying too heavily on any one source, especially a country’s own websites as they will most certainly put a positive spin on the material. Do not use Wikipedia. Ensure that all data is cited. In this report, there should be few if any quotes. If you do use a quote, ensure that it is in quotation marks and properly cited. If a quote is not in quotation marks and properly cited, it is plagiarism.
Only the first seven pages in your report will be read and graded. You may include relevant appendices at the end of the seven-page report (Appendices are expected, and go after the list of references. You must mention them in the body of your report).
Please note that Carleton University offers a Writing Tutorial Service through the Student Academic Success Centre that provides free face-to-face sessions to help you with your writing. This may be especially helpful for those for whom English is a second language. Information can be attained on their website
International Business Jan 2017 1
Assignment #1 Rubric
Item
Item % of Grade
Sub-item
Sub-item % of Grade
Executive Summary
10
This should be a concise and very well written summation of the whole report. Maximum length one-half page.
Country’s Macro Environment
40
Country description: such as level of development and wealth, infrastructure including physical and IT, important industries, economic ties to other countries (e.g. NAFTA or EU), history of inward foreign investment, large multinationals with operations there, level of corruption, etc.
10
Political situation and stability
5
Legislation that affects inward foreign investment (e.g. tariffs, subsidies, informal trade barriers, intellectual property protection, etc)
5
Economic conditions and stability including growth statistics and currency stability
10
Cultural issues that may affect business and social stability. Workforce skills.
10
Factor Endowments
20
An analysis of the basic and advanced factors of production in the country and the sorts of business opportunities they might support.
Analysis
15
An analysis of the risks and benefits inherent in doing business in the country. This section must be a logical distillation of most important facets of the macro environment and factor endowments discussions.
Recommendation and conclusion
5
Your recommendation regarding the company expanding into the country. This section must be a logical follow-on from the summary of benefits, costs and risks, and state the rationale for your recommendation.
Assignment Questions
Country Analysis
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