BINT 3331-01
H-E-B School of Business and Administration
University of the Incarnate Word
International Business Management BINT 3331
Final Project Manual
Dr. James Cox
Summer 2019
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Project Background
An international business manager should develop the capacity to explicate business
strategies and functional area tactics from a global perspective. For example, global marketing
extends the marketing concept of value to include assessing complexity of consumers’ crosscultural differences and multicultural dispositions; international finance will tackle complexity
of currency and country specific risk, and International management, HRM & organizational
behavior will assess the challenges of building a global company culture and a global team of
individuals from different cultures.
International managers must develop the required capacity to lead, as well as understand
what constitute market value across culture; communicate, negotiate, motivate, and resolve
conflict across-cultural teams. These projects will give students the opportunity to develop
capacity on how to apply global perspective when solving business problems. Students will
understand problem solving within the context of working with individuals from different
cultures.
How to Choose a Project
You will apply the knowledge that you are acquiring through the course to help a reallife company penetrate a market in a country where it does not have a presence or direct
operations. For this reason, you will have to choose a company and research whether it has
operations in the country of your choice. Be careful to make a realistic choice, because making
an unrealistic one will severely complicate your project. I will list some bad project ideas
below. These kinds of projects are not acceptable for this course, since they are not real-world
feasible or do not adhere to the guidelines:
1. Help Google establish operations in China. Why? Because (a) Google refuses to
conform to Chinese censorship and customer data sharing requirements and (b)
China refuses to let Google in for these reasons.
2. Help Netflix establish operations in Crimea. Why? (a) Crimea is not a country, it is a
region and (b) American companies are forbidden from establishing operations there
since Russia forcibly annexed Crimea from Ukraine.
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3. Work with a fictitious company: You have to work with a real company.
4. Trying to introduce a product line rather than a company to a country.
5. Projects with obviously legal or cultural problems, such as a brewery in Saudi
Arabia, or beef exports to India.
Requirement for all Final Project Submissions
The aim of this project is not only to help you become an International Business
professional, but also to help you present yourself as one. Part of your ability to present yourself as
a professional will be in your writing. Because of this, all of the final project submissions and
assignments in this class must meet the following requirements:
Cover Sheet
A cover sheet similar to the one on this document is required. You can re-use the one at the
beginning of this document, the one at the end of this document, or make your own, as long as it
contains the elements of the cover sheet on page 11.
Table of Contents
Every submission that is part of the final project must have a table of contents with page
numbers.
Sections and Subsections Must be Clearly Indicated
Every section and subsection must have a clear number and title according Final Project
Specifications section of this manual. The Title will be first sentence of the corresponding section
or subsection, for example:
1. Executive Summary/ Recommendations
Your first paragraph starts here, properly indented.
2. SITUATIONAL MACRO ANALYSIS & INTERNAL FIRM FACTORS
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A brief narrative of what this section is about goes here.
2.1 Brief introduction about your company and the selected country.
The narrative part of sections 2.1 goes here.
2.2 Analysis of firm resources and capabilities- SWOT analysis.
Narrative of section 2.2 goes here.
Formatting, Citations, Spelling, and Grammar
The document must be in Times New Roman 12 points, 1.5 spacing, with extra space after
each paragraph. Each paragraph must be indented. Use pages 2 -7 of this document as an example
of proper formatting.
All facts that you use in your paper need to be cited in APA format. For example: If you are
citing facts about Wendy’s operations and sales, you need to cite your sources. This is also the case
for all facts that you cite about your company, its competitors, or facts about the country of origin
of the company or the one that you have selected for your project.
The project should be professionally written, as if you expect the CEO of the company to
read your project. This means that not only does the use of language should be business
professional, but you must also use proper spelling and grammar. This included proper
capitalization of titles in your project, such as the titles that you have observed here. Obvious
pitfalls to avoid include but are not limited to: use of slang or informal language and incorrect use
of words, such as knowing when to use its or it’s (improper use of apostrophe in general is to be
avoided). If the English language is not your first language, then I strongly suggest that you use a
grammar checking app or service for this. Keep in mind that points will be deducted in every
submission for improper use of grammar, improper use of words, lack of clarity, spelling errors, or
use of casual language. Finally, the use of the Oxford comma is acceptable for the sake of clarity in
this project, as evidenced by the above title.
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Deliverables for the Final Project
Please remember that all deliverables should have a cover sheet and should be formatted according
to the specifications in this manual.
Project Selection
Your team must submit the choice of what company you will be using for your final project. You
must also define what country you have targeted as the new market for the company.
Preliminary Report
Your team will submit a rough initial draft of the entire section 2 of the project (2.1 to 2.9). Your
narration does not have to be elaborate; I just want to know that you are heading in the correct direction. I
recommend that at this stage you use bullet points (minimum of 3) for each section.
Assignation of Project Sections
Your team will submit a document that will state what team member is responsible for what section
of the final project. You should use the Assignation of Final Project Sections Worksheet for this.
Partial Submissions 1, 2, and 3
The goal of these partial submissions is for you to develop your final project in stages. At this point,
these sections should be fully developed and properly written, ready to be added to the final project. It is no
longer acceptable to have bullet points. I will give feedback on each of the partial submissions, in case
anything needs improvement before it is included in your final project.
Please keep in mind that points will be deducted from the final score of the person responsible of
the section in case the section contains grammar errors or other errors as listed previously. For example, if
John is responsible for Section 2.2 and it has grammar errors, John will be deducted points from the final
project. If these errors are not corrected for the submission of the final report, points will be deducted from
the overall score of the project.
Your team should submit only one document with the required submission by the deadlines. For
example, partial submission 1 consists of sections 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3. If different team members are in charge
of each of these sections, then one of them should be responsible for putting all the sections together for
submission.
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Final Report
This is a group submission and should only be submitted by one of the team members, as with the
rest of the deliverables for the final project. At this stage, you will have completed all the partial
submissions and will have had my feedback and should have corrected the different sections accordingly.
Remember that you should have the entire 3 sections as well as a bibliography section.
Power Point Presentation
This presentation should be adequate for a 15-20 minute presentation of your project. Because the
class is online, you will not present or narrate the presentation. Acceptable format is Power Point of PDF
only.
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GLOBAL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT PLAN/REPORT
(Total Points of the Project: 140)
Title Page
• Title, Name of team-members, Name of the Course & Date
Table of Content
Must have page number for each heading and subheading. You must follow this format.
1. Executive Summary/ Recommendations (5 points)
A one-page executive summary should highlight the key points from all the different sections of the
report.
2. SITUATIONAL MACRO ANALYSIS & INTERNAL FIRM FACTORS (90 points)
2.1
Brief introduction about your company and the selected country. Provide rationale
for company’s decision to expand its operations into foreign markets. Description
of the product/service that the company will export to selected country (8).
2.2
Analysis of firm resources and capabilities- SWOT analysis – Analyzing the client’s
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) in relation to the
competition. Provide SWOT matrix in the appendix section and synthesis of
SWOT in body of the paper. Definition and explanation of core competencies that
will be leveraged in international expansion (10).
2.3
Competitor analysis -In-depth analysis of 4 MAJOR global competitors
operating in the selected country (Local, European or Chinese?). Evaluate
competitor business model. Include a comparison of strengths and weaknesses,
quality of product and entry strategy being used by competitors (e.g., distribution,
licensing, joint ventures, etc.) (12).
2.4
Macro-analysis-political-legal factors Detailed analysis of relevant political &
regulatory factors in the selected country that will affect the company’s
international business strategy and management practices. What are the
relevant labor laws that will impact the company’s structure and control
system? Are there broad regulatory initiatives by the government and industry
groups that will impact your company’s ability to collaborate and innovate? (10).
2.5
Macro-analysis - economic factors-generic Brief analysis of relevant economic
factors in the selected country – Provide a detailed analysis of the economic
conditions in the selected country (e.g., gross domestic product (GDP), GDP per
capita). (6).
2.6
Macro-culture & history- Brief analysis of relevant historical and socio-cultural
factors in the selected country – Specifically- identify and discuss 3-4 sociocultural factors that can potentially affect your company’s strategy and
management practices. For instance, assuming your research reveals potential
communication issues due to cultural differences (e.g., language barrier, value
approaches) then you must use this section to explicate the impact and cost of
language barrier on information flow. If your investigation suggests cultural
differences may impede your company’s ability to manage a global team of
individuals from different tribal groups, then you should explicate the impact and
cost of cultural differences on managing a global work force (10).
2.7
Industry Analysis. Industry trends, nature of industry networks in the company’s
home country and host country. For local industry analysis you should consider
using Porter’s five forces or other relevant industry analysis framework to
evaluate your company’s industry (10)
2.8
Problems and opportunities – Based on insight from sections 2.1 to 2.7, use
bullet points to present and explain 2 major problems and 2 important
opportunities facing your company in the selected market (8)
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2.9
Development of global competitive strategy and entry mode (16)
a. Choice of entry mode that supports the firm’s strategy (e.g.,
Joint venture vs. exporting)
b. Corporate rationale in relations to the choice of globalization
vs. adaptation strategy
3. IMPLEMENTATION AND EXECUTION OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
STRATEGY (36)
3.1
Propose a new organizational structure and control systems to facilitate the
suggested international strategy. You can also assess potential challenges
associated with the company’s current structure and propose an alternative
structure. Use the following dimensions to explain and evaluate the
effectiveness of your proposed structure – number of organizational levels,
information flow channels (short vs. long), formalization (confining rules vs
adequate), flexibility (adaptation to changes in the environment), personnel
(process of hiring or how employees are selected ethnocentric vs. polycentric),
accountability (authority matches responsibility, discrepancies between
power and accountability), characterization of degree of centralization
vs decentralization (who is responsible for decision), cultural differences
and avoiding problems with information flow
(values, working approaches, language barrier) (12)
3.2.
Identify and discuss opportunity to use technology for strategy implementation
and execution- For instance, using video conferencing to train overseas partners
vs. travel to home country; adoption of communication technology to manage:
information flow, search & qualify intermediaries, cross-border collaboration,
negotiations, contract & electronic documentation etc. (6)
3.3
Functional strategies & tactics: You must evaluate 2 functional strategies or
tactics such as global supply chain management, global production, marketing etc.
For instance, in relations to supply chain management, you can assess the impact
and cost of differences in culture on supplier/buyer relations (10)
3.4
Conclusion and final recommendations- a discussion of the ethical, negotiation,
leadership, and management challenges associated with your recommendations (8)
4. OVERALL ORGANIZATION AND PRESENTATION OF THE REPORT: Paper contains
required bibliography, in text citations. List all research resources used in the project (4
points). Paper is organized and flows logically headings are used to identify sections, subheadings where appropriate to break up text, paper has been proofread and edited for redundant
information, spelling errors, and proper grammar. (5 points)
Points
Distribution: 140 –
126 = A
125 – 112 =
B
111 – 98 = C
97 – 84 = D
< 84 = F
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Assignation of Final Project Sections Worksheet
Section
1
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.7
2.8
2.9
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
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Due
Date
Related
Deliverable
Partial 1
Partial 1
Partial 1
Partial 1
Partial 1
Partial 2
Partial 2
Partial 2
Partial 2
Partial 2
Partial 3
Partial 3
Partial 3
Partial 3
Name of Person Assigned to Section
First Name
Last Name
GUIDELINES FOR DEVELOPING YOUR PAPERS AND REPORTS
PLAGARISM
Students are expected to provide references or cite the sources of the information used in
developing their assignments, reports and term papers. DO NOT copy and paste materials from
the internet. Whenever you make use of any Library or internet sources, it is important to include
the bibliography of the information used.
When you paraphrase the ideas from a source, you should cite the author’s last name and year of
publication in parentheses. Example: (Garza, 2007). A page number should be added if you
make of use of a direct quote from the author. Example: (Garza, 2007, p.110).
When compiling the group report, I urge you to “GOOGLE” the content of your group
member’s write-up before submitting the report to the instructor. Students who plagiarize will be
referred to the DEAN of student for appropriate disciplinary action. Any report with plagiarized
materials will automatically command a ZERO grade.
REFERENCES OR BIBLIOGRAPHY
Detailed information about the references and sources cited in your paper should be included
at the end of the paper. The references should be arranged in alphabetical order.
Example of citation for Journal articles or Magazine articles (Sample format)
Oyedele, A. and Simpson, P.M. (2007). An empirical investigation of consumer control factors
on intention to use selected self-service technologies. International Journal of Service Industry
Management, 18(3), 287-306.
Example of article citation from a Newspaper (Sample format)
Pluster. A. (2005, April 18). Robots: Humanlike robots replace humans in the service industry.
Capmus News, p.13.
Example of book citation: Pepperell, R. (2003), “The Posthuman Condition:
Consciousness Beyond the Brain,” Bristol, UK: Intellect Books
Example of citation from a web source:
Lombard, M and Ditton, T. (1997). At the Heart of It All: The Concept of Presence. Retrieved
October 1, 2005, from Journal of Computer-Mediated-Communication Website:
http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol3/issue2/lombard.html.
HOW TO ORGANIZE YOUR WORK
• Before writing your text, it is important that you develop an outline of your
thoughts. This process will assist you in clarifying your thoughts and make them
flow better.
• Use sub-headings and headings to guide the reviewer or reader of your written work.
• Use paragraphs to organize your paper. Spend some time to develop your thoughts
and avoid paragraphs with single sentence. Extended paragraphs that fills up a page or
more are probably too long.
• All tables and charts presented in the paper should have a title. Use the title to
reference the tables and charts in body of the paper. Provide a brief explanation of its
relevance with text.
• Avoid the use of excess spacing between different sections of a paper. The paper
should be left-justified.
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(Example Cover for Course Assignments)
MKT
Assignment Number XX
or
Case Problem
XX
(make sure you use the ASSIGNMENT number or CASE number)
Problem Description
[e.g. Global Business Management Plan – MAIN GROUP PROJECT]
Your Name
Your Student number
Your Partner’s Name
Your Partner’s Student’s number
(If you have a partner)
Submitted
mm/dd/yyyy
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