Week 2: September 18 - 24

This week you will get to know your client company: the important features of the industry in which it
operates and the important features of your client that will help it to operate successfully within its
industry and in a new country market. Your industry analysis will assess how industry features and trends
can represent either opportunity or threat to your client. Your company analysis will assess your client’s
internal strengths that can give it an advantage over its compe

tors, and its internal weaknesses that may

put it at risk in the market. The analy

cal tools you will use are Porter’s Five Forces for industry analysis;
and Value Chain Analysis and Resource analysis for exploring where your client may have par
cular
Strengths and Weaknesses . Next week you begin country level analysis—to assess poten
al opportuni
es

and threats for your client in different countries.
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Week two: Overview and Introduction to Analytical Tools
Week two reading assignments and resources
Group client company selection
Due September 18 at 11:59 PM
Assignment: Client Company Selection
Based on the recommendations and analyses done by your team members, each Team will select its “client” company.
Your goal is to select a company in an industry with long-term growth potential and a company that is not already
operating in many of the BRICS+11 countries (which would leave you with little room for international expansion).
By Monday midnight, ONE Member should Post your client company name and industry in your Group Assignment
folder and title it CLIENT COMPANY AND INDUSTRY Explain why the team has selected this company as the client for
the strategy project, using both industry and company data to support your choice.

Team Work Plan for week 3 assignments
Due September 21 at 11:59 PM
Week 3 Work Plan will assign two countries for each individual member to analyze. Ensure that all
members of a team identify different countries and that each member analyzes one of the BRICS countries.
For a team of five members, there should be 10 different countries analyzed, including allfive BRICS.
Since the team will not be able to cover all 16 countries, first eliminate those in which your client company is
already doing business; If further narrowing is needed, use the industry data sources in week 2 to select the
countries that appear to have the most opportunity in your company's industry (EIU has country reports
within industries, but only for some countries).
Post the team work plan in this group assignment folder by Thursday of this week.

Group industry Overview: risk and opportunity
Due September 24 at 11:59 PM
Team Assignment: Industry Overview (3% of course grade)
Resources: Evaluating the External Environment: Porter's five forces:
(1) https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_mastering-strategic-management/s07-evaluating-the-external-enviro.html

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week 11: November 20
- 26
Week 12: November 27
- December 3
Course Resources
Course Evaluation
Accessing Tutoring

(2) http://sk.sagepub.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/reference/organization/n178.xm
Using Porter's Five Forces (plus two additional forces: technology trends and government influences) to organize your
analysis, each team will summarize the key industry opportunity and threat factors and trends affecting your client as a
result of its position in its industry. Start with a description of your client's position in the industry: who are its buyers,
what are are its supplier inputs, who are its competitors.
Specify the economic opportunity for your client in this industry (lots of Buyers?). What is the size and projected growth
of Buyers in this industry?
What threats exist for your client from buyer/supplier trends, potential new entrants, substitutes, level of competition?
Then comment on the strategy implications for your client of both opportunity and threat factors.
Recommend strategies for your client to mitigate global risk (threat factors). You will need to incorporate these strategy
recommendations into your entry strategy in week 8.
Format: The title page should show all members who contributed to the assignment; include a table of contents with
topic headings matched to the paper contents, and a reference list in APA format (See Course Resources module for
review of APA citations). The industry assessment should be approximately 5-7 pages, double spaced, excluding title
page, table of contents, and references. (All page estimations are guidelines only).
No executive summary is required, but do provide a good conclusion that summarizes the strategic implications of the
Opportunities and Threats identified in your industry analysis and the strategies you client will need to consider tn
response to both threats and opportunities.
ONE MEMBER is to post this assignment in your group assignment folder, titled “{name of} Industry Assessment,” by the
end of the week.. Only one submission is allowed.
Group Profile of client company
Due September 24 at 11:59 PM
Company profile. (4% of course grade)
Assignment overview: The team will research the client company and write a descriptive profile with title page showing
all members who contributed to the assignment, a table of contents with topic headings matched to the profile
contents, and a reference list in APA format (See Course Resources module for review of APA citations). The profile
body, excluding title page, table of contents, and references, should be approximately 10 pages, double spaced. (All
page estimations are guidelines only). No executive summary is required, but do provide a good conclusion that
summarizes the strategic implications of company strengths and weaknesses.
Resources:
Use this week's readings on both the value chain and resource based views of company advantages to assess your client
company's strengths and weaknesses.
Use "Why Go global" reading to infer company expansion rationale for your client company. This will be your own best
assessment of the forces that are likely driving expansion efforts of your company.'
n needed for this assignment from public sources. It will require multiple sources, including what competitors and
business analysts may be saying about the company. The depth of analysis you can perform for this assignment will
depend upon the availability of information. A great deal of information is available about these companies through
various sources included in our online library system.
Databases:
Company Web sites; annual reports
EDGAR (SEC filings)
Hoovers Online (company basic facts; news)
Yahoo: Finance
Hoovers
EIU databases (in ABI/Inform in UMUC library)
Factiva (news items from Dow Jones and Reuters)
The Wall Street Journal

Assignment objectives: To understand your client company's Strengths and Weaknesses in order to assess how
successfully it might be able to compete in a new international market. .
Note: The company research is intended to be completed based only on secondary sources of information since you will
not have time to do primary research. However, for some of the information, you may want to contact the company itself
(e.g, for product/service information, special competencies), as long as it is not considered sensitive or proprietary
information. If you decide to do some primary research, be sure to capture the list of people interviewed along with their

complete particulars (name, job title, organization, address, phone number, email address, as well as the date the
information was obtained) for including proper citations in your business plan.
Assignment requirements: This company profile will describe:
I. The company,
1. A short description of the type of business and the industry in which it operates (from the
above industry analysis)
2. The specific product/service that will be the focus of your market expansion.
3. The Buying proposition. What are the selling features? Why do buyers buy? What does this
product/service do for the buyers or Users? How does your client company create value, and what
is the specific value created?
4. The company’s rationale for international expansion. Based on your understanding of the
company position in its external environment (e.g., Opportunity and Threat), why do you believe
it should be looking for new international markets? You will most likely need to infer this goal
dimension(s) for the company (e.g, financial gain, market share, volume efficiencies, brand
building)
Consider not just “pullfactors” based on potential international opportunity.
Consider also what is happening in the home country market that may be “pushing “ the company into
international markets (e.g., competition, regulation)
II. The Buyer (target market) for the product/service (in the client’s current markets)
1. Are the Buyers the USERS of the product?
2. If USERS are not Buyers, who buys and how do buyers get the product/service to the users?
3. How can you characterize your Buyers so you can home in on a specific segment of the market?
In a B2C (business to consumer) model, the following demographic characteristics may be relevant to describing
your target buyer: age, gender, income, family status, home ownership, education level.
In marketing we often divide consumer groups into different psychographic and lifestyle groups.
A familiar example would be "early adopters," consumers who are eager to be the first to use a
new type of technology. Another example would be “green consumers” who value
environmentally protective products or company policies.
In a B2B (business to business) model, other types ofsegmentation will be relevant, such as:retail
or wholesale; size of the business (number of employees/ revenue); type of business structure (e.g.,
pharmacies, big box stores); geographic spread or locations
Note: You may have a primary and a secondary target BUYER. For example, you may sell your items retail
to consumers (business to consumer or B2C) and you may also wholesale your product to retail outlets
(business to business or B2B). In that case, you'll need to select one as primary once you know more about
the country market size and growth opportunities (weeks 3 and 4).
III. The resources your client will need in order to create or maintain its value in a new country: What will
it need to manufacture, distribute, service/maintain/repair and/or market the product/service in a new country
environment? For example, some factors that may be relevant for your company's operational processes:
In country workforce-- why needed--to do what tasks? With what skill levels, expertise?
Infrastructure requirements, for delivery of the product/service (e.g., internet facilities, shipping
ports, airports, postalfacilities)
In country facilities (e.g., for manufacturing, servicing, marketing)
Access to in country suppliers—of what inputs?
Note: Once you identify what the company needs in a country, then you can determine whether a particular

country can meet those needs! So be sure to carry these country screening factors over into your two-
country comparisons in weeks 3-4.

IV. . Competition: Specify the likely key competitors in its current markets and in new global markets. ,
V. Company STRENGTHS relative to competitors

1. Product features that are unique, or can set it apart from the identified competition
2. Company Resources, particularly global Resources that may strengthen the company’s
competitive advantage (e.g., consider human competencies, particularly global experience; financial,
geographic, contractual, political assets; any proprietary, patented or trademarked intellectual
property)
3. Company processes that may give it an advantage over its competitors in any new international
markets. What does it DO better? Does it have processes that set it apart (more efficient, less
expensive, more flexible/adaptable)? Does it have excess capacity that may give it a cost advantage in a
new market?
VI. Company WEAKNESSES. relative to the competition
1 What do you see as potential competitive disadvantages for your client?
2. How are competitors portraying your client’s weaknesses?

As with all group assignments, ONE member should post the assignment in your Group
Assignment folder by the end of week 2, titled “Company Profile.”
You have now created the data needed to populate Items 2-5 of the draft business plan. Abstract the
data from this analysis and add those relevant items to your draft business plan template. Incorporate only the
necessary information required in these business plan sections --not the whole analyses!
And you have determined the industry level Opportunities and Threats and company level Strengths and
Weaknesses to populate a SWOT matrix. Next week you will create and populate your SWOT matrix with
these assessments. Country level O and T will be added to your SWOT matrix in Week 4.

week 2 Peer Evaluation
Due September 25 at 11:59 PM
Assignment : Peer Evaluation. Each Team will discuss its effectiveness, based on the items on the Peer
Evaluation form; Each Individual will post a confidential Peer Evaluation in his/her Individual Assignment Folder by the
end of Week 2.