You will be asked to identify a company that is ready or planning to expand into international markets. The company you choose to profile could be a small firm, a large multi-national, or a new start-up venture. Your analysis should consider the following: Brief overview of the company (i.e. what it makes or sells, when it was founded, number of employees, annual revenues/sales, form of operation) What is the motive for expanding into foreign markets? Identify three countries for possible foreign market expansion and choose one country for your company to expand to. Make sure that you have a clear rationale for your choice. From this point onwards, the rest of the analysis is only on the country you have selected. Brief overview of the country or the region of interest and its demographics. The political & legal environment – Is there political stability – Are there legal issues we should be concerned about, etc. The economic and financial environment – Is there economic stability – Is it a developing economy? Is the economy growing? If so, at what rate. Conduct thorough analysis of the: banking, currency, accounting practices, and foreign trade policies of the host country. Cultural Issues – Identify and thoroughly analyze Hofstede’s five dimensions of cultural differences as it relates to the success of the MNE in the host country. A thorough analysis of market opportunities available to the MNE. Analysis of at least three alternative international expansion strategies for the company. Justification of the chosen strategy from the alternatives. You may include additional attachments such as graphs or tables. Make sure to accurately cite your sources of information. You should list all the materials you have consulted in preparing your paper (books, magazine, and Internet sources, etc.) whether or not you have actually cited the work in Bibliography.
