With the BEAR due on the 1st of May, I think it will be a good idea to share some of my thoughts on how you should approach the BEAR. While most of our expectations have been set out in the relevant documents and slides, there’s a few things that I would like to add
Formatting: please make sure that the BEAR report is professionally formatted – make good use of headings and subheadings, it help us with navigating the report. I have also recommended quite strongly that you limit the paragraphs to less than 10 lines. A professionally-written report, that’s concise, well organised and formatted will be highly valued in many professional settings.
In short, the easier it is for us to read, the better.
Executive Summary: This tends to be a part of the BEAR that tends to be overlooked. However, it is one of the most critical parts of the BEAR, since it is the first impression that a reader have of the report. Since the intended audience is a CEO, who’s time poor, It also give the reader a concise summary of the main points of the report. In addition, it gives the reader an idea of what they are going to expect in the report.
There’s a document on the Wattle page regarding writing the executive summary which you should consult. You can also have a look at reports from a range of organisations to have an understanding of how an executive summary should be written.
Analysis of the Business Environment: While you are required to analyse the Political, Legal, Economic, Sociocultural environment, it is going to be useful for you to consider other relevant dimensions (trade, investment, etc.) The chosen firm (and the industry that they are in) tends to be affected differently by the business environment. While there are macro factors that impact all firms, there are also micro, industry-specific factors that has direct impacts on the attractiveness of the business environment.
An example: The Australian beef industry exporting to a developing country in Asia would be affected by the broad business cycle – since beef is a luxury food – affecting the overall demand trends. It will also be impacted by local regulations and policies (the treatment of Australian cattle in Indonesia has resulted in a live export ban from Australia for a long time, as well as the need to adhere to Halal standards.) Local consumption tastes will play a role, since some of the waste products in Australia can be considered highly desirable in many places around the world (Beef organs is highly prized in Vietnam as a delicacy in many of Vietnam’s signature dishes)
You will need a good balance of the macro and micro factors to provide a comprehensive picture of the business environment. In addition, you will need to demonstrate that the analysis have direct linkage and implications for the firm. It is very general to say that GDP per capita of a country is at level X, it is better to discuss that GDP per capita means that the current standard of living signals demand for the products/services of the firm discussed, and so on. The deeper the discussion, the better (and more nuanced) it gets.
Don’t forget that this is not the CIA World Factbook article, this is an in-depth analysis, which is of value to the firm you are working, so the information within has to be detailed, relevant, and insightful.
Sources
Evidence for your assessment of the business environment come in a range of forms, the general advice here is that the closer you can get to the source material the better. In addition, the more sources from the target country, the better.
Indicators (any of the indices that we have discussed in the lectures and beyond) – tends to be a good proxy analysis, since it would take a lot of the original data into account. This helps to provide a point of comparison as well.
Statistics – you can source these data from official government sources. Aggregate datasets from international organisations are also useful. Industry reports is another source of statistics that can be of great value – the ANU Library does have access to specialised industry reports, so make good use of them.
Some data aggregation services, like Statista and Trading Economics should only be a starting point, since you can make use of the source data to investigate further
News articles – great to incorporate contemporary developments in the analysis.
Journal articles – for the BEAR report, you are welcome to incorporate academic sources, but it is not a paramount requirement
Other sources – make good use of government, industry, trade bodies websites to further support your analysis
