Overview The purpose of this Course Project is to engage students in understanding the challenges and opportunities of operating an international business. Upon the completion of this Course Project, students will also have a greater appreciation of how culture, political systems, society, and other factors impact business practices not only domestically but also internationally.
Students will also have the key skills and abilities to plan international business ventures in their professional careers. The Course Project is a country brief that could be submitted to a CEO or CMO in consideration of entering a foreign market.
Your research and writing will focus on the current business environment in the target nation of your choice, and the data you collect, analyze, and synthesize will provide insights that would be useful in assessing the viability of entering that foreign market. The following eight topics will be included in your country brief. Topic prompts are located below in the Project Outline. Nationalistic Orientation Culture, Ethics, and Corporate Responsibility Government Trade Policy Regional Economic Integration and Foreign Direct Investment Monetary System and Capital Markets Market Entry Strategy Supply Chain, Marketing, and Business Analytics Human Resources and Finance _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Guidelines The Course Project is divided into four drafts that will be due at the end of Weeks 2, 4, 6, and 8. For your Week 8 Final Draft, you will incorporate the first three drafts to submit a comprehensive paper containing all sections. The Week 8 Discussion is a peer review, for which you will submit your favorite section of your course project and review two classmates’ submissions. Here are the specific requirements for your submissions. All submissions must be formatted according to APA 7th edition guidelines. All drafts must include a cover page and references page. You must gather information from at least five authoritative, outside references for your course project. Anonymous authors and websites with user-generated content are not acceptable sources. One of your sources may be your textbook, and all sources must be referenced with in-text citations and on your References page. If images, charts, graphs, or other media are used, they should be sized appropriately and embedded within the body text and also have an in-text reference citation. The country brief is a short format, so your writing will need to be concise. Each section should be about 250 words, so each draft should be about 500 words. The DeVry librarians (Links to an external site.) are a helpful resource for research, writing, and APA formatting, so be sure to reach out early in the course for guidance that will save you a lot of time and effort! One more helpful hint; the proper APA 7th Edition reference for your textbook appears at the bottom of each weekly Lesson. Outline Section Topic Prompts Nationalistic Orientation Is your target nation currently a member of the G20, UN, WHO, or WTO? If so, give examples of its recent participation with these global institutions and if not, why not?
What is the current level of economic development of your target nation and what is its growth rate of GDP? Do you forecast a significant change in GDP during the next three years? Why or why not?
What are your target nation’s political, economic, and legal systems, and what is its level of corruption relative to the nations with which it most frequently trades?
Culture, Ethics, and Corporate Responsibility
What are your target nation’s cultural characteristics, including power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism versus collectivism, masculinity versus femininity, and short-term versus long-term orientation?
Does your target nation actively promote ethical standards such as employment rights, human rights, and social justice?
If not, why not, and if so, cite examples.
Does your target nation actively promote environmental sustainability standards?
If not, why not, and if so, cite examples.
