Context:
This assessment focuses on the evaluation of opportunities and challenges for an ASX listed Australian businesses that intends to expand their business in a select emerging market. Your role is to advise the senior management team of your chosen organisation about potential opportunities and challenges associated with the international expansion to the selected emerging markets. To achieve this objective, you need to select an organisation from the Australian Stock Exchange website as well as an emerging market from the link provided below and undertake an extensive research on the micro environment (i.e., the internal environment of your chosen organisation) and the macro environment of Australia (i.e., the home country) and your chosen emerging market (i.e., the host country) to compare and contrast the findings that emerged from your research to identify differences between the home country and the host country to spotlight the opportunities and challenges associated with the intended international expansion for the senior management of the organisation that you are working.
This assessment should help students build their knowledge and understanding of external environmental assessment, problem diagnosis, strategy development, and the consideration of micro and macro-level factors that influence the strategic decision of entering to an emerging market. Thus, it is expected that this assessment will equip students with a wellinformed view of the nuances of international business environment and theories to guide the strategic options available to the firm while considering international expansion as their next growth path.
Instructions:
Assessment 1, 2 and 3 are interrelated in nature that requires your careful attention to choose an organisation and the emerging market as you would not be allowed to change your mind moving on to the assessment 2 and 3. Select an ASX listed company using the following link:
Australia Stock Exchange Website: https://www2.asx.com.au/
Select an emerging market using the following links:
List of Emerging Markets/Countries/Economics: https://ggu.libguides.com/c.php?g=106866&p=693916
List of Emerging Markets/Countries/Economies: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerging_market
Once you have chosen an ASX listed company from the Australian Stock Exchange website and an emerging market via the link above, undertake an in-depth research on the company and the political-legal, social-cultural, economic, technological and natural environment of both Australia and your chosen emerging market to spotlight the differences that you have explored and reflect on the importance of those differences with regards to the opportunities as well as challenges for your chosen company’s international expansion to the selected emerging market. To frame your analysis and discussion, PESTEL, CAGE, Strategy Tripod, Five Forces Model and Porters Diamond Model, Theory of Absolute Advantage, Comparative Advantage, National Competitiveness theory, Institutional Theory are relevant theoretical frameworks. You are not expected to use all of these frameworks but two that are most suitable for the context of your research (one for external/macro environment analyses e.g., PESTEL/CAGE and the other for the analyses of the industry condition e.g., Porter’s Five Forces Model, Diamond Model etc.).
Suggested format:
Whilst the format may vary for your analysis, below is suggested format for you to follow:
• TUA Assignment Coversheet (course, assignment title, student name/id, word count in main body)
• TUA Academic Integrity Checklist with your name printed and signature.
• Executive summary: between 150 and 200 words (not included in the total word count). Discuss succinctly the overall purpose, analytical framework, key findings and strategic implications of those findings.
• Table of Contents (list all main and sub-section headers and page number).
• Introduction: Briefly discuss background of the organisation, it’s business, competitiveness, annual revenue, degree of competition in the local market, market share, position etc. Suggested 300 words.
• Country Analyses: Discuss the key descriptive information for micro (i.e., internal environment of the company) and macro-environment (i.e., external environment of both the home and the host country) as well as the overall industry condition of the host country in which the chosen organisation belongs to. Suggested 800 words.
• The company and its micro environment, including relevant theoretical framework (see above).
• Evaluation of the overall condition of the particular industry of the chosen emerging market (i.e., the host country) and the theoretical framework (see above).
• The macro environment in which the chosen company/organisaton has to operate in the chosen emerging market, including theoretical framework (see above).
• Discussion: This section should highlight differences in the external business environment (e.g., PESTEL) between Australia and the chosen emerging market as well as overall industry condition of the particular emerging market. Critically evaluate those differences from a theoretical standpoint to inform the senior management of your chosen organisation what do they mean in terms of their international expansion, how the senior management can leverage their resources and capabilities to navigate the operating environment of the host country to tap the market opportunities and/or challenges. Suggested 300 words
• Conclusion. Your conclusion should mirror your opening recapping highlights that lead to a conclusion. Highlight only the key points that summarise your main findings, which might include presenting new, important facts, projections or a justification for the reader. Suggested 100 words
• Reference list. Provide complete reference of the resources that are cited in the text follow the APA referencing guidelines.
• Appendix (not mandatory, any material that supports points made in the main body) Search for relevant journal articles via Torrens Library – https://library.torrens.edu.au/business
Some Useful Sources to Find Information for the Assessments:
Australian Stock Exchange – https://www2.asx.com.au/, explore further about the list of the selected companies.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade – https://www.dfat.gov.au/, is the government body to promote international trade and foreign investment of Australia.
Economic Freedom – https://www.heritage.org/index/, measures the advancement in economic freedom, prosperity and opportunity.
Cultural Dimensions of Geert Hofstede – https://hi.hofstede-insights.com/national-culture, comprises data on national culture across the six dimensions of Hofstede.
globalEDGE – https://globaledge.msu.edu/site/about. The globalEDGE is a rich knowledge web-portal for international business, hosted by Michigan State University.
The CAGE Distance Framework – https://www.ghemawat.com/cage. Describes the cultural, administrative, geographic and economic distances across countries to demonstrate their implications in international business, hosted by Professor Pankaj Ghemawat.
The Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) – http://info.worldbank.org/governance/wgi/. Reports aggregate and individual governance indicators for over 200 countries and territories over the period 1996–2019, for six dimensions of governance.
The World Development Indicators – https://datatopics.worldbank.org/world-developmentindicators/, is a compilation of relevant, high-quality, and internationally comparable statistics about global development and the fight against poverty.
Ease of Doing Business – https://www.doingbusiness.org/en/rankings, is an index that ranks countries to underline how conducive the regulatory environment of a country to start and operation of a local firm.
Corruption Perception Index – https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2020/index/nzl, ranks countries based on injustice of corruption.
Referencing:
It is essential that you use appropriate APA style consistently for citing and referencing your research throughout the report. Please see more information on referencing here https://torrens.blackboard.com/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_2 0163_1&content_id=_9738514_1&mode=reset
Criteria for Assessment
Your assessment will be graded according to the criteria set out in the Assessment Rubric below. Please read this carefully.
Submission Instructions:
Submit the report via the Assessment link in the main navigation menu in MGT611/MGMT6015 International Business Strategy. The Learning Facilitator will provide feedback via the Grade Centre in the LMS portal. Feedback can be viewed in My Grades.
Marking Rubrics
Assessment Criteria Fail
Unacceptable Pass (Functional) Credit (Proficient) Distinction (Advanced) High Distinction (Exceptional)
% Points 0-49% 50-64% 65-74% 75-84% 85-100%
Knowledge and understanding (technical and theoretical
knowledge)
Selection and discussion of the key descriptive information about the firm, relevant industry,
and firm’s competitive position
25% Limited
understanding of required concepts and knowledge
Key components of the assignment are not addressed. Knowledge or understanding of the field or discipline.
Resembles a recall or summary of key ideas.
Often confuses assertion of personal opinion with
information
substantiated by evidence from the
research/course materials. Thorough knowledge or understanding of the field or discipline/s. Supports personal opinion and
information
substantiated by evidence from the
research/course materials.
Demonstrates a capacity to explain and apply relevant concepts. Highly developed understanding of the field or discipline/s.
Discriminates between assertion of personal opinion and
information substantiated by robust evidence from the
research/course materials and extended reading.
Well demonstrated capacity to explain and apply relevant concepts. A sophisticated understanding of the field or discipline/s.
Systematically and critically discriminates between assertion of personal opinion and information substantiated by robust evidence from the research/course materials and extended reading.
Mastery of concepts and application to new situations/ further learning.
Content, Audience and Purpose
(broad and specific content)
Discussion and analysis of the home and host country operating environments.
25% Demonstrates no awareness of context and/or purpose of the assignment. Demonstrates limited awareness of context and/or purpose of the assignment Demonstrates consistent awareness of context and/or purpose of the assignment. Demonstrates an advanced and
integrated
understanding of context and/or purpose of the assignment. Consistently demonstrates a systematic and critical understanding of context and purpose of the assignment.
Evaluation of information
selected to support the study
Selection and analysis of relevant theory/concept and application of the theory in the context of business environment that the organisation is facing.
25% Limited understanding of key concepts required to support the case study.
Confuses logic and emotion. Information taken from reliable sources but without a coherent analysis or synthesis.
Viewpoints of experts are taken as fact with little questioning. Resembles a recall or summary of key ideas.
Often conflates/confuses assertion of personal opinion with
information
substantiated by evidence from the
research/course materials.
Analysis and evaluation do not reflect expert judgement, intellectual independence, rigor and adaptability. Supports personal opinion and
information
substantiated by evidence from the
research/course materials.
Demonstrates a capacity to explain and apply relevant concepts.
Identify logical flaws.
Questions viewpoints of experts. Discriminates between assertion of personal opinion and
information substantiated by robust evidence from the
research/course materials and extended reading.
Well demonstrated capacity to explain and apply relevant concepts.
Viewpoint of experts are subject to questioning.
Analysis and evaluation reflect growing judgement, intellectual independence, rigor and adaptability. Systematically and critically discriminates between assertion of personal opinion and information substantiated by robust evidence from the research/course materials and extended reading.
Information is taken from sources with a high level of interpretation/evaluation to develop a comprehensive critical analysis or synthesis.
Identifies gaps in knowledge.
Exhibits intellectual independence, rigor, good judgement and adaptability.
Effective Communication
Ability to informatively and concisely impart the information gathered.
10% Difficult to understand for audience, no
logical/clear structure, poor flow of ideas, argument lacks supporting evidence. Information, arguments and evidence are presented in a way that is not always clear and logical.
Line of reasoning is often difficult to follow. Information, arguments and evidence are well presented, mostly clear flow of ideas and arguments.
Line of reasoning is easy to follow. Information, arguments and evidence are very well presented; the presentation is logical, clear and well supported by evidence.
Demonstrates cultural sensitivity. Expertly presented; the presentation is logical, persuasive, and well supported by evidence, demonstrating a clear flow of ideas and arguments.
Engages and sustains audience’s interest in the
Audience cannot follow the line of reasoning. topic, demonstrates high
levels of cultural sensitivity
Effective use of diverse presentation aids, including graphics and multi-media.
Correct citation of key resources and evidence
Adherence to the report format, style, grammar, and referencing
15% Demonstrates inconsistent use of good quality, credible and relevant resources to support and develop ideas. Demonstrates use of credible and relevant resources to support and develop ideas, but these are not always explicit or well developed. Demonstrates use of high quality, credible and relevant resources to support and develop ideas. Demonstrates use of good quality, credible and relevant resources to support and develop arguments and statements. Shows evidence of wide scope within the organisation for sourcing evidence Demonstrates use of high-
quality, credible and relevant resources to support and develop arguments and position statements. Shows evidence of wide scope within and without the organisation for sourcing evidence.
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